![In Defense of Root [Android]](http://tbottle.com/tb/wp-content/themes/suffusion/timthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Ftbottle.com%2Ftb%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2010%2F08%2Froot-150x150.gif&w=80&h=80&zc=1&quality=75&type=m)
![Droid 2 Specs Confirmed [Android/Verizon]](http://tbottle.com/tb/wp-content/themes/suffusion/timthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Ftbottle.com%2Ftb%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2009%2F11%2Fandroid-300x300.gif&w=80&h=80&zc=1&quality=75&type=m)
Google dropped a bomb today on the mobile app market… and Apple. It made App Inventor for Android available to the public, after one year of beta testing it in classrooms. It allows people who don’t know how to code (like me) to make Android apps. It’s entirely web-based and it seems that apps can access every feature of Android phones, including GPS, bluetooth, etc.
The primary area where Apple outshines Android is in app count and, arguably, app quality (footnote 1: better Google integration with Android tips the scales the other way for me). The past six months have seen the number of Android apps skyrocket. Current unofficial counts have reached 100,000. With App Inventor rolling out to the general public, I expect Android to approach Apple’s App Store count, roughly 225,000, within the next year (footnote 2: a much higher percentage of Android apps are free than the percentage of Apple apps).While many of App Inventor apps will be novelty items and unappealing apps, it looks like App Inventor is capable of producing some really powerful apps.
You must register through Google to gain access to App Inventor.
Here’s a video that illustrates how easy it is to program a basic app with App Inventor:
I’ve been invited to the Rd.io private beta and I can bring 10 of you along with me. Just email JON@TBOTTLE.COM to request an invitation. It’s a streaming music service like Pandora but runs entirely on-demand with unlimited skipping. The Rd.io subscription model is $4.99/month web-only or $9.99/month web and mobile. The beta invitations entitle users to preview the service for three days… long enough to get a flavor for it. So far, I’ve found some good tunes and many new releases.
As I wrote back in mid-December…
Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom, founders of Kazaa and Skype, are privately beta testing their new streaming music venture, Rdio (with the eponymous ULR http://rd.io). Apparently, Rdio will offer unlimited, commercial-free streaming music on a subscription basis which is expected to be a few dollars per month. Many of the primary tech blogs are predicting the service to be dead-on-arrival but I’m not counting them out. They’ve made something out of nothing… twice.
The Apple App Store has approved the Rdio app but it is non-functional unless you have been invited to the private beta. Head over to Wired to see the app in action and some additional commentary.
You might be thinking, “what the hell is this about?” Well, the Salmon Protocol is a solution to a problem. The problem is we have fragmented conversations across the web on multiple platforms. I blast out TechBottle on Twitter, Facebook and Buzz. I have personal accounts on all three too and sometimes cross-post to my personal accounts. So, although my blog shows very few comments, many of my posts have sparked full-fledged conversations, particularly on Buzz. Sometimes they even spark comments that do not come to my attention. Well, the Salmon Protocol is the solution to this problem.
While it is not yet deployed, the Salmon Protocol will use PubSubHubBub (which stands for something but I don’t know what). PubSubHubBub is used for, among other things, pushing out TechBottle’s RSS feed to Google on a real-time basis. My blog signals to Google that it has new content to syndicate. Google does not need to crawl my blog at predetermined intervals to check for new content.
So why is this a problem worth solving or worth reading about? The Salmon Protocol will unify conversations. We will be able to choose any platform we like but participate in a broader discussion with a wider circle of people. The internet will be more connected and less disjointed when the Salmon Protocol is deployed. It will be quite interesting.
For More Information: http://www.salmon-protocol.org/
[via Buzz via John Hardy's comment on my Buzz Question]
Google Voice and Gizmo5 integration is far along and TechCrunch’s Michael Arrington is reporting that a desktop app for placing and receiving voice calls from the desktop is being internally tested at Google. I wrote about the Gizmo5 acquisition back in mid-November. I’ve been whining about the Google Voice project but this is a significant development, a potential Skype killer. It is unclear if VOIP to landlines will be free but if anyone could pull that off, it would be Google. Simply slapping up some ads on the interface would probably cover the bills.
