Discovering True North

GNOME 3, after more than two years of development, has been released into the wild. GNOME 3 is not merely the logical successor of GNOME 2: it is an entirely new project, started from scratch, to create a “completely new, modern desktop designed for today’s users and technologies.”

The best way to check out GNOME 3′s new features — and it has lots of new features — is to run a live version of openSUSE or Fedora, or simply head over to the GNOME 3 website and watch the (rather pretty) introductory videos. If you want a synopsis, though, here it is: GNOME 3 looks a lot like Mac OS X, with a healthy dollop of iOSesqueness for good measure, but yet it still somehow retains an underlying feel of Linux.

The overall aesthetic is very simple, very elegant, and despite being slightly out of fashion, there are plenty of rounded corners, too. The main addition, workflow-wise, is the addition of an app-launcher-cum-alt-tab screen, where you can launch apps, or flip through your open windows. For a complete list of the new features and changes, check the GNOME 3 release notes.

Despite GNOME 3 being officially launched, there aren’t actually any releases for existing, stable Linux distros — it’s the live CD/USB images, or Ubuntu users will have to wait for the launch of 11.04 for a GNOME 3 PPA, but it will break Unity in the process. Fedora users will have to wait for for the May 24 release of Fedora 15. Of course, if you’re feeling crazy, you can always build GNOME 3 from source.

GNOME 3 released, ushers in an interesting amalgam of iOS and OS X originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 06:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/07/gnome-3-released-ushers-in-an-interesting-amalgam-of-ios-and-os/

ADOBE SYSTEMS AMERICA MOVIL MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY

Happy first birthday, Windows Phone 7! One year on, and the fledgling mobile operating system has 36,000 active developers in its AppHub community, 1.5 million downloads of its Developer Tools, and 11,500 apps in its Marketplace.

Microsoft is quick to take a couple shots at competitors’ app stores, beating its chest about not re-counting tanslations of an app or “lite” apps, “increasing tonnage” by supporting apps from other mobile platforms, and not listing wallpapers as a category.

That’s all fine and dandy, but we spend a lot of time sifting through WP7 app feeds — and we’re still not seeing a lot of awesome apps on the platform. We think a few marquee apps would’ve made a pretty nice first birthday present — along with a much smoother update process for WP7 users.

Microsoft trumpets Windows Phone 7 numbers on first birthday originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/01/microsoft-trumpets-windows-phone-7-numbers-on-first-birthday/

camera ORACLE INGRAM MICRO

Silicon Valley is famously, and rightly, proud of its place as the spiritual home for startups. And it has an inspiring and awesome track record that?s tough to beat. However, as the recent Le Web conference proved, European tech hubs like London, Berlin and more recently Paris, can now also lay claim to breeding world-class entrepreneurs. There?s a sense that Europe is finally getting its groove on when it comes to startup innovation, and that?s exciting to watch and be a part of. (When even Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld is getting in on the action, you know that Digital/Tech is having a moment?) Below are five European startups you should keep your eye on.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/-l2YF5C6taM/

SIEMENS DIEBOLD L IDENTITY SOLUTIONS

Wladimir Palant, developer of the most popular add-on in the world, Adblock Plus, is also an active contributor to the Planet Mozilla blog community. Over the last few days, in response to Mozilla’s new name and shame list of slow add-ons, Palant has been investigating whether Mozilla’s testing methods are actually accurate.

Rather surprisingly, it turns out that Mozilla’s numbers could be significantly wrong — and if they’re not wrong, the factors that Mozilla uses to tabulate an add-ons final score should definitely be made more transparent.

In the first set of tests, Palant shows that FlashGot’s position in the top 10 is probably due to a fault in Mozilla’s testing setup, and that add-ons can perform very differently depending on which operating system they’re being tested on. In the second analysis, Palant uncovers an irregularity that doesn’t seem to have an obvious cause — but it could be due to an I/O bottleneck on Mozilla’s test machines. Basically, even though performance testing of Read It Later is disabled because of a bug, it still (somehow!) manages to record a 14% slow-down on Windows 7.

Palant concludes both analyses by scolding Mozilla for going public with the performance data before its testing methods had been confirmed accurate. It definitely looks like Mozilla has been more than a little reckless, considering the importance of Firefox’s add-on ecosystem.

Adblock Plus developer pokes holes in Mozilla’s new add-on performance tests originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 05:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/04/08/adblock-plus-developer-pokes-holes-in-mozillas-new-add-on-perfo/

HCL TECHNOLOGIES VERIFONE HOLDINGS ZORAN

Two weeks ago, smack-dab in the middle of the CarrierIQ saga, Senator Al Franken pounded his fist on the table and demanded answers. He wanted to know what CarrierIQ is all about and why several US mobile providers and manufacturers felt the need to install potentially invasive software on the phones of unsuspecting consumers. Senator Franken sent Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, Samsung, HTC and Motorola a series of thirteen questions each, trying to get to the bottom of what each company is doing with the mysterious software. So far, all but T-Mobile and Motorola have complied with the Senator’s wishes, as the two remaining companies were given until December 20th to have their responses submitted (we’ll update this post as those are made public).

