Software posts

Your favorite eBook reader just became your least favorite game console. Japanese company KLab has successfully cloned the development kit for Amazon’s Kindle and released it open source – meaning developers can start churning out totally wicked sweet homebrew apps, right? Er, not quite yet. Below is a video of …jeez, do I even need to introduce the damn game?… Super Mario Bros, running on an NES emulator developed with KLab’s kit. As you can plainly see, it looks like crap, and runs lower than full speed. So what’s the point? Probably, ‘because we can’. If you’ll recall, the same mantra was…

Toshiba is working quickly to launch their new line of tablet computers that will hopefully be available in North America later this year. If the model isn’t ready by the end of the year, the tablet is expected in early 2011. According to a report by Reuters, the tablets will offer Windows 7 and Android. The Windows 7 model is rumored to include higher-end features but the Android model is closer in similarity to the Apple iPad, which has been hugely popular since it’s release. The tablet is expected to feature a 10 inch screen and each model will range in cost – prices are unknown as of yet. “We definitely…

Opera, the smallest big browser that is widely acknowledged, has had two impressive feats accomplished recently. It was accepted into the App Store, after numerous failures to get in because of Apple’s restrictive policies, and earned the number-one spot on the top free applications across the boards on the App Store. In 22 App Stores in 22 countries, there stood one app above the rest (now 19 of 22 as of the time of this article being published) in the free category: Opera Mini. It isn’t clear as to whether or not this popularity is do to Opera just being that popular or if the media coverage about the…

Wouldn’t it be really convenient to be able to check up on sports scores, news or even your favorite t.v. show on-the-go? MobiTv Inc. has a  new app, MobiTV for the iPhone, that will let you do just this. This is the first shift toward mobile media for the company but the MobiTV app, like many of the thousands available to chose from, should gain popularity quickly because of it’s complete mobility and convenience for users. “MobiTV for iPhone truly showcases the capabilities and scalability of our technology platform and delivers a highly entertaining customer experience,” said Charlie Nooney,…

Best Buy has announced that it will be teaming up with the popular company Barnes & Noble and releasing the Nook ereader next week on April 18, 2010. The Nook will be available in Best Buy stores. The Nook is similar to the Kindle, which was designed and developed by Amazon.com and has seen major success since it’s debut in 2009. Barnes & Noble describes that using the Nook ereader is a better reading experience. The device has 2GB of storage and holds up to 1,500 eBooks, eMagazines and eNewspapers. Without the clutter of actually housing the bulky items, readers can browse over one million…

Following yesterday’s reports suggesting Palm has put itself up for sale comes more news on the company’s attempt to find a new friend. Chinea’s Huawei Technologies has been approached by an investment bank on behalf of Palm for preliminary acquisition talks, but discussions have not yet moved forward. Huawei Technologies isn’t a household name, but it has become the world’s second-biggest telecoms equipment company after Ericsson. And that lack of a household name could be the benefit it gains from buying a well-known brand such as Palm. One of the pioneers in PDA and smartphone tech,…

Apparently, Apple boss Steve Jobs now claims his company owns the trademark on the word ‘Pad’. This news follows Apple’s move last week to demand app developer Chris Ostmo remove the word ‘Pad’ from the name of his two products, journalPad and journalPad Bible Edition. Ostmo received a terse email from the App Store team telling him to make these changes. The upset developer then wrote a personal plea to Jobs asking for clarification as to the policy, particularly as so many developers had originally shoved a ‘Pad’ suffix into their App names in advance of the iPad launch…he didn’t…

Since the tragic attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001, the whole world has been cautious about who they can trust, where they’ll stay safe and what events/places to avoid as a precaution. Sports stadiums and arenas can hold thousands in a concentrated area and last year, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI warned that terrorists could take an interest in attacking these venues, while at full capacity. Officials are aware of the threat of a possible attack and have been planning what to do, should something ever happen and all of the crowds need to be evacuated quickly. One can only…

In a big surprise for iPhone users in search of choice, Apple has approved the third-party Opera Mini app for the iPhone. This version of Opera Mini has been developed specifically for the iPhone and is impressively fast. This is because it compresses data by up to 90 percent before fetching that data to the device, which has the effect of greatly accelerating page load speed (that’s particularly good if you’re on a slower EDGE network). It took Apple – known to reject apps which emulate those it provides – just three weeks to approve Opera Mini for the iPhone. The free Safari replacement is now available…

In a shocking announcement, Tech Radar declares Linux non-sexy with appeal only to nerds, geeks and basement dwellers. In an article addressing the challenges faces by Linux in it’s ongoing quest to unseat either Windows or Mac OS as a mainstream operating system, Tech Radar concludes that lack of sex appeal is it’s biggest obstacle. Citing the iPad as an example of what the open source community is lacking, Jim Zemlin, Executive Director of the Linux Foundation says that for Linux to jump ahead in popularity, a little magic and sex appeal will go a long way. Other factors cited include the massive…