An error that is often experienced after connecting the hardware on a computer system is not the USB device detected error. When this problem occurs, it is important that the factors that can cause problems, as it may be useful in determining the most appropriate solutions useful knowledge. To computer users with this error, this article about the ways to solve this problem, to focus the system.
The causes of the error USB device not recognized
One of the most common causes of this error is a bad connection or plug in bulk. If a window appears on your screen to the user informed about the problem, is the first thing to do is to carefully remove the device to retrieve it. If another pop-up window appears on the screen, the problem is not bad by a connection.
Another error is a configuration of inadequate equipment. The solution to this problem depends on the type of operating system that uses a computer. For example, for those using computers with Windows XP, can correct the error by clicking the Start button and select Control Panel. Select the Add tab "New Hardware, and double-click it. Then the user can manually assign devices to operate.
In addition to the above solutions, users can try to convert the power management settings on their computers. To do this, click the Start button at the bottom of the computer screen to the left and then click Run. If a pop-up box, type devmgmt.msc, and click OK.
Choose the option that relates to Universal Serial Bus controllers. Next, place the cursor on the USB root hub and right click. Select the tab "Properties" and select power management. Check the boxes next to the option, turn off the computer to the device to save power, says. Click OK. If the problem persists, it is preferable to seek the help of computer technician because there may be problems with hubs stick.
If no hardware problems and the major centers, so that the most important thing to do, do visit the site and used the computer manufacturer and the product must be. In this way, the user can identify the real cause of the problem and solutions to the USB device not recognized error to develop.
Disguised as a battle centred around the freedom of the web, we now have Apple, Adobe and Google in the ring, dishing it out. Who started it? Who knows! But things are getting interesting.
Adobe had long been complaining about Apple's lack of cooperation in improving support for the Flash player for the Mac platform. With the iPhone, Apple had adamantly refused to let the Flash player in. Apple, in their defense, have cited performance concerns where websites loaded with Flash advertisements and such could hamper the user experience. This still does not explain however, why even the choice of installing / uninstalling the player wasn't left to the user. After all, most smartphones today have been demoed by Adobe with the full Flash Player 10.1, and they seem to be running fine.
Now with their more powerful iPad, Apple seems to be on the same path again, promising the best web experience while adamantly refusing to support Flash which powers a rather high percentage of the web's content. A large number of popular websites will just become unusable without Flash as explained in an eloquent post by Lee Brimelow, a Flash Platform Evangelist at Adobe. While it has been removed now, this post humorously included screenshot of a pornographic website which was somehow construed as Adobe playing the porn card.
While many people hold the naive attitude that disabling Flash / the end of Flash is good because it will mean the end of annoying Flash ads, the truth is that Flash is just a medium some advertisers use for their advertisements. If Flash indeed is to "die" some day, the advertisers will just start using HTML5 video or canvas tags for the same. Advertisers will find a way, and with ads popping up as HTML5 elements instead of Flash ones, they will only become more difficult to block.
As tensions increased with people split over whether the Apple iPad really was something new and worth buying, Flash support was of course one of the most important points. If Apple is indeed targeting this for students as well, they will find it nearly useless for eLearning content on the web as it is usually in Flash.
Earlier Steve Jobs commented that they didn't enter the search business, instead Google made a phone to compete with them and kill the iPhone, which sounds like "I didn't go to the sandbox, they came to the swings". Dear Apple, you too entered in competition with Nokia and other mobile manufacturers when you unveiled the iPhone. Get over it. He also called Google's "Don't be Evil" mantra bullshit or a load of crap, which makes sense, since Apple doesn't seem to follow it at all.
Steve Jobs, the One Who Must Not be Blamed, said Adobe were lazy, with the potential to do interesting things which they haven't lived up to. He claimed that the Flash player is buggy and is responsible for a majority of crashes on Mac OSX, and that the world will move to HTML5 which is more open.