P.S. I’d still like to see the ability to port your existing number to Google Voice and voice responses to caller presentation for safer hands-free operation. I suppose I’m not done whining.
The Jolicloud team has been busy at work improving upon their free netbook OS. The latest improvements include:
- A new browser instead of Prism for the web apps. It’s called “Nickel” and it’s based on Chromium, the open source project behind Google’s Chrome browser. Nickel is HTML5 ready.
- New support for up 100+ 3G keys for connectivity.
- VPN support for enterprise. Jolicloud now supports the following VPNs: Cisco OpenConnect, Cisco Concentrator VPN, Microsoft VPN, and OpenVPN.
- Desktop switcher mode. This enables Jolicloud to change from the Ubuntu Netbook Remix-style UI to the traditional Ubuntu-style UI. This is a significant step in making Jolicloud more than just a netbook OS.
There’s a Jolicloud installer for MS Windows and for Linux. The pre-Final version was released two days ago. To download: http://www.jolicloud.com/download#jolicloud-express. It’s free. Why not try it out?
P.S. Check out the related posts below for my preliminary assessments of Jolicloud.
This looks awesome! OnLive is a video gaming system of sorts that streams games without the need to download them in the entirety. Games are streamed on demand and they can be played on a computer or on a television (with a small box). OnLive officially launches on June 17, 2010 but you can find a number of demo videos on YouTube. They have their own channel at http://www.youtube.com/onlive. Check out the trailer below:
Ubuntu 10.04 “Lucid Lynx” (Beta) is a viable alternative operating system to Microsoft Windows. This post details how you can try out Ubuntu without screwing up your computer or dual booting. The method I use is referred to as “virtualization” and relies upon free Sun VirtualBox.org software. VirtualBox runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.
- Begin by downloading VirtualBox (~70mb) and an ISO of Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx (~680mb). I recommend choosing the 32-bit version of Lucid Lynx (lucid-desktop-i386.iso) because it plays nicer with Adobe software (flashplayer and AIR).
- Install VirtualBox. This requires no instructions.
- Optional: Enable hardware virtualization in your computer’s BIOS. While this isn’t absolutely essential, it will help with 3D graphics, among other things. HP computers come with hardware virtualization disabled from the factory. Other manufacturers may ship with hardware virtualization enabled. In any event, VirtualBox will show you a pop-up box if you have hardware virtualization disabled and proceed to the next step.
- Create a “virtual machine” in VirtualBox: Run VirtualBox. New -> Next -> Name the Machine anything you want -> Select Linux and Ubuntu (or Ubuntu 64 bit if you decided to download the 64 bit ISO) -> go with a base memory of 384 mb (you can change this later and allocate more RAM to the machine) -> Boot Hard Disk -> Create New Hard Disk (don’t worry.. this is simply a large file in Windows, it doesn’t partition your drive) -> Dynamically Expanding Storage -> leave Location alone -> choose 8gb for storage (it expands when needed) -> Voila, you’re done.
- Start the machine -> Next -> CD/DVD -> Select ISO. Boom.. your machine boots up as if it were a computer starting with an Ubuntu DVD in the drive.
- Follow on-screen prompts for time, time zone, username, password, etc. Note: The window will “capture” your mouse pointer. To move about the “host” OS (the non-virtualized OS), hit the right Ctrl key. To return to the “guest” OS (the virtualized OS), simply click the VirtualBox machine window.
- It’ll take about 10 minutes to install Ubuntu but you should have a virtual computer up and running. But, you’re not done yet!
- Install the “Guest Additions” ISO in the VirtualMachine. This will fix the graphics so you can expand the window or make it full size, Right Ctrl+F). To install Guest Additions, Right Ctrl+D. This will mount the Guest Additions ISO for VirtualBox. Next, open terminal by clicking Applications -> Accessories -> Terminal. Then type “cd /etc/mediaVBOXADDITIONS_3.1.6_59338″. Next type “sudo sh VBoxLinuxAdditions-x86.run” for 32 bit Ubuntu or “sudo sh VBoxLinuxAdditions-amd64.run” for 64 bit Ubuntu. Enter your password. After a few minutes you will be prompted to reboot. You can reboot Ubuntu 10.04 by clicking the power button in the upper right corner.
