Ubuntu Touch OS heading to slew of smartphones, tablets
Developers are working to bring the operating system to more than 20 varieties of smartphones and tablets.
The Ubuntu Touch home screen on a tablet.
The Ubuntu Touch operating system is being ported to more than 20 types ofsmartphones and tablets.
The developer preview of the Linux-based OS was released for the Galaxy Nexus andNexus 4 smartphones and Nexus 7 andNexus 10 tablets last week.
And developers are working to port the OS to a far greater range of devices, including the Asus Transformer series, HTC One handsets, the LG Optimus 4x HD, the Motorola Xoom, the Samsung Galaxy Note and S series, and Sony Xperia phones. They're also working on ports for the Nexus S and Nexus One devices.
The work to adapt the OS is being carried out as part of the Ubuntu port-a-thon initiative to get the developer community to bring Ubuntu Touch to a wider range of hardware.
"We want to port Ubuntu Touch to all kinds of devices," says the porting guide for Ubuntu Touch.
"If you have experience in porting code to Android devices or are generally knowledgeable in terms of porting, working with the kernel and other core bits and pieces of a distribution, this might be interesting to you."
The ports are at various stages of progress and though the OS reuses some of the drivers and other hardware compatibility code used by Android, it will likely take some time to get each port in working order.
Users have been warned not to use the developer preview as their primary OS, and the preview's release notes highlight various issues when running on Nexus devices.
These included problems when using the OS with some 3G and 4G networks, such as CDMA and LTE, and the possibility that the Nexus 4 would refuse to boot if the battery was drained.
Listening in on Able Planet's new 'personal sound amplifier'
Device comes with preset environmental filters that reduce background noise while amplifying harder-to-hear sounds.
Now that I've spent the past week using Able Planet's newly released behind-the-ear "personal sound amplifier," I've learned that I don't hear as well as I like to think. Everything sounds crisper and perkier with the device.
Of course, that isn't necessarily what I want in every environment. I'll spare you the details, but you don't really need to amplify sound when you're going to the bathroom. Nor should crossing your legs in corduroys or pulling a slice of bread out of the plastic bread bag feel so... tingly. With the rather clumsily named PS1600BTE, sometimes the smallest background noises become so bright that it's downright distracting.
The PS1600BTE is worn behind the ear and available online for $850 a pair.
In the intended noisier environments, however, these amplifiers feel like magic, even to someone who likes to think she's got stellar hearing. What's interesting is that it wasn't until I removed the device from each ear that I realized how much duller and more jumbled the sounds in noisy environments were. The PS1600BTE is like icing on a cake I didn't know existed.
The behind-the-ear device is meant to help even people with normal hearing in noisy environments, amplifying hard-to-hear sounds while reducing background noise. Available on its Web site for $850 a pair, Able Planet says it will roll out the amplifiers to U.S. retailers, e-commerce sites, and audiology practices over the coming six months.
It's the latest device in Able Planet's line of personal sounds amplifiers, a term that refers to what are essentially hearing aids for people who are experiencing hearing impairment but not actual hearing loss.
Able Planet is an audio tech company perhaps best known for its noise cancellation headphones. I first stumbled upon the company at CES 2012, when it was showing off its prototype of the in-ear precursor to the PS1600BTE. The concept was intriguing, but as someone without any hearing issues, I shrugged it aside.
One of the device's features is that it comes with preset environmental filters that are easy to adjust up or down right at the top of the device as it sits behind the ear. I did run into issues, however, because I have a lot of thick hair and I wear glasses, and any time I reached back to fiddle with the settings my fingers, strands of hair, and glasses rubbed ever so slightly against the device and the sound was annoyingly amplified.
All that said, the PS1600BTE does what it's intended to do. Even though I have no known hearing impairments, I can certainly imagine putting these on regularly when I go to bars, rock shows, and soccer matches where I sometimes struggle conversing with the person right in front of me.Another issue: Able Planet describes the device, which is held in place by a tiny, clear over-the-ear sound tube, as "highly invisible." I disagree, and so apparently did my 9-month-old baby who, when I picked her up from a nap wearing them for the first time, immediately stared at my ear and tried to grab the tubing.
