The Smart TV Alliance consisting of LG and TP Vision (Philips) is still hammering away at its dream of platform-independent Smart TV apps, and as IFA 2012 gets under way it has a few new announcements. After promising Japanese manufacturers would join back in June it has welcomed Toshiba to the fold, as well as other supporters like Qaulcomm, Mstar, Onigo and YuMe. At IFA 2012, LG is showing off the first apps built to the original SDK 1.0 spec built by Accuweather, Eurosport, online music channel Vilanoise and others. It’s not stopping there however, as the SDK 2.0 we’d heard about is still due before 2012 is out, and has been built to take advantage of the new more powerful SoCs that companies like Qualcomm (the S4 family) and Mstar can provide to HDTV manufacturers.
Mozilla’s newest duo of updates is coming on today in the form of updates for both their desktop web browser and Android web browser interfaces – complete with a browser-based game to make it all worthwhile! With the desktop version update you’ll be getting reduced memory usage for browsing with add-ons as well as lovely new tidbits like a new JavaScript Debugger. The Android version of Firefox brings a plethora of requested updates such as Flash for Honeycomb devices, a personalized start page, and – you guessed it – support for tablet-sized devices as well!
This Firefox update for Android is available for download in the Google Play app store right this minute for essentially every Android device on the market. Firefox for Android has an update to its personalized start screen in that the “Awesome Screen” is now available as well – browsing history, passwords, bookmarks, and form data are all available to you right at the start. This update also allows you to import your personalizations from other devices and interfaces with a feature called Firefox Sync.
Mozilla’s update for the Android version of Firefox allows you to switch between mobile and desktop versions of webpages with a “request Desktop Site” button in your menu, and has a new set of stability improvements and feature updates that you might never have known existed – except for the fact that you’ll be browsing faster than ever before after update. There’s also a set of new HTML5 capabilities for developers, this includes JavaScript, CSS, and other open Web standards as well.
What’s perhaps the most exciting element in this whole set of announcements is a new game called BrowserQuest. This game is a cross-platform Firefox-based massively multiplayer adventure that you’ll be able to play on your desktop and with your Android device. Just create a character and begin your quest! Mozilla has created this game to let you see in a rather recognizable way how the web can be a fantastic place to play games!
Then there’s Firefox Desktop – an upgrade here will allow you to work with a collection of new developer features such as JavaScript Debugger (built-in to the browser) for getting in on the Web application code of your choice – learn and grow! Debuggers will also be able to use this tool to remotely debug apps running on Firefox for Android on a local network – neat stuff! This update also brings on support for compressed textures (for web based games) as well as a set of other new enhancements for gaming developers – check it out here:
Nokia may be reading its Windows Phone 8 range, but there’s still some Symbian development going on, with Nokia Belle Refresh now being pushed out to owners. The Nokia N8, C7 and X7 are among the bevy of Symbian handsets in like for Belle Refresh, most appealing of which is likely the new browser with support for HTML5 web apps.
There’s also a new set of homescreen widgets, along with the previously released Microsoft Office Mobile App together with Nokia Maps Suite 2.0. N8 owners, meanwhile, will get a number of extra apps for imaging, though exactly what those will do is unclear at this stage.
Right now, Belle Update is being delivered to the Nokia N8, E7, C7, C6-01, X7 and Oro with version number 111.040.1511. Those with a Nokia E6 (version number 111.140.0058) will get it later in the week, while those out there with the Nokia 500 will have to wait for the next few weeks before they see the tweaked OS.
Those with unlocked, SIM-free handsets will get the update first, followed by country and carrier variants, though that could well depend on individual carrier approval Nokia warns. There’s also the possibility of some app incompatibility.
iOS app devs got Telenav turn-by-turn navigation access in March of this year, and now the same can be said for folks programming for Android and Windows Phone. In case you forgot, the Scout for Apps platform allows developers to incorporate Scout’s personalized navigation directly into their applications. Not only that, but Telenav’s making it easier for website owners to do the same for their websites with the release of the Scout Drive Button. The button puts the power of browser-based GPS mapping in an easy-to-implement widget, for free, with no coding expertise required. It also allows users to click the Drive button in their desktop browser to send a link to their phones that’ll launch navigation directly, as opposed to inputting the address into a nav app manually. Interested? More info awaits after the break, and devs can get down and dirty with both Scout for Apps and the Drive widget at the sources below.
