Monthly Archive:: May 2013

Samsung is hurting Android

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-12 Wireless 27 Comments

"Last week our HTC One vs Samsung Galaxy S4 head-to-head concluded that Samsung no longer makes the best Android phone. But after developments this week, I wonder whether Google wants Samsung to continue making Android phones at all." Yup.

Windows 8: New Coke?

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-12 Windows 21 Comments

"Microsoft's communications chief has a tough job these days, and with Windows 8 is under attack from all sides he's bravely called for a return to the center and a less partisan conversation about the new OS. There's just one problem: The periodicals he’s called out for engaging in 'sensationalism and hyperbole' are in fact right about Microsoft's strategy. And ignoring that is the real problem."

Windows “slower than other operating systems”

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-11 Windows 221 Comments

"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.

Lumia 928 for Verizon debuts

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-10 Wireless 22 Comments

"The Lumia 928 sports a 4.5-inch AMOLED display (PureMotion HD+), 8.7MP camera (PureView, Carl Zeiss, OIS and Xenon flash), 4G LTE connectivity, wireless charging, three HAAC microphones and a loud speaker. It's an improved Lumia 920." This is the Lumia that will turn Nokia and Windows Phone around. I'm super-serious you guys!

The Facebook Home disaster

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-10 Wireless 30 Comments

"The reviews are in: Facebook Home, Mark Zuckerberg's grandiose stab at totally controlling our mobile experience, is an unmitigated disaster. On Wednesday, AT&T announced that it was dropping the price of the HTC First smartphone, which comes with Facebook Home built in, from $99 to 99 cents. Think about that: a new smartphone, priced to jump off the shelves at Dollar General. It's a great deal, but it is also hugely embarrassing for Zuckerberg. For confirmation we need only look at the Google Play store, where the Facebook Home app, which can be installed on select Android phones, has now fallen to the No. 338 ranking in the category of free apps. That's 200 spots lower than it ranked just two weeks ago." Totally did not see this coming whatsoever.

Nokia unveils Asha 501 smartphone with new software

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-09 Wireless 38 Comments

This is the Nokia I remember. The company just unveiled the Nokia Asha 501, which has a completely new version of the Asha software platform. Fast, responsive, stunningly great and simple hardware, and an unbeatable price ($99!). It borrows a lot from MeeGo on the N9, and overall excites me infinitely more than their Lumia offerings. I want one of these so bad.

Using Google Glass: at a Justin Timberlake concert

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-09 Google 15 Comments

"'Those are some unique glasses.' 'Are you wearing Glass?' 'He's got Google Glass on!' My appearance can be ostentatious at times, but wearing Google Glass in public drew a truly unparalleled amount of attention - never have I seen so many strangers (and people I know) give me this look of, 'uh, what's on your face?'" Gamechanger. If not Glass, at least something similar. Hunching over to use you phone is unnatural, and you close yourself off from your surroundings. No such thing with Glass - that alone will change the game.

New Zealand bans software patents

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-09 Legal 28 Comments

New Zealand leads the way. "The government has announced a change to planned new patent rules today which has put an end to fears that computer software might be covered by new patent protection." Also, here's the evidence that nobody (except lawyers, (un)paid company lackies, and corporate managers) wants software patents: "Matthews said a recent poll of more than 1000 Kiwi IT professionals found 94 per cent wanted to see software patents gone." Let that sink in for a while: 94%.

Become a PlayStation Mobile publisher for free

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-08 Games 5 Comments

"We are looking forward seeing your exciting ideas become reality and having fun developing together. We're always looking to support new developer talent, so we've decided to waive the publisher license fee (EUR 80, GBP 65) for PlayStation Mobile, which means you can bring your games to PlayStation Vita or any PlayStation-certified device, free of charge."

TuneTracker System 5 released with Haiku

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-08 Haiku 38 Comments

This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.

Blue: Microsoft promises changes based on feedback

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-07 Windows 89 Comments

"After acknowledging its Windows Blue codename publicly in March, Microsoft is getting closer to revealing all about the upcoming Windows 8 update. In an interview with The Verge this week, Microsoft's Windows CFO Tami Reller provided some details on where the company is heading with its Blue project."