"Hearing abilities are like fingerprints and everyone is unique," Able Planet CEO Kevin Semcken noted in the company's press release last week. "Struggling to hear in noisy places, like on an airplane, in a crowded restaurant, or at your local pub is common to people with all levels of hearing.... Having difficulty hearing in certain situations does not mean you need to incur the expense of a hearing aid. When hearing becomes a challenge, simply put in your Personal Sound."
The PS1600BTE is now available through the company's Web site for $474.50 for one or $850 for a pair.
Facebook prompts users to send gifts to friends with good news
The social network scans status updates for keywords that make for gift-giving moments.
Facebook has started nudging members to send gifts to friends with especially good news.
The company is featuring "Give a Gift" buttons in the News Feed alongside select status updates that mention special occasions such as a job change.
The buttons were first spotted by Inside Facebook, which obtained screenshots of status updates that talk about new jobs and show the Give a Gift suggestion. A Facebook spokesperson confirmed to that the buttons are part of a "newer test," and are "signaled by keywords."
The appearance of the buttons in News Feed marks the first time that Facebook has turned to the stream to prompt its fledgling Gifts service, a product that has yet to generate meaningful revenue for Facebook.
The social network also appears to be branching out on its definition of a gift-giving occasion. Facebook currently uses member profile data to encourage you to give gifts to your friends with birthdays and anniversaries, as listed in the right-hand sidebar. The newest "Give a Gift" buttons showing in News Feed, however, draw from the content of a status update to make an intelligent assumption about an important life event that might warrant a gift. Inside Facebook suggests that the social network is employing natural language technology from Karma, the gifting startup Facebook bought before launching its Gifts marketplace.
The smart "Give a Gift" buttons, if rolled out more widely, should help Facebook remind members that its otherwise hidden store is chalk full of little doodads for many an occasion. But don't expect Gifts to turn into a real money-maker anytime soon. David Ebersman, Facebook's chief financial officer, warned investors that the product would not be a substantial source of revenue for the company for all of 2013.
Carlson Rezidor to hire 9,000 people in India by 2015
Hospitality major Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group today said it will hire around 9,000 people in India as part of expansion, under which it plans to have 100 hotels under it in the country by the end of 2015.
NEW DELHI: Hospitality major Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group today said it will hire around 9,000 people in India as part of expansion, under which it plans to have 100 hotels under it in the country by the end of 2015.
"We plan to add around 9,000 employees by 2015 to our present strength of 21,000 and have 100 operating hotels by then," Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group Executive Vice-President (South Asia) K B Kachru told PTI.
Kachru, who will be elevated to the position of Chairman of the hotel group in South Asia effective from July 1 this year, said that at present the hospitality chain has 63 operating hotels in India.
"The employees will work for our multiple brands, spread across the country," he added.
The chain has four hospitality brands Radisson Blu, Park Plaza, Country Inns & Suites by Carlson and Park Inn by Radisson in India which cater from mid-scale to premium segments.
On the group's business model, Kachru said: "We are primarily a management company. We manage andfranchise brands but if the right opportunity comes, we will not shy away from the investments."
He said the group will focus on metros, state capitals, religious centres and leisure destinations such as Goa and Shimla.
Last month, the group had said it will open 13 new hotels in India by the end of 2013 in different segments.
The hospitality firm had earlier signed a partnership with Bestech Group, giving it the exclusive rights to develop 49 Park Inn Hotels in north and central India by 2024. In addition, the Carlson Rezidor had agreed to invest Rs 213 crore in first two projects in Gurgaon and Mohali.
The new hotels under different brands will be in Navi Mumbai, Uttarakhand, Bhatinda, Merrut, Gandhidham, Pune, New Delhi, Gurgaon, Mysore, Jaipur, Udaipur, Kolkata and Guwahati.
