Digitivity » Digital Devices

MeeGo Rebranded As Tizen

Digitivity — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 09:21:36 +0000

The latest re-incarnation of MeeGo, the Linux-based operating system for mobile devices, is being called Tizen.

Previous incarnations have included Moblin, which was being promoted by Intel. Then Moblin became Meego, a collaboration between Intel and Nokia. Unfortunately, Nokia went its separate way by committing to making Windows phones after taking a billion dolars from Microsoft.

Intel publicly proclaimed its support for MeeGo. Now it’s teamed up with Samsung to support the latest name change: Tizen. We’ll see how long this one lasts.

Lenovo’s IdeaPad A1: An Android Tablet for $199

Digitivity — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 15:39:00 +0000

Posted in Images

Lenovo announced a new Android tablet in their IdeaPad line. The IdeaPad A1 has a 7-inch, 1024x600 screen Android 2.3 Gingerbread on a single-core Cortex A8 processor with both front and rear cameras. Related posts:

Samsung Capture: A Smartphone for $100

Digitivity — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 16:30:00 +0000

Posted in Images

Here’s a smart choice if you’re looking for an Android smartphone for cheap that still packs a punch: The Samsung Capture is available for $100 on a 2-year contract with Sprint. Highlights: 3.5 inch screen 3.2 MP camera plus 1.3MP front-facing camera Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) 1GHz processor 2GB microSD card (upto 32GB) See Related posts:Samsung [...] Related posts:

HP Dropping WebOS and Leaving Hardware Business?

admin — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:06:26 +0000

Posted in Digital Devices

Breaking- HP seems to be exiting the hardware business (tablet, phone, and PC). So what’s left? Software? I knew about some management software they have (OpenView), but is that enough to sustain the company? And does this have anything to do with Google’s purchase of Motorola? I.e., now they know they can’t compete? I’ll post [...] Related posts:

Google Buys Motorola: Good Times for Android

Digitivity — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:28:36 +0000

Google just bought Motorola‘s mobility division for $12.5 billion.

This is somewhat strange news coming just a day or two after Motorola announced it would be charging royalties on Android phones for use of its patents.

My comments

Well, I guess this is one (expensive) way to avoid paying royalties on Android.

Given the reactions of HTC, Samsung, Sony, and LG (which we’re all versions of “We’re glad Google’s defending Android”), it seems Google’s reassured vendors that their intention isn’t to be the one and only Android manufacturer, but rather to have a stable basis to defend Android from Apple and the rest of the anti-Android gang.

Secondly, Nokia looks even more pathetic. Here’s their reaction:

“This further reinforces our belief that opportunities for the growth of Nokia’s smartphone business will be greatest with Windows Phone. This could prove to be a massive catalyst for the Windows Phone ecosystem.”

Uhm … what?! Google strengthens Android, and that’ll be a catalyst for Windows Phone? The fact that Google was willing to pay so much for Motorola seems to discredit Nokia’s line that they couldn’t come to a deal with Google (regarding whom they’d partner with). Their CEO, Stephen Elop, was just too much of a Microsoft fan to do anything else than hand the company over to Microsoft.

So… Winners: Google, Android, Android manufacturers. Losers: Microsoft and Nokia. Also Apple to the extent that there are a bunch of patents out there that can be used to prevent slow their patent war on Android.

What do you think?

Trimslice: The First NVIDIA Tegra 2-powered Desktop Computer

Digitivity — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:45:00 +0000

Posted in Links

http://trimslice.com/web/

Trimslice is the first NVIDIA Tegra 2-powered desktop computer. It’s available in various configurations from $199 to $319. Related posts:Notebook Computer Sales Overtake Desktop Sales How to Change the Background Image of the Windows Desktop Dreamvue: A Desktop App to Manage Your Dreamhost Account Related posts:

Task Killers in Android: Unnecessary?

Digitivity — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 13:45:00 +0000

This is an article about how multitasking is supposed to work on Android, and how (supposedly) task killers aren’t needed.

The geist is that the system automatically keeps track of the apps for you, and if you run low on memory, it’ll kill the oldest application for you. Hence no need for a task killer.

Yet people persist in wanting them. Do you?

The Verdict on Cute Netbooks

Digitivity — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 12:31:34 +0000

Increasingly, it seems it’s not enough to just produce a functional computing device anymore. Manufacturers are designing their products more and more to appeal to (what they see as) women’s sense of aesthetics, i.e., we’re seeing the rise of “cute“.

In case you’re into that, Cute Overload is the place to go for all things cute.

Amazon is selling cute pink fluorescent extension cords.

REI is selling a shoulder bag some people think is cute.

MSI came up with the “Love Netbook“.

And Ultra Orange tries to make sense of it all, talking about why men need gadgets, and pink phones for women.

Google Chrome Browser Third Place Behind Internet Explorer and Firefox

Verizon Will Allow Skype on Cell Phones

Digitivity — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 10:54:39 +0000

Verizon announced that it’s going to allow Skype on its cell phone network.

This is a step up from what Verizon is normally known for, which is being the most controllng carrier out there.

Next month, Verizon smartphone users will be able to make free Skype-to-Skype calls (anywhere), and inexpensive international Skype-to-phone calls.

Verizon will allow Skype on all of its Android phones: Motorola Droid, Motorola Devour and HTC Droid Eris

Hopefully, this’ll spur the other cell phone carriers to allow Internet applications like Skype on their networks as well.

Resources

Phandroid article
Android forums post

Attack of the Linux iPad Clones

Digitivity — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:00:53 +0000

Apple iPads are now available on pre-order, but with the new Linux-based iPad clones coming out, you might want to save money and get more features.

In fact, there are least 50 table PCs being launched this year.

Some advantages of the new iPad clones:

Cheaper price: $499 is the base price for an iPad, getting more expensive for decent storage space.
Expandability: The iPad wants $29 for a power cord. And it doesn’t have an SD slot.
Ability to run Flash: While YouTube still works on iPads because YouTube provides a special workaround, there are plenty of websites (from video sites to kids educational sites which may not)
Standards: The iPad uses a “microSIM”, which only one carrier has.
Multitasking
DRM: The iPad has Digital ~~Rights~~ Restrictions Managment, clones won’t.

With the ARM processor coming into its own, this year seems ripe for low-power tablet PCs.

Do you think clones will be worth it? Or does Apple have anything which is truly superior to the PC-based tablets?

Resources

Here come the Linux iPad Clones
ARM iPad clones
Slashdot discussion