Apple took legal action yesterday in the USA against HTC and the Nexus One phone. The Nexus One is being sold by Google. Apple contends that it "has suffered irreparable injury for which there is no adequate remedy at law and will continue to suffer such irreparable injury unless the defendants' infringement is enjoined by the Court." The allegations involve patents for touchscreens, gesture recognition, scrolling, power management, and other technologies. Apple is asking payment of unspecified damages and has requested that the International Trade Commission bar HTC from continuing to import the Nexus One and other phones into the United States.

Is this possible?

One can't stop to wonder what this could mean for other mobile phone suppliers or vendors, or for that matter any Android based device. How about consumers?! It is true that Nokia and Apple are already at it, but this throws Google into the fray. That can't be good for Apple. At some point, it would make more sense to license the design, perhaps not the latest and greatest, but a basic package, including the software, with the qualifier that manufacturers bundle iTunes and the App Store. Creating a lock on digital distribution is more valuable in the long run than the hardware sale, especially now when Apple can sell its own ARM based processor. Selling the chip, licensing the design and software and furthering their success in content distribution and everything else yet to come in the Apps Store seems like a much better long term bet.

R&B

March 04, 2010 12:48

Johan Dams has pulled together an interesting application for the Efika MX: simple fleet tracking. In contrast to most existing offerings with this package the customer stays in control. A monthly subscription is not required. All the data stays with the Efika MX and not on a third party server. Plus, the primary data transfer method is SMS, which works fine even with limited connectivity.

Fleet tracking with Qt on Efika MX

As mentioned last week, Qt Everywhere is a very good framework for deploying light applications. We can see this application being used to keep tabs on more than cars and trucks. Great work Johan!

R&B

February 26, 2010 7:11

Different people will find different things beautiful. Differences of opinion vary greatly. Beauty is subjective, relative, referential. Yesterday, a phenomenal sum was paid for 72 year old comic book that sold originally for 10 cents: It’s a Bird…It’s a Plane…It’s the First Million Dollar Comic Book! Could it be that the buyer overpaid? When bidders make bidding decisions based on estimated values, the winner will often pay more than necessary to win. Viewed another way, the winner has won without measure or regret. The beauty being the harmony achieved between the object and the one who appreciates it, and who now owns it.

Sold for $1,000,000 yesterday at ComicConnect.com

It could be that we are blind to the flaws of our own discernment. As much as the concept of Superman appeals to us, it is easy to imagine better ways to spend a million dollars. Nevertheless, it does not matter what we think. If another is not receptive to your wisdom, it is may not be wisdom. Let's just conclude today with this exclamation: Superduper! The Internet is connecting buyers and sellers on unprecedented levels.

R&B

February 23, 2010 8:24

Awesome C64 visual debugger, ICU64 is a visual debugger for the C64 with live code introspection and break and continue style editing.

Playstation 3 Slim Teardown, it’s the usual teardown of expensive hardware I wish I owned.

Being Tired by David Holm

The diskette that blew Trixter’s mind, a 25 year old hack to make a floppy bootable on two different platforms without flipping it over.

Lua/C++ interface, a simple yet effective Lua C++ wrapper.

The illustrated guide to recovering lost commits with Git, if you ever accidentally made a mistake with Git and don’t feel like doing all your work over again go here for some help.

Opinion: The unspoken truth about managing geeks, how you should be doing it.

Ragel State Machine Compiler, Ragel is a state machine language which will compile your state machine into a number of different languages making it easier to maintain your machines while still being able to use your favorite language.

google-styleguide, contains among other things a C++ lint tool for the Google C++ guidelines.

25 Microchips That Shook the World, yet another trip down memory lane worth taking.

libcpu, is a portable, drop in, CPU emulator library with support for a growing number of architectures. The backend is LLVM but each CPU has its own frontend.

February 22, 2010 6:00

Swedish Developer Michael Grunditz has been awarded a Gold Medal for his olympic effort on Efika MX Project #779: Linux Platform Support and Application Development on Efika MX. Michael will release the code shortly on PowerDeveloper.org. In this case, that means that we have named Michael the first recipient of the PowerProject Award for the i.MX51 Developer Program.