In a major study of nearly 14,000 subjects, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, concluded that each 10 percent increase in muscle mass (as a percentage of body weight) correlated to a 12 percent drop in prediabetes. Improvements occurred even in individuals who exercised but did not lose weight. To boost your odds of preventing type 2 diabetes, strength-train at least twice a week by lifting weights, exercising with resistance bands or doing push-ups and other moves that use your body weight for resistance.
The Myo gesture-control armband is looking to consign camera-based gesture recognition to the history books.
The Myo armband uses your muscles for gesture control.
From "Minority Report" to the Kinect, we've been on a tech quest for touchless gesture control that frees us from the shackles of mice and old-style controllers. We want to get in on the action and use movement to command our digital devices.
Myo from Thalmic Labs takes that gesture-control desire and builds it into an armband you wear on your forearm.
The Myo is available for pre-order. (Click to enlarge.)
The Myo uses a combination of motion sensors and muscle activity sensors to track gestures. When you snap your fingers, wave your hand, or point your finger, it translates that movement into a gesture based on the muscles used. An ARM processor and rechargeable batteries power the armband, which communicates with devices usingBluetooth low energy.
The Myo team suggests using the armband to "unleash your inner Jedi," an enormously appealing idea. It could potentially be used to not only control your computer, but also to fly quadrocopters, interface with iOS and Android, and play video games. The potential is limited only by what developers can create.
The armband will work from the get-go with Mac and PC computers, enabling control of popular activities like Web browsing, media content, and watching videos. I, for one, am eager to see the gaming abilities showcased.
Details on the device are still pretty thin, but a promotional video shows the direction Thalmic Labs is taking. What do you think? Is this a more appealing technology than existing options like the camera-based Kinect?The Myo can be preordered for $149 and is expected to ship in late 2013. Its success may well depend on the number of applications it will work with.
FDA approves single-lead implantable cardiac defibrillator.
The device comes with a cellular-based home monitoring system that allows physicians to detect a range of heart-related events, including silent arrhythmias.
The Lumax 740 DX System is now approved in the U.S.
Cardio med tech company Biotronik today announced Food and Drug Administration approval of the world's first implantable cardiac defibrillator that uses just one lead to sense atrial arrhythmias.
Say what?
For those unfamiliar with the mechanics of the heart, let's back up. Atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common heat arrhythmia, occurs when the electrical signals in the atria (the heart's two upper chambers) fire fast and frenetically, causing the atria to essentially quiver instead of pulse regularly, which can result in blood pooling or clotting and thus greatly increase the risk of stroke and congestive heart failure.
As if that's not bad enough, this type of arrhythmia -- which can last for minutes, days, or even be a permanent condition -- is often asymptomatic. This explains why even the most elite young athletes in the world can suddenly drop to the ground mid-performance and suffer a heart attack without ever knowing they were at risk in the first place.
Until now, the only way to constantly monitor patients with or at a heightened risk of AF was to implant a cardiac defibrillator (ICD) that uses two leads (thin, flexible wires) and has pacemaker functions built in to deliver electrical shocks to the heart when it starts beating dangerously fast.
It doesn't take an expert to work out that the risk of complications increases with the amount of hardware implanted in the heart. So patients who don't appear to be at specific risk of AF are typically given a single-lead ICD, which until now hasn't been able to detect AF.
Enter Biotronik's newly approved Lumax 740 DX System, which uses a newfangled lead (called Linoxsmart S DX) that features a floating atrial dipole, along with some fancy algorithms, to differentiate between actual AF and atrial flutter, as well as another type of arrhythmia calledsupraventricular tachycardias.
In other words, the folks at Biotronik have managed to incorporate atrial sensing into a single-lead ICD.
