Mereja

Category: Software

  • Google Funds Research on Mobile Sensing at UW, Energy Efficiency at UC San Diego

    Google
    Gregory T. Huang wrote:

    With all the froth around big tech company earnings, device announcements, and mobile app stores, it’s refreshing to see some long-term research in computing being funded. Google announced today it has awarded $1.35 million ($900,000 up front) to the University of Washington for work on mobile data collection for public health and environmental monitoring, and $100,000 to UC San Diego, for research on energy efficiency.

    The awards are part of $5.7 million in the first Google Focused Awards Grants being given to a dozen projects led by 31 professors at 10 universities in the U.S. and U.K. The areas of research also include machine learning and privacy. The grants are for two to three years, and give the recipients “access to Google tools, technologies and expertise,” according to a blog post by Alfred Spector, Google’s vice president of research and special initiatives.

    The UW grant is to computer science professor (and former Intel Research Seattle director) Gaetano Borriello, in collaboration with Deborah Estrin at UCLA. (Wade and I have previously reported on the work of these two professors in wireless sensor networks.) The new grant is for researching the use of mobile phones as data collection devices for public health and environmental monitoring applications.

    “Here at Google Seattle, we deeply appreciate our strong relationship with the University of Washington,” said Brian Bershad, Google Seattle’s engineering director (and former UW computer science professor), in a statement. “With this focused research award, we see an example of how that collaboration and recognition extends broadly across Google.”

    Meanwhile, the UCSD grant to computer scientists Tajana Simunic Rosing, Steven Swanson, and Amin Vahdat, is for studying energy efficiency in computing. Energy efficiency has been among the topics of interest at the UC San Diego campus of Calit2, the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology. Calit2 director Larry Smarr views global warming as a serious environmental threat, and has highlighted efforts at UCSD and elsewhere to make data centers and other IT operations more energy-efficient.

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  • iPhone Firmware Update 3.1.3 Out Now, Fixes Minor Bugs [IPhone]

    The 3.1.3 firmware update for the iPhone is out now, available through an iTunes update. It’s no revelation, fixing only the accuracy of the 3GS battery meter and the stability of some third-party app launches. Apologies if you were excited.

    (BTW, it doesn’t autocorrect the spelling of “iPad,” in case you were wondering.)

    Also, word has it that this update will nullify your jailbreak. And so far, it doesn’t appear that there’s anything in 3.1.3 worth abandoning your freedom for.






  • Z2Live CEO David Bluhm on Game Community’s “Overwhelming Disappointment” in Apple iPad

    Apple iPad
    Gregory T. Huang wrote:

    The honeymoon is over for Apple. Although it has been quite fashionable to bash the iPad tablet device announced last week, it did seem like a promising platform for gaming and other entertainment apps—at least to an outside observer.

    Now the truth comes out. Last week, the local gaming and iPhone app developer community gathered at a meeting hosted by Madrona Venture Group and Z2Live, an intriguing mobile social gaming startup in Seattle. (Z2Live has raised $4 million from Madrona to develop and commercialize a multiplayer software platform for social and casual gaming on mobile devices like the iPhone.) The goal of the meeting was to share business tips and information about the marketplace, and to network. Inevitably, the topic of iPad opportunities came up.

    I pinged David Bluhm, the CEO and co-founder of Z2Live (and former Medio Systems co-founder), to ask if he could sum up what the developer community is saying about the iPad. For Z2Live, at least, it sounds like the device is a welcome addition to Apple’s stable. But to most game and app developers, it sounds like the iPad is too big to be easily portable, and for its size, it needs more capabilities. We’ll see how Apple adjusts to the feedback.

    Here are the specifics from Z2Live’s Bluhm:

    “Inside our community of game and application developers, there is overwhelming disappointment over Apple’s recent iPad reveal (remember, we all live far afield of the Apple partner spin zone). Generally, we expected something more capable with such a large form factor—or a smaller, more nimble device. The big sound bite we have heard was that it is simply a really big iPhone…but not a phone. Most are skeptical that it replaces a good netbook, let alone someone’s laptop computer (as good laptops can be had for under $500).

    On the other hand, if it was smaller, then it would comfortably replace both a netbook and an ebook reader with one cool device. I completely agree with this view. The iPad takes two hands to hold—it is something that must first be stabilized on a flat surface to use for any purpose. It cannot be easily dropped into a large purse or [knapsack] so it must be considered a ‘primary’ device.”

