Hasta La Gadget!

Next year might finally bring smartphones developed specifically for the Ubuntu Touch OS. Even though Canonical’s ambitious Ubuntu Edge smartphone could never reach its insane crowdfunding goal, its not like the team gave up on trying to get the OS on smartphones. Stable builds have already been released for Nexus devices, but a smartphone partner means that the OS will finally have a shot at other players in the global smartphone market. The announcement about the first hardware partner was made by Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth today at the LeWeb conference, he says that high-end phones powered by Ubuntu Touch OS will be available in 2014.

The company obviously isn’t settling for just one partner. Shuttleworth reveals that Canonical is also in board level discussions with a number of other potential partners as well, “four household brands” as he calls them, brands that “sell a lot of phone all over the world, in emerging and fully emerged markets, to businesses and consumers.” Unfortunately, he has not named the one hardware partner that they already have locked down, and neither has he revealed the names of other potential partners. Ubuntu Touch OS still has a long way to go, and its likely to receive competition from another new mobile platform that’s anxiously being awaited, Intel and Samsung’s Tizen OS. 2014 is definitely going to be an interesting year.

Ubuntu Touch OS Finally Has Its First Smartphone Partner original content from Ubergizmo.

This article was written on November 08, 2007 by CyberNet.

If you haven’t seen of, or at least heard of the “Dummies” books, I don’t know where you’ve been living! Ever since the first “For Dummies” book hit the shelves back in 1991, they’ve been a huge success. At this point they cover nearly any topic possible, focusing on ones that are complex, confusing, or intimidating. Seeing as the entire topic of computers, hardware, software, and the Internet can be a bit intimidating, there’s a whole line of books that fall under each of these topics. Today I thought we’d take a look at some of those books, but more specifically, the ones geared towards Open Source Software.

You’ll notice that there’s a link to the dummies homepage for each book. These books can be found for much less at sites like Amazon, but one of the benefits of linking to the homepage is that there’s an excerpt from the book as well as the table of contents so that you can see what all you’re getting and what it covers. If it interests you, go read an excerpt, and take a look at the table of contents before going to another site to buy it. Here’s CyberNet’s list of Open Source books for Dummies that may be worth taking a look at.

1. Linux for Dummies, 8th Edition
   If you’re wanting to dive into Linux but you’re just not sure where to start, Linux for Dummies will get you pointed in the right direction.  It focuses on Fedora Core 6 but also includes information on other distributions like SuSE, Mandriva, Linspire, Knoppix, and Ubuntu.
   Link
2. OpenOffice.org for Dummies
   This book was published in December 2003 so it’s definitely due for an update.  If you’re at all interested in using OpenOffice.org, it might be a good idea to stop at a book store and take a peak at it just so you can get an idea of what it’s all about. It covers a wide variety of different topics and includes into about templates and styles, creating spreadsheets, and more.
   Link
3. Ubuntu Linux for Dummies
   We talk quite a bit about Ubuntu Linux here at CyberNet because it is one of the most popular distributions.  Published just this year, Ubuntu Linux for Dummies will teach you how to tap into multimedia, graphics and other applications using Ubuntu, generate and mange web pages, print service, and troubleshoot problems you may be having. They’ll also explain how to run Ubuntu right from a CD-ROM and how to install it on your PC or a network server.
   Link
4. Firefox for Dummies
   Given the number of readers who use Firefox, and the fact that Learn Firefox can teach you just about anything you’d want to know about it, this book probably won’t come in handy for yourself. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t recommend it to a friend that’s not so tech savvy to teach them all about what they’re missing out on! Firefox for Dummies is written by Blake Ross (creator of Firefox), it’ll be just enough to get your Friends who have been using Internet Explorer for way to long thinking about making a switch. It’s full of history, and the sometimes forgotten details that make Firefox a browser to love.
   Link
5. Free Software for Dummies
   While this book isn’t completely dedicated to Open Source software, it covers a lot of it from OpenOffice.org to Thunderbird, GIMP (the image editor) and even Blender. They point out how to locate the best free software out there that will work with Windows, Mac, or Linux. Sure you can spend lots of money on software, but why do it when you can get a lot of it for free that works just as well?
   Link

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Canonical’s been working for years to turn Ubuntu into a universal OS for whatever sized screen you use, be it of the television, desktop or mobile variety. Recently, the company showed off the next step in this evolution: unified icon designs for mobile and desktop Ubuntu implementations. In keeping with current UI trends, the new icons have flatter, more stylized appearance when compared to the old desktop iconography. System tiles are less colorful and more reserved in appearance, while apps and folders have been punched up with a flashier look to set them apart visually. Of course, the new icons won’t actually make their way into a Ubuntu for awhile, as the goal is to get them into the 14.04 release for mobile (13.10 is the current version). Should you want more background on the production of the new icons, there’s an hour-long video discussing it after the break. Don’t forget the popcorn.

Filed under: Software, Mobile

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Source: OMG! Ubuntu!

Dell this weekend announced the release of its third XPS 13 Laptop, Developer Edition, codenamed Sputnik 3. This 3.02-lb client-to-cloud touchscreen ultrabook comes prepackaged with Ubuntu Linux 12.04 LTS and a 4th-generation Intel (Haswell) processor. Developed by developers for developers, the Sputnik 3 is available in two configurations. The first configuration uses a Core i5-4200U […]

This article was written on August 08, 2007 by CyberNet.

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Freespire 2.0 was just released today, and it brings a lot of great things to the table. For starters it uses Ubuntu 7.04 as its baseline, and was built off of that. So you get the benefits of using Ubuntu, but a lot of the proprietary software, drivers, and codecs since it is created by Freespire!

I couldn’t have said it better than CNet when they expressed their feelings on the inclusion of proprietary software:

Think of it like adding sugar-free Splenda to your morning coffee, only to find there’s actually a dash of sugar in the powdery substance to make it taste better.

Here are some of the benefits of using Freespire 2.0:

1. CNR Plugin provides free one-click access to thousands of open source applications, as well as options for legally licensed DVD playback software, Sun’s StarOffice, Parallels Workstation, Win4Lin, CodeWeaver’s Crossover Office, TransGaming’s Cedega, commercial games and many more.
2. KDE is added for an easier-to-use and more comfortable interface, with a familiar look & feel for Apple Mac and Microsoft Windows users.
3. Enhanced applications and features are added for enhanced usability and ease of use, modifying software applications like Firefox and Thunderbird, along with adding Linspire-sponsored open source software like Nvu, Lsongs and Lphoto.
4. Proprietary software is added when necessary, like Java, Flash and Adobe Acrobat, to provide overall increased interoperability.
5. Proprietary codecs are added to expand multimedia compatibility and provide a superior overall experience so users can listen to MP3 files, play Windows Media files, and much more.
6. Proprietary drivers are added to expand hardware compatibility and provide optimum 3D graphic card support, better WiFi support, and more.

It’s extremely nice that Freespire includes things like Java, Flash, and Adobe Acrobat so that you don’t have to worry about downloading it. Not to mention that you get to use the Click-N-Run (CNR) service for free, which makes installing, updating, and uninstalling applications a one-click process.

I can’t wait to try this out myself, and I could easily see it becoming my choice of Linux distributions since it takes out a lot of the guesswork. The download site that they have setup only supports 100 simultaneous users, and it has been pretty saturated with requests all day. So if you’re like me you’ll just want to jump on the Torrent to get it.

Freespire 2.0 Screenshot Gallery
Download Freespire 2.0

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