Business Insider believes HTML5 apps are primed to overtake native apps on smartphones in the coming years. Steve Jobs was also big on webapps when the iPhone first came out—sans native app ecosystem—but didn’t have the benefit of the HTML5 standard. Now that HTML5 is here, there are apps that come very very close to replicating the native app experience. More »
With the new HTML5 wave covering the whole internet-loving universe, the news this morning of Telenav’s HTML5 Nav on Android and Windows Phone devices is a sign of a fabulous new era. This push comes in the form of Scout for Apps, a service that was launched earlier this year for iOS exclusively. With Scout for Apps, developers will be able to integrate into their creations the first HTML5, browser-based, voice-guided, turn by turn, GPS navigation service for mobile phones!
This service allows developers to push free, voice-guided, turn by turn, GPS navigation directly from their app or their website, making full use of the Telenav database with ease. Just as easy as it is to embed a video into your website, you’ll be working with Telenav’s Scout mapping without sacrificing your own brand – the app or website can keep their own brand name on everything throughout the whole navigation session.
This Scout for Apps environment and service is available for developers on iOS, Android, and Windows Phone starting immediately, and Telenav has also brought on a companion for the web as well. Telenav is bringing on a website widget for Scout called the Scout Drive Button, made for small businesses that want to make it super easy for people anywhere in a web browser to find their physical location. Your mobile browser will be able to initiate turn-by-turn directions now with a single tap!
Developers will be able to access the Scout Drive Button for websites as well as the Scout for Apps environment immediately, for all three major mobile platforms! Have a peek below at our other recent encounters with Telenav and Scout, and get to navigating!
Adobe has been broadcasting as much as possible that Flash on Android is going away, although it’s been offering a grace period for those addicted to the plugin. It’s now time to wean yourself off. As Adobe warned earlier in the year, new installations from Google Play won’t be an option from August 15th onwards. Any downloads after that point will be limited to updates for existing installations or to those willing to raid Adobe’s archives — assuming would-be users aren’t already running Android 4.1, that is. While we’d still expect Flash to preserve some of its relevance in mobile as long as phones ship with it preinstalled, and alternatives like Skyfire persist, we’d strongly suggest getting comfortable with HTML5 and native apps from now on.
Old consoles never die, they just get digitized. The Game Boy Color is one such system. You can find emulators of it running on PCs, Macs, PSPs, smartphones and even calculators. Here’s a GBC emulator for the cloud age: a JavaScript & HTML5 emulator that you can play on your browser.
The emulator was written by Software Engineering student Grant Galitz. Like most browser games, it doesn’t need you to install anything on your computer. It even has built-in games! You can also load .gb or .gbc files, although I wasn’t able to test that. I also don’t know how the emulator handles game saves.
Technically the emulator can run even on mobile browsers, but it was slow and unplayable on my iPad 2. Perhaps newer devices will fare better. Check out the emulator on Grant’s website before Nintendo falcon punches it down. You can also check out its source code at GitHub.
Until now, if you’ve wanted to use the Pulse reader app for browsing Engadget your favorite blogs you had to own an Android or iOS device. Now, though, the startup is launching a browser-based version of the service, making it accessible on desktops and mobile platforms for which there’s no standalone Pulse app. The site will run in any browser, including mobile ones, but there are certain gestures you’ll only be able to pull off in IE10, like using two fingers to expose the reading pane. For that reason, Microsoft is promoting this announcement almost as enthusiastically as Pulse (see the source link below if you don’t believe us). As for the new website, we could go on about the slick UI and brisk performance, but it’s probably easier if you just check out the screenshots below and then peek the quickie demo video after the break.
Broadcast-streaming startup Aereo is busting out tweaked price plans and a free trial for New Yorkers to try the service gratis for an hour a day. $8 per month will buy you unlimited access, live pause, rewind and 20 hours online DVR, while $12 a month doubles your storage allocation to 40 hours. Annual customers can pay $80 (plus tax, naturally) to get a deep discount off the monthly price, but for the commitment-phobic viewer, 24-hours access can be purchased for a dollar, or you can try the service for an hour each and every day without need of a sign up. Unfortunately, due to legal wrangling, it’s only available within the boundaries of New York City on any iOS, OS X, AppleTV or Roku devices. There’s PR and Video after the jump if you’re yet to be convinced — but think, now you catch all of Good Morning America as you walk down Broadway.
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