Biotronik -- which is headquartered in Germany and happens to be celebrating its 50-year anniversary in 2013 -- says it expects the implants will be available in the U.S. in the next few weeks, and that the DX System is currently approved and available in many international markets as well, including Japan and the European Union."Until now, our only option to obtain important and useful atrial signal information from patients undergoing defibrillator implantation has been to implant a separate atrial lead," says Bradley P. Knight, medical director of the Center for Heart Rhythm Disorders at Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute. "The DX System addresses a significant gap in ICD therapy. Patients now have access to the benefits of both dual and single-chamber ICDs without the risk of additional hardware."
The DX System comes with a cellular-based home monitoring system that enables physicians to monitor the device remotely so that a wide range of important but hard-to-detect events, including silent arrhythmias, can be caught as early as possible for medical intervention.
Microsoft will reportedly launch Surface tablet in Japan
The Windows tablet may make its debut in Japan next month, according to a report from the Nikkei news service.
Microsoft's Surface RT tablet could be headed for Japan.
Microsoft's Surface tablet may surface in Japan as early as next month, according to a story from the Nikkei news service, as reported by the Wall Street Journal's MarketWatch.
Microsoft is expected to sell the Surface RT edition to Japanese consumers. That version can run certain desktop applications, such as Microsoft Office RT and Internet Explorer 10, but otherwise is restricted to Windows store apps.
The 32GB Surface RT tablet starts at $499 in the U.S. That same model may sport a price tag in Japan of around 50,000 yen ($531).
Surface has been wending its way around the world. The RT version debuted last October in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, Hong Kong, Australia, and China. On February 14, the RT tablet went on sale in 13 additional countries throughout Europe, including Austria, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
Earlier this month Microsoft unveiled Surface Pro, which runs the full flavor of Windows 8 and can handle existing desktop applications.
Microsoft was mum about any plans to offer the RT tablet anywhere else. A spokeswoman for the company sent CNET the following statement:
"The worldwide customer response to Surface has been exciting and humbling to see. In order to meet customer demand and retailer expectations, we are taking a phased approach to the availability of Surface. With regard to additional markets, we have nothing further to share at this time."
Facebook builds 'cold storage' archive for old photos.
Facebook is building a vast new "cold storage" facility in the US to archive all the messages, photos and other postings that its over billion users do not need every day but want to retain for future reference.A 16,000-square-foot data centre under construction in Prineville, Oregon, is designed to provide a more efficient home for older and less popular material.
The new cold storage facility will join two existing data centres in Prineville, The Oregonian reported.
Facebook knows you might want to see your old photos again someday. Or scroll back through your Timeline to revisit your posts as an online diary. But storing all those pictures and keeping them immediately available takes a lot of space.
Not in the physical sense, but in the virtual. That means lots of hard drives, lots of storage and lots of energy.
So Facebook is preparing to try out a more efficient storage system at its Prineville "cold storage", for those archival posts that people don't need every day, but that they don't want to lose altogether.
Facebook says 82 per cent of its traffic is focused on just 8 per cent of its photos. Its cold storage facility is designed to create a more efficient way to store those photos that are not in heavy rotation.
The cold storage building is just a skeletal frame now, and a concrete pad. Facebook hopes to have the first of three phases up and running soon.
Each of the three 16,000-square-foot data hubs could hold an exabyte of data, equivalent to 1 million hard drives inside a contemporary personal computer.
The tens of thousands of servers inside the two existing buildings are always on, ready to deliver your pictures and musings to your Facebook friends around the world.
By contrast, most of the computers in the new cold storage facility will be asleep. A few will be alert, awaiting a request for old material and ready to summon the slumbering computers to provide their data.
This material won't reach your computer as quickly as something posted just a few hours ago, but Facebook says it won't take long.
"The principle will be so that it doesn't impact the user experience, so think about a matter of seconds, or milliseconds," said Michael Kirkland, a Facebook communication manager.
Facebook estimates a cold-storage data center will cost one-third less than its standard data center.
Facebook iOS app adds free calling support in US, Canada.
