Filed under: OS Updates

With the Mobile World Congress now just around the corner on February 15th, details of Windows Mobile 7 have started to leak -- and judging by the comments over at PPCG, it doesn't look like good news. It seems like, for all intents and purposes, we're going to be getting a Microsoft Zune Phone.

The following technical details aren't official, so they could just be a mix of guesswork and rumor -- take them with a pinch of salt!

So, here we go: at the unveiling on the 15th, in Barcelona, it's likely that we'll only see the user interface, with actual functionality/developer stuff left until a later date. The UI will apparently be very similar to the Zune HD interface, but with a revamp to the 'start' screen. There will also be full Zune integration (including desktop sync).

Software-wise, there'll be a marketplace with 'try before you buy' (hooray!), full Xbox integration (why?), support for social networking (via apps, I presume) and... wait for it... no multitasking!

It's the last one that makes me wonder if these specifications are real, or just the work of a jealous and vicious Apple fanboy. After the whole 'OMG NO MULTITASKING ON MY IPHONE???' furore, would Microsoft really not include it in Windows Mobile 7?

We'll see next week!

Fans of free and open source software, I hope you have a change of pants handy, because this is some big news. Symbian, a platform that has been proprietary and closed-source for a decade, just opened up its code and turned free. It's been close to two years since Nokia first announced plans to open the source code for the OS.

The Symbian Foundation is boasting that this is the biggest switch from closed to open in the history of software. With their software powering 330 million Nokia devices, that sounds like a reasonable claim.

It's no secret that Android played a big role in this move. The competition from Google's hot new mobile OS (that's been marketed as an open alternative) meant that Symbian had to make a change. Now all of Symbian's code is open, and they can take shots at Android for its partially-closed code. Symbian's roadmap of planned features through 2011 will soon be published for anyone to comment on and contribute to. Hopefully, this move will keep the aging OS around past that point.

[via Wired]

Sebastian reported last month that roughly 1 in 7 Steam users has already made the jump to Windows 7. What about the big picture? How has Windows 7 fared with the rest of the computing world since its release on October 22, 2009?

CNet's Ina Fried notes that Windows 7's market share reached nearly 10% over the weekend. That figure is based on NetApplication's statistics -- which tend to vary a bit from weekdays to weekend as people connect to the 'net from their home computers instead of those at work.

On Monday, Windows 7 posted an 8.14% share which still amounts to a gain of nearly two percent during January. Further enterprise adoption would help that number grow, and with SP1 development picking up steam there could soon be more companies willing to join the likes of Intel and BMW on Windows 7.

Another side effect of Windows 7 adoption: Internet Explorer 8 has crept into the #1 spot on the browser usage chart. Well played, Microsoft...

Good news, Nexus One users! Owners of Google's flagship Android phone are getting an over-the-air software update today (it may already be installed on your phone) that includes a new version of Google Maps, a fix for some of the phone's 3G problems, and ... multitouch support! Eat your heart out, iPhone. Now Android users can pinch and zoom with the best of them in the browser, gallery, and Google Maps.

There's a demo video of the new touch gestures after the jump, but the Google Maps update is worth talking about, too. Your starred items and search history now sync from the web version of Google Maps, so you can check for directions before you leave the house, and then pop them up quickly on your phone once you're on the road. Google's augmented reality app, Google Goggles, is also part of this software update. Just open it up from All Apps, point your camera at something, and search.

[via Engadget]

While it didn't land in time for the release of Chrome OS Zero, Hexxeh has now made a script available which bolts on an automatic update feature.

The updater is currently in open beta, and installing it requires a little bit of tinkering via terminal (ctrl + alt + t starts a terminal session on Chromium OS). Follow Hexxeh's instructions, reboot your system or VM, and watch the magic! If you're not totally up-to-date, you'll see a window like the one above.

One of the most welcome fixes is listed at update 2: no more Broadcom delay. If you've been testing Chromium OS on a netbook or laptop running one of their wireless adapters, this is fantastic news!

One note: for the final step of the process, Hexxeh's instructions say to type reboot [enter] in terminal. That didn't work for me -- but sudo reboot did.

Hexxeh's Chromium OS build is one of my favorite independent projects so far this year, and it just keeps getting better. If you've used it, share your thoughts in the comments!

iPhone owners might not have access to iPhone OS 3.2 yet, but it's already running on the new iPad. Our sister site, Engadget, was able to score some of the details of the new features in 3.2, and it sounds like it's going to be great for both the iPhone and the iPad. The biggest surprise might be the inclusion of some video calling code that even includes multitasking while on a video call. This suggests a couple of things, either one of which would be awesome:

1) The next version of the iPad is getting a camera. This is the least immediately helpful possibility, but it also sounds completely likely. A lot of tech pundits assumed the first-gen iPad would include a camera, so I'd bet on seeing it next time around.

