Author: Jeff Morgan (Page 50 of 168)

Palm’s Pre is the mobile hacker’s dream

April 12, 2010 / Jeff Morgan

As smartphones get more and more robust, hackers are looking for new ways to get the most from what have become powerful mobile computers. Manufacturers want to keep that from happening, though, which is why we have situations like the strict lockdown on the iPhone’s OS. There is one OS that still gives hackers the freedom they desire: Palm’s WebOS. With news that Palm could potentially be purchased, it’s sad to think this might all go away. In the meantime, though, it’s pretty damn cool.

It turns out WebOS can be hacked to run virtually any Linux program. The proof of concept was done by installing OpenOffice on a Palm Pre. A Pre people! Okay, it’s not that exciting, but it is a neat discovery, even if it doesn’t have much practical application.

The hack is much more involved than typical homebrew installs. You have to root the phone, install a new windows management system, modify the startup system, and then install everything using Debian. Why you would do all of this is beyond me but just knowing that you can has to feel good, right? Right guys? Palm users? Palm does have users…right?

Source: PreCentral

Mobile

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How do you beat Apple lawsuits? Buy Palm!

April 11, 2010 / Jeff Morgan

According to Bloomberg, Palm is for sale, and the top candidate might not be somebody you’d expect. HTC is currently the target of an Apple lawsuit claiming 20 counts of patent infringement on iPhone IP. Buying Palm could give Google’s handset maker of choice the patents it needs to fight the Apple suit. Smart play, fellas.

HTC isn’t looking for hardware – it needs an operating system. As it stands, only Google and Apple have what is considered a modern mobile operating system (sorry, RIM, you aren’t even close). Unfortunately, HTC would probably only use the purchase to give it enough patents for a war with Apple, not because it actually thinks WebOS will go anywhere. Palm didn’t sell nearly enough handsets to keep the world interested in WebOS.

HTC wants to avoid is a costly licensing settlement with Apple that could affect profits far into the future. Spending several hundred million dollars on a dying company could be the cheap alternative it’s been looking for.

Mobile, News

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iPhone OS 4: FINALLY

April 8, 2010 / Jeff Morgan

The world got a look at the upcoming changes to the iPhone OS today and it seems there was just one response: FINALLY. Finally, the iPhone will have the ability to multitask. Finally, you can organize your apps into folders and customize the background. Finally, mail will support attachments for third-party apps, threaded conversations, and easier inbox switching. Finally, finally, finally.

I know, it seems surreal. A lot of these features have been on other platforms for months, years in some cases. The multitasking support is really the best of the update, bringing the iPhone in line with WebOS and Android. It does make me wonder when we’ll see new hardware. The ad copy for the new iPhone’s bigger battery for that great multitasking feature practically writes itself.

For now, you can keep an eye on Apple’s official site for iPhone OS 4. The OS is available in closed beta for developers. Expect more feature leaks soon.

Apple, iPad, iPhone, News

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Twitter developers should stop plugging holes

April 8, 2010 / Jeff Morgan

Fred Wilson laid out an interesting post at the Business Insider this morning. For those who don’t know, Wilson is a partner at Union Square Ventures and one of Twitter’s top investors. Wilson’s basic point was that current Twitter development focuses on plugging holes in the service, not creating new things with what the service can offer.

Consider this – not terribly long after Twitter launched people realized they needed a way to share long URLs in a compressed format. Along comes bit.ly with its URL shortening service. How bout TwitPic for sharing pictures. The examples continue from there. Point is, though, that none of these things take any sort of interesting advantage of the Twitter platform or concept. They’re just methods by which people share the shortened versions of information encourage by Twitter. As Wilson says it, these are things Twitter should have had built in to the service at launch.

Maybe you didn’t hear him correctly. These are things Twitter is going to do. Just like Facebook did with all of the crazy apps that just filled the gaps, Twitter will be rounding out its own feature set to compete with and provide the services of third-party developers. In some cases, as was the case with FriendFeed, that could mean acquisitions. Wilson didn’t say it overtly, but his message is loud and clear.

It’s time for developers to do something great, like the social gaming apps for Facebook. Analysts estimate social gaming will hit $1.6 billion in revenue next year, and Wilson thinks that number is too low. That’s a pretty nice pie to slice up.

Source: Business Insider

Mobile, Websites

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General Business Tips for Discount Printing

April 7, 2010 / Jeff Morgan

You’ve established a small business and want to find ways to reduce your company’s overhead and increase your overall profits. When it comes to expanding your business, making sure that your bottom line remains as strong as possible is important, both in getting the financial leverage that you need to move your business forward, and in making your business more appealing to potential investors. One method for reducing cost is to track down discount printing for any print services that your company requires. Here are a few quick tips on obtaining discount printing.

Do bulk orders. This tip will save both time and money since bulk orders usually result in a steep discount from the company doing the printing. Discuss the options with the company you choose, but always remember that discount printing costs are only effective if you use all of the products that are printed. There’s no point in printing 500 of something for a discount if you only think that you’ll be using a fraction of your order.

Outsource tactically. You’re going to incur print costs related to using graphic designers, layout editors, and other “art division” individuals. While you can do these in-house, the cost to have in-house employees do these tasks goes beyond just the cost of the workers’ wages. If they don’t have a strong graphic design background, the decreased effectiveness of the print item in question will inevitably impact your bottom line. You can outsource to freelancers for a reasonable price and end up with a great final product.

Use more online services. One of the best ways to get discount printing is to plan ahead and use online printing services that will allow you to save even more money. It can take a week or two for the printing and shipping, but you’ll find that online discount printing saves you a huge percent on print services.

Websites

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