Microsoft has launched a bid to capture a segment of the growing market for rich web content on mobile phones. The software firm has signed a deal with handset manufacturer Nokia to bring its Silverlight platform to millions of mobile phones. Silverlight is seen as a competitor to Adobe's Flash.
Nokia's S60 platform, which uses Symbian, will be the first to take advantage of Silverlight. S60 is used in handsets built by LG and Samsung as well as Nokia.
Silverlight allows designers and developers to produce rich web applications that are independent of browser, operating system and handset. Microsoft has stressed its value for developing Web 2.0 applications that would work on a computer, but also on any other device including mobile phones.The software enters a marketplace already dominated by Adobe's Flash, and its recently launched Air product. Flash is already on millions of mobile phones. Adobe has agreements with 18 of the top 20 device manufacturers worldwide including Nokia.
Format War: Stop! Why It Still Isn't Safe to Buy Blu-ray
Now that Blu-ray is fully in the spotlight, it's got to get its act together spec-wise. Except for Panasonic's DMP-BD30 and the PlayStation 3 with up-to-date firmware, no current Blu-ray player can even handle the 1.1 spec with picture-in-picture, already appearing in certain Blu-ray discs .The place to be is spec 2.0, referred to as "full profile."
Suddenly, it's Sony who is looking the best here, with not only the
amazingly upgradable PS3 but two new players announced this week, the BDP-S350 and S550. Also who's to say that half of the blockbuster movies out on Blu-ray now
won't get a re-release with more interactive content when the spec 2.0
players saturate the market?...and of course, everything will get cheaper.
Whirlpool broadband survey says no to Telstra next gen Internet - Telecommunications - iTnews Australia
The latest annual survey of broadband subscribers conducted by online discussion forum Whirlpool has shown that respondents are strongly opposed to letting Telstra operate the nation's broadband infrastructure.Conducted over four weeks from 31 December 2007 to 1 February 2008, Whirlpool's 2007 Australian Broadband Survey collated the input of more than 17,000 broadband subscribers.
Of those respondents, a mere 5.7 percent supported a Telstra-led next generation infrastructure build (such as fibre-to-the-node). The G9 consortium, which is made up of Telstra rival telcos such as Optus and iiNet, fared slightly better with support from 21.4 percent, but fell well behind support for a Government led build which raked in 51.9 percent of the vote.
Microsoft promises IE8 beta in June - Software - iTnews Australia
Microsoft is to launch a test version of Internet Explorer 8 by the end of June, according to an official posting on a company blog. Improved support for Ajax programming and better security are among the enhancements to the latest version of the browser, according to Microsoft.Microsoft is also expected to address interoperability criticisms levelled at IE7. The new version is likely to comply more fully with World Wide Web Consortium standards bringing it in line with Mozilla's Firefox.
Mozilla patches critical Thunderbird flaw - Security - iTnews Australia
Users are being urged to update their copies of Mozilla's Thunderbird and SeaMonkey email applications after the disclosure of a serious security flaw..The advisory warns of a 'critical' flaw in the two applications which could allow an attacker to remotely execute code on compromised systems.
Mozilla said that the vulnerability lies in the way Thunderbird handles Mime content in email messages.
By sending a specially crafted message, an attacker could trigger a buffer overflow error which would leave the user vulnerable to the remote installation and launch of malware.
Nokia's Touch UI Hands-On: Officially Way Behind Apple
The working prototype here is very rough. It's missing animations between picture swipes and lacks truly natural menu swiping. It also doesn't support multitouch here, but that's a matter of hardware—and this is early software, so we should be not too harsh on Symbian for updating their great OS to keep up with the Joneses. But we can conclude one thing from this demo: Despite doing a good job of building a touch UI on S60 without alienating current users, Symbian is far behind Apple in UI development
Android Hands-On Video: It's Fast, It's Still Not There
No fancy graphics demos, no iPhone-style multimedia fizzbang, just a humble ARM9 processor in a plain white prototype "to demonstrate the scalability of Android" and serve as a "development platform.