GNOME running on XQt running on Qt Everywhere

Qt Everywhere is a very good framework for deploying light applications. Qt Everywhere is running using the i.MX515 OpenGLES driver. Both native Qt applications and native X applications can be run simultaneously for compatibility. Work is progressing at a good pace. Also of note, Michael has the Citrix client running: Efika MX Project #775. Great work Michael!

R&B

February 18, 2010 11:44

The Efika MX Smartbook shipments have begun...

Efika MX size comparison

We thought we would make a quick picture of the Efika MX Smartbook and the Open Client together. More soon.

R&B

February 15, 2010 10:27

Big gig is right -- a billion bits that is -- from the Official Google Blog: Think big with a gig: Our experimental fiber network.

This is a gig with a big "G"

Google announced earlier this week that they will launch a fiber-to-the-home Internet service for at least 50,000 and potentially 500,000 homes with access speeds of one gigabit per second. Google will undoubtedly push to increase the quality and decrease the price of Internet services. What better way to crush the competition and facilitate their search-advertising business? Go Google!

The proverbial information superhighway is being upgraded to the databahn. Google is preparing a Formula One experience for you. Telcos and cable operators please stay to the right. Google is in the fast lane.

R&B

February 12, 2010 3:40

Power Developer Project #783 is the Mandriva Linux port. The initial port was demonstrated last week at FOSDEM.

Mandriva on the Efika MX at FOSDEM 2010

The Mandriva Mini interface is particularly well suited for ARM based devices. Mandriva is a member of the ARM Connected Community. A word of thanks to Wolfgang Bornath (wobo) for the picture. Nice work folks!

R&B

February 11, 2010 6:51

The Efika MX Smartbook will be available to existing corporate customers that are already working with the Efika MX Open Client next week. We are looking forward to getting this product in the market.

We will have more than Linux running on this machine

Just enough computing any where you are...

R&B

February 06, 2010 10:42

This weekend the Super Bowl of American Football is very likely to be viewed by as many as 100 million people. Advertisers will pay $3,000,000 for a 30 second commercial or pub as it is known in France. During the 1984 Super Bowl, Apple ran this ad:

Steve Jobs suggested that IBM was the Big Brother
in Apple's version of George Orwell's book: 1984.

Years later, it seems Steve Jobs sees Google as today's Big Brother: Google’s ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Mantra is... As the industry's mindshare and market-leading titans head for their own Super Bowl of sorts, we are wondering if there will be an iPad commercial during this year's game. What is interesting is to see this much money being spent for ad placement (not to mention production, etc.) in an advertising world progressively evolving into cost-per-click. There apparently is still room for compelling and creative advertising verses a dozen words requiring in comparison an insignificant amount of creativity directed at single viewers. Traditional media would do well to transition to the Apple Apps Store where pay-for-something matters on a whole other level.

R&B

February 05, 2010 9:06

Whatever happens today in Cupertino, the biggest news this week from Apple is that they have a net cash position of almost $40,000,000,000. In the last three months of 2009, Apple sold early 9 million iPhones with an average selling price of $620 in 86 countries. Apple also sold 3.5 million computers in the quarter. Macs sales have grown faster than PC sales for 13 quarters in a row. Macs have not experienced the significant decline in average selling price of the PC.

At $10000 a centimeter the stack would rise 40 kilometers
or nearly 25 miles!

As difficult as it is to imagine that much money, it should not be hard to imagine Apple's continued success. With only a 4% share of the PC market, the only way seems up. This will be particularly true if Apple changes the rules. What was a 'PC' may be something different soon. iPods and iPhone redefined not only market segments, but industries as well. Let's see if what is presented today has a browser or stays with an App Store model. Only in this way can we surmize how fast the stack will grow and from where the real competition comes from next.

R&B

January 27, 2010 8:47

Long time no tumble again. The last one was posted in the middle of september last year. My work load has been pretty high again so I will have to go with that excuse. It is still my intention to keep bringing you interesting links but maybe at a slower pace than before depending on external factors.