Calling Adobe lazy is a stretch a amazing coming from a company which just spent the last couple of years feeding their iPod touch steroids. Adobe on the other hand developed a new compiler to bring content created in Flash to the iPhone and iPad touch in a manner which is compliant with Apple's arbitrary restrictions. They created the OpenScreen project which aims to bring their runtime to as many devices as possible. Any device manufacturer can gain access to the Flash Player source code and create optimized versions for their own platforms with Adobe's help. Hardly lazy behaviour I'd say.
The Flash player on Mac IS buggy, and Adobe had better do something about it, however many people forget that the Flash format IS open. The specifications for Flash player are open and available for all to implement. In fact, the Tamarin engine which interprets ActionScript 3 in the Flash Player is open source. With an open specification the only thing closed is the Adobe Flash Player itself, which is merely an implementation of the Flash specification by Adobe.
Any company, even Apple is free to create their own Flash player implementation which they think is less buggy than the one by Adobe. You can compare this to HTML, which is an open specification, and any browser can implement it. On the other hand, browsers such as Opera, Internet Explorer, and Apple's own Safari are closed source implementations of the open specification. Just because HTML is an open specification doesn't mean that closed source implementations are bad. People often also forget that Adobe has a stake in HTML5 too, as creators of web development products, and they have showed their dedication to that as well.
Apple does have a point about the Flash Player's performance, which might be a bigger problem with portable and low powered devices than PCs, however that is something which is in need of optimization by both the content creators and Adobe, and Adobe has been busy with optimization for their Flash Player 10.1.
Apple has made some beautiful products, and the iPad is no exception, but their recent trend is towards more and more closed systems which pot Apple in full control of its economy. In the end it is clear this is not about open standards at all, such arguments are hardly fitting of a company like Apple.
The iPad Jobs claims is "more intimate than a laptop, and it's so much more capable than a smartphone." Certainly one can understand that the device would be more intimate than a laptop, being operated entirely via a touch screen, however it isn't more capable than one. Is it even more capable than a smartphone?
Comparing it with Apple's own smartphone, the iPhone, and what do we see, a larger screen hence an interface to support the larger screen, thanks to the large screen we now have a larger keyboard, a larger screen enables better use of productivity software — which by the way you have to pay for — and a better multimedia and internet experience. Kinda like an iPod avatar in a, well, larger body. Might as well call it an iPhoneNot.
Sure, the faster processor means it is more capable technically, however as more smartphones come in the market with 1Ghz and faster processors, this point becomes moot. The Nexus One itself features a 1GHz processor, and does not come with the shackles surrounding the iPhone OS store.
Matching the iPhone and the iPad feature for feature, the iPad actually comes out on the losing side. Quite obviously, the device is not a phone, yet when comparing it with the iPhone you come to realize that is is just an oversized iPhone which can't make calls. Connect your iPhone to a larger display and what can't you do?
How is this different from an Android-based tablet?
With great derison Jobs discards netbooks as cheap laptops, yet the iPad is still to show any multitasking capabilities. It does not come with the free ecosystem of application and development as the netbooks have. Instead you are pointed to the 140,000 application which exist in the Apple store, many of which will irrelevant for a device which is not a phone, and the others will have to go through the painful process of updating their applications for the new screen size and getting their updates pass through the gatekeeps for the App Store.
For a device which claims to provide the best internet browsing experience, support for Flash is essential, and yet the iPad shuns Flash. This does more to hurt the iPad than it does Flash. For an internet centric device which boasts of 3G and WiFi connectivity, the lack of suppot for the full and rich interent experience is a blunder. A large sumber of cloud applications rely on Flash, and it is not just restricted to web-video. While shunning Flash from the iPhone might have worked out fine since no one expects a full interent experience on a phone, however when you are buying a device which is supposed to bring the "best web experience" you expect more.
Better than a netbook really? The iPad fails to be better than even an iPhone.
So here are 10 reasons why we think the iPad sucks, if we haven't made that clear already:
No multitasking. Remember, it's meant to be better than a netbook.
No Flash support. "The best web experience"; indeed
Screen is not widescreen. Well, innovation sometimes take us a few steps backwards
No HD output. Who watched HD these days anyway?