As we reported previously, the Senator wasn’t all too pleased by what the companies had to say. But what exactly is found in these pages and pages of documents? A few answers, and some more questions. We have pored through each company’s letter, so follow us below as we break down their responses to each of the Senator’s queries.

Note: The level of involvement by the government seems to be making an impact, as Sprint is now disabling all Carrier IQ software on its devices so that data cannot be collected anymore. Its response to Senator Franken, however, should not be discounted as it provides insight into why the carrier’s been a “valued customer” of CIQ’s since 2006, and how it’s been using the data it has collected over the past five years. Read on!

Continue reading Senator Al Franken asks about Carrier IQ, the companies answer: the complete breakdown

Senator Al Franken asks about Carrier IQ, the companies answer: the complete breakdown originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/17/senator-al-franken-asks-about-carrier-iq-the-companies-answer/

SPSS SILICON LABORATORIES RF MICRO DEVICES

Sure, we’ve shown you a hands-on, but we know your brain’s been working hard imagining what it’s like to unwrap Sony’s next-gen handheld. The PS Vita could easily be considered one of the — if not the biggest — teases of the gadgetverse; since it was first unveiled, it’s only had time for a smattering of cameos. Regardless, no one is questioning the Vita’s determination to be in as many wish lists as possible by its eventual 2012 release. Folks who tend to enjoy teasers can find precisely that just after the break.

Continue reading PS Vita gets first public unboxing treatment, leaves nothing to the imagination (video)

PS Vita gets first public unboxing treatment, leaves nothing to the imagination (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/ps-vita-gets-first-public-unboxing-treatment-leaves-nothing-to/

TIBCO SOFTWARE INFORMATICA BT GROUP

It’s not going to guarantee you an A+ like showing up with a working portal gun would. But you can still wow your teachers by building your own version of Portal 2′s potato-powered AI, even though the kit’s a fraud. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/LbnSXvD4XSs/potatos-kit-turns-a-portal-2-gag-into-a-science-fair-project

ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS ROCKWELL AUTOMATION LINEAR TECHNOLOGY

When Amazon Appstore for Android launched last week, one of its primary features — Test Drive — was disabled just a few minutes after it opened. With no try-before-you-buy, no refund process, and 1-Click purchasing ready to strike at any moment, this caused some problems. Anyway, don’t despair: Test Drive is now enabled.

Before you get your hopes up, Test Drive doesn’t work with every app. The IMDb app works fine — you can even watch movie trailers on it! — but the Angry Birds games are sadly not enabled. Some games work surprisingly well, though, like Bubble Buster. There’s very little latency, and the framerate is really rather good. The Test Drive experience is so true to life that you even get ads; how cool is that?

Continue reading Amazon Appstore for Android Test Drive hands on: surprisingly cool, but still US-only

Amazon Appstore for Android Test Drive hands on: surprisingly cool, but still US-only originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/28/amazon-appstore-for-android-test-drive-hands-on-surprisingly-co/

ON SEMICONDUCTOR TEXAS INSTRUMENTS PEROT SYSTEMS

The periscope only came about with the advent of the submarine, right? Wrong. These handy, corner-checking devices have been used everywhere from the trenches of WWI to aboard the Gemini Spacecraft. Our friends at Oobject have collected nine of the best examples. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/vZBOkmMfw80/

SIEMENS DIEBOLD L IDENTITY SOLUTIONS

Warpia will be showcasing its latest media multitasker, the ConnectHD, at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show. The ConnectHD comes with a wide-angle wireless HD video camera and a multi-directional microphone, allowing users to make 720p video calls au naturel or otherwise from the living room via apps like Skype or MSN Messenger. It can also be used for playing PC webcam games and streaming media from your PC to an HDTV in 1080p. Although the ConnectHD won’t come with extra appendages to help you do all that stuff at once, it does come with a wireless USB PC adapter, a wireless USB TV adapter, a HDMI cable and, naturally, the requisite software for the device. Pricing is pegged at a piggy bank-busting $199.99, placing it right alongside Biscotti’s TV Phone.

Continue reading Warpia to show ConnectHD device at CES, let you couch-Skype on your HDTV

Warpia to show ConnectHD device at CES, let you couch-Skype on your HDTV originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/warpia-to-show-connecthd-device-at-ces-let-you-couch-skype-on-y/

JACK HENRY and ASSOCIATES INSIGHT ENTERPRISES LAWSON SOFTWARE