by Ian Uymatiao

Desktop Linux does not always get a lot of press, but when it does, it usually has something pretty interesting to show; this one was no different. Canonical figurehead, Mark Shuttleworth, took the time to announce on his blog the new Head-Up Display (HUD) user-interface, to be released alongside the latest Ubuntu OS when it becomes available for download this April.

The new ‘HUD’ UI can best be described as a radical overhaul of the menu system that has become a staple of nearly every desktop operating system today. The menu system itself, where there is a list of nested commands that sits on the top of the window or screen, has seen little to no dramatic changes since the introduction of the GUI. Shuttleworth believes that this old system is archaic and inefficient, since its complexity can potentially prevent users from finding useful commands that could boost their productivity.

So how exactly does the new ‘HUD’ tackle this dilemma? With HUD, the old menu system is completely replaced by a single search field. It’s similar to advanced application launchers such as Quicksilver and Launchy, only it is used for application commands. This allows you to effectively ‘search’ for the command, rather than having to scour the menu system in the hope that such a command exists for the application. While one can certainly argue that keyboard shortcuts are a much shorter way of executing commands, HUD could lead to better discoverability of new commands, as well as a faster method for executing commands that do not come with a complementary keyboard shortcut.

HUD is still currently a work-in-progress, and an additional effort is already underway to make  it more capable than just searching for menu commands. You can look forward to trying it out for yourself when the Ubuntu 12.04 is released this April. In the meantime, check out this video (Introducing the HUD to Ubuntu)video to see Ubuntu HUD in action!

(via OMGUbuntu)

by Jonathan Audric Matias

Razer demonstrated a 10-inch gaming tablet at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2012, codenamed “Project Fiona”, designed to provide precision controls via two Playstation-Move-like controllers attached to both sides of the screen and graphics worthy of a gaming laptop.

Project Fiona is powered by an Intel Core i7 CPU, and, although not detailed, supports the inclusion of a discrete GPU from either AMD or Nvidia.  Of course, more powerful hardware means a greater drain on the battery so expect the battery life of a laptop rather than that of a tablet.  It is important to note, though, that on the show floor, IGN’s Scott Lowe, ExecutiveEditor of IGN Tech, claimed that “it was a handmade prototype hardwired to a poweradapter, [meaning] there’s a good chance there was no battery inside.”With force feedback (rumbling in the controllers) and Wi-Fi capability, it seems Razer is taking their foray into building gaming hardware quite seriously.

Running on Windows 8, Project Fiona will also have an Android OS overlay to “offer sufficient horsepower for true PC gaming, as well as tablet-like portability” (CNET).  This means third-party store clients like Steam and Origin can run on the tablet along with Razer’s own proprietary game launcher.  Games like Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2 and Assassin’s Creed: Revelations will be playable on the device—as long as they support controller-based input.  Sorry, RTS fans.

Keep in mind that this is only a proof of concept, but nevertheless keep an eye out for this device in the months to come.

Sources:

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-33374_1-57355660/razer-project-fiona-concept-hints-at-power-of-portable-windows-8/

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/01/10/ces-razer-debuts-windows-8-based-gaming-tablet

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/01/10/ces-hands-on-with-razers-gaming-tablet

(photo courtesy of technabob.com)

 by Ian Uymatiao

            It has been nearly a year since the news broke out that Nokia and Microsoft, two tech giants that were struggling to find a foothold in the rapidly expanding smartphone market, were entering a partnership that would have Nokia drop Symbian for its smartphones in favor of Windows Phone 7. While much has already been said about what the partnership could mean for both companies, 2012 could be considered the year the partnership will be put to the test.

           While Nokia has already released a couple of well-received Windows Phone devices during the previous year, they were mostly stopgap products for what Nokia believes will be a blowout 2012 line-up. To start the New Year, Nokia announced its newest lead device, the Nokia Lumia 900, at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. It boasts a 4.3-inch AMOLED display, a slick polycarbonate bezel, an 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss rear camera, 4G LTE support, and of course the latest Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango” OS. As you can probably tell, Nokia intends for the Lumia 900 to compete aggressively with other high-end handsets.

            While other specs, such as CPU and RAM, do not quite live up to the hardware of other handsets in the market, Microsoft’s mobile OS has proven time and again that it doesn’t need the latest hardware to be fast and smooth. Nokia CEO Stephen Elop also expressed confidence that the company represents the best that Windows Phone has to offer, and that their partnership with Microsoft will finally bring the platform into the mainstream. Despite the warm reception that this new device has received thus far, both Nokia and Microsoft still have an uphill climb ahead of them. Only time will tell if Elop’s predictions are, in fact, correct.