No camera. So much for video chat...
No USB port. Don't want to be too much like a netbook now do we?
No SD card slot. Cause 64GB ought to be enough for anybody...
Essential peripherals sold extra: keyboard, USB, SD card dongles, each sold for $30!
Another iPhone-like operating system. Read closed system. This seems to be Apple's game plan
You need to pay $10 per app for the iWork productinvity applications suite. It's like Apple didn't want you, or expect you to be productive on it by default
Even so, the iPad has a chance for success, and for many of the same reasons that the iPhone is a success. It is a beautiful product, with a dedicated developer community which just won't give up dispite the constant abuse. It has hundreds of thousands of applications which give it an edge over new platforms which have lesser applications. The iPhone continues to be a favourite of many because it is a pleasure to use despite its many flaws. Apple may not have done anything new here, but just given a more of the good old stuff that they already know works.
Due to the disaster that was Windows Vista, many Windows users would have been left stranded with XP as the time came for an upgrade to Microsoft's latest Windows 7. This was since Microsoft did not leave users with a clear upgrade path between Windows XP and Windows 7. This is despite the fact that Microsoft claims Windows 7 is more compatible with Windows XP applications than Vista.
Here comes ZInstall XP7 which takes away the pain from upgrading your Windows XP system to Windows 7 and with no loss of data or installed applications! Using virtualization technology, it ensures that your older copy of Window XP continues to run without problems as you switch to Windows 7. It is different from installing Windows 7 in parallel to Windows XP on your computer in that it allows you to run both operating systems at the same time, without reboot; and it is different from running XP in a virtual machine in that it is more integrated with your system and retains your settings.
With an upgrade coming nearly eight years after the release of Microsoft's last favoured OS, Windows XP - for many users it is not a matter of choice but one of necessity to upgrade to Windows 7. Eight years is too long in this industry to be using any technology, especially one as integral as an operating system. That is quite like using Windows 3.1 in 2001 after the release of Windows XP!
Windows 7 comes with Windows XP mode, which is near-guaranteed to run any Windows XP application that is out there by running it on a virtual machine. However, the reason that an upgrade is preferable to this approach is that an upgrade retains the older applications' configuration and settings, some of which cannot be transferred even using the Microsoft Easy Transfer wizards.
Since ZInstall XP7 is also based on virtualization like Windows XP Mode, it offers the same benefits. It however lacks the closer integration with Windows 7 which you get with XP mode, wherein files can open in virtualized Windows XP applications and application installed in the virtual mode will have entries in the Start Menu, etc. Oddly enough, while the application is called ZInstall XP7, Windows Vista is one of the supported operating systems, and it is possible for you to migrate from Windows XP to Windows Vista, or from Windows Vista to Windows 7.
Even so, ZInstall XP7 offers some significant features which make it better than using the bundled and free Windows XP mode, and might be worth the $89 price. To begin, Windows XP Mode is only available as a free download for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate, others need to own a copy of Windows XP, and install that in their VM -- of course, if you’re thinking of upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7, it is assumed you have a Windows XP license in the first place!
Another important thing about ZInstall XP7 is that it even supports running without hardware virtualization which is essential if you wish to use Windows XP Mode with Windows 7.
Most importantly, ZInstall XP7 does not give you a fresh new install of Windows XP in a virtual environment on which to install your old applications, instead it converts your entire old system into a virtualized instance with your applications, settings and files intact! So as soon as you are done migrating your old computer with ZInstall XP7 all its applications are ready for you to use.
While the entire procedure of converting your physical machine into a virtual one takes quite some time (and space), it is quite effortless, and takes only a few short steps.
The ZInstall XP7 application is a single large (nearly 250MB) EXE file which launches the migration guide and install the virtual machine. You merely run the executable to begin the process, and after a short loading period, you are asked to accept the licence terms and activate your product. This requires an internet connection.
