Geeksphone’s Firefox OS smartphones go on sale tomorrow

Geeksphone will be launching the first Firefox OS devices tomorrow. "With the startup shipping worldwide and pricing the devices reasonably low, you can bet that many developers who've been eager to start building apps for Firefox OS will be tempted by Geeksphone's offering and not interested in waiting for the majors to come to market. Geeksphone can theoretically manufacture up to roughly 5000 devices per day, but that all depends on if there's enough demand down the line. Either way, we've confirmed that Geeksphone will start shipping the first ordered phones by the end of this week."

Windows 8.1 set to bring back the Start button

The Verge confirms an earlier story by Mary Jo Foley. "Microsoft is preparing to revive the traditional Start button it killed with Windows 8. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans have revealed to The Verge that Windows 8.1 will include the return of the Start button. We understand that the button will act as a method to simply access the Start Screen, and will not include the traditional Start Menu. The button is said to look near-identical to the existing Windows flag used in the Charm bar."

Apple finally reveals how long Siri keeps your data

"All of those questions, messages, and stern commands that people have been whispering to Siri are stored on Apple servers for up to two years, Wired can now report. Yesterday, we raised concerns about some fuzzy disclosures in Siri's privacy policy. After our story ran, Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller called to explain Apple's policy, something privacy advocates have asking for." Apple cares about your privacy.

Haiku gets ASLR and DEP

"Starting with hrev45522, address space layout randomization (ASLR) and data execution prevention (DEP) are available in Haiku. These two features, which have actually become a standard in any modern OS, make it much harder to exploit any vulnerability that may be present in an application running on Haiku, thus generally improving system security."

What a Windows 8 U-turn will mean for the PC

"Many PC OEMs are dissatisfied with what Microsoft has done with Windows 8 and the way the company has handled the negative response to the operating system. Privately, one OEM source told me that Microsoft is 'destroying' the PC industry, while another claimed that Windows 8 has 'handed over millions of customers to Apple'. Other OEMs are making their displeasure known publicly. Both Lenovo and Samsung have released Start button replacements for Windows 8." Windows Phone isn't the only thing not catching on. I'm really happy with my Surface RT - warts and all - but there's no denying the response to Windows 8 has been Vista-esque bad.

Glass runs Android

I never really realised this, but it wasn't actually known what operating system powered Glass. "We suspected it from the outset, but up until now, we haven't actually heard it confirmed from the mouth of a Google honcho: Google Glass runs on Android. The tidbit was dropped on today's earnings call, with CEO Larry Page uttering: 'Obviously, Glass runs on Android, so has been pretty transportable across devices, and I think that will continue.' The response was given to a question regarding engagement increment, but Page stopped short of divulging details about version type."

jQuery 2.0 released

"As promised, this version leaves behind the older Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8 browsers. In return it is smaller, faster, and can be used in JavaScript environments where the code needed for old-IE compatibility often causes problems of its own. But don't worry, the jQuery team still supports the 1.x branch which does run on IE 6/7/8. You can (and should) continue to use jQuery 1.9 (and the upcoming 1.10) on web sites that need to accommodate older browsers."

Nokia’s quarterly results paint a dreary picture for Windows Phone

Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.

Ancient computers in use today

"While much of the tech world views a two-year-old smartphone as hopelessly obsolete, large swaths of our transportation and military infrastructure, some modern businesses, and even a few computer programmers rely daily on technology that hasn't been updated for decades." Back when I still worked at a hardware and plumbing store - up until about 4-5 years ago - we used MS-DOS cash registers. They are still in use today. If it works, it works.

Microsoft scores biggest patent licensee yet: Foxconn

"One company - Taiwan's Foxconn - makes a staggering 40 percent of the world's consumer electronic devices. Starting now, Microsoft will be getting paid a toll on many of those devices. The company's long patent-licensing campaign has landed its biggest client yet in licensing Foxconn, formally named Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Foxconn has agreed to take a license for any product it produces that runs Google's Android or Chrome operating systems." More protection money for the Microsoft patent mafia.

Motorola plans stock Android phones, sized ‘just right’

"The first Google-influenced Motorola phones will start to appear in the second half of 2013, Wicks said, and if you like smaller form-factor devices or stock Android, you're going to be excited." This is exactly what the market needs, to be honest. Stock Android phones straight from Google that aren't Nexus devices. Nexus devices are nice, but are available in a limited set of countries only, and the Nexus 4 is continuously out of stock. Hopefully Motorola will do a better job on the availability front.

Microsoft: iOS ‘running of steam’, Android is ‘a mess’

Microsoft's Terry Myerson, corporate vice president of Windows Phone, talks about the competition. "With iPhone, I sense that it's running out of steam. With iOS, just added a fifth row of icons. Android is... kind of a mess. Look at Samsung - there's clearly mutiny going on. The only OEM making money off of Android is Samsung." There's truth to all these statements, which makes it all the more surprising that Microsoft appears to be unable to properly capitalise on them. Sure, WP appears to be doing well in a few select markets, but by no means the kind of success Microsoft and (Nokia) was banking on. Microsoft will pull through. Nokia on the other hand...

Android up to 1.5 million activations per day

Eric Schmidt has done a talk at Dive Into Mobile today, and knowing Schmidt, we're in for quotable stuff. First, Android activations are up to 1.5 million per day now - which is insane. That's one The Netherlands every eleven days. Or, what takes Windows Phone a holiday quarter, Android does in four days. Schmidt also touched upon Facebook Home; a journalist asked him a question about it, referencing a Microsoft statement about Google most likely wanting to block Home, and in reply, Schmidt called Home a "tremendous endorsement" of Android's Play Store strategy.

Windows 8.1 to include ‘boot to desktop’ setting

This is interesting. "Microsoft is planning to change the way its Start Screen operates with the release of Windows 8.1. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans have revealed to The Verge that the company is currently testing builds of Windows 8.1, known as codename Windows Blue, that include an option to boot directly to the traditional desktop. We're told that the option is disabled by default, allowing users to simply turn on the functionality should they want to avoid the 'Metro' Start Screen at initial boot or login." This won't disable Metro; the hot corners, task switching, and everything else that makes up Metro is still there. All this does is load up the classic desktop as the first application upon boot. Update: The Start button might be returning too.

Where are the hobbyist mobile operating systems?

Almost exactly three years ago, I wrote about why OSNews was no longer OSNews: the alternative operating system scene had died, and OSNews, too, had to go with the times and move towards reporting on a new wave of operating systems - mobile, and all the repercussions that the explosion of smartphones and tablets have caused. Still, I was wondering something today: why aren't we seeing alternative operating systems on mobile?