Microsoft wants a single operating system that can stretch across PCs, tablets, phones, and entertainment devices

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feb,5,2012

According to Windows Phone 8 leaks, the mobile OS will share code with the Windows 8 client--a clear sign that Microsoft wants a single operating system that can stretch across PCs, tablets, phones, and even entertainment devices. The strategy could give Redmond a big edge over rivals who've split their software into desktop and mobile products. But it also carries some real risks.

New details emerged this week on Windows Phone 8, which (no big surprise here) will be the successor to Windows Phone 7. Video said to be viewed by the site PocketNow showed Windows Phone VP Joe Belfiore touting new features on the platform, which Microsoft is developing under the code name Apollo.

Components such as the kernel and networking stack, as well as a number of security features, including BitLocker, are taken directly from Windows 8, not Windows CE--on which Windows Phone 7 was built.

Additionally, if the leaked video is authentic--and Microsoft so far hasn't said it isn't--Windows Phone 8 will, like its PC cousin, offer support for C/C++ programming, multi-core processors and multiple screen resolutions, and external hardware like microSD cards. Windows 8 and Windows Phone will also both run Metro apps.

On the video, Belfiore reportedly says that, in writing for Windows Phone 8, developers will be able to "reuse--by far--most of their code" from Windows 8. This news comes after Microsoft has already made clear that Windows 8 will be both a desktop and a tablet OS. The company now seems to be merging phones into the mix as well. "It appears that Windows Phone 8 will leverage important parts of Windows 8 while running the same application base," IDC analyst Al Hilwa tells me.

This grand unification strategy could give Microsoft an edge over Google and Apple. Most significantly, if apps developed for Windows 8 can run across PCs, tablets, and phones with minimal porting issues, then the platform should be a huge magnet for developers anxious to get the most bang for their buck. One issue currently hampering the Windows Phone ecosystem is that it "only" has about 60,000 apps. That sounds like a lot, but it pales in comparison to more than 500,000 apps for the iPhone and, if you can believe Wikipedia (since Google does not release a number,) more than 300,000 apps for Android.

Windows Phone's app count could jump exponentially if Windows 8 creates a common development environment across desktop and mobile products while Apple continues to push Mac OS for PCs and iOS for the iPad and iPhone and Google splits desktop and mobile between Chrome OS and Android.

Now to the risky part. Microsoft’s plan to unite PCs, tablets, and phones under a single OS sounds great in theory, but there are questions as to whether Microsoft can pull it off. If the effort flops, or is beset by delays caused by the many technical issues involved, the company could fall even farther behind its competitors. It's already so far behind that it risks getting lapped. (Arguably, it already has been—Apple will assuredly release iPad 3 before we see the first Windows 8 tablet).

There are already signs that the plan might not go smoothly. Microsoft ideally wants Windows 8 to be hardware agnostic, possibly through the use of abstraction layers and some virtualization and cloud technologies. But already there are questions about Windows' cross-platform potential.

Windows chief Steven Sinofsky has said that Windows 8 tablets that are powered by ARM-based chips won't run legacy Windows apps. And Intel execs have said that Windows 8 devices powered by anything other than their processors won't offer the full Windows experience.

Intel, of course, is biased. But that doesn't make it any less true that the Windows client, to date, has never officially run on anything except Intel processors or x86 and x64 clones. How the Windows client performs on chips, like Qualcomm's Snapdragon, that were built to run operating systems that carry a light footprint--something Windows has never been accused of--is an open question.

"It remains to be seen how hard or easy it will be for developers to modify apps written for one OS for the other," says Hilwa. Such questions become more pointed given Microsoft’s history of significant delays in bringing out new versions of Windows for the x86 platform alone, with which it is well familiar.

Risks aside, Microsoft's apparent plan to unify its operating systems makes a lot of sense in an era in which consumers and workers are jumping from device to device to access personal or business information. Users want that information to be the same, in terms of content and look and feel, regardless of where they get it. Microsoft should be lauded for attempting to give users that experience. Let’s just hope the company can really do it.

