Ubuntu One for Windows released

Ubuntu One is popular cloud based service (similar to Skydrive I would say) where you can backup, sync and access your content (files/photos/folders/music etc) from anywhere. Till now, this service was available only on Linux and today Ubuntu has released Ubuntu One for Windows users (xp/vista/7 are supported). The main features of this service are:

• 5GB free storage
• Music Streaming at $3.99 a month and $39.99 a year (20GB of storage)
• 20GB of data storage at $2.99 a month and $29.99 a year. 
• access files that are uploaded from anywhere
• content sharing
• Collarboration

You can download Windows version of Ubuntu One rightaway from here. It is interesting to see whether windows users will adopt this or not and it surely heats up the race for cloud domination.

Thrustmaster Ferrari F1 Wheel Add-On looks super hot

This one's purely for Ferrari lovers. Thrustmaster has released Ferrari F1 Wheel add-on for it's Thrustmaster RS series of force feedback racing simulator and here is how it looks:

This can be used with their RS series. For more information, head here

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 PLUS announced

The much awaited Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus (with 7" display) is announced today. This is the younger sibling of Galaxy Tab 10.1 and comes with a 7" display and is powered by a dual core processor. Good news is that this tab will be running Touchwiz UI on top of Honeycomb version of Android. Below is the full press release from Samsung:

Samsung ready to strike deal with Apple

It seems that Samsung is getting desperate on not being able to sell Galaxy Tabs in many countries, thanks to Apple's patent lawsuit. There is news that Samsung has now placed a deal for Apple to agree and let it's Gtab out in the market. This has happened in Australia where the two companies are engaged in a court battle. The terms of the deal are not clear and Apple is yet to accept the deal. Stay tuned for updates.

Firefox 8 beta shows interesting new features

The new beta release of Mozilla's Firefox 8 has revealed some interesting features.

• Twitter is now added to build-in list of search providers
• After the browser is restored (from OS reboot etc), only the active tab will be restored fully while the other tabs will be restored (loaded) only when they are opened
• Add-ons will be in disabled state after install unless they are enabled by user
• Mobile version now does not require restart after add-on installation
• Animated dragging of tabs
• For Android version of FF, users have option to encrypt user names and paswords. 

To check the full list of changes, check this link

Appbrain Stream: Social app discovery tool

To make it clear, this is not about discovering social networking applications on AppBrain. This is about finding applications that you need in a better way. Appbrain stream works more like an RSS feed where you will be getting updates on what the buddies whom you have added to your stream have installed. In short, Appstream:

• lets you see what apps your friends are using
• recommends apps to you based on apps that you like
• App review
• post/receive messages to/from friends that you follow
• announcements on new applications/updates
• Similar to facebook stream, entries in your stream can be commented on,like/unlike etc
• integration with facebook and twitter

and this is how a typical stream looks like:

list of preinstalled apps for Nexus Prime leaked

As per Droid-Life, it seems that there isn't any bloatware in the upcoming Nexus device. Here is the list in case you want to double check:

ApplicationsProvider.apk, BIP.apk, BackupRestoreConfirmation.apk
Bluetooth.apk, BooksTablet.apk, BrowserGoogle.apk
Calculator.apk, CalendarGoogle.apk, CalendarProvider.apk
CameraGoogle.apk, CertInstaller.apk, ChromeBookmarksSyncAdapter.apk
Contacts.apk, ContacsProvider.apk, DefaultContainerService.apk
DeskClockGoogle.apk, DownloadProvider.apk, DownloadProviderUi.apk
DrmProvider.apk, EmailGoogle.apk, ExchangeGoogle.apk
FaceLock.apk, Galaxy4.apk, GalleryGoogle.apk
GenieWidget.apk, Gmail.apk, GoogleBackupTransport.apk

Add-on Recovery Tool for Firefox 7

An upgrade to Firefox 7 seems to have caused some or all of add-ons disappear for some users. To rectify this, Mozila has released an add-on, which when installed can restore all those missing add-ons. The procedure is simple:

• Install the add-on from here .
• Restart the browser
• Add-on recovery tool will recover the lost add ons automatically when the browser starts. 