Logic Analyzer, an open source logic analyzer with a large number of features.

OpenGL ES from the Ground Up, If you are interested in getting started with OpenGL for embedded devices such as the iPhone these are a set of very simple OpenGL ES tutorials.

Pez Dispenser

Fast File Copy – Linux!, How to quickly copy files between two Linux (Unix) machines.

The slam build system, slam is similar in concept to Jam in that it understands C/C++ and calculates dependencies for you but it is simpler in its design and should be easier to get up and running.

Your Hardware Exposed! 22 PC Parts Bare All, Maximum PC takes apart 22 different pieces of PC hardware and show you the internals. If you are interested in how some of the most common components work or at the very least what they look like inside you really should take a peek.

The Xbox Micro, Normally I would refrain from posting Xbox-related links here but this project is pretty impressive as far as hardware hacking goes. Take a look!

How to etch aluminum panel labels/designs with a reusable acid mix, Personally I have far from steady hands (thank god for computers) but it really isn’t that hard to etch really cool panels by yourself.

Zabbix, If you ever wanted to monitor your own network take a look at Zabbix. Most, if not all, of us have heard of Nagios one time or another but Zabbix appears to be a very strong competitor with support for an impressive number of platforms. It’s also surprisingly easy to install.

Adventures in voiding my MacBook Pro’s warranty: Dual Internal SATA Hard Drives, I’m considering if I can afford to invest in an Intel X25-M G2 for my MacBook Pro and if 160GB really would be enough for my needs (I have a couple of virtual machines which tend to eat space) . This guy had a different solution when it came to running out of hardware space in his MacBook Pro.

January 25, 2010 6:00

It is cold outside!

Just a few random thoughts (from the hearth)...

Whatever Apple introduces next week, we are guessing the most significant item to be revealed will be a new system-on-a-chip or SoC that leverages the PA Semi acquisition. We are also thinking this new device will be bounded by the network that can support it (meaning wifi for now, and, Apple outmaneuvers the mobile carriers again by raising consumer expectations past the carrier's ability to broadly support 'a new standard'). The general storyline continues: it is all about digital distribution and so on...

The Ars coverage (surprising in itself) of the self-announced transition of the NYTimes to a pay-for-unlimited-access model sounds like it will be far too little too late to save a newspaper icon: New York Times to spend 2010 erecting a partial paywall. This is especially true given the trend in online journalism: payment by page views. The wall between editorial and advertising has irreversibly crumbled. Social-media-jounalism here we come. It will still be news, but it should be: intelligence (go Ars, go!). You will be the judge. To pay or not to pay...

Google's strained relationship with a significant element of the Chinese population could lead to an Android fork, perhaps Redroid. Android phones with Baidu would be just as bad. It could get messy. In the meanwhile, everything is already headed into new territory with the mobile internet and mobile devices that a) solve the identity and security problems, and b) merge the contradiction of proximity and distance from computers to create new consumer awareness and incentive programs. Banking industry beware: the mobile wallet is coming and for all your sins disintermediation will gain a greater meaning...

Are you following Global Foundries? Customers include AMD, Qualcomm, STMicro and IBM. They now own a fab in Singapore, are building one in New York and planning one in Abu Dhabi (related: ATIC). The Chartered Semiconductor acquisition has been completed. It seems one day the semiconductor industry won't have to worry about an earthquake in Taiwan (at TSMC). All this will undoubtedly lead IBM back into the end-user device business (Lenovo was one heck of a sucker punch!). We can expect smaller footprints, lower power consumption, and of course greater performance - you know, a Common Platform. These are the folks that will be competing with the new Chinese processors and corresponding Chinese version of the Internet (the Chinese 'freedom' version) that is certain to be present by then (Lenovo's revenge: low/no cost computers for emerging markets?)...

Enough for now. Be back later...

R&B

January 21, 2010 19:27

I’ve worked on kernel projects before but today marks the day I submitted a patch myself. I cannot take full or even half credit for it because it is a backport of a driver from Linux 2.6 for Sierra Wireless modems.

