Nokia’s treatment of MeeGo smartphone UI revealed?


We’ve already gotten a glimpse at MeeGo’s prerelease stock UI for handsets, but just like Symbian, there’s no guarantee that the experience is going to be consistent across manufacturers — and a new video apparently captured from an online survey makes it seem like Nokia might be looking to go in a slightly different direction. The one minute, twenty-nine seconds of footage walks us through five parts — starting up, the “powerful multitasking UI,” getting connected, the Ovi Store experience, and the music player — and as you might imagine, it’s the Ovi Store portion that has us feeling like this is a thoroughly Nokia-customized experience (not to mention the copyright in the lower left). It generally looks richer and more functional than what we’ve seen before, and parts — like the webOS-esque multitasking — remind us of Maemo 5’s thumbnails, which makes perfect sense considering MeeGo’s roots. Follow the break for the full video.

[Thanks, MTA]

Continue reading Nokia’s treatment of MeeGo smartphone UI revealed?

Nokia’s treatment of MeeGo smartphone UI revealed? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC will ship all Android phones in China with Froyo on board, fuels fire for immediate update closer to home

A wordy headline, to be sure, but a pleasing one nonetheless. We came across HTC’s Chinese web portal listing the Desire as coming with Android 2.2 (with Sense!) and simply had to ping the official source for confirmation. It turns out the info up there is no mistake: all HTC Android handsets shipping to China — which includes the Wildfire and Tianyi — will do so with Froyo preloaded, cutting down on your upgrade angst at least until the Gingerbread man comes a’knocking. HTC has also reiterated that a 2.2 update for its phones already on the market will be delivered “very soon,” so if all goes well, we should be looking at a Froyo-dominated August in the land of High Tech Computers.

[Thanks, Christian]

HTC will ship all Android phones in China with Froyo on board, fuels fire for immediate update closer to home originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New ‘licensing service’ replacing existing copy protection method in Android Market

Copy protection has always been a concern in the Android Market, primarily because applications can be sideloaded onto phones without a root or other modification from the end user. In a brief announcement made today, Eric Chu has made clear that a new method for protecting the work of paid app creators will be implemented long-term, with the plan being to “replace the current Android Market copy-protection mechanism over the next few months.” This new “licensing service” is available now for those that want in, providing developers with a secure mechanism that can ping a Market License Server upon launch in order to see if a particular app was indeed purchased legitimately. It’s hard to say how exactly this will affect usability (specifically in offline scenarios), but it’s certainly an interesting twist to the whole situation. Expect to hear lots of growling on both sides as more and more apps opt to take advantage.

[Thanks, Jonathan]

New ‘licensing service’ replacing existing copy protection method in Android Market originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 14:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tweaker ports Samsung’s TouchWIz UI onto non-rooted Nexus One for reasons unknown

This one’s been kicking around the interwebs for a few weeks now, but it has managed to grow into something of a beast during that period. Frankly, we couldn’t think of less fitting way to send the glorious Nexus One out than to completely deface it and ruin what Google has worked so hard to perfect. But regardless of what we think, that’s exactly what has happened here. One rolle3k over at xda developers clearly has a masochistic gene or two planted inside of his skull, but at least his APK doesn’t require your N1 to be rooted before providing you access to a TouchWiz user interface. Feel free to hit the source if you’re up for seeing what you’ve been missing out on, but only if you literally cannot think of a single better thing to do with your time.

Tweaker ports Samsung’s TouchWIz UI onto non-rooted Nexus One for reasons unknown originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC opts for Android, dumps Windows Embedded Compact 7

The lesser of ASUS’ two Eee Pad tablets announced at Computex this year, the EP101TC, is getting itself a software rejig ahead of its planned early 2011 launch. Originally slated to run on Microsoft’s Windows Embedded Compact 7 — a wordy OS, if nothing else — the Pad will now entrust its operational infrastructure to Google’s Android. ASUS is currently working on prototypes with Froyo on board, but Gingerbread (or Android 3.0) has not been ruled out as a possible final OS choice. We’re told to expect the first public demos at CES 2011, with retail units likely following on from there at a relatively brisk pace.

ASUS Eee Pad EP101TC opts for Android, dumps Windows Embedded Compact 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Swype spotted swiftly slinging fingers across Windows 7 screens?

That’s not your grandpappy’s touchscreen panel, nor his standard Windows 7 input method of choice, oh no — unless our eyes deceive us, we’re looking at a 3M M2256PW ten-finger multitouch display, and on it, a genuine Swype keyboard. Though we’ve heard nothing about a partnership between Microsoft and Swype and we see nary a mention on the internet at large, there’s no denying the idea — spotted during last week’s Internet Explorer demo at Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner Conference — is an attractive one. The question is when and how Redmond might deliver such functionality to the existing OS… and if we might possibly see the same on the company’s upcoming phones as well. See it in action at the source link, and fast forward to 2:58:30 for the goods. Trust us and skip ahead — we’ve got a feeling you won’t want to hear Microsoft kick this party off.