Cellphones: New Android SDK Spells Out OS Improvements and UI
Screenshots included and the UI looks a lot better than the original, complete with screen animations
Featured Download: Get Notified of New Gmail in Multiple Accounts with GmailAssistant
Windows/Linux: Free, open source application GmailAssistant monitors multiple Gmail accounts and alerts you of new mail. The application can monitor anything from your inbox to specific labels, so you can get very granular about what you want to be notified of.
Google: Collaborate with Co-Workers Using Google Apps Team Edition
If you've always wished your workplace or school would take advantage of the Google Apps suite but it just isn't happening, Google has released a new, free Google Apps Team Edition designed to implement Google Apps collaboration with nothing more than a set of work email addresses. Once you sign up with Google Apps Team Edition, you and your co-workers can collaborate using Google Docs, Gcal, Gtalk, and a Google Start Page to bring it all together.
Feature: Manage Your Online Reputation
Are you happy with the results people get back when they Google your name? If not, there are easy ways to monitor and guide what information is published about you online.
Telephony: Get Your GrandCentral Number Today
If you've been dying to try out the one-number-to-rule-them-all phone service GrandCentral, but have been stymied by their move to a closed, invite-only beta following Google's acquisition of the service, you'll be glad to know that GrandCentral has opened up to users of Google's Blogger. If you're still undecided about whether or not GrandCentral is for you, check out our extensive review and gallery of GrandCentral.
Email: Use a Googlemail.com Address to Lessen Gmail Spam
The Digital Inspiration blog points out a Gmail trick that's been just under the surface all along (not that our commenters haven't noticed). Everyone who has an "name@gmail.com" address can also receive mail sent to "name@googlemail.com."
Collaboration: JotSpot Relaunches as Google Sites, Offers Similar Wiki-Like Collaboration
Google has unveiled the results of their purchase of JotSpot—the free collaboration tool you could once use to make wiki-like collaboration pages and organize your family—and while the offerings are somewhat slim at this point, it's looking like a promising addition to the Google Apps suite (both free and premium). You can set up Sites to create pages that only users with email addresses on a certain domain can use, or have your page open to edits or viewing by anyone. Each Sites account gets 10 GB of storage, and importing data and tools from other Google services, like group calendars, spreadsheets, Picasa slideshows, and the like, is pretty streamlined. Google Sites is free to use, and requires a sign-up with a non-Gmail email address.
SoundSource 2: Real audio controls in your menu bar
Rogue Amoeba's SoundSource, a handy freeware utility that offers much more convenient control over your Mac's audio. SoundSource basically wraps up most of the essential System Preferences Sound pane controls in a much more powerful and convenient menu bar item. You can switch between any of your output/input devices right from SoundSource, and Mac OS X Leopard users will see volume sliders for each audio item as well.Rogue Amoeba provides SoundSource to Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 users free of charge on its Freebies page.
PayPal to Safari users: 'Ditch it'
Safari is attracting some unwanted attention from PayPal, the eBay-owned payment company. PayPal is urging its users to ditch Safari and instead use alternative browsers such as Internet Explorer 7, IE 8, Firefox 2, Firefox 3, or even Opera.The reason for the warning is Safari's lack of anti-phishing technology. Currently the Apple browser does not alert users to sites that could be phishing for your info, and it lacks support for Extended Validation.
Digg - Can Apple Patent the Pinch? Experts Say It's Possible
"If Apple's patents are granted, the company could absolutely stop others from using similar technology,"... "They'd also be in an especially good position to stop others from including certain features. Apple could stop [their use] not only on mobile devices but also desktops."
RoboForm: Password Manager, Form Filler, Password Generator, Fill & Save Forms
RoboForm is the top-rated Password Manager and Web Form Filler that automates password entering and form filling.
No comments:
Post a Comment