Hasta La Gadget!

Soon enough, Chrome OS won’t be the only game in town when it comes to tightly integrated web apps running on a Linux core. Today Canonical announced Ubuntu WebApps, a new feature that will be integrated into version 12.10 of the open-source OS, Quantal Queztal. In its simplest form this means being able to place an icon in the launcher and open your favorite sites and services as standalone windows. When you visit a compatible page in the browser an alert pops up asking if you want to “install” it as a WebApp. So far, most of the engineers’ efforts have focused on Firefox, but Pete Goodall (a product manager at Canonical) said Chrome and Chromium support is also in the works. The really fun starts, though, when devs start playing with the new APIs and Greasemonkey-like extensibility offered. WebApps will be able to access many of Unity’s finer features like progress bars in the launcher, the sound menu and messaging menu as well. So now you can get desktop alerts from Gmail without installing some wonky app or setting up Thunderbird. WebApps can even tap into the HUD, though, it’ll be up to the devs to expose the appropriate actions to the search-as-you-type menu system.

Of course, this is all just the first step. More APIs will eventually expose additional features, and high on that list is hardware access — an essential feature for video and voice chat. Another key plan is integrating web credentials with desktop apps. So, if you log into Facebook in the browser, Shotwell will recognize that and upload imported photos to your profile. The initial list of recognized apps is small, but impressive, including Twitter, Last.FM, GMail, Google+, Facebook and YouTube. And, while the feature is set to debut in October with Quantal, Pangolin devotees will also be able to take advantage simply by adding a repository to their software sources.

Update: You’ll now find the PR and a nice demo video after the break.

Continue reading Canonical integrating Ubuntu WebApps in Quantal Quetzal (video)

Filed under: Internet, Software

Canonical integrating Ubuntu WebApps in Quantal Quetzal (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 12:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Zoho’s been offering its handy Office suite for quite some time on the web, but now the company’s making it even better by integrating its productivity applications with Google’s cloudy Drive. Naturally, this includes the full set of internet-based apps, such as Zoho Writer for word processing, Zoho Sheet to take care of spreads and Zoho Show for when you need to knock out some presentations. Best of all, you won’t have to shell out any cash on the app trio, and you can grab ’em all from the Chrome Web Store link below.

Continue reading Zoho’s Office suite gets Google Drive integration, keeps its freemium status

Filed under: Internet, Software

Zoho’s Office suite gets Google Drive integration, keeps its freemium status originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 06:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It looks like the Dark Knight Rises hysteria is affecting more than just spoiler-averse fans. Billing itself as the “internet’s bat signal,” the newly formed Internet Defense League is a collective of companies, websites and non-profit groups– including the EFF, Mozilla, Reddit and WordPress — banding together to nip future SOPAs and PIPAs in the bud. The IDL will officially launch today, and according to its website it’s enlisting web denizens to sign up and “broadcast an action” when net freedoms appear to be under threat. The League is really milking that Batman metaphor to full effect; it will broadcast its logo, a cat that looks plenty eager to tackle all foes of speech, into the sky in five cities around the world, including, interestingly, Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

Filed under: Internet

Internet Defense League forms with support of EFF and Mozilla, bills self as ‘bat signal’ of the web originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 19 Jul 2012 00:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TNT wanted to launch its new crime show Perception, in style, and we have to give it to ’em, this is pretty cool. Working with professional technological tinkerers, Breakfast, they created a 23 x 12 foot display made up of 44,000 electromagnetic dots. Imagine those ticker boards you see at train stations, jazzed up with a little modern flavor. The dots are white on one side, black on the other, and move at 15 times the speed of their typical rail-station counterparts — giving a real-time effect. The installation is set up in Manhattan’s Herald Square until July 29th, and is fully interactive. When pedestrians walk past, the board updates to reflect their movement, and this “silhouette” interacts with words and images on the screen. Extra sensory stimulation also comes from the noise the board makes, literally letting you hear your movements. If a picture paints a thousand words, then 44,000 dots in a video paints even more. Head past the break to see the beast in action, plus more details on how it was done.

Continue reading Breakfast’s super-speed reactive electromagnetic display is 44,000 dots of promotional awesome (video)

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Internet

Breakfast’s super-speed reactive electromagnetic display is 44,000 dots of promotional awesome (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 23:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Logitech’s collection of subtle HD webcams launched a few months ago, but an unannounced WiFi-connected camera has appeared at the FCC. Labelled up as the Logitech Broadcaster, a little bit of investigation reveals that the camera may be able to function unencumbered by cabling, similar to Livestream’s identically-named Broadcaster add-on or the ill-fated FlipLive cams. Connected through WiFi — thus explaining its appearance at the FCC — we still don’t know specifics on how it’ll be powered, whether it’s through a self-contained battery or otherwise. Until then, emissions and wavelength obsessives can direct themselves to the source for the science.

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Internet

Mystery WiFi Logitech webcam diagram appears, lacks role-reversing hardware photos originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Jul 2012 20:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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