Once you are done activating, you are asked to specify your migration scenario, whether you have only the computer you are using, or you are migrating from an older comp on a network. In our case, we performed a migration on the same computer. After this point, you can select if you want to perform an in-place migration or migration from another hard-drive.
In the case on an in-place migration, you need to have installed Windows 7 on the same hard disk partition as the one with Windows XP installed. This renames your old Windows installation system to windows.old. ZInstall XP7 will then gather all this data to construct your new XP virtual machine.
Migrating from another hard drive is done when you have installed Windows 7 on a different hard drive than the one with Windows XP. If you have purchased a new computer and installed Windows 7, you can connect your old hard drive and use this method. We performed an in-place migration.
This was all the information ZInstall XP7 needed, and it then set about finding our old Windows XP installation, and its final resting place. After it is done, you see your migration scenario, with the source Windows XP hard drive and the destination drive to contain the virtual machine. A destination drive with enough space needs to exist of course, and since it retains your entire old machine it will need considerable space.
At this point, your work is done! The following procedure takes quite a lot of time, however it requires no intervention, and you can leave the computer to its task.
In the case of a migration over the network, you need to have both computers switched on and on the same network. You then run the application on both computers and choose "I am moving between two PCs." After this point you are asked to select which computer is your old one, and which is the new one.
Once the migration is done, you will see an icon on your desktop and one in the system tray which will allow you to start your virtual Windows XP instance. Switching to your old computer is as simple as double-clicking on the icon in the system tray which will start the virtual machine and boot into your old Windows XP. After you have used it once, the virtual machine can continue running in the background and you can easily switch to it in less than a second by double clicking on the system tray icon. Once your virtual XP installation is fully booted and the VM tools are activated, switching between your old and new computers really is as simple as changing TV channels, as the software makers claim.
The virtual Windows XP machine will also have the ZInstall XP7 tools installed which will allow you to instantly switch back to your Windows XP install by double-clicking on a similar icon in your virtualized install. In your old computer, drives from your new computer are accessible via a shared drive.
While it might seem too much to pay for Microsoft's mistakes especially after you have paid for the OS itself, ZInstall is more than just a migration guide, it is a product which continues to run on your computer. Being quite a powerful product it is quite sad that it is limited to just migration between Windows versions, such a solution would have been quite awesome if it could allow you to arbitrarily run multiple OSs with the ease of switching between them at any time.
In the end, for those who want to retain their applications, data and settings without losing productivity as they ease into the new OS, ZInstall is a brilliant solution, however if your needs lie in just running you old Windows XP applications with full compatibility even when you have moved to Windows 7, you might be better off with the greater integration provided by Windows XP Mode.
Furthermore installing a fresh OS is a much better and less buggy solution than upgrading your XP to Vista to 7, and ZInstall XP7 lets you do that without losing your old desktop experience.
The ZInstall Wizard unpacks
ZInstall takes a little time to load and activate
Now you select a Migration scenario. We selected "I only have this PC"
Now you can select whether you are migrating from the same hard disk or an XP installation on an old hard disk. We selected "No, I am doing an in-place migration"
The Zinstall wizard now searches for an old installation of XP as per your migration scenario.
It will then display the old installations detected by it, and will allow you to detect a destination for the virtualized install.
The migration process begins by analyzing the selections.
The analysis and migration process takes quite some time.
The migration will retain your old disk structure, thereby retaining all your old data in the new install.
The migration process itself will take a couple of hours as an image of you old systemw ill be made and adjusted to work on the new virtualized hardware.
And you're done! The new system will have an icon in the system tray which will allow you to switch between your Windows 7 and XP machines at any time.
The ZInstall system tray icon gives you access to your old or new systema and its files.
Your old system files are accessible in the new Windows 7 system, and your new system's files are visible in the old XP system as network shares.
Google will be releasing a series of short clips documenting the concept, design, manufacturing and development of the Google Nexus One phone. The first two videos in the series are up. Take a look --
There is a third video showcasing the testing process of the Google Nexus One. Unfortunately, it's a private video on Google's Nexus One channel on YouTube. You can check it out by clicking here.
