HP TouchPad Ice Cream Sandwich CM9 port gets video tease

HP TouchPad owner but webOS 3.0.5 not doing it for you? A delicious, dripping Ice Cream Sandwich may be on its way to you sooner rather than later, with news – and a video demo after the cut – that the CyanogenMod team has managed to get custom Android 4.0-based ROM CM9 running on the short-lived slate.

“We are well on our way in terms of progress” the team says, and “hope to give you something to play with soon.” Right now there are only two main outstanding issues to overcome: the camera doesn’t work, and video playback isn’t supported. Work on the latter is apparently ongoing.

That still means there’s plenty to see today, including Angry Birds and some smooth animated fish rendering. Connectivity – WiFi and Bluetooth – are both supported and functional, but the CM team still isn’t giving a fixed estimate on when TouchPad owners might be able to actually download the new ROM.
(slashgear.com)

Apple TV 4.4.4 firmware gets untethered jailbreak, devs close to porting iOS apps

Ever wanted to run third-party software on your 2nd generation Apple TV? You can, but the current tethered jailbreak process means you have to rehack the device if it's rebooted or powered off. Thankfully, jailbreak tool Seas0npass has been updated (credits to @pod2g and @NitoTV) to perform an untethered jailbreak on Apple's recently released 4.4.4 firmware. If you have an Apple TV and want to install things like a weather widget, RSS feed and a Last.FM plugin, you can download the Seas0npass jailbreak and view the how-to instructions at the source links below.

On a related note, developers are working to bring a much more intriguing category of software to your Apple TV — iOS apps. As you'll see in the video below, fully-fledged iOS applications are running on the second generation set-top box thanks to the efforts of iOS devs @stroughtonsmith, @chpwn and @TheMudkip. Granted, this feat is in its preliminary stages and there's a handful of tweaks to be made, but the iOS hacking community has always done its best to keep users satisfied, so stay tuned.
(theverge.com)

Apple TV 4.4.4 firmware gets untethered jailbreak, devs close to porting iOS apps

Ever wanted to run third-party software on your 2nd generation Apple TV? You can, but the current tethered jailbreak process means you have to rehack the device if it's rebooted or powered off. Thankfully, jailbreak tool Seas0npass has been updated (credits to @pod2g and @NitoTV) to perform an untethered jailbreak on Apple's recently released 4.4.4 firmware. If you have an Apple TV and want to install things like a weather widget, RSS feed and a Last.FM plugin, you can download the Seas0npass jailbreak and view the how-to instructions at the source links below.

On a related note, developers are working to bring a much more intriguing category of software to your Apple TV — iOS apps. As you'll see in the video below, fully-fledged iOS applications are running on the second generation set-top box thanks to the efforts of iOS devs @stroughtonsmith, @chpwn and @TheMudkip. Granted, this feat is in its preliminary stages and there's a handful of tweaks to be made, but the iOS hacking community has always done its best to keep users satisfied, so stay tuned.
(theverge.com)

Inside Apple's 2011: iOS, Apps & iCloud

This year, Apple hit a new milestone of 250 million iOS devices while shipping its fifth reference release of its mobile platform that now offers a library of half of a million apps that have seen 18 billion downloads, now automated via iCloud.

iOS distribution

Like other mobile platforms (including Google's Android, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7, RIM's BlackBerry OS, Nokia's Symbian or HP's webOS), Apple doesn't earn any revenues from charging its users for system software updates.

Unlike its competitors, however, Apple actually delivers its regular, free iOS updates to the majority of the installed base frequently and on a timely basis. Within 2011, Apple shipped a dozen free updates for its mobile iOS platform before releasing iOS 5 in October and a followup 5.0.1 update. Those releases were made available to all iOS users the same day (apart from one release specific to the Verizon CDMA iPhone).

In comparison, Google released three updates to its summer 2010 Android 2.2 Froyo; five updates to last year's winter Android 2.3 Gingerbread; five releases exclusive to Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets, and three updates of the new Android 4.0 (which currently only works on its own Galaxy Nexus model, and won't be rolled out to other 2011 model year devices for months--and is very unlikely to ever become available for phones over a year old).