2) Multitasking is coming to the iPhone sooner rather than later. Although a video call and another task at once might be a lot to ask on the small screen - and not that useful, either - we can at least hope that the next software update brings the ability to run third-party apps in the background. The iPad already has wicked multitasking potential, with the introduction of new popover windows that don't take up the entire screen.

Another useful new feature rumored for 3.2 is the ability to download and locally store files using Safari, and open them in other apps. The lack of access to the iPhone's filesystem is one of the biggest reasons that fans of more open mobile operating systems scoff at Apple, and, although this wouldn't totally shut down that line of criticism, it would be a step in the right direction. File uploading is also reportedly included in the update.

Check out the Engadget post for more info, including possible SMS support on the iPad and some slightly more far-fetched rumors about a stylus and a handwriting keyboard.

However, it would appear that Microsoft may be speeding up its product development cycle. After doing so well with 7, and not too badly with Office 2010 (I have to say, I'm a huge fan -- Office 2010 rocks, pretty ribbon and all), it seems as though the folks at Redmond are not letting up. There's a PDF that purports to be a leaked roadmap from an ex-Microsoft employee, and shows Windows 8 going RTM (released to manufacturing) on July 1, 2011.

Ex-Microsoft employee -- that has a bit of a shady ring to it, I think. Hey, this roadmap here fell off the back of a truck ... Says Windows 8 is coming real soon now.

[Via: Elecronista]
[Photo: EvinDC]

You've probably noticed a complete lack of iPad/iTablet/iSlate news around these parts. That's because we don't cover gadgets, nor do we cover hyperbolic crotch-grabbing fanboy speculation. But now that it's finally been announced (forever will it go down in history that we watched Steve Jobs sit in a leather chair and surf on his iPad), we can finally get down to business.

The iPad, whether you like it or not, has implications for everyone. The early-adopter, the developer, and even the conscientious surfer and app downloader -- whichever one you are, the iPad's going to make an impact on your life. Apple has successfully controlled technological fads for almost a decade -- you can be damn sure that the iPad won't be any different.

So here's the news that affects you. Not your friends, nor the hot girls you try to woo with your tablet -- not even your jealous co-workers -- just you.

It looks like KDE 4.4, the newest version of the popular Linux desktop environment and app suite, is on track for its scheduled February 9th release. A second release candidate just became available for ambitious experimenters to try out, and that milestone was only a few days off schedule. A bump from 4.3 to 4.4 doesn't sound like it would be a big deal, but don't discount it just because it's not a nice, round version number: KDE 4.4 includes new widgets, enhancements to existing apps, multitouch support, and even some entirely new apps.

Bloggers will be glad to hear that there's a new blogging tool, Blogilo, included in this release (I was kind of expecting them to call it Klogger, but hey). Konqueror, the KDE browser, now has a history sidebar. Akonadi, the personal information manager that plugs into apps like Kontact and KOffice, has been updated with POP3 support. There's also an onscreen keyboard and multitouch for hardware that supports it.

So, get this: while Windows 7 only accounts for 6% of the global operating system market, 23% of Steam gamers are using Windows 7!

The breakdown shows a lot of statistics, including average processor speed (2.5GHz) and NVIDIA (65%) versus ATI (30%). You can even see the split between 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7: if you click 'Windows Versions', all the flavors drop down -- 64-bit has 15.6% of the total share, while 32-bit has 7.45%. In the past month, the Windows 7 64-bit adoption jumped 2.5%, while Windows XP dropped by 3.2% -- a sure sign that gamer geeks are finally migrating away from XP (and that Santa brought them shiny new computers!)

But of course, the best statistic, saved until last like a prime cut of steak, is that Windows 7 (23%) has surpassed Windows Vista (20%)... after just 4 months!

Those gamers sure didn't like Vista. Who can blame them.

[Meanwhile, Sebastian sweats profusely, praying no one adds the 32-bit and 64-bit Vista percentages together...]

Rumors have been flying about an update to Windows Mobile next month, but it was an open question whether it would be Windows Mobile 6.6 or 7. Well, the gadget blogosphere is leaning toward 7. Our sister site, Engadget, saw some confirmation from mobile phone manufacturer LG that WinMo 7 would be out this year, and followed that up with a report from an analyst briefing at Microsoft. Gizmodo got a hot tip that it will be out in February.