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Chips and apps on tap for Super Bowl

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february 4, 2012 

Millions of American football fans will be watching the Super Bowl on television Sunday with one hand in the potato chips and the other holding a smartphone.

The "second screen" experience will be fueled by Facebook and Twitter and a host of Super Bowl-related applications for mobile devices providing everything from recipes to game statistics to re-runs of the celebrated commercials.

Sixty percent of mobile owners will check or use their devices during the showdown between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, according to a survey commissioned by mobile marketing company Velti.

And nearly half of all viewers will check or use their mobile device up to 10 times during the game, mostly during commercial breaks, according to the survey by Harris Interactive of 1,428 US adult mobile owners.

"You're looking at your phone as the second screen or your iPad as a third screen and it's not just about watching the game on TV, it becomes part of the entire experience," said Krishna Subramanian, Velti's chief marketing officer.

"People are using their mobile devices to communicate with friends, to share information and to engage with ads and TV content," Subramanian said. "They're looking at the game and going like a level deeper."

Facebook and Twitter apps will be getting a workout during Super Bowl 46, which kicks off at 6:30 pm (2330 GMT), but so will many of the other programs available in Apple's App Store or on the Android Market.

Both the Giants and the Patriots offer free apps with team and player news while the National Football League is offering a Super Bowl 46 Commemorative App for the iPad for $2.99 that promises "exclusive video" and other content.

The official Super Bowl game program is available as a free app for the iPad. Another free app, Football Connect, lets users play against other fans and earn points based on events in the live game.

For those actually going to the game, there is a free Super Bowl 46 Guide with information on restaurants, nightlife and Super Bowl events in the host city, Indianapolis, along with an interactive 3D map of the stadium.

Another free app is NFL Pro Tweets which features tweets from NFL players -- although not from any of the Giants or the Patriots, who are banned from using the service during the game.

This year's Super Bowl will be the first ever streamed live over the Internet, and there's an app for that too.

Computer users can watch the game live at NBCSports.com and mobile or tablet owners can also tune in -- provided they are customers of Verizon and download an NFL Mobile application.

Super Bowl commercials are a sport of their own and Subramanian said fans will be using their smartphones more than ever this year to engage with ads.

"In the first quarter, perhaps, you'll have a brand saying vote for your favorite flavor," he said. "So you'll have people texting in and voting and in the fourth quarter you'll actually see the results."

A Shazam app for advertisements directs smartphone users to bonus content or special offers on the web and a $1.99 Super Ads app for the iPhone offers over 200 Super Bowl commercials from 2006 to 2011 as well as the 2012 ads.

As for Subramanian, he'll be in London on Sunday -- smartphone in hand.

"I still need to figure out where to watch the game," he said. "And I'll have to stay up all night watching it."

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British firms warned of Olympics Internet gaps

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february 5, 2012

British businesses are being warned of possible Internet breakdowns, data caps and "unavoidable" mobile phone problems during the London 2012 Olympics, in official advice from the Games organisers.

In a document on the Games website entitled "Preparing your business for the Games", the document warns that Internet connections could be lost due to surges in the numbers of people logging on at peak times.

"It is possible that Internet services may be slower during the Games or, in very severe cases, there may be drop-outs due to an increased number of people accessing the Internet," it warns.

"In addition, Internet service providers may introduce data caps during peak times to try and spread the loading and give a more equal service to their entire customer base.

"However, this has not yet been confirmed by these ISPs and we hope to have more information nearer to Games time."

Mobile phone coverage could also be disrupted, the document warns.

"Additional capacity and coverage for mobile phone networks is being put in around Games venues. This will overlay the existing coverage provision and existing customers can expect a 'normal' service during Games-time," it says.

"However, at times of peak demand it is unavoidable that mobile networks may be slowed down by higher volumes of traffic.