Facebook allowed users on Friday to make free calls to friends at the leading social network using its application tailored for iPhones or iPads. An updated Facebook "app" for the popular Apple mobile devices shows when friends are online and then gives the option of ringing them up by tapping an icon on the screen. The feature is right now limited to users in US and Canada only.
Calls are routed over the Internet using telecom service data plans or connections to Wi-Fi hotspots. Facebook introduced a version of the feature earlier this year in its messenger program.
Upgrades in the Facebook 5.5 app included a button designed to make it easier to "like" online content and post comments at the social network. What's new in Facebook for iOS version 5.5
New button design makes it easy to like, comment and share posts in News Feed. • Improved buttons to like, comment and share posts • Share button to re-post stories from your News Feed now available in all languages • Call friends for free right from Facebook (US and Canada) *
Don’t have soft drinks or energy drinks while you're exercising. Stay properly hydrated by drinking enough water during your workout (just don't overdo things, as drinking too much water can also be dangerous). While you might need energy drinks for long-distance running, in shorter exercise sessions in the gym, your body will burn the glucose from the soft drink first, before starting to burn body fat. Same goes for eating sweets.
RIGHT ON TOP: Skipper M.S. Dhoni struck a recordbreaking unbeaten 206 as India finished on 515 for eight on day three of the first Test against Australia in Chennai on Sunday.
Dhoni’s unbeaten 206 is the highest score by an Indian captain against Australia. His partnership with Virat Kohli (107) yielded 128 crucial runs.
Bat-speed combined with strong wrists as the sphere was sent rocketing to distant corners. This was ‘power play’ by Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Yet, Dhoni’s sensational unbeaten 243-ball 206 at Chepauk before a wildly cheering Sunday crowd was not all power. It was also about heart and fight. And a captain’s ability to respond to pressures that come with the territory.
The ground was Dhoni’s canvas and he brush-stroked it with shots of vibrant colours. The Aussies chased leather or, helplessly, followed the flight of the ball into the stands. What an innings!
Dhoni’s dazzling double century — his first in international cricket — and a well-constructed 107 by the impressive Virat Kohli took India, leading Australia by 135 in the first innings, to 515 for eight on the third day of the first Airtel Test at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
On a wearing surface offering increasing assistance to the spinners, India holds the aces.
Several records
For the Australians, the rampant Dhoni was a force of nature. To the Indians, he was a responsible skipper, building partnerships and rallying with the tail.
Captain Courageous swept past several records during his blitzkrieg. This is the highest score by an Indian captain against Australia in Tests. And Dhoni became the first wicket-keeper batsman from India to cross 4000 runs.
Dhoni’s counter-attack stunned the Aussies. Yet, this was no thoughtless hitting. The onslaught was calculated.
He walked in after Nathan Lyon had dismissed maestro Sachin Tendulkar (81) with an off-spinner that turned sharply from the edge of the rough just beyond the good length area.
The Australian close-in cordon was in and the host was under stress. It was here that Dhoni disrupted Lyon’s length by getting forward and clouting the spinner on the leg-side without allowing the ball to spin or jump.
The sense of adventure in Dhoni’s batting is unmistakable. And it was in full view during his 109-run association in just 25.4 overs with a dogged Bhuvneshwar Kumar that might have taken the game away from Australia.
Bhuvneshwar’s contribution was a mere 16 as Dhoni launched into the tiring Australian attack. Incredibly, in the final session (extended by half an hour), Dhoni smashed an astonishing 109 runs.
No mercy
Hurricane Dhoni showed no mercy. James Pattinson was bludgeoned over long-off and the ball landed inches in front of the ropes. Dhoni was severe on the slightest of width and the pacemen were flashed between cover and point.
Even if the ball reversed, Dhoni was seeing and picking the sphere so well that he essayed the whip between square-leg and mid-wicket.
Some of his straighter hits were breathtaking. Peter Siddle looked into the heavens as Dhoni smashed the ball past him. The delivery was quick but the ball sped faster to the ropes.
