Symbian now 100% open source, and looking for developers to fill in the gaps
The world's most widely-used smartphone platform is now completely free and open. Today, the Symbian Foundation announced that the entire 33 million lines of Symbian^3 code is now free under the Eclipse Public License.
The platform was only sort of open source before...sort of. When the Symbian Foundation launched in 2009, parts of the source code were made available to members of the foundation under a transitional license.
SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone okayed for 3G streaming
The $30 iPhone app which lets users watch content from their SlingBox "placeshifting" set top box will finally be un-crippled, Sling Media Inc announced this morning.
Like many other potentially bandwidth-hungry applications on Apple's iPhone, SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone was only cleared for use over Wi-Fi. When users wanted to watch content from their Slingbox SOLO, PRO-HD, or PRO on the go, they could only do it at a Wi-Fi hotspot. Users of the BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm, and Symbian versions, meanwhile, did have 3G access.
Comcast to rebrand cable, Internet services as Xfinity
If you're one of the more than 25 million Comcast subscribers, the bill you get next month may be for a service called Xfinity.
Beginning February 12, Comcast will begin rebranding its cable, Internet, and digital voice services in 11 markets under the Xfinity name, which it first debuted in December when the company began the process of acquiring NBC Universal.
Tetris TV: A look at the weird places we've stuck Tetris
True story: When I was a freshman in college in the late '90s, my roommate and I had an NES in our dorm room that people would come over and play with. Though we had just reached the 64-bit era of consoles at that point, people loved to come play games from our formative years and socialize.
Everything was fine and fun until somebody gave us a Tetris cartridge.
H.264 licensing body won't charge royalties for HTML5, other Web streams
One of the key objections Mozilla and its supporters have had to the use of H.264 codecs for HTML5 video -- the built-in decoding system being developed for the next edition of HTML -- is that it's proprietary technology. As such, there are no guarantees against the rights holders to that technology staking claims to it, and charging money for it...and there may not be much protection against others who believe they have claims on it, to test their theories in a full-scale patent infringement trial.
Up to now, the MPEG Licensing Authority (MPEG LA) has not been charging royalties to anyone, including streamers and the viewers of streamed content, for the use of H.264 encoding and decoding for the specific purpose of delivering free streams. That way, for example, the participants in YouTube's and Vimeo's current tests of H.264 in HTML5 -- Web browser-based video without any plug-ins -- can proceed without incurring charges.
Buffalo Technology tweaks its mini network drive to perfection
Buffalo Technology's LinkStation Mini dual-drive network storage solution has been looked upon quite favorably. Om Malik called it "almost perfect", and its startlingly tiny profile (only 1.6" x 3.2" x 5.3") and quiet operation earned it high marks across the board.
Besides the somewhat high price of the unit, the only complaint users and reviewers seemed to have with the LinkStation was its rather unwieldy Web-based user interface.
Free project management beta community launches for iPhone and iPad developers (and users)
iPadBeta.com is a new free service that connects iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch developers with beta testers for their Apps, offering the tools and help needed to easily run a great beta test. The aim is to help developers create Apps with less bugs, better reviews, and higher sales.
App developers are each given their own private projects, which include bug and feature tracking, custom surveys, discussion forums, custom wikis, build distribution, tester participation monitoring, reporting, and other features. iPadBeta.com will also recruit App testers matching the developer's market; or they can invite their own friends and customers.
Beta test a new massively-multiplayer online game
Centercode is accepting applications for a new online game and world beta test. Inspired by a successful film franchise, and based on the timeless art of kung fu, the game is designed for the whole family. This new MMO includes character customization and the ability to battle others. Centercode notes that it is "an engaging and exciting environment with beautiful music, excellent scenery and fun yet challenging games."
The next testing stage of this project will be conducted on: Wednesday February 3, 2010 - 3PM and 6PM PST (6PM to 9PM EST), however testing will continue over the next few weeks and even if you do not get into todays event, there will be many more opportunities to participate.
