Treeduck

Two prominent Web-based programming advocates have left Mozilla for Palm, arguing that the time has come to use browsers to bypass Apple's controlling role in mobile applications.
Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith, who help run the Ajaxian site for elaborate Web interfaces and who worked on Mozilla's Web-based Bespin tool for collaborative programming, announced their move to Palm on Friday.

Palm is a logical place for them to go. The Palm Pre has won accolades as a competitive mobile phone, and its foundation for applications is a WebKit-based browser, meaning that Palm programs are essentially Web programs.
"I will be joining Ben, my best friend, partner in crime, and fellow Ajaxian, as we take a new role as directors of the Palm Developer Relations team. We will have the responsibility of the developer experience with Palm. We will be trying to create a rich connective tissue between the company and the Web developer community that we love," Almaer wrote on his blog.
Web-based programs are typically slower and less capable than alternatives that run natively on a computing device. But they have one big potential advantage: written once, they can run on any device with a browser and hardware up to the task.
Although Galbraith and Dalmaer are excited by the possibilities of Web applications and the new era of mobile computing ushered in most notably by Apple's iPhone, Galbraith appears to be concerned about the control Apple exercises over the applications people can use on their phones.
"Clearly, a revolution in hardware is taking place, and it doesn't take a prophet to work out that the future of computing lies along this new trajectory," Galbraith said. "However, my enthusiasm for this amazing new world is tempered by some unfortunate decisions made by some of the players in this space. It seems that some view this revolution as a chance to seize power in downright Orwellian ways by constraining what we, as developers, can say, dictating what kinds of apps we can create, controlling how we distribute our apps, and placing all kinds of limits on what (we) can do to our computing devices."
He didn't mention Apple by name, and I don't want to put words in his mouth, but who else besides Apple could Galbraith be referring to? The programmers and Apple didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Apple exerts its control to try to give iPhone users a simple, stable, and useful experience. But that control can be at odds with what programmers and users want, as was most clearly illustrated in Apple's rejection of the Google Voice application--though Apple said it hasn't actually rejected the application.
Meanwhile, as it did with its Latitude location application for the iPhone after Apple rejected a native version of that software, Google is working on a Web-based interface for Google Voice. It also offers a Web-based Gmail application for the iPhone.
What's curious is that the Palm Pre, the Google Android operating system, and the iPhone OS all use a browser based on the WebKit project, and Apple is among those working hard to advance the state of the art for Web application programming through its WebKit work. So there is some philosophical agreement along with the differences.
Originally posted at Deep Tech

Last week, when Nokia announced the Booklet 3G – its first netbook – the company didn’t unveil all the details about it.

Well, today, while presenting its new phones (N97 mini, X6 and X3) Nokia has also offered more details about the Booklet 3G.

As you probably already know, Nokia Booklet 3G is a Windows 7 netbook. Apparently, customers will be able to choose between Windows 7 Starter Edition, Home Premium, or Professional.

The full specs of Nokia Booklet 3G include:

10.1 inch display with 1280 x 720 pixels
Accelerometer
Intel Atom Z530 CPU at 1.6 GHz
1GB DDR2, 533 Mhz, soldered down
120GB SATA HDD, 8 MB cache, 4200 RPM
Inbuilt 3G modem (data calls only). Different variants: WCDMA: 850/1900/2100 or WCDMA 900/2100 or no modem
WLAN 802.11 b/g/n, 2T2R
A-GPS
Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR
1.3 MP front facing camera with microphone
16 cell, 56.8 Wh, Li-Ion prismatic battery
Up to 12 hours of usage time
264 x 185 x 19.9 mm
1250 grams
I/O ports:

1 x HDMI 1.2 out
1 x headphone out (OMTP 3.5 mm); the OMTP headsets also functions as audio in
3 x USB 2.0
1 x DC-in
1 x SIM / USIM slot
1 x SD card reader
Nokia has integrated the following services into the Booklet 3G:

Ovi Suite 2.0
Ovi Maps
Nokia Music for PC
Social Hub – helps you keep track of social software feeds; it also “serves as a SMS sender”
Nokia software updater
Other software:

Microsoft Office Small Business (60 day trial)
Microsoft Internet Explorer 8
HDD protection utility, Hotkey utility, Battery Life utility, Knock Control utility, Power Profile Switcher
F-Secure Internet Security 2010 trial
Nokia Booklet 3G will be available in tree color versions: ice (white), azure (blue) and black. Its price will be of €575 – about $818.