Support seamer Moises Henriques was taken to the cleaners. Dhoni sashayed down the pitch and slapped left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc to the point fence. This was aggressive, inventive batsmanship that forced the bowlers to alter their line.
And Dhoni waltzed down to Lyon to dismiss the bowler ruthlessly into the stands beyond mid-wicket. As Lyon lost his confidence, the lack of depth in the Australian spin stood exposed.
Valuable ally
Earlier in the day, the 31-year-old Dhoni found a valuable ally in Kohli. The right-handed Kohli’s batsmanship combined the urgency of present-day methods with solid, old fashioned blocking. The young man oozed character in the middle.
Kohli’s fourth Test hundred was overshadowed by the explosive Dhoni but his was an important contribution that lent stability to the innings.
The Delhi batsman’s back-to-back Test centuries — Kohli notched up a hundred against England at Nagpur — confirmed his stature as a feisty batsman. In the Nagpur Test too, Kohli and Dhoni figured in a crucial association although the Indian captain missed out on a hundred by a run on that occasion.
At Chepauk, Kohli and Dhoni were involved in a vital 128-run partnership. Kohli’s back-swing was easy and he got solidly behind the line of the deliveries when Pattinson and Siddle bowled testing spells in the morning.
Kohli, subsequently, drove and flicked with panache but failed to press on after his hundred; he was picked up at widish mid-on off Lyon.
Ravindra Jadeja shouldered arms to a Pattinson delivery from round the wicket to see his stumps in a mess and India gradually seemed to lose the plot.
Then, Dhoni boomed with Bhuvneshwar. The crowd, disappointed at Tendulkar missing out on a hundred, was up on its feet as Dhoni celebrated his 200th run.
This was an explosive innings.
Scoreboard
Australia — 1st innings: 380.
India — 1st innings: M. Vijay b Pattinson 10 (15b, 2x4), V. Sehwag b Pattinson 2 (11b), C. Pujara b Pattinson 44 (74b, 6x4), S. Tendulkar b Lyon 81 (159b, 7x4), V. Kohli c Starc b Lyon 107 (206b, 15x4, 1x6), M.S. Dhoni (batting) 206 (243b, 22x4, 5x6), R. Jadeja b Pattinson 16 (45b, 3x4), R. Ashwin b Lyon 3 (6b), H. Singh b Henriques 11 (31b, 1x6), Bhuvneshwar (batting) 16 (56b, 2x4), Extras (b-2, lb-14, w-3) 19, Total (for eight wkts. in 141 overs) 515.
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Vijay), 2-12 (Sehwag), 3-105 (Pujara), 4-196 (Tendulkar), 5-324 (Kohli), 6-365 (Jadeja), 7-372 (Ashwin), 8-406 (Harbhajan).
Australia bowling: Starc 25-3-75-0, Pattinson 26-5-89-4, Siddle 22-5-61-0, Lyon 40-1-182-3, Henriques 17-4-48-1, Clarke 8-2-25-0, Warner 3-0-19-0.
Microsoft said to be readying public preview of Windows Blue
Microsoft's Windows Blue operating system update rumored to be coming in the next couple of months.
More rumors about Microsoft's next Windows release, codenamed Blue, are trickling out from Win8China.com, a site known for leaking information about new Windows releases.
Though I cannot corroborate all Win8China's specifics, I'd say based on previous Windows Blue tidbits I've heard, the site's latest Blue information seems largely believable.
In August 2012, I blogged about Microsoft's Windows Blue work, noting that a summer 2013 debut was the internal Microsoft delivery target. Win8China claimed today that the release-to-manufacturing phase for Windows Blue is supposedly June 7, with retail availability planned for August 2013.
