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.

Back in November when we heard that OS X 10.9 was being secretly tested by a select number of users (most likely various Apple employees), we remained curious to see what kind of progress the new rumored version would make after a few months. Apple has been releasing updates to OS X every year or so, which means that 10.9 will most likely release sometime this summer based on the operating system’s updating cycle.

Back in November, a select number of websites were reporting that they were getting a few visitors that were running OS X 10.9, and now it seems that number has jumped quite significantly since then. AppleInsider has reported that the number of users running OS X 10.9 spiked in January, according to their traffic logs, claiming that they’ve gotten “thousands” of hits from OS X 10.9 machines.

Of course, last year Apple announced OS X Mountain Lion 10.8 during the month of February, so it’s very possible that we could officially hear about version 10.9 sometime soon, although we’re keeping the salt by our side as always. While it seems that 10.9 is really close to an unveiling, we won’t officially believe in it until we see it, of course.

However, it’s obvious that Apple will release a major update to OS X at some point in the future, and they’ve been on a yearly release schedule for the past few releases, so it could be as far ahead as this summer before we see 10.9 show up for download. The biggest question remains, however: What cat will Apple give its next major OS X update this time around?

[via AppleInsider]

Apple OS X 10.9 sees boost in secret beta testing is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s been a good three months since Windows 8 released, allowing ample time for those committed to upgrade the time to do so. However, it seems the adoption rate for Microsoft‘s new operating system is remaining quite low, with only 2.26% of the OS market share, compared to Windows 7′s 44.48% and Windows XP’s 39.51%.

According to trend analytics firm Net Applications, Windows 8′s market share continues to rise subtly month after month, but the new operating system has seen very slow adoption overall. Of course, while it may seem that Windows 8 might not be going anywhere, the trend shows that the new OS’s market share isn’t good or bad, but modest.

When Windows 7 first came out, the OS also saw fairly low numbers — granted, not as low as Windows 8, but it saw a market share below 10% after six months. Of course, it’s only been three months for Windows 8, so the only question that remains is if Windows 8 will see a huge jump in market share this year, or if it will begin plateau at a relatively low figure, especially when upgrade prices are now really expensive.

Compared to OS X, Apple‘s latest version, 10.8 Mountain Lion, has 2.44% of the OS market share. That’s only slightly better than Windows 8, but you have to take in account that the last three versions of OS X alone only take up 6.4% of the market share, so technically, OS X Mountain Lion has almost 40% of the OS X market share, a lot better than Windows 8 at this point.

Windows 8 market share at only 2.3% is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Earlier this year, Canonical threw its hat into the mobile arena when it announced Ubuntu for Android, a variant of the open source operating system that can be installed on phones already running Android. But today the company unveiled Ubuntu for Phones. What’s up with that? Is that one hat too many, or is this an idiom too stretched out?

I think the thing that needs to be made clear first and foremost is that Ubuntu for Phones is exactly the same as the desktop version of Ubuntu, only with a different, phone-friendly interface.  Compare that to Apple’s OS X and iOS, which are still two very different operating systems. Windows 8 could be a more apt comparison, except Ubuntu avoids Windows 8′s problem. Microsoft’s new OS also crams the mobile interface into the desktop version, but Ubuntu will only have a phone interface on phones. Revolutionary, I know.

With Ubuntu for Phones, Canonical hopes to enter the budget phone market and also create the legit “phone that doubles as a PC” market. Cheap phones with low hardware will only use the Ubuntu phone interface, but high end phones with beefy specs can be connected to a typical desktop setup – monitor, keyboard, mouse – and let users access the full Ubuntu desktop interface. That, by the way, is the exact same thing that Ubuntu for Android does. I guess Canonical will eventually ditch that if Ubuntu for Phones takes off. Skip to around 5:20 in the video below for more details on Ubuntu for phones.

On one hand we have Android-on-a-stick computers. On the other hand we have Ubuntu for Phones – and you can bet your RIM stock that Apple is planning something very similar to this. Which portable desktop do you prefer? There’s a lot I didn’t cover here so if you want to know more I suggest you head to the Ubuntu website for more information on Ubuntu for Phones.

[via Ars Technica]

While some might think that Microsoft‘s next big update to its operating system lineup will be called “Windows 9,” there are reports that claim Microsoft is working on a new platform for how the company handles future Windows operating system releases, and they’ve codenamed it “Windows Blue” for the time being.

No one’s really sure what Microsoft has planned, but according to ZDNet, several sources are saying that Microsoft will be bringing an interim release sometime mid-2013, and will include UI changes and alterations to the entire Windows platform and pricing. We’re not sure if it’ll be some kind of normal service pack, or if it’s a more rounded service pack that would come with new features, as well as bugfixes.

Either way, Microsoft may be moving toward rapid-release updates of their Windows OS, meaning updates to their operating system every year or so — similar to what Apple is doing with OS X. This means we could see versions of Windows that stick with the “8″ prefix, but with a decimal tacked onto it, like Windows 8.1, Windows 8.2, etc. For now, though, Microsoft is calling it Windows Blue.

The update would be low-cost to ensure that users upgrade, just like OS X, and the upgrade process would be simple. So, once the update is released, the Windows SDK will be updated as well to support the new update, and Microsoft will stop accepting apps for Windows 8, and will begin to push developers to create apps for Windows Blue. It seems like a streamlined process, and one that Apple has had success with already, so we’re interested to see how it works for Microsoft’s platform.

[via ZDNet]

Microsoft rumored to launch yearly updates for Windows is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.