Via Nokia Conversations

Well, I’ll be damned. Those rumors earlier this year, about Nokia working with Chinese OEMs on its own netbook were true, after all.

And from the looks of it, they’ve come up with one sleek and pretty machine.

Today the Finnish cellphone giant pre-announced the Nokia Booklet 3G netbook, which runs on an Intel Atom CPU and Windows OS, and promises an impressive 12 hours of battery life.

The specs of Booklet 3G, that Nokia choose to reveal today are:

Atom CPU
Windows OS
3G/HSPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth connectivity
10.1” HD ready display
built-in A-GPS
SD-card reader,
HDMI port for HD video out
Dimensions: 185×264x19.99 mm
Weight: 1.125 kg
Nokia Booklet 3G also comes with integrated OVI services, which basically means pre-installed Nokia OVI suite 2.0 software, OVI maps gadget and bookmarked easy access to various OVI online services.

So, is Nokia now becoming a PC company too? Not really.

If the current trends continue, mobile operators will become one of the main sales channels for Netbooks. And, outside of the U.S., Nokia probably has the best distribution channels for such operator subsidized computing device. So this looks more like an opportunity for Nokia to make a quick buck on the latest netbook craze, and add a bit of anxiety to the PC makers, now encroaching on Nokia’s smartphone turf, as well.

Will it work?

Who knows? But there’s very little for Nokia to lose either way. If you paid attention to the official PR, except for integrated OVI software, there’s actually very little of Nokia in Booklet 3G. Strip out OVI suite, and it’s just another well designed, but not special Windows based Netbook.

No big R&D investment. All production and even most of design outsourced to Chinese ODMs. Even if Booklet 3G flops, it’s not a big deal for Nokia. On the other hand, Nokia has it’s toe in the netbook market, and can always expand on it if the market takes off.

More details about Nokia Booklet 3G will be revealed at the official launch during Nokia World 09 next week. I’ll be there to test it out and quiz Nokia guys about their future plans in this area, so be sure to check back.

Nokia Booklet 3G, the Windows netbook unveiled by Nokia back in August, will not be sold via too many retailers in the US.

More exactly, except for Nokia’s stores, Best Buy will be the only location where you’ll find the Booklet 3G,

As you may already know, Nokia Booklet 3G is powered by an Intel Atom Z530 CPU at 1.6 GHz and features a 10 inch display with 1280 x 720 pixels, lots of Nokia services, Wi-Fi, A-GPS, 1GB DDR2, 120GB SATA hard drive, and a 1.3 MP front facing camera.

The price of Nokia Booklet 3G from Best Buy is not known at the moment, but it will probably be of around $800.

Via PhoneScoop

Adobe Systems has garnered the support of mobile heavy hitters such as Google, Motorola, Nvidia, Palm, RIM, and Qualcomm for its new Flash Player 10.1 software for smartphones, Netbooks, and other mobile devices. The software company plans to announce the support Monday at its developer conference in Los Angeles.

