iPhone OS 4.0 Brings Multitasking, Ad Framework For Apps 983

Posted by timothy on Thursday April 08, 2010 @05:47PM from the define-myself-as-outside-the-fence dept.

Low Ranked Craig writes "Apple had an event today to show off the next major update to the iPhone OS. iPhone OS 4.0 should arrive this summer (presumably with a new iPhone) for iPhone and iPod Touch, and in the fall for the iPad. According to Apple the update has more than 1,500 new APIs and 100 new features including the sorely missed multitasking. Other highlights include unified inbox, improved security, support for multiple Exchange accounts, application folders, iBooks, and iAd, an advertising framework for developers to put ads in their applications. The official word from Steve on Flash and Java remains a simple 'No.'" Updated 20100408 22:09 GMT by timothy: Read on for more information, including some bad news if you want to program for the iPhone in C# or Flash CS5.

Comment Re:Dump TiVo for MythTV (Score 1) 107

by supun on Saturday March 06, 2010 @04:35PM (#31383192) Attached to: TiVo Time Warp Judgment Affirmed

It doesn't.

Most US cable boxes have firewire, which by law should be enabled, which will allow you to record over the air channels, including local HD. However if you wanted to record HD HBO, you have to spend more for some really experimental equipment. Pretty much all of the non-over air, over 100/analog, are 5C encrypted. Basically you need a HD PVR to connect to your STD's component out. If you don't have component out, then you need to get a DVI to component converter (cheap). If you only have HDMI, then you need an HDMI to component converter (not cheap, and may be blacklisted). And if you want to record two streams, you have to double all the equipment. That will get you close to functionality of the HD TiVo.

Basically if you have basic analog cable, MythTV is the way to go. If you have digital cable, with HD packages, and want non-over air HD channels, then TiVo is the way to go. That is unless you want to mess with a lot of stuff. I just wanted to watch TV.

SCO Zombie McBride's New Plan For World Litigation 193

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 02, 2010 @04:32PM from the problem-is-the-missing-braaaiiins dept.

eldavojohn writes "Years after you thought it was all over, Groklaw is reporting that Darl McBride (ex-CEO of SCO) has formed a new company that is buying SCO's mobile business for peanuts — but he's also going to get 'certain Intellectual Property' with the deal. You may recall that McBride was the brains behind the Linux lawsuits that SCO launched and it appears he may be orchestrating an exit route where he escapes with some IP intact, in order to wreak havoc once again. Hopefully this is the part at the end of the movie where the zombie comes back to life one last time only to have the hero deliver the final final blow. When this news broke upon the investment world, SCO's stock skyrocketed a blistering 11%, bringing it up seven cents to a full seventy cents — a level which it has not achieved since 2007."

What Happens In Vegas Happens In Afghanistan 522

Posted by timothy on Sunday February 21, 2010 @05:33PM from the far-from-the-madding-crowd dept.

theodp writes "After the morning commute from his Las Vegas apartment, Air Force captain Sam Nelson sits in a padded chair inside a low, tan building in Nevada, controlling a heavily armed drone aircraft soaring over Afghanistan, prepared to kill another human being 7,500 miles away if necessary. Welcome to the surreal world of drone pilots, who have a front-row seat on war from half a world away. 'On the drive out here, you get yourself ready to enter the compartment of your life that is flying combat,' explained retired Col. Chris Chambliss. 'And on the drive home, you get ready for that part of your life that's going to be the soccer game.' No wonder why the Air Force is interested in the Xbox LIVE crowd and the Army's opened a new arcade recruitment center!"

Google Buys iPhone Search App, Kills It 223

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday February 19, 2010 @12:20PM from the throw-money-at-it dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "PC World reports that Google has acquired a popular iPhone application called reMail that provides 'lightning fast' full-text search of your Gmail and IMAP e-mail accounts. The app downloads copies of all your e-mail which can then be searched with various Boolean options. reMail has only been in the application store for about six months — with a free version limited to one Gmail account and a premium version which can connect to multiple accounts. 'Google and reMail have decided to discontinue reMail's iPhone application, and we have removed it from the App Store,' writes company founder Gabor Cselle, who will be returning to Google as a Product Manager on the Gmail team. Google isn't saying what the fate of reMail might be. Some are suggesting reMail could be integrated into Gmail search or live on in some form as a part of Android, Google's mobile platform. Another possibility is that Google may have snapped up reMail just to kill it, not because reMail was a competitor to anything Google had, but because reMail made the iPhone better or the acquisition may have more to do with keeping good search technology away from the competition, as opposed to an attempt to undercut the iPhone. 'Perhaps Google is just planning to buy up all the iPhone developers, one at a time, until Android is the only game in town,' writes Bill Ray at the Register."

Android / Windows 7 Dual Boot Netbook Disappoints 133

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday October 23, 2009 @02:29PM from the accepting-patches dept.

Barence writes "PC Pro has got its hands on Acer's Aspire One D250 with both Windows 7 and Google Android installed. Anyone who's played with an Android phone had better get ready for a let-down: Android is far from ready for netbooks. The review laments the lack of a proper Marketplace, the poor implementation of both the inbuilt browser and Firefox, and the general pointlessness of it all in its current incarnation as a quick-boot alternative. Yes, it will get better, but at the moment it's hardly going to lure people away from even Windows 7."