"Voice, email and low-data traffic are unlikely to be affected, but it may be difficult to download larger content such as files or images."

The government has encouraged London businesses to let staff work from home or stagger their shifts to ease congestion on the transport network during the Games, which will take place from July 27 to August 12.

But more people working at home could lead to the risk of them being less effective due to Internet traffic problems, some experts have warned. 

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How To Change your Network Card MAC Address on Ubuntu

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There are a lot of reasons you might want to manually set your MAC address for your network card. I won’t ask you what your reason is.

To change this setting, we’ll need to edit the /etc/network/interfaces file. You can choose to use a different editor if you’d like.

sudo gedit /etc/network/interfaces

You should see the line for your network interface, which is usually eth0. If you have dhcp enabled, it will look like this:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp

Just add another line below it to make it look something like this:

auto eth0
iface eth0 inet dhcp
       hwaddress ether 01:02:03:04:05:06

Obviously you would want to choose something else for the MAC address, but it needs to be in the same format.

sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

You will need to restart networking or reboot to take effect.

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Carlos Slim: Mexico billionaires battle over telecoms sector

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february 4, 2012

Battles between three Mexican billionaires over control of the lucrative telecoms sector heated up again this week, intensified by international criticism of monopolistic practices.

Carlos Slim -- the world's richest man according to Forbes magazine -- received a boost to his dominance of the Mexican cell phone market when the country's competition watchdog blocked a $1.6 billion telecoms deal to link the media empires of two big rivals.

The deal would have united interests of Emilio Azcarraga, who owns Televisa, the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world, and Ricardo Salinas, who owns telephone company Iusacell and Mexico's second broadcaster TV Azteca.

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A proposed tie-up would have united the interests of Emilio Azcarraga (pictured), who owns Televisa, the largest media company in the Spanish-speaking world, and Ricardo Salinas, who owns telephone company Iusacell and Mexico's second broadcaster TV Azteca.

But the Federal Competition Commission's board ruled on Wednesday against Televisa's planned acquisition of half of indebted Iusacell.

Both companies said they would contest the decision, and police even intervened to let the commission representatives enter Iusacell's headquarters amid scuffles and shouting.

"It's almost like an episode in the Wild West, where the sheriff can't enter to resolve a fight and the consumers are paying the cost," said Jorge Fernando Negrete, director of Mediatelecom consultancy.

Azcarraga and Salinas have been rivals up to now, as owners of the two main analog television channels, representing some 70 percent of that market.

A merger of their interests through mobile phones presents a direct challenge to Slim, who is seeking authorization to enter the cable TV market, also dominated by Televisa.

Although his America Movil -- with more than 225 million clients in 18 countries -- offers "triple play" packages of phone, Internet and television across Latin America, Slim has been blocked in attempts to offer TV in Mexico.

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The Mexican Federal Competition Commission's board has ruled against Televisa's planned acquisition of half of indebted Iusacell, part of the business empire of Ricardo Salinas (pictured)

As his rivals fought to take on his cell phone empire, the tycoon refuted a new report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development arguing that a lack of competition in Mexico's communications industry and high prices cost the country about $25 billion a year.

Slim called the figure a "fantasy" during a press conference Tuesday while questioning the methodology that the OECD used to reach its estimate.

America Movil has 80 percent of Mexico's landlines and 70 percent of the mobile market, as well as 74 percent of Internet access.

"The average market share of the mobile incumbent in OECD countries is roughly 40 percent," the OECD said.

The organization said the report was produced at the request of the Mexican government, which also paid for it.

Slim suggested that one of his foes had commissioned and paid for the report.

Analysts said the tensions underlined the urgency to reform regulations and open the market to new players in the most populous Spanish-speaking country.

"The country faces a big challenge with the arrival of new services like digital television and the need to increase coverage of broadband," said Enrique Melrose, a telecoms analyst and professor at Mexico's ITAM university.

"We all want access to a market... offering television, fixed- and mobile- phones and Internet access in one package."