At the risk of getting overexcited about a rumor, I'll tell you what else Gizmodo's tipster said: Windows Mobile 7 will apparently support the motion-sensing gestures that have been kicking around the rumor mill for a few years. That means you'll be able to use the phone without actually touching it. Slick! The only problem is that Windows Mobile 7 might not be a simple upgrade for current WinMo users. It will reportedly need newer hardware with better specs and gesture support - like those LG phones Engadget was talking about, perhaps?

As much fun as it is to roil up a nice, fresh potful of delicious rumors, nothing here has been officially confirmed by Microsoft, so don't be completely shocked if February rolls around and we get to meet Windows Mobile 6.6 instead of 7.

While the iPhone and Android OS are known for their gorgeous UI candy, Nokia's Symbian OS isn't going to win any beauty contests. Nokia is hard at work on something much, much more attractive for Symbian^4. The mobile company has released its UI concept proposal documents, including some sexy screenshots of the new Orbit and Direct UI landing pages.

The screenshots are the main event, but there's some juicy stuff buried in the design document as well. Most exciting? Symbian^4's application chrome will support transparency, which could lead to some nice-looking effects. As far as usability, Symbian has taken a look at what other mobile OSs are doing, and taken its own path instead:

"iPhone has a flattened application library; however, it is displayed to the user exclusively as a manually organized grid, whereas the Symbian Foundation application library is an alpha-ordered list with multiple filtered views."

Unfortunately, this is only a version 0.1 design document, so Symbian users aren't likely to have the new OS in their hands until 2011. On the other hand, it'll surely undergo plenty of improvements before that time.

[via Engadget]

TotalFinder is a set of enhancements to the Mac OS X Finder, the most important of which is tabbed windows. Thanks to some of Google's Chrome code, you can now declutter all those extraneous Finder windows and use browser-like tabs instead. TotalFinder is unfortunately Snow Leopard-only, because it takes advantage of SIMBL plugin support that wasn't introduced until OS X 10.6. It's a tiny install, with no restart required, and it comes with the all-important uninstall script in case you decide it's not for you.

Aside from adding tabs, TotalFinder also has a few other neat tweaks. It can optionally clean up all those .ds_store files floating around your hard drive, and it can also show/hide invisible files. The coolest extra feature is a system-wide, customizable keyboard shortcut to pop up a new Finder window. Keyboard-only junkies who recoil at the thought of clicking the Finder dock icon to get a new window will love it. This feature is based on one of the developer's other projects, Visor, which offers system-wide Terminal access.

An announcement from Microsoft regarding Windows Mobile 7 has been a long time coming. There was even talk of simply abandoning the ailing Windows Mobile platform. News today would suggest that it is coming though, but not until 2011. It's not clear yet, without a comment from Microsoft, if this new information supersedes TechRadar's report that we'll be seeing Windows Mobile 7 next month.

It was expected, after an already-long delay, that Microsoft's CES keynote would include news of Windows Mobile 7 -- but alas, that was not the case (in fact, it might've been the most lackluster keynote ever, but that's another matter entirely).

If the latest news from BSN and reports from all the major phone manufacturers like HTC, Nokia and Lenova are to be believed, we may be seeing a lot of Android-powered phones this year. Apparently all of the devices that were meant to be Windows Mobile-powered and launched in 2010 have been renamed and rejigged to run Android! Without official word from Microsoft, I would suggest Windows Mobile fans stay calm... for now.

We'll know for sure in February!

Freescale just demonstrated a tablet at CES running Chrome OS, and there will no doubt be plenty of other manufacturers joining them later this year when Google finally releases their finished code. But why wait - and why shell out cash for a new device you probably don't need anyway?

Grab Hexxeh's latest build and take it for a spin right now!

The new update is called Chromium OS Zero and it boasts serious speed improvements, automatic delivery of system updates, a reduction in the startup delay on Broadcom wifi adapters, and a slick, customized bootsplash graphic. The browser now has full extension support and bookmark sync, which makes it easy to experiment.

After enabling sync and a quick trip to the Extensions Gallery to install LastPass, Zero is pretty much all I need for 90% of my daily browsing.

I haven't yet been able to boot the new version in VirtualBox, however, so you may want to stick to Cherry for now if you're planning to test drive Chromium OS in a virtual machine. You can still download Cherry via bittorrent.