For more information on this add-on, visit this page.

The Rumour Mill - Daily Rumor feed

Samsung Stratosphere heading to Verizon?

Another day and another leak Samsung's upcoming 4G LTE Android device from Samsung and this time it is detailed specification. Single core 1GHz processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB internal memory power this phone while it has 4" 800x480 resolution display. As you are already aware of, this phone has a qwerty slider and it seems to have a 1.3mp high quality video call camera (front). The rumored price will be between 250$ and 300$

Source: http://www.electronista.com/articles/11/09/28/specs.on.par.with.epic.4g/

Samsung's October 11 event for Nexus Prime?

It seems entirely logical that the October 11 event organized by Samsung and Google is to unveil the next Nexus phone, probably the last one to be manufactured by Sammy. If you want to know if this is true or not, follow the event that starts at 11:30 a.m., Pacific Time.

Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20113245-251/samsung-to-show-off-nexus-prime-at-oct-11-event/

Nokia working on low cost Linux based OS?

Under code name Meltemi, it seems that Nokia is working on a light weight Linux based smartphone OS for its low end devices. It is said that this is being run by Mary McDowell, EVP, Nokia mobile phone deivision.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203405504576599011587667984.html

Nvidia Kepler GPU first engineering samples out

Kepler is the successor to the successful Fermi series of GPUs from Nvidia. The first lower-mid range chip GK107, probably meant for notebooks. This chip, manufactured on a 28nm fabrication, will have a 128-bit memory interface and will support DDR3 and GDDR5 memory. This chip might come out as part of 600M chipset to replace the current Nvidia 500M chipset that is found in current generation notebooks. The production samples may come out by January 2012 

This would mark the beginning of a new fight between ATI and Nvidia. While the last fight was won by ATI, it will be interesting to see whether Nvidia can take the next one. 

Skype for Android gets an update, brings new features

Skype for Android is upgraded to version 2.5. The following devices are now whitelisted to make video calls:

• Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (T-Mobile)
• HTC SHOOTER (KDDI)
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Live with Walkman
• Sony Ericsson Xperia neo V
• Acer Iconia Tablet (A500)
• LG Optimus Black LANDSCAPE ONLY
•  LG Optimus 3D LANDSCAPE ONLY
• LG Optimus 2x LANDSCAPE ONLY
• Motorola Photon
•  Motorola Droid3 LANDSCAPE ONLY
• Motorola Bionic LANDSCAPE ONLY
•  Motorola Xoom
• Motorola Atrix

Some devices will now support both landscape and portrait style video call screen. Free version of Skype will now display ads while Skype Premium subscription will give ads-free experience. Other notable features include

• Better support for bluetooth headsets
• Edit and delete IM messages
• Double-tap to zoom on video.

Let me round this off with a video from Skype:

Microsoft sets up Windows Phone feature suggestion box

Microsoft has setup a webpage in it's Windows Phone site where you can suggest a feature that you think should be added to future versions of Windows Phone Operating system or you can just vote for features that are already added by others. Do remember that Microsoft does not encourage you to provide any patentable ideas/vidoes/demos for which you don't want to grant license to Microsoft. 


If you are already thinking of feature(s), go to this page and submit feature(s).

Android gets Flickr application

Yahoo! powerful photo application is available for Android now.  The following is the feature set of this application:

1. in-app camera
2. sharing to social networks, through email and to blogs
3. Enhance photos using pre-installed filters
4. Tag your photos
5. Powerful organization tools
6. Easy to setup privacy settings
7. Add geolocation for photos.

So, what are you waiting for. This app is already available on the android market here.