Android device manufacturers and their mobile carriers were hesitant to actually make Google's updates available to their users however, as few of the updates were substantial enough to warrant the complex texting and specialized work needed to make the generic Android code work on the scores of different Android models, leaving the Android platform fractionalized with (at the start of December) 47 percent of active Android Market smartphone users still on an early-2010 version of Android (equivalent to iOS 3).

Google is not just failing to make as many updates available, but its "open" Android ecosystem is actually preventing updates that are released from making their way to users. Further, vendors and carriers are adding their own software on top of Android that has been found to open up security flaws and allow malware to bypass the permissions controls Google invented to let users protect themselves from the inherently dangerous nature of the unmanaged library of apps it makes available in its Android Market.

Microsoft, RIM, Nokia and HP combined released fewer updates for their users than Apple, and of those, only Microsoft bothered to make its updates broadly available to the entire installed base. Of course, Microsoft also erased backward support for all Windows Mobile 6.x devices at the end of last year when it introduced its Windows Phone 7 successor, leaving it with a very limited number of users to address.

iOS' pace of progress in 2011

Apple's 2011 releases of iOS kicked off to support the new CDMA iPhone 4 for Verizon in February, followed by the iOS 4.3 release in March that was introduced alongside iPad 2. Rather than just adding support for the new model, however, that update introduced significant new features ranging from AirPlay video support for third party apps, a much faster Nitro JavaScript engine for Safari, enhanced video playback "scrubber" controls, support for streaming content from a local PC via iTunes Home Sharing, "Personal Hotspot" WiFi tethering on the iPhone, and new FaceTime support for the iPod touch and iPad 2.

In addition to releasing system software, Apple also introduced new iOS apps, including the free PhotoBooth for iPad 2 and the iLife apps GarageBand and iMovie, initially released with iPad 2 and later made available for iPhone and iPod touch users in the fall. Apple similarly made its iWork suite of Pages, Keynote and Numbers iOS apps, initially released alongside the original iPad in 2010, available for iPhone and iPod touch users in May.

Apple also introduced some controversy-arousing new policies for its App Store this year, including rules that prevent apps from linking to external purchase options (such as for in app content or subscriptions) without providing an alternative way for users to also buy the same thing through the App Store.

Apple also rankled some publishers with new subscription policies that allowed the user to decide whether wanted to share his or her personal information with the publisher when subscribing through the App Store. Despite initial fears that subscribers would mostly opt out, it was later reported that "fear that Apple’s policies would deny them the consumer data they need to do business was unfounded."

A third tempest in a teapot for iOS in 2011 was the Locationgate crisis, kicked off by two researchers who discovered a database of location information on the iPhone that appeared to map a path of where users had taken their device. The matter ended up being the subject of a federal investigation. Steve Jobs addressed the issue personally, explaining the issues involved to users in a public statement that mirrored the "Antenangate" brouhaha of 2010.

Jobs outlined how iOS had pioneered the safeguarding of location data from third party apps, requiring user permissions and offering users control over how their location data is used in a way unmatched by other vendors. He also promised updates in iOS and iTunes to better handle how location data was cached.
(appleinsider.com)

Windows Phone Marketplace Reaches 50,000 Apps

According to All About Windows Phone (AAWP), the Windows Phone Marketplace now has more than 50,000 apps.

Though 50,000 is less than one-tenth of what Apple’s iOS App Store has and also a fraction of the more than 400,000 apps in Android Market, Microsoft’s ascent to 50,000 apps is a solid milestone given the time it took to get there. AAWP reports that Windows Phone took 14 months to reach 50,000 apps. Android took 19 months to reach 50,000 apps and iOS took 12 months, AAWP said.

Moreover, AAWP reports that content is being added to Windows Phone marketplace at the rate of 265 items per day. At the time of the AAWP report there were 50,126 items published in the marketplace from 13,002 different publishers. The report added:

“The 50,000 mark, which has been reached sooner than we estimated, is a key milestone, but more important is the accelerating growth of the Marketplace. It took just over a year to get to 40,000 apps, but just 40 days to add the next 10,000 apps. That bodes well for Windows Phone in 2012.”

