01.07.14
Posted in News Roundup at 11:30 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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It’s getting smaller. The brand new Intel Edison is a full blown SOC (System On a Chip), the size of an SD card.
The Edison was demonstrated at Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014 by Intel CEO Bryan Krzanich. It runs on an DDR2 RAM and the recently announced dual-core Quark processor, which is roughly one-fifth the size of Intel Atom.
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Freescale has unveiled a tiny, open, Android-based wearable reference platform based on an i.MX6 ARM SoC and supported by a Warpboard.org community site.
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We live in an age where more and more devices are being run by operating systems, and are being connected to the internet that can seemingly be found all around us. The latest of such is a Belkin Smart Slow Cooker. As you might have guessed, the Slow Cooker is powered by WeMo, which is based on Linux and powers a multitude of other home based devices. This crock-pot is able to be controlled remotely via the WeMo app for Android or iOS and will be sure to have an edge on other slow cooking challengers. Mums no longer need to stay at home and wait for the cooking to be done. This functionality is huge and will surely make huge strides in 2014.
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Roku’s set-top boxes which were known for being cheap and simple to use have now been rooted thanks to hackers from GTVHacker.
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Sales of the open source BeagleBone Black SBC, which began shipping in May, have surpassed 100,000 units according to BeagleBoard.org.
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A Russian startup has produced a Linux-based WiFi controller board for remote control and video observation applications, and has demonstrated its use in a remote controlled car.
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People have been loading Ubuntu and other Linux distributions onto Android TV sticks for about as long as these cheap ARM-based devices have been available. But the Rikomagic MK802 IV LE is one of the first models to come with Ubuntu pre-loaded.
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Posted in News Roundup at 11:22 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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After almost one year of hard work, David King was proud to announce this past weekend that version 2.1.9 of his EasyTAG open source tag editor software, which supports MP3, FLAC and Ogg Vorbis audio files, is now available for download with numerous new features and bugfixes.
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Music streaming services have fundamentally altered the way that people access music. Sales of CDs have been steadily falling year on year although they continue to remain the dominant format for music purchases. Digital music sales have also been decreasing. These falls have come at the same time as a profound surge in popularity of music streaming services. Competition in this field is fierce, with music providers such as Spotify, Google Play Music All Access, XBox Music, Rdio, and Pandora all offering a convenient way to access a huge library of music without having to store physical discs or wait for music to synchronise with devices.
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Posted in News Roundup at 11:21 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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Posted in News Roundup at 11:20 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
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The swap device – you probably have one, and you may have used it, but you may not know precisely what it is or whether you actually need it. Once upon a time, when a typical computer had only a few hundred megabytes of RAM, swap devices were critical to a machine’s performance and stability. But are swap devices still necessary? What exactly do they do?
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Posted in GNU/Linux at 11:13 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Summary: More success stories relating to GNU and Linux in mobile platforms
Free software in mobile is not just Android and it’s not just Linux. GNU too is part of this revolution, as Ubuntu Edge [1] helped prove. Meizu [2], a hardware platform which is believed to be Ubuntu’s first phone, incorporates a lot of the Free software stack, enabling developers to port desktop applications to phones (just like in Maemo, MeeGo, and Jolla’s Sailfish OS).
Now we discover that WebOS is to be incorporated in TVs from LG [3-4], demonstrating yet another manifestation on Linux in miniature platforms. Additionally, Firefox OS reaches TVs, tablets, and desktops [5-8], demonstrating that not only Android has desktop ambitions that are starting to bear fruit. █
Related/contextual items from the news:
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This technological dreamscape is actually closer than you think. Canonical (the company behind Ubuntu Linux) made a valiant effort with the indiegogo campaign for Ubuntu Edge. With its Ubuntu Touch interface, Canonical will finally make this all a reality. The same interface between tablet, phone, and desktop will also help users easily sync data between their devices.
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Information about the first official Ubuntu phone has been spotted on a Chinese website, making Meizu the first hardware partner for Canonical.
According to the website in question, Meizu will come to CES 2014 with the first Ubuntu phone, probably using its newly announced Meizu MX3 platform.
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“The beauty of webOS is that it provides so much freedom and is so simple to use,” said In-kyu Lee, senior vice president and head of the company’s TV division. “Consumers will find navigating, exploring and switching between different forms of content on webOS a truly enjoyable, not frustrating, experience.”
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LG hasn’t yet taken the stage for its CES keynote, but the company’s Korea division has already revealed the webOS TV. Palm’s mobile operating system has been resurrected as a TV interface that focuses on ease of use. And LG is putting its weight behind the effort: webOS will be used on over 70 percent of the company’s 2014 Smart TV lineup. webOS on the TV is very different from what you remember on mobile phones. It’s now based around three new features: simple connection, simple switching, and simple discovery.
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Firefox OS widened its horizons today. Panasonic says it’s using it in a smart TV, and Via Technologies pledged to support it on new embedded form factors.