Note: The flickr app is available only in these countries:

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States,

Amazon Kindle! Four new readers and one is 'The One'

Dear Customer, 

There are two types of companies: those that work hard to charge customers more, and those that work hard to charge customers less. Both approaches can work. We are firmly in the second camp.
....
....
....
....
Thank you for being a customer,
Jeff Bezos
Founder & CEO

The above was an open letter by CEO of Amazon to his customers. The letter/email was written to announce four new products in their super hit Kindle lineup. The announcement, though, was done a little earlier in a press event.

Canonical follows Microsoft, sets up Ubuntu App Developer Platform

What is Ubuntu App Developer site/platform?
Ubuntu App developer platform is a platform where you can learn, design,discuss, publish applications for Ubuntu Linux.

How do I learn how to design apps for Ubuntu Software Center?
developer.ubuntu.com will be the Point of Reference for information related to all information (porting, sharing, searching,contributing). From learning your own app to designing your own app to helping out others to develop their apps, this place will be at the core of the activities.

What does this App Developer Site contain?
This site is divided into five sections:

• Get Started: Recommended tools, workflow detail, kickstart video(s)
• Resources: Documentation (guidelines, tutorials etc)
• Publish: Guide to publish applications
• Community: Share and interact with fellow developers
• My Apps: Online tool. Helps devs publish their apps ready for use in Software Centre. 

 

The above picture shows how your My Apps section will look like. 

When will this go live?
It is already live. Just go to developer.ubuntu.com and Get started now.

The above video explains how to create a simple application in less than 5 minutes. This is for the new Ubuntu App Developer platform that they just announced.


Source: http://developer.ubuntu.com/2011/09/announcing-the-ubuntu-app-developer-site/

Limo + Lifo = Tizen

The Linux Foundation and LiMo Foundation have announced that they will be working together on a new open source software project, named Tizen.


What is Tizen?

Tizen is an open source Operating System mainly based on Linux.

What kind of devices will Tizen Support?

Tizen will support wide range of devices like smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, netbooks and infotainment devices.

Who is working on Tizen?

The Linux Foundation will host the project while development will be led by Intel and Samsung (open development)

What about programming languages?

HTML5 based programming interfaces, app development to happen mostly based on emerging web standards.

Launch date?

Expect SDK release in Q1 2012

Source: https://www.tizen.org/ (for further announcements, developer documentation etc)

Xperia devices to get Cyanogen Mod 7

For long, Cyanogenmod team has been lending a helping hand to many who wished their phone had a better, faster and latest firmware. For long, Sony Ericsson had abandoned the Xperia X10 users. Most of the X10 devices stopped getting updates past 2.1 version of Android. Those who wanted more had to go for custom ROMs. While some of them are good, some are just average, ridden by bugs. There are few custom ROMs that are on a different level when it comes to stability and usability and fast updates (and bug fixes) and Cyanogenmod is one of those ROMs. About a month ago, CM team had announced that they will release ROMs for newer Xperia devices (play, arc and neo) and few hours ago, they decided to partner with FreeXperia team to bring out CM7 to following Xperia devices:

1. Xperia X10 Mini
2. Xperia X10 Mini Pro
3. Xperia X8
4. Xperia X10

Also, these three newer Xperia devices will also get the CM7 ROM (that makes it total of 10 Xperia devices to get CM7 ROM):

1. Xperia Mini
2. Xperia Mini Pro
3. Xperia Ray

When this will be out, there is no news on that but this is a very good news for SE Xperia lovers. We will keep you updated on this.

Firefox 7 released

Mozilla, the maker of Firefox has released version 7 of the browser to public today. Key features of this version are:

1. Better memory management
2. Faster and better performance during clicks (menu/tabs) and when lot of tabs are open
3. New rendering backend is added to speed up canvas operations in Windows
4. Security and stability related fixes
5. New tools for developers. You can fine more info on these tools here
6. Support for W3C navigation timing spec API (for developers)

For more in depth information about this relased, you can read the release notes here