There has been an uptick in submissions to Windows Phone Marketplace over the last several weeks. The report attributes this to the expansion of the geographic area available to the marketplace as well as to the release of Nokia’s first Windows Phone devices.

AAWP, which gets its numbers from its own tracking system, said 58 percent of items in the Windows Phone Marketplace are free, 14 percent are paid with a free trial and 29 percent are paid. Additionally, as with other app stores the majority of apps in the Windows Phone Marketplace are entertainment apps, followed by tools and productivity apps, games and books and reference apps.
(eweek.com)

Procrastinator's Gift Guide to iOS Apps

Struggling to track down one last stocking-stuffer for anyone on your holiday shopping list? If they happen to own an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, the App Store offers more than a half-a-million last-minute gift options. And gifting features in iTunes make giving the gift of apps as easy as a few clicks.

In case you're unfamiliar with iOS gift-giving, here's a quick rundown of how the process works. We'll look at gifting specific apps first, followed by giving an iTunes gift certificate--which your lucky recipient can use to buy music, movies, TV shows, apps, and more. (See "How to give gifts from the iTunes Store" for additional general giving information.)

Giving Specific Apps


Each paid app in the App Store offers a gift-giving option. Just click on the triangle next to the download bar that lists the app's price. You'll see a pop-up menu with the following options: Gift This App, Tell A Friend, Copy Link, Share On Facebook, and Share On Twitter. It's that first option you'll want to click.

Before you do, though, make sure to check the app's requirements to see if it will run on the device of your recipient. You don't want to inadvertently gift someone an iPad-only app if they only own an iPhone, say. Similarly, some apps won't run on older iOS devices. Most App Store listings are pretty clear when it comes to the devices the app supports.

Once you've selected the Gift This App option, you'll be taken to the Give A Gift screen, in which you'll be asked whether you want to send the gift via e-mail or print the gift certificate yourself. This is not an insignificant question: If you select e-mail, the redemption coupon is immediately sent--there's no way to time the e-mail to arrive on a specific day. If you're of the "Do Not Open Until Christmas" school of gift-giving, you may want to go with the printed option. (You could, I suppose, wait until Christmas to gift any apps, but that sort of behavior is frowned upon under the Christmas tree in my household.)

Let's say you're giving an e-mail gift. The Sender's Name field is already filled in for you, with your first name listed. You then enter the recipient's name followed by an e-mail address; another field asks you to verify the e-mail address by entering it again.

Note that if you're giving gifts via e-mail, you can send an app to multiple recipients in one go. Just enter their e-mail addresses all at once, separating each one with a comma--but keep in mind that you'll be charged for each person you're sending the gift app to. (This multi-recipient option isn't available if you print up the gift certificate yourself.)

Finally, iTunes gives you a space to leave a personal message to your recipient. Try to capture your sentiments in less than 500 characters because that's the maximum number you're allowed.

Tap continue and--if you haven't purchased anything recently--you'll be asked to supply your iTunes password. (In the unlikely event you don't have an iTunes account, you'll have the option of setting up one in that dialog box.) After signing in, you'll see one last screen for reviewing your purchase; click Buy, and your gift will wing its way electronically to your loved one's inbox.

Should you take the print-it-yourself route, the process is similar, though with fewer fields. Those superfluous e-mail address fields disappear, leaving you just to enter your name, your recipient's name, and the message. After reviewing the purchase, you then get a screen for printing up the gift certificate. Try and use a color printer if at all possible--the certificate comes with a stylish green border and a lovely recreation of the app's icon.

Now when I was testing this feature, I started to type notes in what I thought was my open text editor; turns out I was still in iTunes, and my ham-fisted typing made the printing page disappear before I could print it out. Not to worry--all you have to do is log in to manage your iTunes account by clicking on your account name in iTunes's upper-right corner. You'll be asked to enter your password again. From there, scroll down to Purchase History and click on See All. Search for the specific purchase, click on that, and you'll see the gift certificate with a print option. Try not to make a hash of it this time.