Even though that might sound simple it still took me quite a bit of work to get it to work properly due to the subtle changes in the underlying USB stack. I had to struggle quite a bit with some nasty instabilities related to interrupts which in the end turned out to be double frees on 2.4 but not on 2.6

My LKML submission is available at: http://marc.info/?l=linux-usb&m=126392883122598&w=2
The patch is available from my site since apparently GMail botched some of the lines: http://www.dholm.com/files/sierra-2.4_1.7.16-1.patch

Apparently 2.4 only accepts stability and security patches these days so I don’t think it will get merged but if someone ever needs it the work has already been done. We are running it on uClinux 2.4.26 but the patch was made against 2.4.37.

January 19, 2010 19:53

Absolutely great stuff!

The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit organization with the mission of providing a high quality education to anyone, anywhere. WOW! It is amazing to see what one person can do.

R&B

January 19, 2010 15:36

The latest and greatest merchant terminal

There is no reason why an application like this won't work on a standard wireless network. What might be more interesting is to forget the credit card and just have your grocery charges go to your mobile bill. The mobile carrier that sorts out support for users from home to anywhere and back could be a big winner. With Google Voice pulling messaging away and unlocked Google Phones undoubtedly becoming eventually successful, the network operators need to get moving before connectivity is commoditized.

There still is good news for the mobile network operators. It is not just about one device, but multiple devices that serve up what people care about from wherever they are. Mobile computing-communications platforms will be always on, are more personal with a specific number, and have integrated security and billing features regular computers just don't have. Our data/content at home or in the cloud needs to move seamlessly across devices. Developing a platform that incorporates social networking and sharing, location awareness, and subscriber intelligence (preferences, profiles, past behavior) across multiple devices wherever a single user can be found on the network is the key.

So here is the next big question: who tries to buy Motorola first, Google or a network operator?

R&B

January 15, 2010 8:07

Earlier this week we featured a m-commerce video from Motorola. The Mobile Loyalty Solution is probably the most strategically interesting package Motorola has put together in a long time. Barcode shopping could shake up the retail industry. In fact, it could shake up much more than that.

The barcode is the URL

Who needs a browser when buyer and seller are connected through a smartphone by a barcode? Two words come to mind: easy and convenient. The physical packaging of the desired item essentially becomes a webpage. The buyer and seller (or trusted information service provider who might source coupons too) now know each other. A mobile number is more effective than a cookie in a browser. Buyer and seller can communicate directly and instantaneously: I want this product and you can communicate with me. Can I have a barcode coupon that can be scanned at checkout? :) This is telesatisfying verses telemarketing: Sure! Would you like to see our other products on the next aisle (wow!).... Browsing takes on a whole new meaning. Or, rather, it could mean what it once did again.

In related news: SI Promoting Swimsuit Issue With Mobile Barcodes. JagTag may not help the print industry survive, but if we were a mobile carrier, we would be all over this opportunity.

R&B

January 13, 2010 21:22

The biggest news emanating from CES has to be Android. It was everywhere. Android was found in tablets, netbooks, home media centers, smartphones, e-readers and probably a few other places we missed (and, even on MIPS!). By our count there are at least five versions of Android in the market - 1.1, 1.5, 1.6, 2.0 and 2.1, which arrived on the HTC Nexus One just before CES.

Dell introduced the Tablet PC (concept) after announcing
that AT&T would sell its Android-based smartphone

With the Nexus One, Google is undoubtedly seeking to defuse some of the fragmentation that seems to be developing around Android. The modular approach is strategically interesting, but tactically this approach is creating problems. Google understood complete system integration was essential and has taken a big step: the Google phone. Could we call it a Compoogle? We did a while ago. Too bad PowerPC was not up to the task. We still have the same ideas, now on ARM.