    Bluhm continues: “The other primary negatives with the current iPad are:

    Lack of multiplayer
    Droid’s ability for apps to invoke other apps and offering a robust multitasking environment has piqued creativity…and expectations. While the argument for longer, dependable battery life and responsible task management is solid. Apple is right, of course, as independent developers will never be responsible power misers nor will they ever stop to consider management of their tasks against the tasks of any other resident software. The iPad, however, is not a phone. It is a browsing and email device.

    No built in camera
    A small and likely temporary situation. The available dock/stand seems to reinforce the need for a teleconferencing camera.

    No iPad AppStore
    Essentially, any new app must compete with 150,000 other apps built for the iPhone or iPod touch. Apple seems to feel that most iPhone apps would make good iPad apps when in reality there is much more to change than the resolution of your graphics. The iPad screen for instance, can handle ten different unique touch inputs which, I would imagine, will expose some very creative uses. I see this also as temporary as Apple evolves their merchandising and discovers the uniqueness of iPad apps.”

    Bluhm concludes: “For our purposes, the iPad is another targetable device capable of delivering an even more immersive game experience and therefore, it is a welcomed addition to our iPhone and iPod touch opportunity.”

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  • Logitech TouchMouse App Controls Your PC or Mac With the iPhone

    Some of the best utilities are the ones that do simple things, but do them very well. That is the case with the Logitech TouchMouse for the iPhone. This free app connects with a Windows PC or Mac over Wi-Fi, and turns the iPhone into a big multitouch trackpad complete with three mouse buttons. The TouchMouse user is able to completely control the PC or Mac using the iPhone. There is even a touch keyboard for text entry if needed. I don’t even need to tell you how cool it is to scroll around on a Windows PC using multitouch on the iPhone instead of a trackpad.

    Why is TouchMouse useful? A number of scenarios come to mind — controlling a media center from the sofa is one, or how about giving a presentation and using the iPhone to control the slides? I tested the latter on both my Mac and a PC and this worked flawlessly. I was able to get as far from the notebook as desired, since Wi-Fi requires no line of sight, and advanced the slides at will.

    Logitech TouchMouse is free and in addition to the iPhone app — available in the App Store — a server application must be downloaded for the computer. There are Windows and Mac versions of the server software at the TouchMouse web site.

  • For Developers: Kanzi – a cross platform development environment with OpenGL support

    Kanzi™ is a complete solution for design and deployment of advanced graphical user interfaces. It sports a complete toolchain to take products from design stages to target devices. Kanzi solution is technologically scalable from mobile and embedded devices to automotive applications. As a platform independent solution, Kanzi offers easy portability and rapid production cycle.

    Key advantage of the Kanzi solution is "design-once, deploy everywhere" cross-platform support for the leading mobile operating systems, including Android, Blackberry, Linux, Maemo, Moblin, iPhone OS, Palm Web OS, Symbian OS, and Windows Mobile. Kanzi solution is build on top of industry standard OpenGL ES graphics API.

    In terms of designer’s work flow, Kanzi provides the missing link between today’s leading 3D graphics content creation tools, such as 3DS Max, Maya and XSI on the one hand, and cell phones on the other hand. Artists can easily export their designs from these software packages to Kanzi SDK using COLLADA data format. Designers then rapidly compose the actual user interface application and apply all 3D graphics effects within the Kanzi SDK itself. The tool features a desktop runtime of the Kanzi engine to bring a real-time view of the final application at the desktop. This feature eliminates the need to continuously build the project to target device during development in order to inspect it. Therefore, design cycle shortens substantially while the designer is better able to realize her vision.

    Kanzi runtime can be integrated to a wide variety of target devices, even those with different operating systems and hardware architectures. Applications made with Kanzi SDK will execute properly in all these devices, thus giving greater return on investment for the application developer.

    Kanzi features a unified pipeline for OpenGL ES 2.0 and OpenGL ES 1.x based 3D graphics. The engine supports real-time streaming of data, texture and fragment shaders, multi-texturing and dynamic lighting. There is also a versatile animation framework supporting key frame animations, such as vertex, object and bone based animations.

    Rightware will demonstrate a Mobile App Store application running in various mobile devices at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from February 15th through February 18th. Mobile App Store is designed and implemented using Kanzi user interface solution that enables designers to quickly have their applications running in different target devices.

    Read more about the Kanzi platform here.

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  • Is Real-world Fragmentation Holding Back Augmented Reality?