- You should be ready to go explore. If you want to install Google Chrome, simply point Firefox (which comes preinstalled) to http://google.com/chrome and select the DEB package for either 32 bit or 64 bit Linux.
Have fun. If you don’t like Ubuntu 10.04, just delete the virtual machine from within VirtualBox or uninstall VirtualBox.
RIM is offering all Blackberry users the ability to participate in testing pre-release device software and RIM apps like the upcoming Twitter client (which sucks, stay with UberTwitter). Presently, the only offerings appear to be variants of OS 5.0 for the 8520 and 8530.
I have to say, this Blackberry Beta Zone makes a ton of sense. Clearly, RIM was leaking OSs to sites like BlackberryOS.com and Crackberry.com, among others. Now, there’s a central repository for the leaks. No longer will Blackberry adventure seekers need to scour the chatboards or purchase apps like BBOSAlert to learn of leaks.
If I were RIM, I would go one step further and post the blurry pre-release device photos to the Blackberry Beta Zone.
Users can be selected to participate in a beta by completing a profile on the site. To get started, head over to https://www.blackberry.com/beta/
The HTC Desire is being reviewed in the wild. The hardware is quite similar to the Nexus One but adds some additional bonuses like an optical navigation pad (pictured) and HTC’s proprietary Sense UI. TechRadar got their hands on one and posted a rave review:
We liked nearly every single thing on the HTC Desire – it just works as you want it to as a phone and an internet tablet at the same time.
In short, this is a phenomenal phone – one of the best we’ve ever had on TechRadar. Usually when we like a phone on the first use, we end up horribly disappointed after a little use – but the HTC Desire kept on performing and achieving when we thought it wouldn’t.
The screen is lovely, the design is slick and processor makes everything happen in a flash – all you’d want from a smartphone.
Verizon customers will be happy to know that the HTC Desire is very similar to Verizon’s upcoming HTC Incredible. The primary difference will be an underclocked processor, which will extend battery life and have a negligible effect on performance under normal use. The HTC Incredible is rumored to be coming to Verizon very soon.
The entire TechRadar review is worth a look if you are considering the HTC Desire or the HTC Incredible.
[via PocketNow]
One of my very first posts to this blog was a review of the Blackberry BOLT Browser by BitStream. It’s a phenomenal browser and it just got better, much better. I’ve already touted its speed, rendering accuracy (perfect scores on Acid3 test), keyboard shortcuts and magnification feature. The new public beta version brings the following improvements:
- Tabbed browsing. This was my suggestion in November. (See, I could do one of those Windows 7 advertisements.:)) Opera Mini offered tabbed browsing so I knew it was possible. BOLT tabs are easy to use and work flawlessly. There’s virtually no lag even on the ‘ole Blackberry Tour.
- Facebook support without leaving the page you are viewing. I could take it or leave it but this differentiates the BOLT browser from all others.
- Support for various chat services, including Facebook chat. This is cool, very cool.
- Widgets (which were introduced in v. 1.70). I’m not so sure these were necessary or that they’re helpful. When I think of widgets, I think of an operating system. BOLT is a browser, not an OS. Also, Blackberry OS 6.0 will have native support for widgets.
It’s well known that RIM has its own WebKit browser in the works. Given how RIM software is usually both buggy and delayed (they STILL haven’t released a Twitter client), you should install BOLT… today.
http://boltbrowser.com/beta/boltbb.jad from your Blackberry browser.
LEssons For The Opposite Sex, a/k/a Leftos, is a community-driven website where users ask questions, offer opinions and anonymously network to improve their social or sex lives. It’s a beta web app offered by a Detroit-based startup that launched the site approximately one year ago.
Leftos is broken down into six main categories: Single, Dating, Sex, Relationships, Marriage and Divorce. While the entire love spectrum is covered, the demographic appears to be primarily college students and recent graduates. This may seem like a turnoff if you’re outside of that demographic but users can follow one another (think Twitter) and create an experience to their liking.