Until now, Mexico's regulators have fought numerous attempts to block their efforts to enforce competition.

"The authorities have not acted well to slow down the monopolistic practices," admitted lawmaker Javier Corral, from the ruling conservative PAN party.

Corral warned that with a general election due on July 1 politicians were even less likely to upset the powerful tycoons.

Slim, Azcarraga and Salinas "know the power of the media in a pre-electoral environment and are no doubt ready to take advantage of it," Corral said. 

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How To Create a Bootable Ubuntu 9.10 USB Flash Drive

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The Ubuntu Live CD isn’t just useful for trying out Ubuntu before you install it, you can also use it to maintain and repair your Windows PC. Even if you have no intention of installing Linux, every Windows user should have a bootable Ubuntu USB drive on hand in case something goes wrong in Windows.

Creating a bootable USB flash drive is surprisingly easy with a small self-contained application called UNetbootin. It will even download Ubuntu for you!

Note: Ubuntu will take up approximately 700 MB on your flash drive, so choose a flash drive with at least 1 GB of free space, formatted as FAT32. This process should not remove any existing files on the flash drive, but to be safe you should backup the files on your flash drive.

Put Ubuntu on your flash drive

UNetbootin doesn’t require installation; just download the application and run it.

Select Ubuntu from the Distribution drop-down box, then 9.10_Live from the Version drop-down box. If you have a 64-bit machine, then select 9.10_Live_x64 for the Version.

At the bottom of the screen, select the drive letter that corresponds to the USB drive that you want to put Ubuntu on. If you select USB Drive in the Type drop-down box, the only drive letters available will be USB flash drives.

Click OK and UNetbootin will start doing its thing. First it will download the Ubuntu Live CD.

Then, it will copy the files from the Ubuntu Live CD to your flash drive.

The amount of time it takes will vary depending on your Internet speed, an when it’s done, click on Exit. You’re not planning on installing Ubuntu right now, so there’s no need to reboot.

If you look at the USB drive now, you should see a bunch of new files and folders. If you had files on the drive before, they should still be present.

You’re now ready to boot your computer into Ubuntu 9.10!

How to boot into Ubuntu

When the time comes that you have to boot into Ubuntu, or if you just want to test and make sure that your flash drive works properly, you will have to set your computer to boot off of the flash drive.

The steps to do this will vary depending on your BIOS – which varies depending on your motherboard. To get detailed instructions on changing how your computer boots, search for your motherboard’s manual (or your laptop’s manual for a laptop).

For general instructions, which will suffice for 99% of you, read on.

Find the important keyboard keys

When your computer boots up, a bunch of words and numbers flash across the screen, usually to be ignored. This time, you need to scan the boot-up screen for a few key words with some associated keys: Boot menu and Setup. Typically, these will show up at the bottom of the screen.

If your BIOS has a Boot Menu, then read on. Otherwise, skip to the Hard: Using Setupsection.

Easy: Using the Boot Menu

If your BIOS offers a Boot Menu, then during the boot-up process, press the button associated with the Boot Menu. In our case, this is ESC.

Our example Boot Menu doesn’t have the ability to boot from USB, but your Boot Menu should have some options, such as USB-CDROM, USB-HDD, USB-FLOPPY, and others. Try the options that start with USB until you find one that works.

Don’t worry if it doesn’t work – you can just restart and try again.

Using the Boot Menu does not change the normal boot order on your system, so the next time you start up your computer it will boot from the hard drive as normal.

Hard: Using Setup

If your BIOS doesn’t offer a Boot Menu, then you will have to change the boot order in Setup.

Note: There are some options in BIOS Setup that can affect the stability of your machine. Take care to only change the boot order options.

Press the button associated with Setup. In our case, this is F2.

If your BIOS Setup has a Boot tab, then switch to it and change the order such that one of the USB options occurs first. There may be several USB options, such as USB-CDROM, USB-HDD, USB-FLOPPY, and others; try them out to see which one works for you.