While I prefer to do my app gift-giving on my MacBook Pro with its physical keyboard for easy data entry, more mobile-inclined shoppers can give apps as gifts through the App Store app on their iOS device. Go to a specific app page and scroll downward--the Gift This App button appears just below the sample screenshots and user ratings, just to the right of the Tell A Friend button. You'll need to sign in once you tap Gift This App, but from there, the process is identical to the one described above.

Giving iTunes Gift Certificates


If you don't have a specific app in mind--or if you think your recipient would prefer to pick out their own gift--you can always opt for an iTunes Gift Certificate. You'll find physical cards at any Apple Store near you, not to mention in the gift-card section of most grocery stores and retailers. If that's not an option, though, you can still turn to electronic gift giving.

Go to the home screen in the iTunes Store, and find the Buy iTunes Gifts option--it lives in the Quick Links area on the right side of the screen.

Click Buy iTunes Gifts, and the next screen will give you the option of ordering a gift certificate, with e-mail or print options. Select the e-mail option, and you supply the recipient's name, e-mail address (entered twice for verification purposes), and a personal message. You can also set an amount, ranging from $10 to $50 in $10 increments. Once you confirm the purchase, the gift certificate is sent on its merry way to your recipient to redeem (for use in the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore) at their leisure.

If you prefer to control when and where your recipient gets their gift, you'll want to take the printable certificate option. The process works as it does for e-mailed gift certificates, but without the e-mail address fields. Confirming the purchase takes you to a print screen where you can output a paper gift certificate festooned with a silhouetted dancer from the iPod ads of old.

Helping out Macworld readers is gift enough for Macworld.com editor Philip Michaels.
(pcworld.com)

Windows 8 to feature image sign-on system

Using Windows 8 devices could involve signing on by tapping, circling or touching images.

Microsoft has revealed details of a login system for the next version of Windows based around pictures a user stores on a touchscreen device.

Only when parts of an image are tapped or touched in the right order will a user be able to access a device.

Experts said it might stop people using weak passwords but could lead to other loopholes that are harder to solve.
Press here

Microsoft aired the idea of using images to sign on to a device via a blog written by engineers working on Windows 8 - the next version of the Windows operating system expected to be released in late 2012.

Windows 8 is designed for touchscreen devices such as tablets and the novel sign-on systems makes use of the sensitive displays they are likely to sport.

The familiar process of getting to use a desktop PC or laptop by typing in a password made of up lower and upper case letters as well as numbers was felt to be too "cumbersome" for tablets, wrote Microsoft engineer Zach Pace on the blog.

The replacement system proposed by Microsoft employs a picture chosen by a user from their collection of images on a device.

On this image, users are encouraged to tap on, underline or circle the parts that are important to them. The sequence of gestures, including start and end positions and orientation act as a key to unlock the device.
'Interesting and cute'

User-testing suggests that the image-based system can grant access to a portable gadget far faster than was possible through text-based passwords, wrote Mr Pace.

He stressed that the system would work alongside text-based passwords rather than replace them. If a user failed to properly reproduce the correct gestures fives times in a row they would be prompted for the password they set up when they first used the device.

Graham Cluley, senior security researcher at Sophos, said the research was "interesting and cute" but may introduce more security problems than it solves.

It could, he said, make people vulnerable to "shoulder surfing" - a practice better known from cash machines where crooks try to spot a victim's Pin number as they tap it into a number pad.

"With normal password entry, what you're doing is asterisked on the screen," said Mr Cluley. "With this gesture input, folks may find it easier to see the movements you are making."

There might be more value in operating systems encouraging people to use stronger passwords by refusing to let them use dictionary words or ones that are easy to crack, he added.
(bbc.co.uk)

When it comes to Facebook apps, Android wins

The Facebook for Android app has just leapfrogged ahead of Facebook for iPhone in the number of daily active users.

The latest report from Appdata.com shows that the Android app is the more popular mobile Facebook option, making it the first time that has been the case.

To be specific, as of December 2011, Facebook for iPhone has 57.6 million daily active users while Facebook for Android has 58.8 million.

This metric is just the latest in a growing set of statistics that show Android is a more widely used platform than the iPhone.