Stay tuned for more videos showcasing the making of the Google Nexus One phone.
Google has consistently been trampling on Apple's toes, with unsettling announcements of new operating systems, mobile phones, and with all the publicity surrounding Apple's rejection of the Google Voice application for the iPhone.
Now Apple has taken on an unlikely partner in its battle against Google, Microsoft. Apple, it would seem, now has plans to replace Google, and go for Bing instead as its default search engine. It's remarkable to see how Google has now taken over Microsoft as Apple's biggest threat.
Recently Apple has been on a buying spree, trying to rid itself of the last vestiges of Google intrusion into its platform. In the recent past they are rumoured to havebought their own maps service to remove their dependence on Google Maps, and they have also purchased their ownmobile advertisement company to further remove the taint of Google's presence.
As if that was not enough, Apple's plan could include having their own search engine, and choosing Bing could be, as BusinessWeek reports , a stop-gap measure. Apple wont "outsource the future".
Could Apple really be entering the highly competitive search market? How far will they go? It would seem Apple has an alternate exclusive internet in mind for its own users.
As Google has started entering some of the domains of Apple, will Apple start entering those of Google? What next, iTube, iDocs, iJustDontKnowWhenToQuit?
While this is still just speculation from a unknown entity about an possible strategy based on an undeclared move, it does seem to fit with Apple's recent trends. With Apple's penchant for good clean design and consistent interfaces, it will be interesting to see what approach they take with their search engine if they ever do come up with it.
Showcased at CES, Dubai-based startup Infinitec’s IUM is said to be ready for launch, and could just be the best thing since buttered bread – a gadget that lets you stream media & data to your TV, laptop, DVD player, or game console, or just about any device that accepts a USB stick. Offering “unlimited storage” on a normal-sized USB stick, Infinitec’s new flash-drive is able to stream data from your computer onto almost any device you connect it to, simply requiring a software installation on your Windows 7 or XP PC and a network dongle. The “streaming flash-drive” can be set to represent any size from 1GB to more than 1TB, and then simply plugged in to use.
With no need to worry about sharing or network protocols, this revolutionary idea of a device (when released in the market) will act like your computer’s surrogate storage (read receiving) device, creating an ad-hoc WiFi network using an 802.11n module. This could be an invaluable tool that lets you mimic the use of an external hard drive on any device in the same room as your computer, allowing you to stream media and data with a simple click of a button, without the need of wires, multiple data transfers, backups, and reconnects required with external HDDs. The network connectivity opportunities are mind-boggling, and could be especially useful transferring data between two computers in the same room.
We caught a glimpse of what the future of smartphones might be like, with the announcement of the launch of four new mobile operating systems, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. While Samsung’s Bada OS is now available on the shelves in the form of the good-looking Samsung Wave S8500, the other three, Windows Phone 7 series OS, Intel & Nokia’s collaborative MeeGo OS, and the Symbian^3 OS - will be launched later this year, with the hardware that will host them remaining a mystery. Let us take a look at what we know about these four OSes, and how they might change the way we use our smartphones.
Samsung’s Bada OS
Heralded as a “complete smartphone platform”, Samsung’s long awaited Bada is a developer friendly OS that will run “high-performance native apps and services”. Starting with the Wave, it will roll out in many of Samsung’s touch mobile handsets in 2010, and officially inviting third-party developers to work with its open-source code, hoping to enjoy the resulting range of applications and customizations for its users, including Samsung’s Apps. This is why the OS has been named Bada, after the Korean word for ocean or sea, indicating the vast variety of potential applications which can be created using the new open platform.
Based on Samsung’s TouchWiz User Interface, Bada’s software development kit (SDK) is already available for developers to use, allowing them to easily implement flash control, web control, motion sensing, fine-tuned vibration control, and face detection in their applications, along with a variety of sensors (such as accelerometers, tilt, weather, proximity, and activity) that will support sensor-based, context-aware applications. A measure of Samsung’s complete embracing of the open-source way can be seen in the Developer Challenge, that will be a chance for developers to win a share of a US$2,700,000 prize fund, by building a wide variety of applications for Bada devices. Samsung will also announce a series of Developer Days that will be held across the world this year, starting with Seoul, London and San Francisco, which will be open to all developers. Samsung’s current development partners include such heavies as the micro blogging service Twitter, movies and games rental outlet Blockbuster, and iconic videogame developers such as CAPCOM, EA Mobile, and Gameloft.
