Tag Archives: smartphones

Nokia’s Linux-based Meltemi platform melts amid layoffs; Qt still afloat

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Meltemi was a Linux-based operating system that was intended to be Nokia’s successor to the S40 feature phone platform. Used in conjunction with the Qt development toolkit, Meltemi was going to be the cornerstone of Nokia’s strategy for connecting the “next billion” smartphone users.

via Nokia’s Linux-based Meltemi platform melts amid layoffs; Qt still afloat | Ars Technica.

It’s worth noting that the Qt toolkit is widely supported by other parties. Nokia’s decision to relicense Qt under the permissive LGPL has made it possible for other smartphone vendors to adopt it as part of their platform. HP was using Qt in webOS and RIM is currently using it as the basis for the development toolkit in its next-generation Blackberry operating system.

Facebook Might Have a Smartphone in Its Future

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This would be Facebook’s third effort at building a smartphone, said one person briefed on the plans and one who was recruited. In 2010, the blog TechCrunch reported that Facebook was working on a smartphone. The project crumbled after the company realized the difficulties involved, according to people who had worked on it. The Web site AllThingsD reported last year that Facebook and HTC had entered a partnership to create a smartphone, code-named “Buffy,” which is still in the works.

via Facebook Might Have a Smartphone in Its Future – NYTimes.com.

IBM Faces the Perils of “Bring Your Own Device”

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The trend toward employee-owned devices isn’t saving IBM any money, says Jeanette Horan, who is IBM’s chief information officer and oversees all the company’s internal use of IT. Instead, she says, it has created new challenges for her department of 5,000 people, because employees’ devices are full of software that IBM doesn’t control.

via IBM Faces the Perils of “Bring Your Own Device” – Technology Review.

Horan isn’t only trying to educate IBM workers about computer security. She’s also enforcing better security. Before an employee’s own device can be used to access IBM networks, the IT department configures it so that its memory can be erased remotely if it is lost or stolen. The IT crew also disables public file-transfer programs like Apple’s iCloud; instead, employees use an IBM-hosted version called MyMobileHub. IBM even turns off Siri, the voice-activated personal assistant, on employees’ iPhones. The company worries that the spoken queries, which are uploaded to Apple servers, could ultimately reveal sensitive information.

The Call of the Future by Tom Vanderbilt

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In 1986, the latest shift was “call waiting,” which Judith Martin compared to “standing at a cocktail party and not paying attention to the person you’re with, waiting for a more important person.” Now, of course, as we stand at that same cocktail party, fidgeting with our smartphones—which, despite rarely looking like something designed for speaking into, we not only talk on, but to (summoning the iPhone’s electronic concierge, Siri, for directions or the weather)—the interruptions that once occurred on the telephone line now occur in real time and space.

via The Wilson Quarterly: The Call of the Future by Tom Vanderbilt.

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.