OSnews - Exploring the Future of Computing

Why the iPad, iPhone Don’t Support Multitasking

Submitted by kragil 2010-04-04 Wireless 47 Comments

"There is a lot of misconception around support for multitasking in the iPhone and its giant cousin, the iPad. What follows is my analysis of the situation. I am not privy to any insider Apple information. Moreover, while my knowledge is certainly colored by my work on Android, I'm not drawing a comparison or using any Google-specific knowledge." Interesting stuff about how Android does multitasking.

PlayStation Pull-Back Hurts Inexpensive Supercomputing

Submitted by Jim Lynch 2010-04-04 Games 19 Comments

A different take on Sony's removal of the Other OS feature of fat PS3s. "The reality probably is that Sony loses money on every PS3 it sells, counting on game sales to make up for the loss in revenue. Academic institutions using PS3s for clusters aren't likely to buy games or engage in online commerce. That's why, when you hear that the US military was planning to buy 2200 PS3 consoles to upgrade an existing PS3-based supercomputing cluster, Sony doesn't jump for joy. I suspect it was news like this, plus other sales for clustering, that prompted Sony to turn off the 'Other OS' feature for existing PS3s."

Apple Launches iPad

Thom Holwerda 2010-04-03 Apple 103 Comments

Yeah, just in case people think we forgot: Apple launched its iPad today. It's just that since the rest of the web is pretty much clogged with iPad "news" items at this point, I don't really know what to add; who'd you rather hear from, someone who owns one, or someone like me, the small orphan child pressing his face to the glass of a candy shop full of delight he can't afford (because he lives in the wrong country)? About the only meaningful item I've seen today is Engadget's iPad review, so let's take a quick look at that one.

Songbird Drops Linux Support

Kroc 2010-04-03 Open Source 66 Comments

It's a simple equation. Results = Developers x Time; and for Songbird, it's not working out. Yesterday, they announced they will drop Linux support in favour of Windows, Mac and to meet plans to include video features in the next release. The comments are intensely angry, as you can imagine. An untested Linux version will be kept around "for use by our Songbird engineers who develop on the Linux platform".

Window Titlebar Widgets in Ubuntu 10.4 Remain on the Left

Thom Holwerda 2010-04-02 Ubuntu 73 Comments

Common sense has prevailed (see bold text)! "The final decision on window controls for 10.04 LTS is as follows: the window controls will remain on the left, however the order will change to be (from left) close, minimize, maximise. The decision is based on the view that putting the close button in the corner will be most familiar to many users, even if the particular choice of corner is not."

Father of the Altair 8800, Ed Roberts, Passes Away

Thom Holwerda 2010-04-02 Hardware 19 Comments

I'm posting this one day late, because I didn't want it to get lost in all the April 1 nonsense. We've been in the computer age for a while now, and while that gives us the privilege of dealing with some truly great products and innovations, it sadly also means that we are starting to lose the pioneers that defined this industry. Yesterday, Ed Roberts shuffled out of life due to pneumonia. Dr. Henry Edward Roberts developed the Altair 8800, considered to be the first personal computer.

Quake II Ported to HTML5

Kroc 2010-04-02 Web 2.0 77 Comments

In November last year I stated that it would only be a matter of time before it happened. Also in November Joel Webber, a Google engineer had the inspiration to port Quake II to HTML5 from Jake2--a Java port of Quake II--using Google Web Toolkit; the same toolkit used for writing Google Mail | Maps | Wave in Java and compiling into JavaScript. With the help of two other Google engineers (Ray Cromwell and Stefan Haustein) in "20% time", it works! Just!

Joo Joo Ships; First Impressions, Hands-on

Thom Holwerda 2010-04-02 Wireless 44 Comments

While entire contingents of media are getting twists in their knickers over the ucpoming iPad launch, we'd almost forget that other tablet we've talked about a lot - the Joo Joo. It was delayed a few times, but right now, it's finally shipping, and Engadget already has received theirs. The iPad is more important to Engadget, so we'll have to wait a bit for a real review, but they have lots of photos and a quick video of the device and its UI.

USPTO Fail in the Making: MS Applies for Panoramic UI Patent

Thom Holwerda 2010-04-02 Humor 14 Comments

"The US Patents and Trademark Office has today made public a Microsoft patent application (serial no. 240,729) related to the graphical user interface found on the hotly anticipated Windows Phone 7 Series mobile OS. Filed in September 2008, this application describes a 'contiguous background' that extends beyond the dimensions of the screen (either vertically or horizontally, but not both) with anchored 'mixed-media' elements being littered atop it - all of which is to be served on a 'media-playing device'. That should sound pretty familiar, given that it's the central navigational concept of both Windows Phone 7 and the Zune HD, and as such it makes a lot of sense for Microsoft to seek to legally protect its uniqueness."

Microsoft Request in i4i Case Rejected by Court

Thom Holwerda 2010-04-01 Legal 4 Comments

"Microsoft found its latest request for a multiple-judge review, in a long-running patent-infringement suit with Canadian tech firm i4i, rejected by a federal appeals court. Microsoft had asked for a panel of 11 judges to review its arguments in the case, in which i4i alleges that Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007 violate its custom XML-related patents. In August 2009, a federal judge in a U.S. District Court ordered Microsoft to pay $300 million and pull copies of Word 2003 and 2007 from store shelves within 90 days, a ruling that set off months of legal maneuvering."

Guest post by xiaokj 2010-04-01 Multimedia, AV 89 Comments

In line with the current torrent of articles on the H.264 and Theora debate, I feel that is it unfair for the "pragmatists" to talk about Theora as if it is a stupid ideal that is useless to consumers. This article will focus on defining the terms of the debate used and make the case that Theora has a reason, if not a chance.

Build Web Applications with HTML 5

Thom Holwerda 2010-04-01 General Development 2 Comments

This article coveres some of the new HTML 5 capabilities of modern browsers including powerful HTML 5 features such as multi-threading, geolocation, embedded databases, and embedded video. Learn how to use them in your applications.

Early iPad Reviews Extremely Positive

Thom Holwerda 2010-04-01 Apple 104 Comments

With the release day of the iPad fast approaching, it's time for the usual lucky few to shine their lights on Apple's new device. As usual, these first-hand reviews by blogging heavyweights are incredibly positive (with a few notable exceptions), and if they are correct in their predictions, then the iPad will change everything in computing.

Submitted by aaron 2010-03-31 Gnome 47 Comments

The GNOME team has released version 2.30 of their open source desktop environment. "The GNOME Project's focus on users and usability continues in GNOME 2.30 with its hundreds of bug fixes and user-requested improvements. The sheer number of enhancements makes it impossible to list every change and improvement made."

Submitted by poundsmack 2010-03-31 OS News 6 Comments

"ScaraOS is a 32bit mutiboot OS kernel for IA32 (PC/AT) systems. I wrote it to teach myself OS fundamentals and just to have a bit of fun. It already has PCI support, the beginnings of a paged memory management system, and the start of a VFS layer. It supports the basic PC/AT stuff such as timer, PIC, keyboard, floppy."

Submitted by poundsmack 2010-03-31 Graphics 23 Comments

"What if all software was open source? Anybody would then be able to add custom features to Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, Apple iTunes or any other program. A University of Washington project may make this possible." Yeah I know, odd headline - couldn't find anything better.

Apple Slapped with Multitouch Patent Lawsuit

Thom Holwerda 2010-03-31 Legal 66 Comments

I guess this is what some people would call "karma". Apple may shout off the rooftops that it invented multitouch, and that anyone else using it is clearly stealing it from them - but another company has taken offence to that, and has slapped the Cupertino giant with a patent infringement suit over multitouch.

64% of MS Vulnerabilities Mitigated by Removing Admin Rights

Thom Holwerda 2010-03-31 Windows 65 Comments

As geeks, we're well aware of the importance of running as a normal user instead of as root (UNIX/Linux/BSD) or administrator (Windows). However, while this should be common knowledge to anyone reading OSNews, it's often hard to illustrate just how important it is - until now, that is. A report by BeyondTrust looked at how many security bulletins issused by Microsoft are mitigated by simply... Not running as administrator.

USPTO Fail: Apple Patents Steel Bezel iPhone

Thom Holwerda 2010-03-31 Humor 10 Comments

"Apple has won one of its USPTO patent claims for the iPhone, specifically covering the device's iconic steel bezel. While appearing superficial, Apple claims that the bezel is actually essential to impact resistance, and innovative in part because it merges utility with aesthetics. The part is flush with an iPhone's housing, inserted into a brace and held with a spring. It is also manufactured with cold worked steel, said to better accommodate design limits while reducing the need for machining." I put this story in the humour category because that's the only place I could put it without wanting to slit my own throat.

Submitted by aaron 2010-03-30 Legal 39 Comments

It's time for bed over here, but before I turn in with a nice cup of tea and a Gilmore Girls episode, we've got some good news for you: SCO has been dealt yet another major blow in its baseless lawsuit against Novell. A jury has ruled that Novell owns the UNIX copyrights - not SCO.