Supporting various service-oriented features, Bada will also offer native social networking, device synchronization, content management, location-based services, and commerce services. Bada also supports Open GL ES 2.0 for advanced gaming capabilities and Immersion's TouchSense Player for haptic functionality. Another interesting feature is the Lifelog, which allows developers to create intelligent call logs.
Samsung Bada’s architecture is interesting, and is made up of four distinctive layers: the kernel layer (based on a real-time OS or Linux kernel, depending on hardware configuration), the device layer (providing all the core functions such as system and security management, data protocols and telephony, audio-visual and multimedia management, etc.), the service layer, and the innovative framework layer, which will allow developers to export standard open APIs in C++, and consists of application framework and functions exported by underlying layers. The OS will be customizable with advanced widgets and home screen functionality, and versatile enough to Sync mail, calendar, and contacts from a web account to the mobile. On the marketplace front, users can easily download their required applications from Samsung Apps, via WiFi or cellular connection. Also interesting is the Social Hub service, which is Samsung’s new integrated messaging service in partnership with major portals, and a messaging service that is centered on Contacts. Being push based, it also removes the need to constantly log in and out of other networks.
The first example of a Bada-using device, the just launched Samsung Wave S8500, has notably not ironed out all its flaws. However its potential is exciting, with its stunning 3.3 inch capacitive AMOLED screen, and the ability to multitask with more than 512MB of RAM and a 1 GHz processor. It is also the first phone to feature Bluetooth 3.0, and also offers GPS receiver with A-GPS. On the multimedia front it supports 5.1 virtual surround sound, playback of DivX/XviD video, and a 5 MP camera with autofocus and 720p HD video recording and playback.
Nokia & Intel's MeeGo
Yet to be launched, there is no real hands-on data available about Intel’s and Nokia’s collaborative MeeGo OS at present, but here’s what we know.
A fusion of their respective Linux platforms, Maemo and Moblin, Intel and Nokia declared their long-term relationship about 8 months ago, a unified platform that will be used in a variety of devices from mobile phones to tablets to netbooks and in-vehicle infotainment systems. Like the Bada, the MeeGo will be open-source and developer friendly, and will embrace Intel and Nokia's developer programs, Intel Atom Developer Program and Nokia Forum (using Nokia's cross-platform application development framework Qt), allowing them to create applications for anything from the Nokia Symbian S60 devices to Linux, Windows and MacOS X. These apps will be made available on both Nokia's Ovi Store and Intel's AppUp store. MeeGo will feature "visually rich graphics, multitasking and multimedia capabilities and the best application performance", and will be available in the second half of this year, hosted by the Linux Foundation. As explained by the president and CEO of Intel, MeeGo will allow seamless communication “between computing devices from the home, auto, office or your pocket”. MeeGo will also support ARM architecture and Intel's own Atom processors. The source code, SDK, and other details will also be made available soon, allowing the development of applications before the launch of the OS and its supporting hardware.
Aiming to avoid fragmentation, the cross-platform approach of MeeGo is unique, and it will be really interesting what will happen when it is used by other mobile manufacturers besides just Nokia, giving the iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android-based phones a real run for their money. Applications written for MeeGo will be able to work on multiple device types regardless of manufacturer, giving users the ability to easily migrate their applications when switching between devices. Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia's CEO, emphatically stated that the MeeGo will not completely replace Symbian, saying that “Symbian is alive and Symbian is strong”.
