operation

Mozilla building mobile OS to battle Chrome

Mozilla revealed preliminary plans today to take the Gecko engine that drives its Firefox browser and turn it into an open-source operating system that will eventually work on phones and tablets.

Called Boot to Gecko, it is known that the source code will be released to the public "in real-time," wrote Andreas Gal, a Mozilla researcher. Gecko is the rendering engine that powers Firefox and the e-mail client Thunderbird. By contrast, while Google's Android mobile operating system is open source, the main development work on it does not become available until after Google has green-lit its publication--sometimes … Read more

Anonymous lashes out at Norway massacre suspect

The man accused of the attacks in Norway last Friday that left dozens of people dead is the latest target of the "hacktivist" group Anonymous.

In an attempt to discredit the manifesto of accused murderer Anders Behring Breivik, Anonymous has unveiled its own campaign known as Operation UnManifest. The hactivist group's latest action is aimed at hacking into and modifying Breivik's "European Declaration of Independence" with the goal of republishing fake editions of the so-called manifesto everywhere online, thus turning Anders into a "joke."

As part of Operation UnManifest, Anonymous also is … Read more

Five things to do before installing Lion

Apple's OS X Lion released today, and for the first time, the only way to grab a copy is through the Mac App Store. While this convenience might encourage you to upgrade immediately (for the price of $29), we've got a short checklist of things you need to do before installing Lion.

1. Check system requirements.Is your system even compatible with Lion? Go to the Apple menu > About the Mac to find out. You'll need:

Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, or Core i5, Core i7, or Xeon Processor 2GB of RAM (aka "Memory&… Read more

Mac OS X Lion pounces

As promised, Apple let Mac OS X Lion out of its cage this morning.

Version 10.7 of the operating system has more than 250 new features, Apple said, but an installation disc isn't one of them: it's available today for $29.99 as a 3.49GB download only.

Apple enjoys pushing the computing industry into the future by dropping technology it deems to be from the past--for example floppy drives missing from the first iMac--and those who want a real-world copy of the OS will have to wait until Apple releases it on a USB thumb drive … Read more

Mac OS X Lion not launching today after all, apparently

Another day is upon us, and so far, there isn't any sign of Mac OS X Lion. But one rumor suggests users won't need to wait much longer.

Chinese Mac site MIC Gadget is reporting that Mac OS X Lion will launch tomorrow. The publication said that Apple stores in China are planning "overnights" tonight. Overnights are typically used for Apple to train employees on new products and refresh the store's display with updated products.

Last week, 9to5Mac had cited "overseas sources" saying that the overnights would be happening last night, and therefore … Read more

Ford adds OnStar-like Operator Assist

The battle between telematics services is starting to heat up with Ford treading into GM's territory by adding live operator assistance to Sync.

Ford's cloud-based Sync Services is an automated system that lets drivers use voice commands to look up businesses, directions, traffic updates, and other information, such as sports scores, stock quotes, and horoscopes. Sync Services can send turn-by-turn directions to vehicles.

However, even with 14 million business listings, Sync Services isn't perfect. Looking up nearby businesses or entering directions is a hit-or-miss experience, and around the third or fourth time you scream "Starbucks" … Read more

Android users: Don't fret over Google's fee battles

Handset makers using the Google Android mobile operating system may be slapped with additional licensing fees if Oracle and Microsoft have their way. But what might that mean for the average cell phone consumer? Would the price of Android devices go up?

It's not likely, say experts. There are several reasons to think that legal victories from Oracle or Microsoft would do little to move the needle in terms of pricing for consumers. What's more, whatever additional costs might be added to the phone would likely be offset by savings elsewhere, still guaranteeing that handset makers generate decent … Read more

Report: Alibaba planning Android, iOS competitor

There might soon be another company competing in the mobile operating system market, The Wall Street Journal is reporting.

China-based online-commerce company Alibaba is planning to launch a mobile operating system in the third quarter, the Journal says, citing someone "close to the situation." The operating system will reportedly have cloud-based elements, including allowing users to access applications over the Web, rather than download them to their devices.

The fact that Alibaba is considering launching a mobile operating system is somewhat surprising. Though the company has developed some software in the past, it's best-known as an e-commerce … Read more

All cloud roads lead to applications

Last week's Structure conference in San Francisco was fascinating to me on several levels. The conference centered much more on the business and market dynamics of cloud than pure technology and services, so there was significantly more coherence to the talks as a whole than in previous years.

Vendors had products and services, and customers had private and public cloud deployments; as opposed to previous years where the "vaporware" almost formed storm clouds.

Another key observation from the show was the change in emphasis this year from virtual machines (2009) and "workloads" (2010) to an … Read more