(via Engadget and The Verge)

(photo courtesy of engadget.com)

by Ian Uymatiao

It was mentioned in Steve Job’s Official Biography that ‘educational textbooks’ was the next industry he wanted to change. He mentioned that the current educational system, which has remained unchanged for over a century, is fundamentally flawed in this day and age, as printed textbooks and traditional teaching methods lack the level of engagement and feedback that students need in order to be motivated to learn and succeed. The former Apple CEO, however, passed away before the project saw the light of day. Nevertheless, the folks at Cupertino carried on with the endeavor, and last January 19, the company finally announced the fruits of their labor in the form of iBooks 2, the next version of the company’s e-reader initiative.

iBooks 2 is basically Apple’s vision of what educational reading material is supposed to be like in the 21st century. Rather than providing what equates to glorified PDFs, almost every part of the e-book has an interactive element to it. Text can be highlighted and given notes, pictures can be enlarged and skimmed through, pages can be embedded with playable audio and video, and interactive widgets such 3D models can be placed in pages to provide a deeper understanding of the showcased object. The digital textbooks also provide other features expected of electronic media such as word-searching, dictionary and glossary integration, and over-the-air updates.

Apple touts some key advantages of using these electronic textbooks. One is its reduced price, costing no more than $14.99, which is a considerable discount compared to numerous printed textbooks being sold today. Another is a reduced material and weight footprint, as a single iPad will be able to replace all printed textbooks. Lastly, as mentioned above, updates over-the-air prevent books from becoming obsolete even after the purchase.

There are a few caveats, however. First of all, these textbooks will only work on an iPad at the moment, and they can only be downloaded via Apple’s integrated iBooks Store. In other words, these textbooks can only be accessed for as long the student owns and uses an iPad. Support for other platforms have not yet been (and may never be) announced. There are also some licensing concerns regarding ownership of the content being published, though we have yet to see how Apple will tackle that particular problem.

Nonetheless, it is interesting to see Apple tackle what is considered a stagnating market. Considering how important a role education plays in our society, any means to enrich the educational experience is most welcome. If Apple can successfully pull this off, this initiative could be an indication of the dramatic changes that are yet to come.

(via Macrumors)

(photo courtesy of engadget.com)

by Ian Uymatiao

            Most of us use and love Dropbox for a very good reason. It’s a cloud-storage solution that goes the extra mile by syncing all files across multiple devices for offline access. After living with a service that is able to do plenty of file heavy-lifting automatically, it’s safe to say that most of us cannot imagine a life without Dropbox. Many cloud services have tried over the past few years to break Dropbox’s hold of the market, and it looks like the newcomer Insync, a file-syncing service similar to Dropbox, could do just that with the help of a wildcard feature: Google Docs.

Insync, created by a team of Filipino and Singaporean software engineers, is a front-end cloud service that syncs selected files across devices via the cloud, just like Dropbox, only it uses Google Docs as the cloud-storage solution instead. You might be asking: how does Insync using Google Docs make it a potentially better service than Dropbox? There are two reasons:

1. Google Docs is more convenient when using guest computers. As great as Dropbox is at handling files through the cloud, it becomes considerably less convenient when using, say, a lab computer with Dropbox not installed. You would have to download the file, edit it, then re-upload it through the browser, an inconvenience that Dropbox was supposed to liberate us from in the first place. With Google Docs, however, you can edit most files, such as documents, within the browser itself, potentially saving a lot of productivity time. Those edited files will, of course, sync back to your personal computers as well.

2. Google Docs Storage is MUCH cheaper than Dropbox. If you are a premium Dropbox user that stores tons of files in the cloud, it may be worth moving over to Google Docs instead. While the free storage package favors Dropbox, the pricing differences grow exponentially in Google’s favor as more gigabytes are added. For example: Google charges $25 per year for 100 GB of storage. For the same capacity, Dropbox charges $20 per month, so it’s pretty obvious that Google Docs storage, when coupled with Insync, is an absolute steal in comparison.

On the other hand, Dropbox supports a multitude of platforms, while Insync only supports Windows and Mac at the moment. In addition, many applications and services today utilize Dropbox as a means of syncing miscellaneous data such as contacts, calendars, and app settings. If you only use Dropbox for syncing basic files, however, you might find Insync to be a great replacement. Odds are you already own a Google account that can edit files via Google Docs, and it also means one less account to handle. Insync is currently in beta, but you are most welcome to try it out for yourself.

(via Lifehacker)

Photos by Kim Lachica

Photos by Pao Ablir and Kim Lachica

Photos by Pao Ablir