Adobe's goal is to get Flash Player 10.1 accelerated directly on the chips in smartphones, Netbooks, and small laptops based on the ARM chip architecture, called smartbooks. To date, Flash video acceleration has not been available widely on mobile devices.
"It's critical to support in hardware because (Flash) video is really computationally intensive," Tom Barclay, Adobe senior product marketing manager for Flash Player, said in an interview. "Putting that on the hardware provides the ability to play it back fluidly...so you're not going to drain the battery on these devices."
Though Flash-based video is available on virtually all PCs, "the vast majority of mobile devices have been fundamentally closed," according to Barclay. "This means there is a single (device maker) or carrier or handset manufacturer that can stop technology from getting onto those devices. And that's one of the reasons why the Web as been so slow to be directly accessible from those devices."
Toward the end of getting Flash to run directly on small mobile devices, Adobe created the Open Screen Project. "The Open Screen project is about making more of those devices open. In particular, providing flash player for free in an open manner with the requirement that (device suppliers) make it open for developers," Barclay said.
Adobe also announced on Monday that Google has joined the Open Screen Project initiative. Handset manufacturers such as Motorola will ship Google Android based devices with Flash Player support "early next year," according to a Motorola statement. Companies such as Nvidia, Broadcom, Nokia, RIM, and ARM chip suppliers such as Qualcomm, are all participants in the Open Screen Project.
Conspicuous by its absence was Apple. "Flash is not available on the iPhone at this point," said Adrian Ludwig, group manager, flash platforms at Adobe. "So far, we haven't received the support that we need from Apple."
Apple aside, this is all part of an aggressive push by Adobe to get acceleration on mobile devices. More than 75 percent of video on the Web is delivered through the Flash Player, according to Ludwig. "Having the Flash player on your device means you're able to access all the content out there on the Web," Ludwig said, referring to referring to such sites as YouTube, the video inside MySpace, and Facebook, as well as Fox News and CNN.
Games are also a target. Ludwig pointed to Flash-based games played on social-networking sites such as Playfish and FarmVille.
A public developer beta of Flash 10.1 is expected to be available for Windows Mobile, Palm WebOS, and desktop operating systems including Windows, Macintosh, and Linux later this year, Lugwig said. Public betas for Google Android and Symbian operating systems are expected to be available in early 2010.
RIM, Nokia, Nvidia, and Qualcomm announced their intention to bring Flash Player to devices, including BlackBerry smartphones, Nokia devices, Nvidia silicon, and Qualcomm chipsets, respectively.
Intel's Netbook technology, which is based on the Atom processor, will support the Flash Player directly on hardware by way of a Broadcom chip, according to Intel. "One would need Broadcom video acceleration to take advantage of the optimizations that Adobe is making on flash," an Intel spokesman said.
Nvidia will support Flash acceleration on its GeForce graphics processors, Ion chipsets, and ARM-based Tegra chips.
For its part, Nokia said that along with Adobe it is introducing a new Nokia Web Runtime (WRT) extensions for Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 software making the creation of mobile WRT widgets for supported Nokia devices easier. Qualcomm said that the first consumer devices ready to support Flash Player 10.1 will be smartbooks and smartphones from companies such as Toshiba and will be based on Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset.
Adobe is also working, in parallel, on the back end: where servers push the content out of the cloud. Barclay explained that servers need to adjust to the type of device that's playing back the video. "(If) the content was designed for a PC that's got very high resolution and very big from a bandwidth standpoint...the work that we're doing on the server side allows the content provider to detect your bandwidth and optimize the content on the fly so it doesn't need to deliver as many pixels as a high resolution because your device simply can't draw it."

The Latitude Z on wireless charging station, and wireless dock adapter on the right.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)
That Dell is releasing a new laptop for business customers is the opposite of surprising. But the fact that it contains notable features not seen in any other laptops certainly is.
Most everything about the new Latitude Z is expected: It's yet another very thin notebook (a metric which PC manufacturers keep using to try to one-up each other), with a different kind of exterior finish (soft-touch, in this case), and comes in a black cherry. It measures 16 inches across, and is 14 millimeters thin at its most narrow point.
But you probably wouldn't guess that the Latitude Z charges wirelessly. And as far as we can tell, it's the first laptop to do so. Surprised that this is coming from Dell? You're not alone.
The wireless charging is handled elegantly enough. An inductive pad that's built into a laptop stand can accomplish a full recharge in "about the same amount of time" as a standard-issue cabled charger, according to Dell. While smartphone maker Palm has a similar (albeit smaller) wireless charging system for the Pre, and companies like Visteon and Wild Charge have debuted wireless charging accessories for phones, no PC maker has incorporated the idea until now.