Guest post by bowkota 2013-05-07 Legal 74 Comments

"The European Commission has accused Motorola Mobility of abusing its standard-essential patents against Apple in Germany. The Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to the company over a misuse of its GPRS patents, which has seen Motorola pursue injunctions against Apple products instead of properly licensing the technology."

Sony bans 1366×768 from notebook lineup

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-07 Hardware 66 Comments

News of the year in the technology industry. "The Fit's most important spec its display, with a nod to Sony's TV division: they come with 1600x900 or 1920x1080 touchscreens and nothing else. 'We're not going to offer 1366x768," reps said. 'We've killed that.'" This is Sony's new, simplified entry-level notebook line. Very, very welcome news in a world where even a supposedly "Pro" laptop that costs $1199 ships with... A 1280x800 resolution. This bottom-of-the-barrel crap needs to be eradicated, and good on Sony for taking this step.

Adobe to focus on Creative Cloud, abandons Suite

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-06 Graphics 69 Comments

"Adobe first launched Creative Suite 1 back in 2003, and now, ten years and six versions later, the company is taking a left turn: Adobe is abandoning its Creative Suite entirely to focus efforts on Creative Cloud."

Microsoft: Next Xbox will work even when your Internet doesn’t

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-06 Games 26 Comments

Good news by Ars' Peter Bright. "According to an internal Microsoft e-mail sent to all full-time employees working on the next Xbox, 'Durango is designed to deliver the future of entertainment while engineered to be tolerant of today's Internet.' It continues, 'There are a number of scenarios that our users expect to work without an Internet connection, and those should 'just work' regardless of their current connection status. Those include, but are not limited to: playing a Blu-ray disc, watching live TV, and yes playing a single player game.'" Conveniently 'leaked' of course.

Guest post by MOS6510 2013-05-05 General Development 39 Comments

"In order to be an effective programmer, you need to possess a combination of traits that allow your skill, experience, and knowledge to produce working code. There are some technically skilled developers who will never be effective because they lack the other traits needed. Here are seven traits that are necessary to become a great programmer."

Submitted by Anonymous Penguin 2013-05-05 Debian 25 Comments

That rare event where tried and true Debian releases a new version. "This new version of Debian includes various interesting features such as multiarch support, several specific tools to deploy private clouds, an improved installer, and a complete set of multimedia codecs and front-ends which remove the need for third-party repositories. Multiarch support, one of the main release goals for 'Wheezy', will allow Debian users to install packages from multiple architectures on the same machine. This means that you can now, for the first time, install both 32- and 64-bit software on the same machine and have all the relevant dependencies correctly resolved, automatically."

NeXT Computer

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-04 Hardware 64 Comments

"NeXT Computer (the original 68030 cube) was a high end workstation that was manufactured between 1988 - 1990. Back then it was a very expensive machine as a complete system would start at $6500 (in 1988 dollars). The machine is a 1 foot cube magnesium case that houses the computer. At the time, its performance was impressive, with a Motorola 68030 CPU running at a screaming 25Mhz, a dedicated floating point CPU, and a digital signal processor built into the system. NeXT cubes featured a magneto-optical drive that stored a whopping 256 Megabytes (by comparison, high end Mac systems at the time might have featured a 20 Megabyte hard drive.) In its day, this was the "Ferrari" of desktop systems!" No new information for the average OSNews reader, but lots of beautiful photos for a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

‘Nobody likes Google Glass’

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-03 Google 72 Comments

"After reading all the reviews, and talking to people who actually wore Glass, I just see a product plagued by bugs, and of questionable use, that's generating a lot of buzz because people want so desperately to have some new gadget to latch onto, and fear being wrong about the next major technology trend." Nobody wants a computer in their home. Nobody wants a cell phone and always be connected. Nobody wants an iPhone. The current version of this line? Nobody wants Glass. "I haven't worn Glass." Oh right.

Google edition adopts ‘Palestine’

Thom Holwerda 2013-05-03 Google 53 Comments

"Internet giant Google has changed the tagline on the homepage of its Palestinian edition from 'Palestinian Territories' to 'Palestine'. The change, introduced on 1 May, means google.ps now displays 'Palestine' in Arabic and English under Google's logo. Using the word Palestine is controversial for some. Israeli policy is that the borders of a Palestinian state are yet to be agreed." Good but daring move.