Windows Phone 7 Series
Announced by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at the Mobile World Congress, the much delayed Windows Mobile 7 will be launched at the end of this year, branded as Windows Phone 7 Series (WP7). Designed for “Life in Motion” the Ballmer unveiled a prototype device that he called “a different kind of phone”, which will “redefine what a phone can do for people”, integrating the “Web, applications and content in an intuitive way”. A complete rewrite from WinMo 6.5.5, WP7 will also bring such services such as the popular MS music player Zune and games platform Xbox LIVE to the phone for the first time.
A key differentiator from other smartphones, most notably the numerous small icons on the iPhone’s home screen, the Windows Phone’s home screen will feature large, colourful and customizable icons atop a black background. Called “live tiles”, they will update themselves with relevant information, such as calendar appointments and reminders, status updates, weather information, and more. Aiming to be more intuitive, the home screen will feature only what Microsoft believes is required there, without the clutter of hundreds of small icons. The new OS will also be centred on ‘hubs’, each a grouped amalgamation of local and dynamic online content, making it easier for users to smoothly access their now-well-categorised information. The various hubs include: the Office Hub, which will let users access their mobile documents, Outlook e-mail, and other Microsoft Exchange functionalities. The People Hub will display feeds from the user’s social networks, organise contacts and friends, and easily contact them via SMS, IM, e-mail, etc. Native integration of Facebook and Twitter has also been announced. The Multimedia Hub is for photos, music, and videos, similar to the Zune’s interface. The Games Hub will provide numerous local and online games, as well as synchronization with XBOX LIVE, allowing users to chat with their fellow gamers on their friends’ list, share statistics, watch game demos, and hopefully remotely control the XBOX console’s downloads. Proximity or location is also a built-in feature of the phone, making it easier to access local news, services, and information while on the move.
Applications have become a major selling point for smartphones, and the iPhone, with its Apple App Store, is considered to be way ahead of the competition, leaving Nokia, BlackBerry, Samsung, and Android phones in the dust. Microsoft has a major task ahead of it, if it intends its ‘Marketplace’ to compete with the App Store, which already has more than 150,000 applications available. The OS will also feature an application manager, allowing you to install, update, and sort applications with your convenience.
Another interesting announcement was that Microsoft will not support flash on the WP7, a move that might not hold many surprises for regular Apple iPhone users. Also noteworthy, is that Joe Belfiore, Director of Windows Phone, hinted that the OS may only support selective multitasking, like the iPhone, calling “the core operating system” “a modern multitasking operating system”. This will probably just allow you to use an application while still retaining the ability to receive e-mails, calls, texts, etc., and listen to music simultaneously. Using more than one third party application at the same time is a no-no, but Belfiore said that they will try to make it as functional as possible, by allowing data feeds in hubs, as well as in the live tiles. Search on Bing will also be instantly accessible with a click of a button, and the possibility of allowing a choice of search engine has not been ruled out.
As for being an open-source OS, Microsoft has revealed that it will closely collaborate with developers, but not fully release its code, allowing more third-party customization than Apple, but not as much as the Samsung, Nokia, Symbian or Google. Developers though, can look forward to Microsoft’s legendary documentation and support.
Symbian^3 OS (S^3)
The Symbian Foundation announced the release of its new Symbian^3 operating system at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona yesterday. Heralded to be Symbian’s first fully-open source mobile operating system, Symbian^3 provides some much needed updates on its prior versions, as well as some great new user-oriented functionalities.
The feature-complete release is scheduled for the end of the first quarter, which means that the first phones to start using the S^3 OS will be only available later this year, giving developers plenty of time to design applications and customize features till then.
