Canonical launches Ubuntu App Developer platform for curious coders

Creating apps for Ubuntu is about to get a lot easier, now that the folks over at Canonical have launched the Ubuntu App Developer platform. On the new site, developers will find guides, tutorials and other resources to help them create apps specifically for the Linux OS, or to port other apps to the platform. Once finalized, these apps can then be published on the Ubuntu Software Centre, where developers can choose to either offer them for free, or at a price. In announcing the new platform, community member David Planella predicted that it will offer a “unified and consistent journey for both open-source, non-commercial and commercial app authors.” He went on to acknowledge, however, that there’s still plenty of work to be done: “For all its current awesomeness, we are aware that the site needs to pass the test of a wider audience, adapt to their needs, and grow.” Find out more at the source link, below.

Canonical launches Ubuntu App Developer platform for curious coders originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 05:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MeeGo to be folded into Linux-based Tizen OS, slated to arrive in 2012

The future of Meego has become a little clearer this morning, now that the Linux Foundation has announced that it’ll be replaced with Tizen — a new Linux-based, open-source OS. Samsung and Intel have been tapped to lead the development of the platform, in collaboration with the LiMo Foundation — a consortium of companies including Panasonic Mobile Communications, NTT DoCoMo and SK Telecom, among others. According to its stewards, Tizen will support HTML5- and WAC-based apps and will be designed to run across a wide spectrum of devices, including smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, netbooks and in-car infotainment systems. The MeeGo project, for its part, already seems to be on board with the initiative, promising to “make sure that users of MeeGo can easily transition to Tizen,” while assisting MeeGo developers, as well. The new OS is slated for release during the first quarter of 2012, with the first Tizen-laced devices scheduled to hit the market around the middle of next year. For more details, hit up the source link below, or trek past the break for the full PR.

Continue reading MeeGo to be folded into Linux-based Tizen OS, slated to arrive in 2012

MeeGo to be folded into Linux-based Tizen OS, slated to arrive in 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 02:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Henry Tirri appointed CTO of Nokia, permanently replacing Rich Green

Not much of a surprise here, but today it finally becomes official: Henry Tirri has been appointed CTO of Nokia, nearly four months after assuming the position on a temporary basis. Tirri, who joined the company in 2004 and previously served as head of its research center, will permanently replace former CTO Rich Green, who took an indefinite leave of absence from Espoo back in June, citing “personal reasons.” At the time, some local media outlets reported that Green’s absence would be permanent, due to disagreements over CEO Stephen Elop’s smartphone OS strategy. Reportedly a one-time Meego advocate, Green will now return to the US to “pursue new opportunities” and, as of today, is no longer a member of the Nokia Leadership Team. Tirri, meanwhile, will be responsible for designing “Nokia’s technology agenda both now and in the future, and driving core innovation to enable business development opportunities.” We’ll have to wait and see where that path leads, but you can find more details about the appointment in the full press release, after the break.

Continue reading Henry Tirri appointed CTO of Nokia, permanently replacing Rich Green

Henry Tirri appointed CTO of Nokia, permanently replacing Rich Green originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Sep 2011 05:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung taking Bada open source in 2012?

Samsung invited the world to adventure with its own smartphone OS, Bada, almost two years ago and so far most of us have turned down the offer. Of course, that trip could look more appealing if a Wall Street Journal rumor is true and the company is planning to open source it for use by developers and other manufacturers alike next year. Citing the usual “person familiar with the situation”, Samsung apparently isn’t interested in snagging any outside companies like, say, webOS, but wants to strengthen its independence from Android after Google announced it will purchase Motorola. Right now, it feels like we’ve already seen this story play out for the still-kicking Symbian. On the other hand, maybe Samsung, with its massive manufacturing capabilities and current hit-making prowess, can strike the right balance of hardware, software and apps to make it worthwhile. If it tries and fails, well, maybe the folks in Redmond will be looking for another close friend.

Samsung taking Bada open source in 2012? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 02:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows 8 on a laptop in-depth preview (video)

Less than 24 hours after it went live on Microsoft’s site, Steve Ballmer reported a whopping 500,000 downloads of Windows 8 Developer Preview. That’s half a million copies, if not eager Windows fans. Well, you can count us among them. Although we were treated to some private hands-on time with a tablet optimized for the OS, we hadn’t, until now, had a chance to use it on a laptop — i.e., the computing environment where we spend most of our time, and the one where we’re most used to seeing Windows, in particular.

For the past three days, we’ve been doing just that: getting acquainted with Windows 8 using the good ‘ol mouse-and-keyboard combo. And while that might read like a redundant statement (what recent version of Windows hasn’t accommodated a cursor?), Win 8 is a peculiar breed — It’s the first version of the operating system where finger input wasn’t an afterthought, but a first-class citizen. It’s clear that this time around, Windows is optimized for touch, but we had to wonder if that Windows Phone-inspired UI would present a steep learning curve, if it would get in the way while we tried to go about business as usual. So how’s that working out for us? Suffice to say, we’re not in Kansas anymore, so find your most comfortable chair and meet us after the break — we’ve got oh-so many details to delve into.

