New Technology 4 U

MeeGo is an operating system that blurs the line between a robust mobile phone OS and a lightweight netbook OS.

MeeGo is a hybrid of two operating systems. One is Nokia’s Maemo, which recently appeared in the N900 smartphone. The second is Intel’s Moblin, an OS primarily intended for netbooks. Both platforms are open-source and Linux-based, as MeeGo will be.

MeeGo is intended for advanced smartphones, tablets, netbooks, in-vehicle technology and even connected televisions. It supports ARM architectures — commonly used in advanced smartphones and smartbooks — and Intel’s Atom processor. The first devices should launch in the second half of 2010.

We can only imagine what MeeGo will look and act like, but it’s interesting that Intel and Nokia are targeting a range of mobile devices that aren’t necessarily smartphones or notebooks. MeeGo is intended for a new OS category that doesn’t yet have a name — revolving around tablets but not specifically for them.

The competition has taken a different approach of scaling its existing operating systems. Apple tweaked its iPhone OS to support the iPad. Other tablet designers are trying to make Android work. Microsoft is trying to cram Windows 7 Starter onto netbooks and tablets, such as the Archos 9 and an unnamed HP tablet. Meanwhile, Lenovo has gone rogue, creating its own operating systems for the Skylight smartbook and the tablet portion of its IdeaPad U1.

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I remember back when the BlackBerry Curve 8900 was first announced I was considering giving up my iPhone for one. Its sleek Curve-esque designed coupled with the new OS originally found on the Bold mixed with the fact that its, well, a BlackBerry was quite enticing for me. However, it seems that the folks over at T-Mobile haven’t found the device to be equally enticing to their customers.

Why do I say this, you ask? Well, the wireless carrier has apparently just sent out word that the 8900 has reached its “end of life cycle” and will no longer be sold. Of course, this is probably to make way for the BlackBerry Curve 8910 that is just around the corner.

As the fanfare over Apple’s new iPad reaches a fever pitch, Google is not standing idly by.

The search giant has already unveiled concept designs for its own version of a tablet, though it’s unlikely that a Google tablet will hit store shelves until at least 2011.

Developers of Google Chrome OS, an open-source operating system that is set to debut in the second half of 2010, recently posted a mock tablet design on the developers’ Web site chromium.org.

The design was actually unveiled two days before Apple CEO Steve Jobs gave the world its first glimpse at the iPad. But it wasn’t widely noticed until this week.

According to chromium.org, Google’s operating system would be optimized for a tablet that has a 5-inch to 10-inch screen, but it could work on larger devices.

The designs showed a user interface that includes large, square icons and controls, navigation tabs on the side and the ability to run multiple programs in separate, side-by-side windows at once.

The tablet running Google Chrome OS would also include a virtual keyboard at the bottom of the screen or a keyboard that could be opened in a separate window that could be placed in different areas of the screen. Applications would be placed at the bottom edge of the screen and could be opened with an upward dragging motion.

When Google first announced that it was building an operating system, the company said it was focusing on the netbook market. Though Chrome OS’ developers said they are still primarily focused on netbooks, the operating system “could eventually scale to a wide variety of devices,” including an iPad-like tablet computer.

Fruity toymaker Apple has released an upgrade to its iPhone OS. Version 3.1.3 (7E18), will replace the OS on all models of iPhone and iPod touch gadgets.

It contains fixes for all those flaws which Apple denied existed. These included the dodgy iPhone 3GS battery level reporting, the crashing app on launch feature and a ton of security features. Of course the iPhone is totally secure as users are protected by their faith in Steve Jobs. However just in case your faith is feeling a bit weak, the fixes are for the following vulnerabilities.

One flaw means that playing a maliciously crafted mp4 audio file may cause the iPhone to crash or run arbitrary code execution Another exploit involves a maliciously crafted TIFF image may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution.

Another gives a person with physical access to a locked device the power to access the user’s data Steve Jobs blames all Apple’s crashes on Flash, which does not work on the iPhone so how an Apple fanboi can explain this is anyone’s guess.

The Apple special event gave us nothing more than the iPad and the iPhone 4G hopefuls were left in dismay. Rumors have now started pouring in and here we have the first ‘probable’ look at the iPhone 4G which has been codenamed the N89. Previous iPhone models were codenamed M68, N82 and N88 and therefore the N89 codename sounds genuine. It was actually the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK where the codenamed was discovered for the iPhone 4G along with codenames for the iPhone 3G.

Other than discovering information about the next-gen iPhone, the SDK and Firmware arrival also gives hints about the next iPod touch version for which the firmware 3.1.3 will be made available.

Currently, the OS 3.1.3 update has been made public and the iPod and iPhone owners can start looking for the downloads. The update brings in bug fixes, improves the accuracy of reported battery level and helps resolve issues while updating third-party apps.

The next iPod touch has been codenamed the N80 but we are more keen to know about the N89 and we would love a surprise from Apple at the MWC.

The Pioneer EPD-C50EC3 and EPD-C50E3 are the company’s latest education-oriented PDP (Plasma) TVs that are specially designed for use in schools. Both PDP TVs feature a HD capable resolution of 1366×768 and are fully compatible with Microsoft Windows OS including XP. Vista and 7. In addition, the Pioneer EPD-C50EC3 comes equipped with a USB port.

Evidence has been found in the iPad 3.2 SDK that Apple had been working on the possibility of video conferencing for their new tablet device.

We’d also heard late reports that Apple had been working on models with front-facing video cameras, though it seems that Apple must have nixed this possibility at some point.

Of course, software hooks will do no good without an actual camera embedded in the device itself. We’re not sure why Apple decided to cut this feature, but we may see it in a future iterations of the iPad or iPhone.

In response to confusion surrounding the iPad promotion video, Apple has replaced the video with a more accurate version.

The iPad promo video originally had mocked up scenes showing the iPad browsing the New York Times complete with visible Adobe Flash content. The finding generated some hope and speculation that Apple might incorporate Flash in the future. In response to the confusion, Apple has replaced the video now showing the broken Flash plug-in icon that would show up in real world use.

Apple’s decision not to incorporate Flash into their iPhone OS has been a controversial one, but a stand they’ve remained consistent with over time.