Early mixed results for over-the-air 3G fix for Nexus One
This morning, Google began deploying an over-the-air software update for its Nexus One phones, including the addition of true pinch-to-zoom multitouch and synchronization features for Google Maps, as well as a purported fix for poor 3G connectivity for at least one version of the phone's firmware. In the early minutes after deployment, there appeared to be some hope as some users of Google's support forums reported improved signal strength.
But that was in the early going. As the hours passed, customers were correcting their existing reports, and others were adding new reports, of only marginally improved 3G speeds at best. Connectivity appears to have improved for some -- getting at least some 3G where there was none before -- but that's not a complete solution for them yet. What's more, troubles with 3G signals being completely dropped when the phone is touched by human hands -- a problem reported by a minority of users, but still a sizable number -- seemed to continue.
Don Dodge: The new anti-Microsoft evangelist
Somebody at Microsoft should be fired for laying off Don Dodge. The list of reasons why his layoff was stupid gets longer by the day. Yesterday's Dodge blog post, "From MSFT evangelist to Mac enthusiast -- the other side of the road," adds another reason. This Silicon Valley insider, who for five years evangelized Microsoft, has taken on the true tone of conversion -- a man filled with new Apple and Google religion. His conversion to the new faith is nothing short of tech evangelism disaster for Microsoft.
In my late-December post, "10 things Microsoft did wrong in 2009," "laid off Don Dodge" ranked No. 3. What seemed bad for Microsoft then is suddenly much worse.
Online video is not a complete solution, says study
Though it seems like streaming TV services are getting more diverse and robust by the week, Parks Associates today said the number of people who consider them a viable replacement to their cable or satellite subscriptions is actually shrinking.
According to the consumer research firm's "All Eyes on Video" study, the percentage of broadband-connected homes that would consider canceling their pay TV subscriptions in favor of online video has steadily declined for the last two years.
Five cures for Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 ills
Microsoft shouldn't let Google set the Internet Explorer 6-ending agenda. Google services will stop supporting the browser, starting on March 1. It's Microsoft 's browser and responsibility for putting this antiquated technology -- and all Internet users subsequently affected by malicious and criminal activity -- out of misery. Save the Web! Stop Internet Explorer 6 now!
If security really is Microsoft's top priority -- and I say that it's not -- IE6 shouldn't be used by anyone anywhere. Microsoft bears the blame for the IE6 scourge. High IE6 usage is more than a situation of users clinging to older technology. Microsoft created this problem by:
Motorola launches its next Android-based device on Verizon
Since well before Motorola released even its first Android device, a render of a seafoam green and silver slider phone called "Calgary" was floating around the Android blogs. It wasn't until today that Motorola officially announced this phone. Now known as Devour, the new Android device will be available on Verizon Wireless in March.
Looking like the slightly smaller cousin of the popular Droid, Devour is Verizon's third Android phone, and first that carries Motorola's trademark MotoBLUR interface (built upon Android 1.6). In many respects, Devour looks quite a bit like the Droid, except with specs a little lighter to encourage affordability. The display, for example, is a 3.1" HVGA capacitive touchscreen with 320 x 480 resolution instead of 3.7" (480 x 854); and the camera is 3 megapixels instead of 5.
It's a three-way race: Opera preview clings to lead over Safari 4, Chrome 5
Download Opera 10.5 "Pre-alpha" for Windows from Fileforum now.
This week marked Google's first release of a development build browser called Chrome 5, which contains some not-yet-fully-implemented features including the browser's first personalized security settings. In recent months, Chrome's dev build has been the standard-setter for performance in Windows, with scores in Betanews tests that rise by as much as one point -- one relative quantum of IE7/Vista horsepower -- per month.
Google Nexus One gets proper multitouch
A new software update for the Nexus One Android phone will finally offer the famous "pinch to zoom" functionality found in other "superphones" such as the Apple iPhone, Palm Pre, and HTC HD2. This news came from Google earlier today.
The famous multitouch gesture has been present on Android phones outside of the US (including the Nexus One) but due to unspecified reasons, the American version of Android has not fully supported it.
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