Continue reading Windows 8 on a laptop in-depth preview (video)

Windows 8 on a laptop in-depth preview (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Sep 2011 17:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Server 8 and Azure platform introduced, Metro-style app building starts today

Server and Tools Business President Satya Nadella, amongst others, took the stage at Build today in order to showcase something a bit less consumer-facing: Windows Server 8 and the revised Windows Azure platform. Fret not, though — this all plays a vital role in how you’ll be enjoying Windows 8 in the months to come. A Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview will be made available to coders starting today, enabling devs to concoct Metro-style applications with HTML 5, JavaScript, C#, Visual Basic and C++. We’re told that the Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview is available today for Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) subscribers and will be made available to the public on Friday. Microsoft also announced that Server 8 would provide multi-tenant infrastructure for cloud services, while the Azure Marketplace would expand to 25 new nations in early October. Those hoping to dig deeper can head on past the break (and visit the source links below).

Continue reading Windows Server 8 and Azure platform introduced, Metro-style app building starts today

Windows Server 8 and Azure platform introduced, Metro-style app building starts today originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 12:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Poll: Did you download Windows 8?

Downloads have barely been active for half a day, but for the night-owls who burned the midnight oil in order to take the developer preview of Windows 8 for a spin, this is for you. If you’re claiming to be one of the earliest of adopters of Windows 8, how have things gone? Are you waiting a few days to see the obvious issues crop up? Are you taking your remaining vacation days to have yourself slapped silly with “Metro-style” goodness? Let us know how the installation process went in comments below, and if you’ve got a newfound mancrush (or womancrush!) on Microsoft, here’s your opportunity to shamelessly gloat.

View Poll

Poll: Did you download Windows 8? originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 10:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VMware Fusion 4 brings full Lion support, wants to make Windows act less like Windows

Leave it to VMware to put the spotlight back on Lion when this is, without a doubt, Windows 8’s week. The company just announced Fusion 4, the latest version of its virtualization software, and, as you’d expect, it pledges to play nice with Apple’s newly minted OS. In addition to fully supporting Lion features like Spotlight, though, it makes Windows look more like, well, a Mac. The software includes improved support for Expose and Spaces on the Windows side, and adds the ability to use Mission Control and launch Windows apps from Launchpad. Additionally, you can run Lion as a virtual machine within Snow Leopard and VMware makes vague claims about improved performance, 3D graphics and resource-hogging. It’ll cost $50 through the end of the year, with the price jumping up to $80 in January. Fittingly enough, VMware picked up on the fact that Apple’s moving away from optical drives, and instead chose to ship the software with a USB drive (you can also download it and do the whole drag-and-drop installation thing). Oh, and if you bought the last-gen version of the software on July 20th or later, you’ll get the new version gratis. Lots of screen shots below, and full PR after the break.

Continue reading VMware Fusion 4 brings full Lion support, wants to make Windows act less like Windows

VMware Fusion 4 brings full Lion support, wants to make Windows act less like Windows originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google outbid itself by 33 percent in Motorola Mobility acquisition, SEC filing reveals

Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility is already starting to lose that new car smell, but a fresh batch of financial details has now emerged, providing deeper insight into how the deal actually went down. According to an SEC filing that Motorola Mobility released yesterday, Google made an initial offer of $30 per share on August 1st, but soon raised that bid to $37 per share on August 9th, after Moto and its advisers asked for $43.50. On that same day, Google again raised its offer to $40 per share, even though Motorola wasn’t accepting bids from other firms, for fear that a public auction would jeopardize its sale. This 33 percent increase ultimately added some $3 billion to the pot, bringing the final price tag to $12.5 billion. A Mountain View spokeswoman declined to comment on the negotiations, though its aggressive bidding suggests that the search giant desperately wanted the deal to go through. The documents also reveal that patent-related issues were at the forefront of discussions from the very beginning, when Google’s Senior Vice President Andy Rubin met with Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha to talk about their mutual concerns, way back in July. According to the Wall Street Journal, these talks eventually convinced Jha that his company would be better off under Google’s stewardship, amid fears that Moto could get swallowed by the stormy seas of patent litigation — anxieties that the exec made all too apparent just four days before the merger was announced. You can dig through the full SEC filing at the source link below.

Google outbid itself by 33 percent in Motorola Mobility acquisition, SEC filing reveals originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 04:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows 8 developer preview: when and where to download (update: right now, here!)

Got a brain full of Windows 8? Can’t stop obsessing about it? Fret not — as of 8PM PT this evening (just under eight hours from now), you’ll be able to download a copy of the Windows Developer Preview to your 32- or 64-bit x86 machine (no activation required) from dev.windows.com. Sorry, ARM hopefuls! Per usual, we’d recommend doing so on a separate partition (or a spare machine altogether) in order to prevent unforeseen conflicts, and we’d also suggest having a stiff glass of patience waiting nearby. Something tells us Redmond’s servers are going to be hammered.

Update: The download is live! Click here to try it out yourself, while the slightly less daring can hang on for our first impressions of Microsoft’s latest and greatest once we’ve installed and given it a try.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Windows 8 developer preview: when and where to download (update: right now, here!) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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