The wireless charging stand.
(Credit: Erica Ogg/CNET)
It's part of what Dell is terming its new "wireless eco-system." Besides being able to get juice without wires, the Latitude Z will also be able to dock without them. A smaller separate adapter can hook up the laptop with any accompanying monitor, whether it be one in a cubicle, or in a conference room.
Both cost extra, and are by no means cheap ($199 for each), but the intention is for companies to buy, not necessarily individual consumers.
Other cool things Dell is introducing: touch-sensitive controls on the screen's bezel, and its first take on "instant on."
The sliding touch controls--not visible to the naked eye--are located on the right side of the bezel and appear when contact is made. Any controls can be customized and placed there, such as screen brightness, volume, or easy access to specific applications. When controlling an application like Excel or a Web browser, the right side of the bezel can be used as a sort of touchpad for scrolling through a spreadsheet or Web page.
The instant-on capability works exactly the way it sounds. Instead of waiting for Windows to boot up, the computer uses a second smaller motherboard and a separate ARM processor. Through a separate, non-Windows interface, it allows e-mail, contacts, calendars, and a Firefox-based Web browser to be accessed right away. E-mail, contacts, and calendars are always running in the background and are constantly being synced.
The ARM processor doesn't have access to the main motherboard or the ports, which should alleviate security concerns, according to Todd Forsythe, vice president of Dell's commercial client product group. The secondary processor--used mostly in smartphones--also draws much less power than a more robust desktop or notebook processor and so while it's running in the background it doesn't drain the battery as fast: using just the instant-on mode will provide up to two days of battery life; when using Windows and the accompanying Intel Core 2 Duo processor, it will get four hours.
Companies like DeviceVM and Phoenix have built businesses out of instant-on capabilities--basically a quick-booting interface built right into the computer's BIOS that isn't dependent on Windows. Dell said it decided not to go with either of those because they wanted to use the separate low-power processor for the background syncing.
What Dell, and DeviceVM, and Phoenix, and plenty of others are doing is part of a trend that's gaining steam: doing a sort of end-run around Windows. HP came out with its own interface on Touchsmart PCs last year that allows for quick sorting between photos, e-mail, and Web browsing on a few models. Lenovo recently introduced a new touch-screen interface for its tablet, and Asus has its own for its popular Eee PC Netbooks and touch-screen desktop called TouchGate.
Most people aren't used to seeing Dell trying new things like this, some of it actually ahead of competitors. Last year, we wrote about how Dell was starting to be a little more risky about the types of products it was trying out. Not new to the market, just new to Dell, which has traditionally had a habit of waiting, analyzing the market's response to new products, and jumping in later with a more efficient, and less expensive way of making that product.
But that way of doing things is over for Dell now. The company has struggled to find the right mix of products and now has less opportunity to be picky. But it's a good sign that the company is trying out smaller, more innovative, and more practical ideas like wireless charging, docking, instant on, and touch interfaces. Though it's only in the Latitude Z right now, we hear these features are stirring a lot of interest in other product groups at Dell. It's easy to see how, for a cheaper price (the Z starts at $1,999), these new features could find much broader acceptance with retail customers.

ViewSonic PJD6381
(Credit: ViewSonic)

ViewSonic has announced three feature-packed multimedia projectors designed for the educational, corporate and gaming markets. Its DLP-based PJD6211, PJD6221 and PJD6381 offer 120Hz fast refresh rate and are compatible with stereoscopic 3D technologies using Texas Instruments' DLP Link and Nvidia 3D-Vision solutions. These capabilities allow 3D pictures to be projected from a single beamer out-of-the-box without requiring any additional special polarizer, filter or screen.