    Although I find Augmented Reality (AR) interesting, it’s not something I use on a daily basis. The concept actually reminds me of Twitter in its early stages — an occasional fun distraction at first, but the practical uses of it as a tool took time to develop. Today, I use Twitter daily for many purposes, so if my thought trend applies to AR, it could be that I use it, too, on a future daily basis. For now, it’s simply not as ubiquitous a platform as Twitter is and it appears to me that different players in this space are trying to create their own leading AR platform.

    Over at GigaOM, we’re sharing a visual representation of eight such platforms, which exemplifies this fragmentation, but also shows the promise of AR on a mobile device. Each of the four screens tackles a different potential usage area for AR: Navigation, Location Overlay, Geo-Informational Services and Gaming. And in each area, you’ll see that there are two providers — I’m sure additional services exist in each category, as well.

    Many of the different mobile AR services add similar, or even the same, categories of information in the form of layers. And when I think of layers, my mind immediately turns to Google Maps. One basic but very solid application becomes infinitely more valuable with the addition of informational layers — traffic, location of friends, and different views. I wouldn’t suggest that Google Maps become the end-all, be-all platform for AR layers, but it’s an application that’s already on or readily available for the hundreds of millions of mobile devices out there. Until an augmented reality service can claim the same footprint, it’s likely that each AR app will become a niche add-on and face slow adoption rates.

    Are you using any mobile AR apps on a regular basis? More importantly, how did you choose one over the other and would you prefer these AR layers bundled into a more widespread application?

    Related Research: “Mobile Augmented Reality Today and Tomorrow“

  • Unica Buys MakeMeTop

    Ryan McBride wrote:

    Unica, a Waltham, MA-based provider of marketing software, announced yesterday that it has made its second acquisition of 2010 with its purchase of the MakeMeTop search marketing business from UK-based Microchannel. Unica (NASDAQ:UNCA) did not reveal financial details of its latest acquisition. Last month the firm said it bought the e-mail marketing firm Pivotal Veracity for $17.8 million in cash.

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  • Latest version of China’s Open Mobile System to spite Google, support Windows Mobile API

    wmophone In a tersely worded release China Mobile has announced the release of its Open Mobile System 2.0, which brings new features such as Scalable Vector Graphics and voice recognition support.

    Also included in the release is mention “Windows Mobile API” support, unfortunately without an explanation of what this means.

    OMS OPhones use a layer of software adapted to the Chinese market, running on an Android base.  The presence of a Windows Mobile API on the software is both mysterious and momentous, and either implies support on the handsets for Windows Mobile applications, or alternatively makes the OMS adaptation layer portable to Windows Mobile handsets.

    China is currently involved in spat with Google over alleged government sponsored spying on Google, and we have already seen some Android-based handsets suffering from the fall-out.  This latest announcement could be another volley of shots fired at Google by China demonstrating their independence from the search monopoly giant.

    Read the announcement at TradingMarkets.com here.

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  • Microsoft to create Silverlight-based user interface, development platform for Nokia

    n97silverlight

    Last August Nokia and Microsoft announced an historic partnership where Microsoft agreed to bring its Office Mobile applications and System Centre Mobile Device Management software to Nokia smartphones, making the devices finally full corporate citizens.

    It now appears that something even deeper is going on, as this recent job posting by Microsoft indicates.

    We are building a charter which combines .Net Compact Framework (application runtime), Visual Studio for Devices (tooling) and Silverlight Mobile (new presentation layer) into a PU. Our dreams are big and we want to not only shine with Windows Mobile platform but also extend the reach of our developer platform to other dominant industry platforms for Smartphone like Nokia S60.

    We are looking for energetic and passionate SDE II candidate for a role in the team that delivers Silverlight Mobile on Nokia S60. This team owns the end to end delivery of the mobile developer platform based on Silverlight and .NET Compact Framework to Nokia S60 devices to start with and would also own the kit that will enable this platform to other Nokia devices in the short term and other Mobile platforms longer term.

    It will be a plus for the successful candidate to have some exposure to presentation technologies such WPF/e, Silverlight stack, runtime technologies such as core execution engine, JITing, Garbage collection etc, Mobile development on platforms like Symbian & S60.

    We had known for some time that Microsoft intends to bring Silverlight to Nokia’s smartphones, but this is the first indication we have had so far that the .Net CF will come officially to Symbian, and that development will be possible for Nokia using Visual Studio.