If your BIOS does not have a boot tab, boot order is commonly found in Advanced CMOS Options.

Note that this changes the boot order permanently until you change it back. If you plan on only plugging in a bootable flash drive when you want to boot from it, then you could leave the boot order as it is, but you may find it easier to switch the order back to the previous order when you reboot from Ubuntu.

Booting into Ubuntu

If you set the right boot option, then you should be greeted with the UNetbootin screen.

Press enter to start Ubuntu with the default options, or wait 10 seconds for this to happen automatically.

Ubuntu will start loading.

It should go straight to the desktop with no need for a username or password.

And that’s it! From this live desktop session, you can try out Ubuntu, and even install software that is not included in the live CD. Installed software will only last for the duration of your session – the next time you start up the live CD it will be back to its original state.

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Facebook's popularity also brings lawsuits

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 february 3, 2012

As Facebook readies for Wall Street's richest high-tech debut, it is wrangling with litigation and bracing for potential new suits.

The social network filed Wednesday for a $5 billion stock offering that could create one of America's largest publicly traded companies.

But even as Facebook reinvents the way people around the world communicate, it anticipates a mountain of legal challenges which will take armies of lawyers years to disentangle.

In its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Facebook hinted at some of the legal tangles ahead, writing that it is already embroiled in litigation and anticipates "numerous" more lawsuits in coming years.

"We are currently, and expect to be in the future, party to patent lawsuits and other intellectual property rights claims that are expensive and time-consuming, and, if resolved adversely, could have a significant impact on our business, financial condition, or results of operations," Facebook said.

Legal experts said there is virtually no corner of public life where Facebook's impact is not felt.

"Social media drastically affects almost every aspect of how society communicates," said Brian Wassom, a partner at Honigman Miller Schwarz and Cohn law firm in Detroit.

Wassom said the numerous types of possible legal challenges reflect the unprecedented reach that Facebook has achieved in its few years of existence.

The company says it has over 845 million users including nearly half a billion who log in daily.

Ryan Calo, director for privacy at Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society, said the social network is "a real transformative communication platform."

"For better or for worse, this pattern is really accelerating," Calo said, speaking about Facebook's expanding reach.

Legal experts said the untold number of unresolved legal issues for users of Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and other social networking sites cover every aspect of financial and personal transactions carried out between individuals.

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People walk by a Facebook logo in Hong Kong on February 2. As Facebook readies for Wall Street's richest high-tech debut, it is wrangling with litigation and bracing for potential new suits. The social network filed February 1 for a $5 billion stock offering that could create one of America's largest publicly traded companies

For instance, can a prosecutor use elements gleaned from Facebook in making a legal case against a defendant? Is it possible to use Facebook to establish whether a loan applicant is a good credit risk?

Can law enforcement officials prosecute threats or intimidating statements posted on Facebook? How and when can an employer use information gathered on Facebook to discipline or terminate an employee?

Calo said the ubiquity of Facebook increases the urgency to update the legal roadmap governing how it can be accessed, and by whom.

"Facebook has become almost as indispensable as the telephone or radio," he said. "We need to make changes in laws or update our laws to reflect a new reality."

Pedram Tabibi, an attorney at the New York firm Melzer Lippe, said three businesses in four use some form of social media.

"The dependence on Facebook in people's personal lives is high, (and) the dependence on Facebook in business is increasing," Tabibi said, alluding to what he called the "intersection of two roads."

But slightly less than half of US companies have put in place ground rules on how their workers are to proceed in using social networking sites, Tabibi said, adding that firms that tarry are leaving themselves open to headaches.

Equally opaque are the conditions under which the US government can access the information on an individual's Facebook account, legal experts said.

Nebulous rules have not stopped the government however from deporting migrants or conducting broader investigations based on tips gleaned from Facebook.

"People now put their lives on Facebook," said Tabibi, adding that they need to exercise caution because that information "might be used against them." 

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