Here are some of the new features of the S^3 OS:
Full Multi-Touch Support – A much needed refinement over the previous version, users can now use gestures to control their phone, including pinch-and-zoom, and flick-and-scroll. A single-tap paradigm has also been implemented, reducing the number of taps/clicks required per operation. HDMI Support – A great idea, Symbian now lets users enjoy full 1080p high definition external playback on their monitors or televisions.Radio & Music Store Integration – Enables automatic identification of songs on both the radio and music store, along with more information about them. Also new is the convenient placement of the ‘buy now’ button in the same screen.Writable Data Paging – Allows for more efficient memory management, which in turn lets more applications run in parallel, for a more efficient multi-tasking experience, and a great improvement over older Symbians. New 2D & 3D Graphics Architecture – Gives users the full advantage of hardware acceleration, enabling a faster and more responsive user interface, as well as visual enhancements, and smooth transitions, and when combined with OpenGL ES, also provides a platform for high performance games.New Networking Architecture – Ready for 4G networks, with optimized use of bandwidth, leading to lower latency times and less jitter. Ideal for VoIP and media content streaming.One-Click Connectivity – Simplifies the process of connecting to the Internet, without causing interruptions for the user. Also allows platform-wide behaviour and global settings, easily switching between networks, something the older Symbian would have become confused doing.Multiple Widgets – Attractive and useful new home screen which has multiple pages of widgets along with simple flicking between them. A widget manager will also make it easier to find, download, and categorize widgets. Support for multiple instances of a native widget allows users to monitor multiple widgets simultaneously, such as weather forecasts, news feeds, social networking and e-mail accounts, through a single common interface.
Executive Director of the Symbian Foundation, Lee M. Williams, said that "S^3 is another huge milestone in the evolution of our platform. Now that it is fully open source, the door is open to individual contributors, device creators and third-party developer companies". While talking about the new multi-touch support, Ian Hutton, Chairman of Symbian's Features & Roadmap Council mentioned that there will also be “support for third party developers to add extra gestures if they want to", as well as continuing support for non-touch phones. Also to be kept in mind is the fact that Symbian^4 is in the pipeline as well, and is on track to be released by the end of the 2010.
Closing Comments
The four new mobile operating systems certainly have their work cut out for them, with the stiff competition of the iPhone, and its innumerable applications and users. However, while the iPhone is a user-friendly experience that is very popular with consumers, the business end of users have no use for it, and most prefer the BlackBerry, or other smartphones with simpler and more intuitive enterprise functions than it. Here, WP7, with Microsoft’s long standing enterprise relationships, will have a distinctive advantage, while what Nokia/Intel’s MeeGo, Symbian^3, and Samsung’s Bada do to tap into this market, is yet to be seen.
Flash support, a controversial and raging debate these days between Adobe and Apple, will also be a differentiator, with the WP7 confirming that it will go the iPhone way, and not offer it. While MeeGo’s stance on this is not known yet, both Samsung’s Bada and Symbian ^3 offer it, and this may go a long way in making their web-browsing experience more wholesome, if the Flash-support is sufficiently-well optimized.
Multitasking will also be a point to consider, as the iPhone and the WP7 (at least the working prototype displayed at MWC) offer limited ability in this sphere. In fact, copy/paste functionality is as of yet not perfected in the WP7, a serious blow to MS’ image. Samsung’s Bada in its Wave form however, with its large RAM and fast processor, claims to be a good multitasking unit, though it remains to be seen, as does how MeeGO will perform in its hardware avatar. The Writable Data Paging of the Symbian, with its improved memory management, seems to put Symbian in the lead (only time will tell), though the hardware & RAM size will obviously be a factor.
Last, but not the least, is the obvious comparison between the open-source nature of the S^3, MeeGo and Bada, as opposed to the semi-closed nature of Apple’s and Microsoft’s efforts. Developers have however, not let this stand too much in the way of their job on the iPhone, with innumerable applications easily available in the App Store. But, this may very well be the deciding factor in years to come, as the very nature of open-source will put almost no limits on customization and variety, though quality assurance may become a pain. Other competitors, like Research in Motion, Palm, Qualcomm, and Sun Microsystems, are all also trying to build and encourage developer communities for their operating systems.
Comparisons have long been drawn between Google's Open Handset Alliance and the Symbian Foundation, both third party alliances of partners that manufacture the phones/devices. While Google’s Android OS, an already successful open-source platform, has certainly paved the way for the three new open-source operating systems, the Symbian Foundation will finally enjoy a more equal footing with this release of its first fully-open source OS, the S^3.