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At CES 2014 in Las Vegas today, Mozilla announced its plans for Firefox OS this year. Having launched Firefox OS for smartphones in 2013, the company has now partnered with Panasonic to bring its operating system to TVs, and also detailed the progress that has been made around the tablet and desktop versions.
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VIA and Mozilla already have out Firefox OS for the APC Paper and APC Rock. The APC Paper is a $99 VIA ARM Cortex-A9 800MHz with 512MB DDR3 desktop computer that’s built inside a recycled cardboard box. Rock The APC Rock is basically the same VIA ARM Cortex-A9 512MB development board but without the recycled cardboard case and costs $20 USD less. These are VIA’s first two Firefox OS supported ARM devices but other products powered by Mozilla’s operating system are expected.
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Mozilla’s Firefox Web browser once was limited to just desktop and notebook computers running on top of existing operating systems, but that’s no longer the case. In a series of announcements today at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Mozilla announced new Firefox OS efforts to bring the open-source browser operating system to TVs, tablets and even desktop PCs.
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Posted in Antitrust, GNU/Linux, Microsoft, Windows at 10:45 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Joaquin Almunia, who is closely observed by the NSA (under the pretext of “terrorism”), won’t buy Microsoft’s complaints
Photo by Agência Brasil
Summary: Android, which incorporates Linux, is truly unstoppable, so Microsoft resorts to desperate measures that it previously used to suppress GNU/Linux adoption
TO MICROSOFT, Android is no joking matter and not a platform to be ridiculed (Microsoft is well past the stage of ridicule). Microsoft now uses proxies such as Nokia (via additional proxies) for patent assaults and even antitrust assaults against Android (it’s not going to work in Europe because of obviousness and hypocrisy).
Why should Microsoft be so terrified and nervous about Android?
Well, Android is now moving up to the desktop, Microsoft’s main area of illegally-obtained domination. “HP takes Android PCs commercial,” said one ZDNet journalist [1] (journalists are rare at ZDNet, as most are trolls, moles, and even existing Microsoft staff), adding to what his colleague said about Lenovo [2]. Another article asked: “Could an Android desktop replace your Windows PC?” [3]
In addition, Android is getting huge traction inside cars [4-7] (Western companies), not to mention tablets [8], cameras [9], and smartwatches [10] (mostly east Asian companies). All that Microsoft can do is try to tax those companies (as it does especially in east Asia) and try dropping the price of Windows to zero [11], essentially rendering its bogus antitrust complaints against Android hypocritical.
It has been quite gratifying to see Microsoft resorting to desperate measures like these. When German cars run Linux (Android) [12-13], Acer turns to Android desktops [14], longtime Linux foes like NVIDIA shift attention to Linux (Android) [15] and “fragmentation” FUD becomes too weak to be used [16] (CyanogenMod is an alternative option for Android devices, not a fork [17]) it is clear that Android is only growing. There’s no turning back now. It even starts occupying desktops, cars, kitchens, living rooms, etc. It is already dominant in phones (new example in [18-20]) and in tablets (examples in [21-24]). Muktware covers a good range of new products [25-28] and on the applications side too there is a lot to be found [29]. The wide range of cutting-edge applications which are designed for Android would be probably the reasons that some companies now seriously consider Android a desktop-ready platform. There’s not much Microsoft can do now; it lost its inertia. █
Related/contextual items from the news:
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The move, outlined at the Consumer Electronics Show 2014, comes just a few hours after Lenovo launched an Android all-in-one designed for the living room. HP’s Slate Pro AiO will run Android 4.3 with an Nvidia Tegra 4 quad-core processor. For good measure, HP is including Kingsoft Office Suite, Box storage and Citrix Receiver for Windows application support.
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Lenovo on Sunday rolled out an Android all-in-one home computer designed to be a living room multimedia PC. Should Android-powered PCs do well it would further disrupt the PC market and splinter the operating system selection a bit more.
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Android as a PC operating system isn’t a new idea. Samsung announced a dual-boot Windows 8.x/Android convertible tablet, the Ativ Q, in June 2013. There are also rumors that Intel and its partners will be announcing “PC Plus” devices that will run Android apps on top of Windows 8.1, ala Bluestacks, at CES. HP and Lenovo have a more radical idea: Replace Windows entirely with Android on the desktop.
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The search giant has created a new organisation, with the backing of several of the world’s largest car makers, to promote the Android operating system as a common standard for in-car computers
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Google and a number of automakers are planning to bring Android to cars with the launch of a new group called the Open Automotive Alliance. The alliance consists of Google, GM, Honda, Audi, Hyundai, and chipmaker Nvidia, and will focus on bringing the successful mobile operating system to in-car entertainment systems “in a way that is purpose built for cars.” The first cars with Android integration are planned for launch by the end of 2014.
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Based on a tidbit from an unnamed insider, SamMobile said on Friday that Samsung is prepping three Pro tablets as well as a lite version of the Galaxy Tab 3. The pro lineup would include the Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4, the Galaxy Tab Pro 10.1, and the Galaxy Note Pro 12.2.