When it comes to monthly active users, Facebook for iPhone is still the leader, but Android will assumedly catch up on that statistic over time as well.

Comparing numbers like this between the iPhone and Android has always come with a footnote, since Android is available throughout all carriers and on a wide range of devices, while the iPhone is carrier-restricted and only counts a handful of different models.

So it has become pretty black-and-white that Android is the more popular platform, but any one of the iPhones is a much more popular phone.
(tgdaily.com)

BT Files Patent Suit Against Google

British Telecommunications has filed a civil suit in a Delaware court alleging that some Google products and services including Android, and its search, music, map, and location-based advertising infringe on one or more of six of its patents.

The British company entered a prayer on Thursday before the United States District Court for the District of Delaware for an injunction against Google, as well as unspecified damages, which could be tripled if proven that Google's alleged infringement of the patents was willful and deliberate. BT has also asked for a trial by jury.

The BT patents said to have been infringed include service provision system for communication networks, navigation information system, storage and retrieval of location based information in a distributed network of data storage devices, telecommunications apparatus and method, and communications node for providing network based information services.

Google Music and Android were cited by BT as examples of Google's violation of U.S. Patent No. 6,151,309 for service provision system for communication networks, also referred to in the suit as the Busuioc patent. This patent is "directed to systems and methods for accessing content in a mobile environment where network constraints vary across networks".

Intellectual property analyst Florian Mueller wrote in his blog that with so many major patent holders asserting their rights, obligations to pay royalties may force Google to change its Android licensing model and pass royalties on to device makers. Android is at the center of a number of patent disputes involving large companies including Oracle and Apple.

Google was not immediately available for comment on the suit.
(pcworld.com)

App makers rushing to beat Apple's holiday deadline

If you're an iOS app developer and you're hoping to get your new project in Apple's App Store in time for Christmas, you might want to stock up on Red Bull.

According to The New York Times, Apple's review team is quickly approaching its annual holiday shutdown. And that means that after Thursday, no one will be on hand to vet new iPhone or iPad apps until well after the holiday.

Christmas, writes Jenna Wortham in The Times,

is the biggest day of the year for app sales, which can mean big money for developers.


That is, if they manage to get their apps through Apple's review process and into the App Store before everyone at Apple goes on vacation.

Each year around Christmas, Apple stops accepting app submissions and updating its store for a while. This year the shutdown starts on Thursday and runs for eight days.

Anyone wanting to get a new app approved by Apple before Christmas has to finish by Thursday, when its reviewers go on an eight-day holiday. Christmas is the biggest day for app sales of the year, according to The New York Times

Unlike Android developers who can make apps available to the public any time--though those that appear in the official Android Marketplace have to be approved--anyone working on software for iOS devices must get Apple's approval. And that's what makes the Thursday deadline so crucial for those wanting to reap the potential rewards of a Christmas hit.

So if you have an unfinished app you just know is going to be the next Angry Birds, you'd better get cracking if you want to take advantage of the almost certain bonanza that could come by getting in the App Store before Santa arrives.
(cnet.com)

Microsoft Office 365 Vs. Google Apps: Compliance Clash

Microsoft on Wednesday declared that Office 365 is the "first and only major cloud productivity service to comply with leading EU and U.S. standards for data protection and security."

There are, of course, not many "major cloud productivity services." In fact, you'd be hard pressed to come up with "major" contenders beyond Microsoft and Google. There are certainly major companies like IBM and Cisco that offer cloud productivity options, but they aren't really challenging Microsoft Office head-on like Google Apps. Thus Microsoft's dismissal of browser-based apps can be read as a critique of Google, the company that would have you believe Microsoft's hybrid approach, with local and cloud apps, is archaic and inefficient.

"Developing cloud-based productivity tools that meet the needs of European businesses means more than simply building apps in a browser," said Jean-Philippe Courtois, president of Microsoft International, in a statement. "Microsoft has a more complete approach to European data protection and security laws than any other company, and we're proud of the work we've done to ensure the widest range of organizations can move to the cloud with confidence--or choose an equally functional on-premises option."