Google and Motorola and Sony and HTC and Dell and everyone else are doing what they have to do to be different and compete with Apple and the iPhone. The problem is that all these different new devices have proprietary features that are not necessary available on other Android based products. Unlike the iPhone where a software application can be written once for all versions of the iPhone, most software applications written for Android have to be customized for each device. This limits the addressable market of an application. Plus, there are vendor and even device specific apps stores. Apple does not have these problems. Nevertheless, eventually everything will probably come together. What is everything? Credit cards, cash, keys, ID cards, books, newspapers and tickets all look replaceable. And, now there is more...

Much more interesting from Motorola and just after CES

According to Motorola, More than Half of Consumers Utilize Mobile Phones for In-Store Holiday Shopping Activities. Why they did not promote this new service at CES is a mystery to us. Motorola has some very big news. There are no keywords in the barcode version of Search (think coupons, comparative shopping, loyalty promotions, etc.). We don't find AdSense in iTunes. It could be Android is a double edged sword and that would be the biggest Android news yet. Hello!

R&B

January 11, 2010 22:41

January 10, 2010 6:37

Yesterday, Freescale announced a tablet reference design: Freescale evolves second-generation smartbook form factors with new tablet design (Smartbook Reference Design). Systems sell silicon. It is great to see the marketing progressively going in this direction. Consumer products probably hold the most significant opportunity for Freescale revenue growth.

This Skype-Asus videophone also has a 7" screen

Omitted from the list of potential applications was video conferencing. We can't think of anything more compelling. To speak across continents as if we were across a room seems to be a logical extension of what we do already. In any case, we should remember that in our brave new world whoever offers the system to the consumer has the opportunity to provide not only content, but communications options too. This creates a new dimension of potential customers and calls on us to expand our notion of what a reference design actually is. Seeing is believing!

R&B

January 05, 2010 13:41

Ten years ago we welcomed the New Year with an early morning walk. The street cleaners had not made it out yet. You could not cross the round point at Place du Trocadero without stepping on a champagne bottle. Millennium celebrations took place throughout the world. Y2K passed without the serious, widespread computer failures and malfunctions that had been predicted (Google News Timeline). Not surprisingly, celebrations took place throughout the world again last night. Today, we welcome 2010, or MMX as it would have been written by the Romans. There will never be a shorter Roman-numeral year.

Ten years have come and gone...

Ten years ago we witnessed the nascent growth of Search Media. Today, we are seeing, or better participating, in the emergence of Social Media (one attempt: @bbrv). In some ways, we have been engaged in social media for years through PowerDeveloper and MorphZone. We have connected with our developers and users. We have sought and encouraged their participation in improving, evolving and promoting our products. The latest PowerDeveloper Forum posts and Project blogs are ample testimony that it works. The money contributed to Bounties at power2people is also proof. We paid out nearly $10,000 of community donated funds to developers in 2009 (scroll down). Communities build volume, we are hoping they can help us build an open source MPC8610 motherboard too.

We will see even more changes in the next decade. The growth rates of e-commerce and m-commerce (that distinction will probably disappear soon) prove people like technology and the choice, convenience and comparative opportunity it can bring. As the cost of computing-communications resources progressively fall more people will have information to exchange. Social media is destined to fine-tune search and drive more and more purchasing decisions. The last ten years brought us the iPod, iPhone and YouTube. The next ten years are likely to be more focused on the power of plural interests. We are expecting a ground-up knowledge-driven evolution. Happy New Year!

R&B

January 01, 2010 13:09

The Efika MX is working its way to a world of potential users one PowerDeveloper at a time. After some fairly extensive holiday travel Johan Dams has delivered the first Efika MX to the African continent. Project #731, Intelligent Networking of/using Embedded Systems (INES), is yet another step forward from Johan's original Efika Project, Project #338, which he began in 2006.

Johan Dams demonstrates the Efika MX at
Mohamed Khider University in Biskra, Algeria

More than two years ago, we covered Johan's exploits in Morocco: Not Waiting for the World to Change II. You may recall that Project #338 became much more than a 'Project' and serves today as an invaluable experience upon which to base a new set of Efika MX deployments. It seems that once again, as before, many PowerDevelopers and Genesi Partners will benefit from Johan's meaningful effort. Great work, Johan. Salute!