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Samsung is unveiling the Galaxy Camera 2 today, its second take on the idea of a truly smart point-and-shoot. Like its predecessor, the Galaxy Camera 2 runs Android, has wireless connectivity, and is operated primarily through controls on a large, 4.8-inch touchscreen. It’s still designed around making photos easy to share and edit using Android apps, but this time around, Samsung is promising a camera that can take even better photos in the first place — potentially making up for one of its predecessor’s weakest points.
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This can only be viewed as a seriously desperate attempt by Microsoft to grasp at any straw left within reach. Google and Apple have both hit Microsoft hard by providing free operating systems, and Microsoft is flailing around trying to figure out how to become relevant again.
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Android is everywhere, it is currently powering lot of other electronic devices. The OS that started with mobile devices, is now slowly making it’s way into automobiles. Google has joined hands with german automaker, Audi to develop in car entertainment and information system based on Android for their cars.
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This year at CES, Acer is introducing two new desktops – yes, you read that correctly, desktops – running the wildly successful variant of Linux known as Android. They’re cleverly positioning these exactly as I’ve been predicting for a long time: as monitors. They’re monitors with video inputs that the luddites can connect to a computer running Windows 8, complete with touchscreen input. But they also have a full Android stack available, which will operate independently with no external computer attached.
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Nvidia’s big announcement for CES 2014 was, as expected, the fifth generation of its Tegra mobile processor. It’s such a momentous step forward for the company, however, that it’s getting a whole new designation in being called the Tegra K1. That’s because it implements the Kepler architecture, which underpins Nvidia’s desktop graphics card lineup, meaning you’re literally getting desktop-class graphics technology in your mobile processor.
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Android 4.3 was released to Nexus devices a little over a month ago, but, as is usual with Android updates, it’s taking much longer to roll out the general public. Right now, a little over six percent of Android users have the latest version. And if you pay attention to the various Android forums out there, you may have noticed something: no one cares.
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CyanogenMod is going strong, the team has brought support to all major flagship devices of 2013 from different manufacturers. Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One, LG G2, Moto X and Nexus 5 makes the list of supported devices. You might have noticed Samsung Galaxy Note 3 missing from the list; well, not anymore, a recent post on the official Google+ page of CyanogenMod says that CyanogenMod source code for Note 3 is now available for download, nightlies are coming soon.
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The Handheld Group launched the Nautiz X1, a rugged, 4-inch smartphone with Android 4.0, a 15mm profile, 180-gram weight, and IP67 water- and dustproofing.
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DreamWorks has partnered with Fuhu, the company responsible for the Nabi line of tablets, to produce an Android tablet for kids. The 8-inch Dreamtab will cost “under $300,” according to the New York Times, and will feature regularly updated original content based on DreamWorks characters. The content will be tailored for tablets, and will automatically arrive on Dreamtabs ready for consumption. Unlike many mobile games based on movies and TV, the content isn’t being created by a third party, but instead is being produced in-house.
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The Android computer within the TA272 HUL runs on an Nvidia Tegra 4 quad-core processor, which is still one of the fastest ARM SoCs around. The Tegra 4 features four Cortex-A15 cores and a 72-core GeForce GPU (graphics processing unit). Other TA272 HUL features include 16GB of internal storage, dual-mode WiFi, HDMI and DisplayPorts, and a USB 3.0 port for game controllers and other peripherals.
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Intel has big Android ambitions for 2014. The chipmaker’s points of focus for the year ahead include 64-bit processing power and more tablets.
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When you look at existing Android tablets, they are all basically the same with the exception of Lenovo’s Yoga 8 and 10. They are thin, light slates with roughly equivalent processors and memory. They have memory slots to augment system storage, and the typical audio/video ports.
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Posted in Free/Libre Software, Hardware at 10:11 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Universally-accessible back door is said to be in many ‘free’ (gratis) devices with Linux
Summary: New allegations and additional evidence of back doors in widely used network equipment
NOW that we’re seeing ISPs like BT using hubs and routers as alleged back doors (into private networks) because Linux on its own is not enough for privacy (also see [1, 2, 3, 4]) we should be better aware of the need for Free software in routers. A new report [1] says that a “[b]ackdoor in wireless DSL routers lets attacker reset router, get admin” and another says that Linksys is back [2,3] under Belkin management, not Cisco management (which is backdoors-friendly). In my latest meeting with Richard Stallman he stressed the importance is building and adopting Free software-based routers; everything else simply cannot be trusted given what we now know. █
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Many Phoronix readers likely recall the glory years of the open-source-friendly Linksys WRT54G router that for some is still a great device and there’s still the thriving OpenWRT community. Good news out of CES today is that Linksys is letting the WRT54G live-on in the form of the 802.11ac-based WRT1900AC.
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Posted in TechBytes Video at 4:57 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz
Direct download as Ogg
Summary: Dr. Richard Stallman, the Free Software Foundation’s founder, explains how the GNU project started
Made entirely using Free/libre software, heavily compressed for performance on the Web at quality’s expense
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