Microsoft's claim might be best boiled down to something like, "Office 365 is more compliant than Google Apps."
There's some truth in that, but also some posturing.

Microsoft says that it will abide by not only European Union model clauses, rules that certify compliance with the European Commission's Data Protection Directive and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the U.S., but also by local data regulations in the 27 EU member states.

Google hasn't fully embraced the model clauses, let alone all the unique member state rules. One reason might be that the model clauses require data processors to make their data processing facilities available to client or government auditors. Given how many clients Google has, the company might be wary of offering data center tours on demand for reasons of security and practicality.

Microsoft says that it's the first major cloud-based productivity service to be certified under ISO/IEC 27001, a data security management benchmark. Google Apps isn't ISO/IEC 27001 certified at the moment but it is certified under the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)--despite Microsoft's claim to the contrary--and certain FISMA requirements can be mapped to ISO/IEC 27001 requirements. So by complying with FISMA, Google Apps is more or less in line with the expectations set forth in ISO/IEC 27001.

Microsoft also cites the online services it has developed for Office 365 that provide safeguards necessary for HIPAA compliance. Yet HIPAA regulates the use of information services in organizations rather than in the service providers themselves. So it's not as if Office 365 is HIPAA compliant and Google Apps isn't. Both companies provide resources to help their customers use their services under HIPAA.

Microsoft says it believes it’s the only cloud productivity service that includes a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA) to customers covered by HIPAA. The BAA establishes contractual requirements between the customer and Microsoft related to the customer’s HIPAA obligations.

Google points out that compliance isn't everything, an assertion affirmed by the number of companies that have complied with security rules and still suffered data breaches.

"Certifications help communicate certain assurances to customers, but they only tell part of the story," a Google spokesperson said in an email. "Most were not developed with cloud infrastructure in mind. Google Apps has secured several important certifications while developing our own security technology specific to cloud computing."

Indeed, compliance might not be everything, but it's significant enough that it can be used to attempt to thwart the competition.
(informationweek.com)

5 Apps Banned from Apple's App Store in 2011

From tethering, a DUI checkpoint app, and a radiation detection app - here are five apps shown the door by Apple.

Apple gave the app, Drivers License, the boot this week after concerned politicians claimed it encouraged identity theft. Drivers License joins a short list of apps that Apple gave boot in 2011 because Apple either didn't get the joke, offered too much functionality, or that Apple felt was downright dangerous.

Here is a brief 2011 rewind of apps that got the boot in 2011 starting with Drivers License.

Fake Driver's Licenses

On Monday, Apple removed a two-year old app, called Drivers License that allowed you to create a fake drivers license using a photo, biographical info and a state template of your choice. The app was pulled after the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License tapped Pennsylvania Senator Bob Casey to send a letter to Apple asking that the free app come down. The Senator was concerned about the ability to send the fake license to an email account, which could then be printed and laminated.

Avoiding DUI Checkpoints

Senators also stepped in in the case of apps like "Buzzed" which provide information about nearby DUI checkpoints to help tipsy drivers avoid law enforcement. A few months after first being pressed by lawmakers to remove the apps, Apple quietly took them down and updated its App Store guidelines to ban "Apps which contain DUI checkpoints that are not published by law enforcement agencies, or encourage and enable drunk driving."

Phone Story

Turns out that creating a game with the explicit purpose of criticizing Apple will get you banned from the App Store. Who would have guessed? The app called Phone Story was designed as a game that allowed players to force African miners to extract the minerals used in the manufacture of iPhones at gun point, among other things. The App only lasted a few hours in the App Store before disappearing.

iTether

Just like its Android equivalent, PDAnet, iTether allows iOS users to turn an iPhone into a portable modem and tether their 3G connection to a laptop or other device to be able to get online when there's no WiFi around. Obviously, this app and its one-time only fee are significantly more affordable than the monthly fee wireless carriers charge to turn your phone into a hotspot. Tethering also violates the carriers' terms of use. Not surprisingly, it wasn't long before iTether was pulled from the App Store.