R&B

December 29, 2009 3:35

We should have posted our Holiday message a little earlier this year to recognize all those folks that may have been trying their luck with a dreidel or la toupie. Nevertheless, Season's Greetings to you and to everyone else. Happy Holidays y Feliz Navidad!

Hello World! Join with us to spread some joy and kindness!


Peace on Earth and good will to all people!

R&B

December 20, 2009 22:17

Earlier today a PegasosPPC configured with standard off-the-shelf components sold on ebay. A licensed copy of AmigaOS 4.1 was included (worth 120 Euros). The seller emphasized that it was not installed properly on the likely possibility that the CD/DVD-ROM drive was defective. After a week and 32 bids the system sold for Euro 421/$613.80. It has been three years since the last new PegasosPPC boards were sold at a price of $399: Coffee, Tea, or PegasosPPC.

AmigaOS4.1 on the Pegasos

December 17, 2009 16:43

Just when you thought it was impossible to extend the realm of smart mobile devices, new information has set the world abuzz. Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived at an unprecidented level of hysteria. Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: it is a transporter. Yes, that is right, Google's leading-edge device is being designed to convert the user into an energy pattern so that they can be transported after search to the destination of their choice. Upon arrival they will be safely reconverted and released. And, best of all: there will be no dropped calls. Welcome to the human network. Wow!

Next up for Google: the mind-body problem

December 16, 2009 15:43

CrunchPad or JooJoo?

December 14, 2009 6:36

Network operators have a growing problem. A small percentage of their network subscribers use a disproportional amount of network capacity. Yesterday, Ralph de la Vega, president and chief executive for mobility and consumer markets at AT&T, told analysts at a conference in New York that 40 percent of AT&T’s data traffic came from just 3 percent of its smartphone customers (no doubt mostly the iPhone). iChat on the iPhone is going to increase network congestion dramatically. This is likely to be the reason this feature has not been introduced, as it is a safe bet the iPhone can handle the job technically. At issue is quality of service. "Unlimited use" with increasingly capable computing-communication devices is creating problems, not only in the US, but worldwide.

Smartbook block diagram

As we look ahead, wireless carriers are preparing for growth in the use of smartphones and mobile computers. Progressively higher demands will be placed on their networks. At the same time, as the number of connected devices and data traffic grows, service providers want to be smarter about how they bill customers. The iPhone and the Apps Store have not only changed the face of digital distribution (for developers and users), but have made it very clear to network operators that they need to understand their customers better. The iPhone is not just a neat gadget. Network operators will expand capacity as fast as they can, and when they can't (or don't want to) capacity will be metered first to those that pay.

R&B

December 10, 2009 6:02

As promised the Freescale Semiconductor Networking and Multimedia Group delivered the design documentation yesterday for the MPC8610 Reference Design. The board was designed with the intention to provide access to as many features of the MPC8610 as possible in a micro-ATX form factor.

Block Diagram MPC8610 Reference Board

It will take some time to review the materials and decide whether or not we need to adjust the MPC8610 Open Source Mainboard Bounty or leave the Bounty Steps and the funding requirements as they are. The Step 1 Bounty has reached more than 1500 Euros, while a general contribution of $10,000 for Steps 1-6 has also been received. In the meanwhile, the power2people MPC8610 Developer Program is open and ready for your proposals.

R&B

December 08, 2009 2:33

December 06, 2009 20:43

It did not take too long for the second Gentoo Developer to get his Efika MX update online: The Efika MX has arrived!

"I was thinking it was a lot bigger than it actually is."

Thanks Steev, the pictures still look good. At least we know it arrived safely. We especially appreciate you posting on you PowerDeveloper.org i.MX515 Project #765. Please keep the community informed!

We are looking forward to working again with the Gentoo Community. More from the archives: Gentoo Weekly Newsletter: January 24, 2005.

Efika MX Country Count: we have shipped the Efika MX to 17 countries.

R&B

December 05, 2009 10:59