The interface was recently redesigned and offers many improvements over the prior version. What I like most is the main global news feed which can show either the most recent comments or the highest rated comments. If you frequent the site, the most recent comments feed will keep you coming back; if you’re new to Leftos, the highest rated comments are a good place to start.
Overall, I think Leftos has the potential to serve a niche market but it needs to grow its number of active users. Perhaps a piece in a significant publication would really drive traffic. The infrastructure is terrific (better than anything remotely similar) and it has been designed, programmed and promoted exclusively by a team of three 20-somethings. If you are curious, you can check it out at http://www.leftos.com/ or follow @Leftos on Twitter for some of the most entertaining headlines.
This is a follow-up to my post entitled, “Linux Netbook Showdown: Ubuntu Netbook Remix vs. Jolicloud Pre-Beta,” which is one of my most popular posts. Between Ubuntu Netbook Remix (“UNR”) and Jolicloud, I opted for UNR. Now, I find myself preferring Hexxeh’s Chrome OS Flow, though my netbook can triple boot into Windows 7, UNR or Chrome OS Flow.
Before I give you the “whys” and what factors to consider, I want to caution that Chrome OS Flow supports many netbook configurations but not nearly as many as UNR. Accordingly, if you are considering Chrome OS Flow, visit Hexxeh’s site to check for compatibility. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, here are the “whys”:
I use my netbook primarily for the browser and to access web apps. Both UNR and Chrome OS Flow support essentially the exact same browser, Chrome, and browser extensions. UNR has an edge though because you can install additional Linux software. So, if you want to run TweetDeck, for example, you might prefer UNR. (By the way, TweetDeck is difficult to use on a netbook because of the low screen resolution.) Chrome OS Flow affords more real estate on your screen for the browser because there is no taskbar, just tabs along the top edge. Also, Chrome OS Flow boots on my Gateway netbook (same hardware as Acer Aspire One) in about 10 seconds and shuts down in a mere 4 seconds. It is lighter on system resources which could extend battery life. Finally, one of my major peeves with UNR is the automatic update feature. Every time I boot up UNR, I have a long menu of updates that need to be installed which take quite a bit of time and bandwidth to install. While updates can be postponed or disabled, long downloads are a necessary evil of UNR. On the other hand, Chrome OS Flow operates with far fewer files (you can install it into a mere 2 GB paritition) and dependencies. Updates take less time and they are on-demand only.
UNR has some upsides, however. You can play MP3s locally, though I switched to the cloud-based GrooveShark music player to facilitate the move to Chrome OS Flow. UNR also supports a variety of other local software, including OpenOffice.Org. So, if you need to work on your computer while outside of Wifi range (or 3G, if you have it), UNR would definitely be a better choice.
If you’re thinking of making the move to Chrome OS Flow, I recommend that you make your system multi-bootable in case you change your mind later. Chrome OS Flow’s Wiki has a good tutorial for multi-boot.
If I’m overlooking some of the pros can cons of UNR and Chrome OS Flow, then please comment below.
FUNNY! Click to Enlarge
Google unveiled its latest lab today, Google Play (http://www.google.com/reader/play/), a magazine-style RSS reader. It shows thumbnails along the bottom edge and the viewing window enlarges images and makes them more prominent. A slideshow mode also makes Play dissimilar from Google Reader. Play includes the ability to “like” an item, share an item and star an item for later viewing.
The recipe for Play seems to be two parts Google Reader, one part Google Fast Flip and one part StumbleUpon.
A touchscreen device would be the ideal platform for Play; readers could simply flick ahead to the next snippet. Perhaps this product was developed primarily for the upcoming touchscreen tablets.
I found the funny image [points up and to the right] using Play. One of the people I follow on Google Buzz shared it.
Not much to say about this other than BlackBerryRocks.Com just posted the links. See the post here: http://bit.ly/9pGQjl. Use the Desktop Manager install.
P.S. Can’t handle multiple accounts. P.P.S. WTF? RIM’s finally getting around to releasing a Twitter app when Twitter is about to be owned by Google Buzz? 9 million buzzes in 2 days.
Get ready to see your Facebook stream flooded with Sid Meier’s Civilization Network, a sequel to his popular Civilization franchise. It will begin beta testing in June. Sid has hinted at what players can expect in the game:
