Monthly Archive:: May 2012

Baidu to launch new version of its Android fork next week

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-13 Wireless 1 Comment

Baidu, the Chinese search engine, will launch its own smartphone operating system next week, according to Reuters. It's an Android fork, but with all the backend services handled by Baidu, obviously. The first leaked shots of a supposed device look remarkably like a Nokia Lumia - but not bad, really.

Microsoft funded startup aims to kill BitTorrent traffic

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-13 Internet 27 Comments

"The Russian based 'Pirate Pay' startup is promising the entertainment industry a pirate-free future. With help from Microsoft, the developers have built a system that claims to track and shut down the distribution of copyrighted works on BitTorrent. Their first project, carried out in collaboration with Walt Disney Studios and Sony Pictures, successfully stopped tens of thousands of downloads." Each of which, naturally, ran out to buy the film in question right away, recouping the costs for hiring the firm. None of these people, naturally, simply tried again a few hours later. Primo plan, guys.

Windows 8 build 8375 images surface, a few small changes

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-11 Windows 44 Comments

"The new changes include several new lock-screen images, the Windows Store tile is now green, and the small magnifying glass in the bottom right corner when you scroll has changed to a simple square. While nothing major, they are representative of the across-the-board tweaks we expect to see when the Release Preview hits the digital shelves in June." So, nothing to address the core issues with Windows 8's mouse/keyboard-hostile environment. Sad.

Apple’s coming map application will ‘blow your head off’

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-11 Apple 33 Comments

"Between 2009 and 2011, Apple acquired three mapping companies in quick succession: Placebase, in 2009; 3-D mapping outfit Poly9 in 2010; and in 2011, C3 Technologies, a second 3-D mapping company. Three mapping-company acquisitions in as many years. But for good reason: Apple has been hard at work developing its own in-house mapping solution for iOS, and now it's finally ready to debut it." I'm probably crazy, but I've never used the map applications on my mobile phones, so it's difficult for me to get excited about this.

Foxconn chairman: we’re going to build Apple’s television

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-11 Apple 52 Comments

The next frontier for Apple - and other technology companies - to conquer: the television market. Terry Gou, chairman of Foxconn, has confirmed his company will be building a television for Apple in conjunction with Sharp. Since I bought a brand-new top-of-the-line TV late last year, I've been thinking a lot about what could be improved about the state of TV today, and as crazy as it seems, I'm actually not that dissatisfied.

Intel CEO dings ARM’s Windows 8 ‘legacy’ vulnerability

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-10 Intel 18 Comments

Intel CEO Paul Otellini on Windows 8 x86 and Windows 8 ARM: "We have the advantage of the incumbency, advantage of the legacy support. Not just in terms of applications but devices." Yes, because the lack of their favourite Windows applications was really a massive hurdle for Apple and its ill-fated iPad effort from a few years ago. Anyone remember that thing?

Windows Phone Marketplace begins rebranding on Nokia devices

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-10 Windows 18 Comments

The partnership between Nokia and Microsoft deepens. Updates to Nokia Lumia devices change the Marketplace tile to a specific Nokia tile - unheard of for Windows Phone, which is governed by strict rules. This is part of the Tango update. Is this an innocent change, or the prelude to fragmentation, or worse - a fork? While that's probably a little dramatic, this probably does worry the other Windows Phone OEMs.

Microsoft to bring full Internet Explorer browsing to Xbox 360

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-10 Internet Explorer 22 Comments

"Microsoft is currently testing a modified version of Internet Explorer 9 on its Xbox 360 console, according to our sources. The Xbox 360 currently includes Bing voice search, but it's limited to media results. Microsoft's new Internet Explorer browser for Xbox will expand on this functionality to open up a full browser for the console. We are told that the browser will let Xbox users surf all parts of the web straight from their living rooms." So, when did browsing on your TV turn into something that isn't useless?

Mozilla, Google voice concern over Windows 8 browser restrictions

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-10 Windows 90 Comments

Both Mozilla and Google have expressed concern over Windows 8. Microsoft's next big operating system release restricts access to certain APIs and technologies browsers need - only making them available to Internet Explorer. Looking at the facts, it would seem Mozilla and Google have a solid case - coincidentally, the responses on the web are proof of the slippery slope we're on regarding ownership over our own machines.

Dutch The Pirate Bay blockade extended to all ISPs

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-10 Legal 21 Comments

Since The Pirate Bay blockade (which is easily circumvented) has just been extended to all other ISPs in The Netherlands (logically, court orders fall outside net neutrality), here's a link to a landing page which automatically redirects Dutch visitors to a valid The Pirate Bay proxy, circumventing the blockade. The more resourceful among us can always alter their hosts file, add a redirect in their router software, change DNS servers (any pros and cons from people who actually do this?), and about a gazillion other things. The Dutch copyright lobby's next step? Blocking websites that detail how to circumvent the blockade. Hey Kuik, we're right here!

