RIM not putting all its eggs in smartphone basket

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ORLANDO, FLA. — Research In Motion will always be associated with the iconic BlackBerry, but it became clear at this week’s BlackBerry World conference that the company is starting to hedge its bets.

via GuelphMercury – RIM not putting all its eggs in smartphone basket.

BlackBerry 10 is much more than a smartphone operating system, Heins stressed in Orlando, just as he did in March during a conference call to discuss RIM’s quarterly results.

It’s a whole new mobile computing platform that forms the guts of the PlayBook, RIM’s tablet device, and can adapt to a wide range of other uses such as telematic systems in planes, trains and automobiles.

GeeXboX

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GeeXboX is a free and Open Source Media-Center purposed Linux distribution for embedded devices and desktop computers. GeeXboX is not an application, it’s a full-featured OS, that one can boot as a LiveCD, from a USB key, an SD/MMC card or install on its regular HDD. The GeeXboX distribution is lightweight and designed for one single goal: embed all major multimedia applications as to turn your computer into an HTPC. GeeXboX runs on x86, PowerPC and ARM devices.

via GeeXboX.

Netherlands becomes world’s second “net neutrality” country

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A year ago, the former Dutch telecoms monopolist KPN unveiled a plan to make mobile users pay extra for data used by certain third-party apps, such as WhatsApp and Skype, that replaced KPN services like text messaging and voice calls. In response, the Dutch parliament quickly added net neutrality provisions to its telecommunications law. Tuesday, the Dutch senate at last approved the law, making the Netherlands the second country in the world (after Chile) with net neutrality written into statute.

via Netherlands becomes world’s second “net neutrality” country | Ars Technica.

Verizon’s 4G LTE-to-the-Home Service Launches Thursday

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HomeFusion customers can expect rates of five to 12 Mbps and upload rates of two to five Mbps, in line with your average DSL or low-end cable Internet connection. The customer is responsible for purchasing a $200 antenna which needs to be professionally installed, and the package includes a wireless router capable of connecting four wired and 20 wireless devices to the network. You must sign a two-year agreement.

via Verizon’s 4G LTE-to-the-Home Service Launches Thursday | PCWorld.

Verizon doesn’t give you much data to work with, so watch what you download or stream: 10GB of data will cost you $60 every month, 20GB, $90, and 30GB, $120. For every gigabyte you go over these limits, Verizon will zap you an extra $10. That’s not the only bad news: The carrier will also not install the antenna above the second story of a building, so apartment dwellers are out of luck.

HP unveils Ethernet-powered thin client

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HP has unveiled an all-in-one thin client capable of being powered by an Ethernet cable. HP claims the t410 AiO is the first all-in-one thin client that supports the 802.3at Type 1 Power over Ethernet (PoE) standard, which means it is capable of drawing its power from a network connection.

via HP unveils Ethernet-powered thin client – thin clients, Power over Ethernet, HP – Hardware – Techworld.

Anything Can Be A Touch Screen Thanks To Disney Research’s ‘Touché’

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The system, called Touché, has already been demonstrated in a number of impressive practical prototypes created by the researchers — from a “smart doorknob” that can sense precisely how it is being gripped and lock or unlock itself accordingly, to a container full of water that can detect when a person’s hand is skimming the surface or completely submerged to even a person’s own body, which can be turned into an input for controlling the volume of a smartphone or other digital music player.

via Anything Can Be A Touch Screen Thanks To Disney Research’s ‘Touché’ | TPM Idea Lab.

The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

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I can tell just from the press shots, this thing is a Samsung lawyer’s dream. I’m sure you must be thinking,”Hmm, that’s a weird assumption to make.” but don’t worry, an explanation is forthcoming. We’re going to take a trip, way, way back to the prehistoric times of April 18, 2011: The day Apple claimed ownership of the rectangle.

via The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers.

For world’s most wired country, breaking Internet monopoly is hard

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At the end of the 1990s, Korea developed its own encryption technology, SEED, with the aim of securing e-commerce. Users must supply a digital certificate, protected by a personal password, for any online transaction in order to prove their identity. For Web sites to be able to verify the certificates, the technology requires users to install a Microsoft ActiveX plug-in.

via For world’s most wired country, breaking Internet monopoly is hard.

But mandating the technology had a host of side effects that, according to Kim, the FSS either largely ignored or didn’t predict. It forced consumers to use Internet Explorer because it was the only browser ActiveX plug-ins were compatible with. By default, Web developers optimized not only banking and shopping Web sites for Internet Explorer, but all Web sites. For developers, this just seemed logical.

The result has been a decade-long monopoly in the Korean market, where virtually all Korean Web sites are optimized for Internet Explorer.

Proposition to change the prefixing policy

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The web is meant to be a universal medium, agnostic in terms of device or UA. Of course, testing in several browsers is needed to iron out bugs. But when authors have to write for one browser, then port to a few other selected ones, something is wrong.

All in all, there is no simple right way for authors to use prefixes as they currently are.

via Proposition to change the prefixing policy from Florian Rivoal on 2012-05-04 (www-style@w3.org from May 2012).

From: http://www.webmonkey.com/2012/05/new-proposal-could-end-the-css-prefix-madness/

CSS vendor prefixes were designed to help web developers by giving them a way to target CSS to specific browsers and use proposed standards before they were finalized. The idea was to move the web forward without rushing the CSS standards process. Unfortunately, it hasn’t always worked out that way.