Tawkon

For those who worry about smartphone radiation, Tawkon is an app devised to determine how much of it you're soaking up while using your phone. It also provides tips on things like phone position that could help lower your dosage. According to Tawkon, Apple execs rejected the app, and an appeal directly to Steve Jobs elicited a terse response – "No interest," he reportedly replied. Talk about being bounced.
(pcworld.com)

Microsoft releases OneNote as first Office app for iPad

Already out there as an iPhone app, the latest 1.3 update to OneNote turns it into a full-fledged iPad app able to take advantage of the tablet's full-screen real estate.

Though it's part of certain versions of Microsoft Office, OneNote is probably the least understood application in the midst of Word, Excel, Outlook, and Access.

As its name implies, it's basically a note taker and todo list, but one designed to capture free-form notes and ideas as text, images, tables, bullet points, and other types of content. You can also link to or embed video and audio clips and draw illustrations in your notebooks.

You can easily move each piece of content around the screen to organize it. OneNote can also tie in with Outlook, so you can e-mail information and link meeting notes and todo items between the two applications.

You can do all that and more in the full desktop version. The iPad version is much more limited.

Wtth the OneNote IOS app, you can type notes, create bullet and checkbox lists, and insert photos from the photo library or by snapping a new picture.

You can create multiple notebooks and easily organize them. You can also e-mail a notebook. But you can't insert objects other than photos or move and manipulate your content the way you can on the desktop application.

Still, OneNote for the iPad can come in handy for viewing notebooks created on your desktop. OneNote for Windows lets you save each notebook on the Web through your SkyDrive account. Your iPad or iPhone will then automatically retrieve new and updated content by syncing with SkyDrive in the background.

From there, you can open any synced notebooks to view them on your tablet or phone. Though your notebooks don't retain their original layout on the moble device, you can easily read them and make changes to the text, though not to the images.

As described in a Microsoft blog, the new version of OneNote supports both the iPad and iPad 2, is available in different languages, and easily syncs over a Wi-Fi connection.

Microsoft is reportedly prepping a mobile version of its Office suite
for the iPad, according to sources, though the company hasn't confirmed those reports.

As Microsoft's first effort, OneNote for the iPad is a promising idea, but the current version feels incomplete, especially compared with its desktop counterpart. I'd like to see Microsoft try to enhance the app in the next round to give it at least a few of the features that distinguish the desktop version.

The basic free app lets you create and store up to 500 individual notes. Those of you who need more will have to shell out $4.99 for unlimited use on your iPhone and $14.99 for unlimited use on the iPad.
(cnet.com)

Apple App Store has over 500,000 apps

Apple’s App Store now has over 500,000 titles for download, the company has confirmed, announcing the figure as part of its 100m Mac App Store downloads milestone news this morning. The fresh app count brings Apple on a par with Google, which claimed over 500,000 of its own apps in the Android Market back in October 2011.

The rivalry between Apple and Google over apps has been a long running one, with each company competing to offer iOS and Android users respectively the most choice in their mobile download stores. However, each company takes a dramatically different approach to its store: Apple insists on a strong-arm approvals process, making developers submit their titles for review before they can be included in the App Store itself.

In contrast, Google allows developers to submit their apps at will, and relies on user feedback reports, reviews and other safeguards to weed out “bad” software. The two companies remain well ahead of Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, which has around 45,000 titles on offer.

App Store shoppers have downloaded 18 billion apps in total, with a download rate in excess of 1 billion apps per month, Apple says. The half-million app figure was first mentioned by Scott Forstall at the iPhone 4S event back in October, though subsequent independent research that month suggested it was more like 456,000
(slashgear.com)

Google's Chrome Will Run Console Games!

Don't look for id Software's Rage or Bethesda's Skyrim in your browser anytime soon, but it sounds like Google has big time gaming plans for its Chrome platform—plans that already involve running stuff like Xbox Live Arcade game Bastion in Chrome directly.

Google demoed Bastion running in its Chrome browser at a press event last night after working on the technology to make such a feat possible for three years, says CNet, adding that "[Bastion's] gameplay was smooth and...the graphics were highly detailed."

