Hasta La Gadget!

MeeGo OS, the bastard love child of Intel and Nokia, isn’t dead yet. The operating system is being re-packaged as “Tizen,” as Intel and Samsung shack up with a host of partner companies on the mobile OS front.

Tizen is based on Linux and will be an open-source operating system hosted by the Linux Foundation. Also backed by Samsung, the OS will place a heavy emphasis on HTML5 development and web apps, as opposed to a native app emphasis like iOS and Android have. Tizen will support a variety of devices such as handsets, tablets and connected TVs.

Why the switch to Tizen? Five words, one abbreviation: HTML5. Imad Sousou, director of Intel’s Open Source Technology Center, believes HTML5-based apps are the future, and a simple upgrade to the MeeGo OS just won’t cut it. “Shifting to HTML5 doesn’t just mean slapping a web runtime on an existing Linux,” said Sousou in a recent blog post. This would mean that APIs not visible to HTML5 programmers could be more flexible, allowing them to “evolve with platform technology” and vary from market to market.

MeeGo was originally a combination of Nokia’s Maemo and Intel’s Moblin operating systems. Nokia dropped the platform in favor of Windows Phone earlier this year and Intel reportedly halted development of the platform in early September. Currently, there aren’t too many devices that run MeeGo with the exception of the Nokia N9 smartphone and an Asus Eee PC netbook.

It’s interesting that Tizen is an effort endorsed by Samsung, as Samsung has its own mobile operating system called Bada (its SDK was recently released to developers). But the move actually makes sense: software giant Microsoft teamed up with hardware manufacturer Nokia. Software giant Google teamed up with hardware manufacturer Motorola. Teaming up with an open-source software platform like Tizen could give Samsung — which endorses a number of platforms including Android, Windows Phone and Bada — additional control over its mobile future.

Intel is pushing Tizen for developers, endorsing the OS with its AppUp developer program and HTML 5-based developer framework. The new OS will “incorporate the same principles and open source philosophies” as MeeGo.

Tizen will also support the Wholesale Applications Community (WAC) web development environment for cross-platform applications. Web-based apps can run on any phone, and as more are developed, could potentially break down “platform wars” barriers by letting more native apps run on the current major mobile platforms. Services like Appcelerator’s Titanium Studio are also bucking the native app trend by providing tools for developers to publish cross-platform web apps.

Intel plans to make the transition to Tizen over the next few months and aims to make the transition to Tizen as easy as possible for devs. Code already contributed to the MeeGo project will be ported over to and compatible with Tizen.

A release date for the Tizen OS is set for early 2012, with Tizen-running devices arriving mid-year.

Image: The MeeGo phone browser (Steve Paine/Flickr)

Continue reading Microsoft and Samsung sitting in a tree, patent s-h-a-r-i-n-g

Microsoft and Samsung sitting in a tree, patent s-h-a-r-i-n-g originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Sep 2011 11:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stacking the lineup against Google Wallet, manufacturers HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson have been drafted by team Isis, agreeing to implement its NFC technology standard into future phone offerings. By garnering multi-manufacturer support, the joint AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon venture is pulling a power move against Mountain View’s offering — currently only functional on Sprint’s Nexus S 4G (although that’s almost certainly bound to change). Finally gearing up for battle, the crew recently pumped $100 million into the initiative, helping to win support from the aforementioned hardware heavy hitters. For those who aren’t ready to buy a new phone just to jump on the NFC bandwagon, Isis says it’s working with DeviceFidelity to add the functionality to older models as well. The more devices that have the technology, the better the chance we’ll be ditching our leather wallets for the mobile variety. Or so they say. Check out the full PR after the break.

Continue reading HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson to add Isis NFC tech in future phones

HTC, LG, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and Sony Ericsson to add Isis NFC tech in future phones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 19:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After eluding our grubby little paws at its launch in New York and again this morning at Mobilize 2011, we’re happy to report that we’ve finally caught up with T-Mobile’s Galaxy S II. To recap, the carrier’s permutation rocks the same WVGA 4.52-inch Super AMOLED Plus display as Sprint’s Epic 4G Touch, but replaces Samsung’s in-house 1.2GHz Exynos CPU with Qualcomm’s dual-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S3 processor. T-Mobile tells us the brain swap was necessary as it wanted its variant to support 42Mbps HSPA+ on the network’s AWS band (just like its cousin the Amaze 4G). Oh, and like AT&T’s variant it comes with a little NFC glitter sprinkled on top. So is it the same delectable Galaxy S II as its European and Sprint counterparts? From our brief time with the handset, the transplant doesn’t appear to have impacted performance at all — it’s just as snappy as ever. In terms of appearance, the phone sports a soft-touch matte black finish in back and its bezel is a lighter shade of chrome than used on its siblings. Check out our gallery below, and peek after the break for our hands-on video.

Myriam Joire contributed to this report.

Continue reading Samsung’s Galaxy S II for T-Mobile proves that unicorns do exist (hands-on video)

Samsung’s Galaxy S II for T-Mobile proves that unicorns do exist (hands-on video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 01:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember those Samsung Unpacked events from earlier this month and way back in February? Well Sammy is apparently readying something else for the upcoming CTIA, and we’ve tentatively circled October 11th in our diaries. There’s nothing concrete yet on precisely what the Korean manufacturer will be offering up to the masses, though we’ve seen previous events cover smartphones, cameras and even tablets all in one fell swoop. Might the next Google phone — heavily rumored to be a Samsung baby– be “primed” for launch?

[Thanks Oguz]

Samsung announces latest Unpacked event, set to kick-off at CTIA originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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