Looking back, Microsoft released Windows 8 to manufacturing on August 1, 2012 but didn't make the release available at retail until October 26. Up until now, there's typically been a roughly three-month lag between RTM and the date when at least some PC makers would have the latest Windows release preloaded on new PCs. With Blue, Microsoft is trying to get Windows on a faster development track, and also get the final bits into consumers' hands almost as soon as the product RTMs, I've heard.
Win8China is also reporting that the second of the two expected Windows Blue milestones will be a public "milestone preview" build. I blogged recently that there would be two Windows Blue "milestones," according to my contacts, but had no information as to when and whether Microsoft planned to release a developer or consumer preview before RTMing the product.
In January, I reported that Windows Blue was expected to include tweaks to the user experience, new dev-platform related bits, as well as new versions of Internet Explorer, Mail, Calendar, Bing and other integrated apps. Blue also was expected include some kernel and driver-level updates that could help with battery life and overall performance, according to my sources.
It sounds like Win8China also is hearing the same, noting there will be performance enhancements. The site is also claiming there will be scalability improvements for Metro-Style (Windows Store) apps so that they render correctly on differently sized screens. (We know Microsoft officials are touting Windows 8's ability to support multiple screen sizes, so this seems like a good bet.)
Win8China also said that Microsoft intends to make the Windows Blue upgrade free for Windows 8 users. I have no idea if this is true, or if Microsoft will go the Apple route and make OS refreshes available for a relatively nominal fee.Win8China also mentions windowing improvements will be part of Windows Blue. I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I'd be really happy if we could run more than just two apps side-by-side like we're stuck doing with Windows 8. A woman can dream....
Win8China hasn't posted about the other products that I've heard are part of the upcoming Blue wave. Windows Phone, Windows Server, Outlook.com and SkyDrive are all set to get "Blue" refreshes at some point. I've heard from my contacts that Windows Phone Blue is running later than Windows Blue. It's unclear whether that means Windows Phone Blue will be a fall/winter 2013 or a 2014 release. (This should not be interpreted as Windows Phone Blue being "delayed," as I have no idea what the Windows Phone team's target for Blue is/was.)
Microsoft officials are declining to comment on anything pertaining to Blue.
Global allies give Mozilla's Firefox OS a mobile foothold
Partners backing the browser-based mobile operating system include phone maker LG Electronics and 18 mobile network operators across the world. The first phones are due in the second quarter.
The Geeksphone Keon, a Firefox OS developer preview phone.
BARCELONA, Spain--Laying the groundwork for its nascent Firefox OS, Mozilla has won over a sizeable list of allies including LG Electronics and China Unicom, and the first phones with the browser-based operating system should arrive in the second quarter of the year.
Mozilla announced today at the Mobile World Congress show here that it's persuaded 18 mobile network operators and four mobile phone makers to back its open-source mobile operating system. That's not enough to unseat the incumbent powers of Google's Android and Apple's iOS slayer, but it is enough to ensure Firefox OS at least isn't extinguished before it even hits the market in the second quarter.
The first phones should arrive in the second quarter of the year, said Mozilla Chief Technology Officer Brendan Eich.
Mozilla won commitments to sell Firefox OS phones from these carriers: America Moovil, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Hutchison Three Group, KDDI, KT, MegaFon, Qtel, SingTel, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia Group, Telefonica, Telenor, Telstra, TMN, and VimpelCom. Handset manufacturers on board are Alcatel, ZTE, LG Electronics, and Huawei, with a boost from chipmaker Qualcomm.
Telefonica, Mozilla's first and strongest Firefox OS ally, plans to push the phone aggressively in Latin America for customers who want something more powerful than a feature phone but not as expensive as an iPhone. Its first phones will arrive mid-2013, with new models in late 2013 and 2014, the company said. Telefonica shared the Mobile World Congress stage with Mozilla last year toshow the first versions of Firefox OS.That's not necessarily a big foothold in the U.S. market, but Firefox OS is geared chiefly for more-budget-conscious regions. The first markets for the phone will be Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain, and Venezuela, Mozilla said.