Oracle’s request for fair use ruling denied, not much else left

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-10 Legal 7 Comments

" despite Oracle pointing out the commercial success of Android - which would tend to weigh against a finding of fair use - it was clear that Judge Alsup wasn't inclined to side with the company. The judge even scolded Oracle counsel Michael Jacobs when he first argued his case, pointing out that the company's legal team had insisted on a jury trial and that 'now we got their verdict and you want something else'." Someone must be having a bad day.

FSF statement on jury’s partial verdict in Oracle v Google

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-10 Open Source 41 Comments

John Sullivan, executive director of the Free Software Foundation: "Were it grounded in reality, Oracle's claim that copyright law gives them proprietary control over any software that uses a particular functional API would be terrible for free software and programmers everywhere. It is an unethical and greedy interpretation created with the express purpose of subjugating as many computer users as possible, and is particularly bad in this context because it comes at a time when the sun has barely set on the free software community's celebration of Java as a language newly suitable for use in the free world. Fortunately, the claim is not yet reality, and we hope Judge Alsup will keep it that way." Couldn't agree more.

Facebook launches application store

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-09 Internet 18 Comments

Because there aren't enough of these things already: "Today, we're announcing the App Center, a new place for people to find social apps. The App Center gives developers an additional way to grow their apps and creates opportunities for more types of apps to be successful." Like I'm giving Facebook my credit card number. I mean, Apple, Microsoft, and Google: fine. But I draw the line at Facebook. Really. I will. And yes, this is sarcasm.

DVDs, Blu-rays will carry two unskippable government warnings

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-09 Multimedia, AV 53 Comments

"Will the two screens be shown back to back? Will each screen last for 10 seconds each? Will each screen be unskippable? Yes, yes, and yes. An ICE spokesman tells me that the two screens will 'come up after the previews, once you hit the main movie/play button on the DVD. At which point the movie rating comes up, followed by the IPR Center screen shot for 10 secs and then the FBI/HSI anti-piracy warning for 10 secs as well. Neither can be skipped/fast forwarded through.'" That'll surely teach the pirates who don't buy DVDs or Blu-rays.

OS X 10.7.4 released

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-09 macOS 7 Comments

Apple has released OS X Lion 10.7.4, which, among several other bug fixes, plugs a hole in FileVault that affected some users. Nothing particularly interesting going on otherwise.

HP states they didn’t copy Apple’s MacBook Air

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-09 Hardware 27 Comments

Speaking of HP, the company replied to a question if they copied Apple for their latest ultrabook, the Envy Spectre XT. "There are similarities in a way, not due to Apple but due to the way technologies developed. Apple may like to think that they own silver, but they don't. In no way did HP try to mimic Apple. In life there are a lot of similarities." It's an ultrabook, a category of laptops defined by Intel. Coincidentally, Intel also developed the internals of the MacBook Air. These products are looking relatively similar because their internals have been designed by the same damn company. Get over it.

How Hewlett-Packard lost its way

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-09 Hardware 18 Comments

"Leo Apotheker's disastrous tenure as HP's CEO revealed a dysfunctional company struggling for direction after a decade of missteps and scandals. Can his replacement, Meg Whitman, fix the tech giant?" As a consumer, I wish they simplified their product line-up. They have the engineering skills - I just have no idea what I'm supposed to buy when I visit their site. The choice for the ZenBook late last year instead of anything HP had to offer was elementary.

DragonDrop: useful Mac OS X drag & drop utility

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-09 macOS 18 Comments

"Dragging and dropping is a great way to get stuff done on your Mac, but DragonDrop makes it even better. DragonDrop lets you set down what you're dragging, leaving you free to find your destination without worrying about keeping the mouse button held down." Great utility (found via Daring Fireball), but shaking with the mouse is a horrible interaction - it's very intensive and error-prone (Aero Shake, anyone?). I'd love for that little drop container to be permanently visible (oh, and a Windows/Linux version would be awesome, of course).

Submitted by M.Onty 2012-05-08 OS News 14 Comments

"An operating system designed to power the smart cities of the future will be put through its paces in London. Living Plan IT has developed its Urban OS to provide a platform to connect services and citizens. With partners including Hitachi, Phillips and Greenwich council, it aims to use the Greenwich peninsula as a testbed for new technologies running on the system. The OS aims to connect key services such as water, transport, and energy." UrbanOS goes way over my head - it'd be great if someone could summarise how it works and what its key aspects are.

Net neutrality passes through Dutch senate

Thom Holwerda 2012-05-08 Internet 7 Comments

Yeah, this is pretty awesome for us Dutch (all 16 million of them) here in this glorified swamp. Today, our new telecommunications act was accepted by the senate - usually a formality, but still a possible point of failure. Why is this news? Well, this new telecommunications act includes unconditional net neutrality, making us the second country in the world to codify unconditional net neutrality (after Chile). Mobile or regular, net neutrality for all. We're running ahead of Europe here, so hopefully the rest of the EU is going to just copy/paste this one.