[Thanks, Abed R.]

Swype spotted swiftly slinging fingers across Windows 7 screens? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 18 Jul 2010 00:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jolicloud 1.0 demonstrated on Acer Aspire One 533, coming to your netbook soon

We’re always skeptical when it comes to underground operating systems whipped up for one specific purpose, but Jolicloud has managed to continually impress us with each passing build. Now, at long last, the netbook-centric OS has arrived at the magical 1.0, and our comrades over at Netbook News have managed to score an early copy. Better still, they’re showcasing it on Acer’s just-released Aspire One 533, and if the bootup speed is any indication, we’d say the two are a match made in heaven. The 1.0 version sure looks grown-up compared to those earlier builds, and while we suspect it would take a bit of getting used to before we really found ourselves comfortable in an app-driven desktop OS, we definitely like the looks of it. Feel free to hop on past the break for a lengthy video demonstration of the refaced system, and if you’re currently using an earlier version, the company has informed the world that upgrades will start slipping out as early as this week.

Continue reading Jolicloud 1.0 demonstrated on Acer Aspire One 533, coming to your netbook soon

Jolicloud 1.0 demonstrated on Acer Aspire One 533, coming to your netbook soon originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows 7 SP1 public beta now ready for download

Slightly ahead of schedule, Microsoft has dished out Service Pack numero uno for Windows 7. The hot-selling OS has been a revelation since its release and it’s therefore no surprise that this update pack does nothing remarkably new or important. It collates all of Microsoft’s patches since launch into a neat little (well, not really, it’s 1.2GB in size) package and throws in a few other hotfixes to boot. Microsoft treats its betas rather unceremoniously, however, so don’t expect any support with this thing until it goes final — which we’re hearing might not be until early 2011. We’d say that’s a long way out but it’s not like Windows 7 isn’t treating us well enough already. Hit the source to obtain the download, if you must.

[Thanks, JagsLive]

Windows 7 SP1 public beta now ready for download originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 06:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft says 74 percent of work PCs still use Windows XP, extends downgrade rights (update)

The latest Microsoft operating system may be selling seven copies a second, but it’s no match for the behemoth Windows XP, still the most popular OS in the world despite recent nefarious attempts (we kid) to invoke spontaneous shutdowns, slow hard drives and trigger blue screens. In fact, a Microsoft exec admitted today that practically three-quarters of business computers still run the nine-year-old OS on hardware averaging 4.4 years old, and Computerworld‘s now reporting Microsoft will extend XP’s lifespan through 2020 as a result. “Going forward, businesses can continue to purchase new PCs and utilize end user downgrade rights to Windows XP or Windows Vista until they are ready to use Windows 7,” an official Windows blog post reads. We’ve heard the reluctance to upgrade is due to a reliance on older software and the cost of additional IT, but it probably doesn’t hurt that Microsoft doggedly keeps distributing the OS despite the other choices on offer. Perhaps the futuristic Windows 8 will finally win the workplace over, but it seems Redmond’s hedging its bets on this one. Look on the bright side: this way, when intelligent robots battle for control of the moon, at least the wrathful victors will still be vulnerable to the blue screen of doom.

Update: So it seems as if that 2020 date is incorrect, according to Microsoft’s PR team. We’re presently waiting for an official update of some sort, and will let you know if / when we get it. Don’t worry about the robots — we’ve got top men working on Plan B.

Microsoft says 74 percent of work PCs still use Windows XP, extends downgrade rights (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 22:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceElectronista, Computerworld  | Email this | Comments

BlackBerry OS Makeover Promises Social Feeds, Better Search

Research In Motion’s BlackBerry operating system is long overdue for a makeover. RIM fans have been waiting for the upcoming BlackBerry OS 6 to modernize the BlackBerry user interface. Now a video from the company shows what some of those features could look like.

BlackBerry OS 6 will have universal search, a better media interface, social feeds that bring together Facebook, Twitter and chatter from BlackBerry messenger, a richer web browser and easier to manage RSS feeds.

The new features shown in this video bring some polish to the BlackBerry. But much of what the company is touting–pinch and zoom in the browser, and search–are all what Android and Apple iPhone users have had for months.

Still this is a step forward and a sign that RIM is trying to keep pace with the market. The company is yet to announce the launch date for the OS 6.

Separately, RIM launched ‘BlackBerry Protect‘, a remote backup and find feature that’s similar to the service that Motorola and Apple offer for their phones. Like Motorola, RIM will offer the BlackBerry Protect for free so consumers can back up contacts, calendar, tasks and message and restore or locate their phone using a computer if the device is misplaced, lost or stolen.

BlackBerry Protect will be available in limited beta this week and is expected to be available to all users later this year.

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Photo: (Honou/Flickr)