In addition, the PJD6381 has the shortest throw distance in its class and is capable of casting a 50-inch projection from only 0.68m. This, when coupled with its high 2,500 lumens brightness, makes it ideal for interactive whiteboard application in lit classrooms and offices. Other standard features also include Ethernet networking for remote administration, dual PC inputs and extended lamp life up to 6,000 hours. Refer to the following table for the projectors' key specifications.

Model
PJD6211
PJD6221
PJD6381
Resolution (pixel)
1,024 x 768
1,280 x 1,024
Brightness (ANSI lumens)
2,300
2,700
2,500
Dynamic contrast
2,000:1
2,800:1
3,500:1
Weight
2.6kg
2.66kg
2.68kg
Price
S$1,099 (US$778.33)
TBA
Availability (Singapore)
Now
Sep
Aug

ViewSonic did not provide further information on regional pricing.

If the MP3 player market was a fault line, we'd have a boatload of busy seismographs on our hands. Certainly, two of the most exciting releases of the past couple weeks are the new iPod Touch and the Zune HD. Now, if you're curious how the two devices compare with one another, you could always read the deluge of articles available on CNET and around the Web, but we can certainly see how that might be a bit overwhelming. Soon enough, we'll pit the two players head-to-head in a knock-down, drag-out brawl (aka Prizefight). In the meantime, we've created a purely technical spec-to-spec comparison chart to tide you over.

A few artists have released iPhone apps now that give fans access to their music. Some of the more advanced ones even allow you to edit tracks. But now Universal Music Group (specifically, Interscope Geffen A&M) is apparently going to start launching these for its artists on a regular basis.

It’s launching a new app platform called Romplr in conjunction with digital entertainment studio, Moderati. The first app built on the platform, released today, allows you to remix songs by hip hop artist Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em. Basically, you pick one of Soulja Boy’s tracks, and controls pop up that allow you to decide the various aspects of the song that you hear. And you can tweak things pretty easily.

Then, when you’re done, you can share the recording you just made via email, on the Romplr site or on Facebook with one click. Right now, you can only edit three tracks “Crank That”, “Hey You There” and “Turn My Swag On,” but you will be able to download more.

The UI is nothing to write home about, but for those millions of people who inexplicably download ringtones, apps like this should be right up their alley. And apps like this should be a good test of the in-app purchasing system that was implemented with the iPhone 3.0 software update. It’s not clear if you buy a song in the app, if you can also access it through iTunes, but I would assume not. Regardless, apps that use real music tracks, such as Tap Tap Revenge, are proving to be hugely popular.

Moderati has a history of success in the App Store as it was behind the popular Zippo app, which was downloaded over 4 million times, we’re told. But the plan for this project extends beyond just the iPhone, as Android, BlackBerry and Ovi are all being targeted as well.

You can find the Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em Romplr app in the App Store now for $4.99 [iTunes Link].

LG has given us all a relieving dose of its HDTVs with these wire free wonders. The LG 55LHX and the LH85 will use a media box to transmit video
without getting it compressed in any way. This means that you can end up with a mighty clear 1080p HD video. They can receive wireless
feeds from up to 30 feet away. The 55LHX has LED backlighting (ooh…) and 5,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio (aah…). An insanely unreal refresh rate of 240 Hz makes it a total viewing delight. The other model, the LH85 has an 80,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio.

Clearly, the LH85 is a lighter version of the 55LHX. Hence it costs $3,199 for the 55 incher and $2,399 for the 47 inch model, while the 55LHX costs $4,799.
lg electronics
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lg lcd
lg dvd
lg goldstar
lg vx6000
lg plasma
lg ringtones
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lg flatron
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lg ke850
lg ke970

[Slipperybrick]