webOS and the mobile devices that it powered made Palm (remember that company) a media darling. webOS was going to be another successful mobile Linux distribution (after Android). But it was all a dream that never came true. Palm was sold to HP. At some point, HP abandoned webOS, deciding that it was better to sell Android devices. So webOS [...]

Taiwan External Trade Council (TAITRA) and the International Forum Design Hannover (iF) have awarded the APC Paper the Design and Innovation Award at Computex 2013, which kicks off tomorrow and ends June 8. APC Paper is one of two Neo-ITX form-factor computers announced by VIA Technologies in January. The other is the APC Rock, which is a plain motherboard (it [...]

The latest edition of Linux Mint was released late yesterday. Code-named Olivia, Linux Mint 15 brings the latest editions of the MATE and Cinnamon desktop environments. This article features some screen shots from test installation of both flavors in a virtual environment. First from Linux Mint 15 Cinnamon test installation. The login screen is beautiful. Not only that, you can [...]

Now that the first beta edition of what will become Fedora 19 has been released, and almost all the accepted features are at 100% completion, I downloaded the installation images for the released desktop environments and ran them in a virtual environment just to see what they have to offer. True to every Fedora release, most of the new features [...]

Hybryde Fusion is a new desktop distribution based on Ubuntu Desktop. Unlike most other Ubuntu-based distributions, it brings a few interesting features to the table. Hybryde Fusion 13.04 is the distribution’s first release and the developer, Larrieu Olivier, is based in France. I’m still playing with a test installation, so this is not a review, but a presentation of a [...]

It’s been in beta mode since it was announced back in January, but now, the NVIDIA SHIELD is ready for prime time. Or at least, you can pre-order it now. NVIDIA SHIELD is a portable gaming device powered by the Tegra 4 processor, the same processor you’ll find inside HP’s SlateBook and a few other mobile computing devices. The Tegra [...]

The Tegra 4-powered SlateBook x2 running Android Jelly Bean (4.2.2) is the latest split-personality portable computer from HP. Detailed hardware specs have not be made available, but we do know that if will have an IPS panel with a screen resolution of 1920×1200, USB and HDMI ports. That’s about all we know about the hardware, but I’m sure it will [...]

ROSA Desktop Fresh LXDE is the end-user edition of ROSA Desktop that uses the Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment. This is not the same as the LXDE edition which was released in June 2012. That one is the enterprise edition, which ships with Debian-style stable Linux kernel and software, and uses the Marathon code name. (See ROSA 2012 LXDE review .) [...]

The release of Apache OpenOffice 4 will not happen tomorrow, but it is getting close. How close? Well, let’s just say it will happen soon. In months time, not weeks. To usher in what will be a milestone release for the Free Software Office suite, The Apache Software Foundation (ASF) wanted a new logo to replace the old OpenOffice logo, [...]

The Software Freedom Conservancy has launched a fundraising or crowdfunding campaign for a FOSS accounting software for non-profit organizations (NPOs). The need for such an accounting software “usable by non-technical bookkeepers, accountants, and non-profit managers” arose because NPOs are spending significant amounts of money for licensing proprietary accounting applications. The goal of this fundraising campaign is to raise $75,000 USD [...]

Why does your government want a backdoor in all popular Internet products and services? That’s like asking why a prostitute wants you to pay for her services, or why a politician wants a bribe (or is that a campaign contribution?). A backdoor in all telecommunications devices and services is already made possible by CALEA, the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement [...]

As somebody who fully embraces the Free Software principle, I have no need for Windows 8 in my environment. Never used any version of Windows, and never will. Previous versions of Windows were bad enough, but Windows 8, with its Restricted Boot requirements, have made dual-booting a Linux distribution with Windows 8 on store-bought computers a royal pain in the [...]

IFC6410 is a single-board, SoC computer powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, the same processor that powers Google’s Nexus tablet computer and several other mobile devices. I’ve become interested in single-board computers that are not controlled by an industry monopoly because I think they present the best technical opportunity to break the strangle-hold that Microsoft has on hardware and [...]

The EMB-2500 is the latest single-board, SoC computer to be released this year. Ever since the Raspberry Pi hit the streets and became hugely popular with its target audience, there has been several similar attempts to outdo it, but none has shipped with standard storage connectivity that the average computer user can use. With the EMB-2500, SATA storage connectivity has [...]

While we are waiting for some kind of reform of the US patent system, it’s good too see a major technology outfit like Google going solo with regards to taking legal action on a particular category of patent it owns. It’s a patent pledge that goes like this: We won’t be the first to sue. It’s a stance Google calls [...]

Just thought I share a video about the Parrot ASTEROID Smart, a vehicular infotainment systems device from Parrot, a technology outfit based in Paris, France that makes wireless devices and applications. The product, which I’ll be more than happy to buy, and the video are cool. And I like stuff with a high coolness factor. The company also makes a [...]