Comment Sorry, my fault (Score 1) 95

by supun on Saturday September 26, 2009 @02:29PM (#29549521) Attached to: AT&T Calls Google a Hypocrite On Net Neutrality

I used to get a daily call from AT&T pushing their Uverse, DSL, etc. Even though I told them no, they would call back the next day. So my only course was to forward my land line to my Google Voice phone number to block them. Soon after that I received a postcard asking if I was having problem with my land line.

Comment Re:Almost competing (Score 1) 706

by supun on Monday September 14, 2009 @02:26PM (#29416903) Attached to: Microsoft: Windows 7 Upgrade Can Take Nearly a Day

Stage 3 tarballs

When I ran Gentoo, I could do a full install in less than a half hour.

Microsoft Launches Its Own Open Source Foundation 344

Posted by timothy on Thursday September 10, 2009 @01:58PM from the said-the-spider-to-the-fly dept.

darthcamaro writes "Microsoft already had its own open source (OSI-approved) licenses, its own open source project hosting site and now it's adding its own non-profit open source foundation. That's right, the company that is still banging the patent drum against open source now has its own 501(c)(6) open source foundation. Officially called the CodePlex Foundation, it's a separate effort from the CodePlex site and is aimed at helping to get more commercial developers involved in open source. Considering how they continue to attack Linux and open source, will anyone take them seriously?"

iPod Fee Proposed For Canada 414

Posted by timothy on Monday September 07, 2009 @01:15AM from the when-organized-interests-meet-diffuse-ones dept.

innocent_white_lamb writes "The Canadian Private Copying Collective is pushing for the implementation of an iPod fee in Canada to compensate them for 'losses' when people copy music to their digital music players. They have collected a fee from every CDR sold in Canada since 1997 and now want to extend that to digital music players. From the article: 'Some have argued that once they buy a CD they shouldn't have to pay again and again to listen to those songs — which they already purchased — on a personal compilation CD or on their MP3 player. But for people like Milman and Basskin, it's about recognizing the value of those works. "There has to be some sort of way to compensate the artist for the hours and the sweat and the blood and the tears and the extreme, extreme expense that goes into making music," Milman said.'"

Comment Well I got my revenge (Score 4, Funny) 304

by supun on Friday August 21, 2009 @06:33PM (#29151613) Attached to: Why AT&T Killed iPhone Google Voice

I forward my AT&T land line number to my Google Voice number in order to block the constant AT&T telemarketers that call me.

A Video Ad, In a Paper Magazine 295

Posted by timothy on Thursday August 20, 2009 @04:10PM from the who'dathunkit dept.

lee1 writes "The first-ever video advertisement will be published in a traditional paper magazine — Entertainment Weekly — in September. The video will be displayed on slim-line screens around the size of a mobile phone display and will have rechargeable batteries. The associated chip can hold up to 40 minutes of video, and uses technology similar to that used in singing greeting cards, playing the movie when the page is turned. The first clips will preview CBS shows and advertise Pepsi, but they will only be distributed in Los Angeles and New York. Imagine the fun hacking possibilities."

Comment HD PVR (Score 5, Informative) 257

by supun on Sunday August 09, 2009 @09:24PM (#29006641) Attached to: Shaw Cable Again Blocks Firewire On Canadian Set-Top Boxes

I battled with my cable company to get them to enable the firewire on my cable box. After a long battle, they did. However only the over-the-air channels were not encrypted. The rest, including the HD channels, were 5C encrypted.

Instead of playing their little game, I purchased a HD PVR from Hauppauge. It's a component (Y,Pb,Pr) input recorder. Now there is no way to block me, except by disabling the component output on the cable box.

http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Hauppauge_HD-PVR

A Black Day For Internet Freedom In Germany 420

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 16, 2009 @01:50PM from the sun-going-down dept.

Several readers including erlehmann and tmk wrote to inform us about the dawning of Internet censorship in Germany under the usual guise of protecting the children. "This week, the two big political parties ruling Germany in a coalition held the final talks on their proposed Internet censorship scheme. DNS queries for sites on a list will be given fake answers that lead to a page with a stop sign. The list itself is maintained by the German federal police (Bundeskriminalamt). A protest movement has formed over the course of the last several months, and over 130K citizens have signed a petition protesting the law. Despite this, and despite criticism from all sides, the two parties sped up the process for the law to be signed on Thursday, June 18, 2009."

Arrington's Web Tablet Nearly Ready For Launch? 140

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday June 04, 2009 @12:05PM from the wouldn't-it-be-nice dept.

narramissic writes "The 'dead simple and dirt cheap' touchscreen Web tablet that Michael Arrington of TechCrunch set out to build last July seems to be nearing completion, writes blogger Peter Smith. 'The CrunchPad is a Linux-based touchscreen tablet using a browser-based UI. When you turn the unit on, it boots right into the webkit-based browser. There's a pop-up virtual keyboard for entering URLs and such (you wouldn't want to do any significant typing on it) and scrolling is via swiping the screen. When Arrington first visualized the project he was shooting for a $200 price point, then discovered that a $299 price was more realistic.'"