Mozilla has a version of Firefox for Android, but its performance is limited by the requirement of running on Android's Java-like programming foundation, Eich said. And of course people must install it themselves.
Thus, when it comes to mobile, Firefox OS is more important than Firefox on Android. "I think Firefox OS is the thing to scale up," Eich said.
It won't be easy
Even with its allies, Firefox OS will be a hard sell for many. Inexpensive Android phones and early-model iPhones can be competitive, and even companies like Microsoft and BlackBerry have had only limited success attracting not just customers, but also the developers essential to ensure there are apps those customers can use.
"It's open source, there's nice technology in there," said Adam Fleming, chief technical officer of mobile software developer Apadmi. "But the business side of my brain says until you get a decent level of saturation, no serious developer is going to be looking at it."
The Geeksphone Peak, a phone for developers using Firefox OS
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Mozilla has begun recruiting developers, such as a global Firefox OS hack day in January that attracted 2,500 participants, but it recognizes that it has to start by getting phones into the market -- and not just the Geeksphone Keon and Peak designed for Firefox OS developers.
"The first piece of hard work is to get operators and OEMs [handset makers] excited about Firefox OS," said Johnathan Nightingale, vice president of Firefox engineering. "We've only ever succeeded through [building] high-quality products."
Mozilla, a nonprofit organization best known for its widely used Firefox Web browser, isn't like other competitors. It uses its software not to please shareholders but rather to foster openness on the Web. However, Mozilla is hamstrung because Firefox has effectively no presence at all in the fast-growing mobile market.
Firefox isn't allowed on iOS, and it's not the default on Android, which means Mozilla has little leverage in charting the course of the Web. And with walled gardens, patent barriers, and proprietary technology so commonplace in the mobile market, it's precisely the area where Mozilla feels the greatest need to inject some openness.
"The world still needs Mozilla," Eich said.
That's why Mozilla decided to build Firefox OS, which began in 2011 as a project called Boot to Gecko. Like ordinary Firefox, it runs Web apps written in Web languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript -- which Eich invented, by the way -- but it also includes phone-specific interfaces for things like monitoring battery life and phone orientation.
Running start with Web programming
The Web programming approach means that, like Google's Chrome OS used on Chromebooks today, developers can get off to a running start. That's especially with many companies like Facebook using Web apps as a way to reach a broad range of devices. Every smartphone has a Web browser, after all.
Firefox OS software will be available through the Firefox Marketplace, an open app store that'll include Firefox apps such as Zepto Labs' Cut the Rope, EA Games' Pogo's Poppit, Time Out, SoundCloud, Nokia Here, Twitter, Facebook, Airbnb, and Disney Mobile Games' Where's My Water?
Because there are many differences in browsers -- particularly mobile browsers -- Web programming can be complicated for the mobile market. It's not a single unified "write once, run anywhere" foundation.
The Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, Spain, home of Mobile World Congress
"You get just as much fragmentation across Web applications," Fleming said.
Part of Mozilla's effort is to improve the mobile Web standards for everyone, Eich said. "We're uplifting the whole stack," he said. For example, he said, Samsung is building some phone-specific interfaces into the WebKit project that's used by Google Chrome, Apple Safari, future Opera products, and several other browsers.
Of course, iOS and Android now have expanded from smartphones to tablets. Will Firefox OS follow suit? Not to start with, Eich said.
"Almost all the inbound partner interest was phones first," he said. Likewise, Eich said there's no appetite for a browser-based Firefox OS for PCs. "We've talked to some partners, but it really didn't rise to the top of the heap."
Mozilla today is chiefly funded by search-ad revenue from Google, which the company shares with Mozilla when people use Firefox to initiate searches. It's not yet clear how the mobile effort will generate money for the organization, which though it doesn't care about profits per se does care about paying its 320 engineers and pursuing its open-Web mission.
"Right now we're not worrying about that," Eich said about Firefox OS revenue. "First we'll get the users, then we'll worry about monetization."
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