The technology's called "Native Client," or NaCl—an allusion to the periodic symbol for salt, implying per the dictionary definition that it "makes things more interesting"—and it's powerful enough to allow a sophisticated action roleplaying game like Bastion to run in Google's browser today. I mean literally today. You can grab Bastion from the Chrome store now for $15 (though, caveat, gamepad's aren't yet supported—boo hiss!).

According to Bastion's developer Supergiant Games:

This latest version of Bastion is built to run right in your web browser, using Google’s new Native Client technology. This really is the full Bastion experience, featuring our highly acclaimed 1080p artwork, musical score, reactive narration, and play experience, all built to run fast and smooth just like our Xbox 360 and PC versions. And, much like those versions, you can play through the prologue for free. The full game can be unlocked for $14.99.

You'll need at least a 1.7 GHz dual-core rig, 2GB of memory, 1GB of hard disk space, and a video card that with 512MB memory that supports shader model 2—pretty minimal specs, in other words.

And all that's just for starters. Google apparently used last night's event to announce that Chrome has over 200 million users, and to highlight other upcoming Chrome-based games. Look for IO Interactive's Mini Ninjas soon, for instance, courtesy Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix.(pcworld.com)

Android Ice Cream Sandwich Upgrade Process Outlined by Motorola, Sony Ericsson

With the launch of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the glorious Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Android owners can't help but wonder when their devices will be graced with the new operating
system. Both Sony Ericsson (soon to be just Sony) and Motorola have shed some light on the Android ICS update process in separate blog posts.

Motorola, which is on the verge of being
acquired by Google, explained in a blog post that a lot of work goes into preparing a new Android version for
devices even after Google open sources
the operating system.

Sony Ericsson confirms in a blog post everything that Motorola says about
software updates but delves further into
the details which might prove
somewhat technical to most users.

Common to both the smartphone
makers is that they customise the
operating system to the hardware
requirements of the device and the
specifications provided by the carriers.

The companies then test the implementation and iron out the bugs. The modified OS is then sent to wireless
carriers for certification, which check
whether the device has been optimised
for their network.

After the certification
process is completed, which takes a lot
of time, the companies conduct a pre- release trial after which the OS is
release as update to the users.(itproportal.com)

Android Market Tops 10B Downloads: Google

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) said its Android Market application store exceeded 10 billion application downloads this past weekend, clearly helped by the fact the over 200 million Android device have been activated all over the world, with 550,000 activated each day.

For perspective, the Android Market tallied 6.5 billion downloads through July and 4.5 billion through last May, when Google revealed the number at Google I/O. The Android app growth has accelerated considerably when one considers that it took Google from October 2008 to July 2010 to hit the 1 billion app download mark.

The search engine, which is counting on smartphones, tablets and TVs based on its Android operating system to help it funnel more ads to consumers, celebrated the milestone by offering new applications for 10 cents a piece for the next 10 days.

Titles costing a dime a piece today include Asphalt 6 HD, Color & Draw for Kids, Endomondo Sports Tracker Pro, Fieldrunners HD, Great Little War Game, Minecraft, Paper Camera, Sketchbook Mobile, Soundhound Infinity and SwiftKey X.

"None of these apps would have existed if it weren't for the developers who created them," Eric Chu, director of the Android Developer Ecosystem, wrote in a corporate blog post
. "Every day, these developers continue to push the limits on what’s possible and delight us in the process. For that, we thank them."

Hitting 10 billion apps is a nice mark for the Android Market, which had been much maligned since its launch for offering too many spammy apps and a weaker user experience than that offered by Apple's App Store.

Apple would likely greet Google's milestone with a shoulder shrug and point out that its 18 billion app downloads are cooler than Google's 10 billion app downloads. That's Apple's app download figure across the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch through Oct. 4
.

ABI Research has the stats to back Google's ascent. The researcher said the Android operating system vaulted over Apple's iOS platform in market share downloads by a count of 44 percent to 31 percent.

Yet ABI also said that while Android took the lead in mobile app downloads, Apple's app downloads per user bested Android by a ratio of 2 to 1. "Apple's superior monetization policies attracted good developers within its ranks, thus creating a better catalog of apps and customer experience," reasoned ABI analyst Dan Shey.(eweek.com)