    Both Microsoft and Nokia are facing challenges to attract developers to their platforms, and in that context the alliance to being better tools to both platforms make perfect sense. At the same time however it does appear that Microsoft is giving away the crown jewels of their new Windows Mobile thrust. All the same however I am sure Microsoft would prefer its development tools on 50% of the smartphone market rather than just 10.

    What do our readers think of this move?  Let us know in the comments below.

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  • Sony Ericsson announced SE Aspen QWERTY smartphone

    Sony_Ericsson_AspenT_Black_1

    The newest edition to the Sony Ericsson GreenHeart™ portfolio, Sony Ericsson Aspen™, has just been announced. The second handset to be officially released with Windows Mobile 6.5.3, after the Garmin Nuvifone M10, the device features a curved  design which is meant to fit your hand perfectly.

    “Sony Ericsson Aspen™ is the business phone with a conscience, perfect for any consumer or company who want to make a green choice in their daily work life.” Said Quentin Cordier, Global Marketing Manager, Sony Ericsson. “An affordable GreenHeart™ phone with the latest version of Windows Phone, the Sony Ericsson Aspen™ has a rich user interface and powerful productivity tools. But it’s not all about work, stay in touch with the fun parts of life with Media Browser and PlayNow ™, with simple access to social networks and quick and easy access to media files. Find the fun with a-GPS, Google Maps™ and snap pictures with the 3.2megapixel camera.”

    The smartphone has a 3.2 megapixel camera, 3.5 mm headphone jack, FM Radio, WIFI, microUSB charging and features a 2.4 inch QVGA resistive touch screen. The handset is 117 x 60 x 12.45 mm large and weighs 130 grams.

    Unusually the phone comes with Skype pre-installed and features Sony Ericsson’s trade-mark Panels interface.

    The Sony Ericsson Aspen™ supports HSPA 900/2100 and EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, HSPA 850/900/2100 and EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and available in selected markets from Q2 in the colours Iconic Black and White Silver.

    Read more at Sony Ericsson here.

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  • Microsoft finally makes Windows Mobile 6.5.3 official

    windows_mobile_6_5_3_start_menu2 In another pointer to a Windows Mobile 7 Mobile World Congress announcement, Microsoft has now officially announced Windows Mobile 6.5.3.

    The 6.5 update brings support for capacitive screens,  platform to enable multi-touch, touch controls throughout system (no need for stylus), consistent navigation, horizontal scroll bar replaces tabs, magnifier brings touch support to legacy applications, simplified out-of-box experience with fewer steps and drag and drop icons on

    Less visible improvements are  improved browser performance for decreased load time, improved memory management, smoothed pan & flick gestures and speed improved zoom & rotation speed.  The OS now finally ships with .Net CF CF 3.5 and SQL CE 3.1 out of the box and supports Arabic document read and write.

    With this update announcement out of the way, it leaves the way open for a much more significant release at Mobile World Congress, the long awaited Windows Mobile 7.

    Via theunwired.net

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  • Photoshop Magnet Frames Are Ideal for Designers to Show Off Photos on Their Fridge

    ps 300x214 Photoshop Magnet Frames Are Ideal for Designers to Show Off Photos on Their FridgeAbout a week ago we posted about Meninos’ updated Photoshop Magnet Kit. Now they’ve come out with Photoshop Magnet frames. Available as a Horizontal or vertical frame, these frames are perfect for placing your own photos in. For just $9.50, could there be a better gift for the web or graphics designer in your life?


  • Steve Wozniak Explains That Faulty Software Caused His Car Troubles [Cars]

    Uh oh. Steve Woz is having some “very scary” trouble with his 2010 Toyota Prius. At a recent event in San Francisco he went off topic and talked about how faulty software is to blame for his car’s accelerator troubles:

    Toyota has this accelerator problem we’ve all heard about. Well, I have many models of Prius that got recalled, but I have a new model that didn’t get recalled. This new model has an accelerator that goes wild but only under certain conditions of cruise control. And I can repeat it over and over and over again—safely. This is software. It’s not a bad accelerator pedal. It’s very scary, but luckily for me I can hit the brakes.

    Toyota’s reponse? They’re looking into it:

    We’re in the business of investigating complaints, assessing problems and finding remedies. After many years of exhaustive testing we have not found any evidence of an electronic [software] problem that would have led to unwanted acceleration.

