Hasta La Gadget!

The SDK and source code for Tizen 2.0 Magnolia has just become available. It shows how far Tizen has come since Tizen 1.0 Larkspur. The operating system actually looks pretty good, and perhaps almost ready for primetime. We already know that Samsung is gearing up to release several Tizen phones this year, and to multiple countries like Korea, Japan, and France. It’s all a part of Samsung’s plan to be less dependent on Google for its success in the mobile industry.

The new Tizen 2.0 Magnolia SDK features a number of enhancements. There is a new web framework that provides “state-of-the-art” HTML5/W3C API support. There is a new Web UI framework that includes full-screen and multi-window support. There are APIs for Bluetooth and NFC support as well as access to the core apps like calendar, contacts, gallery, phone, settings, and the video player. There is a native framework supporting full-featured application development. Enhanced Web IDE providing WYSIWYG design environment, and a native IDE that provides a project wizard. There are many more features included in the SDK’s release notes.

Following Tizen 2.0, Tizen 2.1 will be released in the 2nd quarter of 2013. It’s a minor update, but it will have new features like account management, application installing service, livebox support, performance optimization, and security enhancements. There will also be performance enhancements without API modification or removal.

Tizen 2.0 Magnolia looks good,and could be a start of a new chapter for Samsung. Samsung is already hugely popular in the mobile industry thanks to its high-end Galaxy line, so it may have the pull it needs in order to make Tizen a success. While Tizen does look nice, Samsung also has to make sure that it has a good app selection that includes popular apps like Instagram and Facebook. With a huge app store, and the ability to launch the Tizen OS on a high-end Galaxy-esque device, it looks like there may be another major OS competitor in the mobile market.

[via SamMobile]

Tizen SDK 2.0 released along with screenshots is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

I’ve spent the last two weeks playing with the Z10 and there are some definite pros and cons. Here’s what you need to consider before shelling out $199 to buy one.
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It would appear that the New York Times has decided to speak up in regards to their recent review of the Tesla Model S electric vehicle, having been the subject of some major scrutiny a the hands of no less than Elon Musk, the car company’s CEO. One of the larger stories of last week was that according to the Model S’ own in-vehicle logs, the editor responsible for the review of the vehicle didn’t follow the plans and suggestions made by the Tesla review crew – nor did he refrain from driving donuts through a parking lot. Now the New York Times is speaking up through editor Margaret Sullivan.

While it was New York Times reviewer John Broder that did the review of the vehicle, not Margaret Sullivan, it’s Sullivan who is tasked with a bit of cleanup here at the start of the second week of this PR massacre. In a rather lovely response to the situation made in the form of a Public Editor article on the web, Sullivan explains the lengths to which she (and the New York Times) went to figure out the best course of action in the situation. In other words: she speaks about what she did to figure out who was wrong, if someone was wrong, and what to do about it.

As it turns out, after having “read hundreds of emails and reader comments” on the situation, having talks with her brother (a “physician, car aficionado and Tesla fan”), Broder, Musk, two “key” Tesla employees, the tow-truck driver charged with picking up the vehicle after Broder’s review (and his dispatcher), other NYT journalists, and more, Sullivan found there to be a problem with precision and judgement. Sullivan notes specifically that Broder, in his review, didn’t use good judgement from start to finish.

It wasn’t that Broder “hoped the drive would end badly”, but instead that he didn’t precisely follow the rules, so to speak. Having not had a proper overnight charge the night before charging the vehicle in Norwich, Connecticut, for example, and keeping rather “casual and imprecise notes” through the drive, allowed Broder to be criticized heavily. Musk too, Sullivan found, made some rather “damaging (and sometimes quite misleading)” comments using these logs as they compared to the digitally recorded driving logs (as shown in the link earlier in this post).

The end result – or what could be expected to be the end result, if not final chapter in this particular saga – is Musk tweeting a simple acknowledgement of the article. “Appreciate thoughtful @Sullivew article” it stated, “Faith in @nytimes restored.” Sound alright to you? Have a peek at the timeline below regarding the extended saga to see more details throughout.

[via Engadget]

Tesla gets NYT apology for Model S review: Musk approves is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Ever since ‘Blade Runner’ Oscar Pistorius’s girlfriend was shot dead in his Pretoria home last week, South African papers have printed lurid details of the killing which, if true, pose major challenges to the Paralympic star’s defence team, experts say.

Initial reports of the shooting in the early hours of Thursday suggested Pistorius, 26, a double amputee who became one of the biggest names in world athletics, may have mistaken law graduate and model Reeva Steenkamp for an intruder.

A statement released by his family dismissed the charge of murder laid on Friday in “the strongest terms”. His bail hearing resumes in a Pretoria magistrate’s court on Tuesday.

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PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — David Wright has some unfinished business in New York, and he still has faith he can win with the Mets.

The third baseman re-signed this winter for another eight years and $138 million, a contract he said gave him some peace of mind about his future.

“It’s so easy to look at the offseason and see we lost a Cy Young winning pitcher (R.A. Dickey), and we didn’t go out and sign a lot of big-ticket free agents,” Wright said before the first full-squad workout Monday. “We didn’t spend a lot of money, but the guys that were here last year know what we were able to accomplish the first half and that was fun, going out there and playing good baseball and winning a lot of games. … There are 100 different reasons why guys are motivated and excited about this season, and when you put together a room full of those young, energetic players, those types of teams can be scary.”

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