    I hope things get figured out soon, otherwise Woz might have to switch to a Segway as his main mode of transportation. [CNET via Jalopnik]






  • HTC Touchpro2 WMPU ROM Demo

    By request I have made a ROM video demo. The video goes over a lot of the look changes and everything that comes with this ROM and in good time. The video is not the best demo, and so I will have another tomorrow or when and if we get a CDMA Touchpro2 ROM going. The HD2’s ROM is currently uploading, so look for that and maybe the CDMA and GSM Touchpro1 ROM tomorrow.

    Enjoy:

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  • Voyager Capital Makes Cleantech Investment

    Gregory T. Huang wrote:

    Seattle-based venture firm Voyager Capital has co-led a $14 million Series B investment in Coulomb Technologies, a Campbell, CA-based startup focused on electric vehicle infrastructure. Voyager and Rho Ventures co-led the financing for Coulomb, which makes technologies for vehicle charging stations. Daniel Ahn, a Voyager managing director based in Silicon Valley, is joining the Coulomb board. The deal may signify Voyager’s increasing interest in the “clean IT” sector; the West Coast firm is primarily known for its investments in software, wireless, and digital media.

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  • Dual Boot a Handset with Windows Mobile and Android

    What’s the easiest way to quell a fanboi fight between the Windows Mobile crowd and an Android army? Show ‘em a dual-boot solution for both mobile operating systems on the same handset! “Gen. Y DualBOOT” will help you do just that and I’ll give you three guesses where it came from: XDA-Developers, of course. (You can save those extra two guesses for a later date, because I know you all guessed correctly.)

    PocketNow shares the how-to steps as well as this video demo as proof of the multiple mobile concept. The ROM these folks used is specific to an HTC Touch Diamond 2, but Android seems to run buttery smooth on the TouchPro 2. There are different ROM builds for various Windows Mobile handsets, so you’ll want to shop around. Each build also has a list of what hardware bits aren’t quite working yet — watch for glitchy or non-usable cameras, GPS radios and even the cellular bits themselves.

    Ironically, I made a comment internally at GigaOm a few months back that was right in line with this approach. I said, “Wouldn’t it be interesting if Google found an easy way to offer Android builds for existing smartphones already out on the market? What would that do for their market share and also to competitors in this space?” That’s not exactly what’s going on here, of course — not by a long shot. But I still wonder how many Windows Mobile handset owners would consider a switch to Android if an official build was provided for their device. And on the flipside, would any Android folks consider switching to Windows Mobile on their device?

    Regardless of the switching aspect, this type of hack isn’t exactly for the faint of heart, so unless you’re comfortable with possibility of bricking your phone, maybe you’re better off picking a mobile OS side and staying there.

  • For Developers: ELIPS Studio 3 allows cross platform FLEX Builder development

    For developers wishing to take advantage of more than small segment of the smartphone market Open Plug has the answer. 

    Open Plug’s ELIPS Studio 3 is a Adobe FLEX Builder plug-in which allows developers to create applications in the desktop IDE and then target for Windows Mobile, Android, the iPhone platform and even dumb phones.

    The application does not just promise cross platform development, but also high performance on all the platforms, including Windows Mobile.

    Read more at Open Plug here.

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  • Pacific Sun LED Aquarium lighting solution to Windows Mobile control app

    deimos-LED-light-pacific-sun-2

    3 The world of high end aquarium lighting systems is pretty foreign to me, but it does become interesting when Pacific Sun, a producer of aquarium lights which run between $2000 and $4000, releases a Windows Mobile app which makes it easy to program said lights.

    Their Phobos and Deimos lights allow you to set photoperiod, intensity and colour temperature and the software makes it easy to program all these features via your phone.  The lighting system connects via bluetooth to any Windows Mobile phone and the application will be released for free.

    Read more about the upcoming app and see more screenshots at Reefbuilder here.

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  • RadioJax 1.0 Simple Windows Mobile 6.5 widget for steaming music

    radiojax_1 RadioJax 1.0 is a simple music streaming widget  for Windows Mobile 6.5 and up users featuring the RadioJax music station, playing contemporary adult hits from Jacksonville, FL.

    RadioJax features artists like Nickelback, Blink 182, Matchbox 20, Greenday, Blacked Eyed Peas, Lady Gaga and many others. Local music from Jacksonville’s First Coast is also occasionally featured. Local programming includes TU Sports Talk (Jaguars, Gators, etc.), Pod Rods (automotive) and Ready for the Weekend (entertainment).

    The widget unfortunately only opens a mms: stream in Windows Media Player, as apposed to embedding a player in the widget itself, but in additional also features a e-mail link allowing listers to easily interact with the radio station.

    Download the 11 kb widget at FreewarePPC here.

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