Ex-Nokia Employees Take On The Smartphone Market With Jolla
Some ex-Nokia employees have joined forces to create a new handset that runs on a new smartphone platform, that is based on software discarded by Nokia back in 2011.
The members of the team have started their own company and joined up with a major Finnish network. Together they have created the Jolla phone (pronounced Yol-la), and is powered by the open-source operating system Sailfish.
Currently there are only 450 Jolla phones available and the majority of them are ear-marked for customers who pre-ordered them. However co-founder of the company Marc Dillom has said that the plan is to ramp up manufacturing.
He went on to explain that the idea behind the Jolla phone is to offer a more “open” approach to using smartphones.
“There’s different opportunities for people to get apps form different places, different stores,” he said. “We’ve created a world-class platform. Users will be getting more choice.”
This flies in the face of Apple and Android devices, which have a relatively closed system but industry analysts think that the company faces a challenge in entering a market that is dominated by Apple and Google.
Sailfish
The open-source platform Sailfish was originally called MeeGo and was dropped by Nokia in favour of the Windows Phone system.
But Antti Saarnio, chairman and co-founder of Jolla said that Sailfish was not given the chance to succeed and so they are working expand and adapt the platform.
“We are ramping up our Jolla community right now. There’s already a Sailfish website so that developers can come and contribute, he said.”
Analyst Geoff Blaber, from CCS, thinks that Jolla has a good chance of succeeding, despite the strong competition from Android.
“If Jolla can maintain a competitive cost base, there is already an enthusiast base seeking this product. It could be successful, he said.”
However he also warned that Jolla needs to prove itself. “They’ve got to prove the software is competitive and it works.”
But Mr Dillon remains confident and is spurred on by early support for the phone. “We’re not trying to piggy-back, but we have seen a bump,” said Mr Dillon. “We’ve had a lot of support in Finland.”
Who knows what would have happened if Nokia hadn’t gone down the Microsoft route? It will be interesting to see how this one develops.
[Image via Jollatides]
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25120727
The post Ex-Nokia Employees Take On The Smartphone Market With Jolla appeared first on TechBeat.
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Draw Electronic Circuits With This Ballpoint Pen
Electroninks Incorporated, originally part of a research lab for the University of Illinois, has developed a rollerball pen that allows you to create fully functioning circuits through silver conductive ink.
Circuit Scribe means that you can draw electroinc circuits and then test a prototype concept, all without the use of wires, boards or soldering. You need only to start drawing and then you can try out your design with nothing more than a coin battery and an LED. And because the water-based ink dries instantly, you can start testing a freshly drawn circuit straight away.
The idea behind the Circuit Scribe is to get as many people as possible educated about electroincs, giving all ages the potential to learn about circuitry. It can even help tech enthusiasts create their own quick prototypes.
There is a selection of components which are on offer, from simple buzzers and LED lights to the more complex photo sensors and potentiometers. It can also be used as a tool for hackers because it is able to interface with the Arduino MaKey MaKey, allowing for more intricate designs. The potential is there to create a simple switch but for the more adventurous, you can make your own fully functioning touchpad.
Circuit Scribe is already past its initial fundraising goal of $85,000 through a Kickstarter campaign. The plan is to build a robust education platform and STEM outreach program.
[Image via Kickstarter]
SOURCE: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/electroninks/circuit-scribe-draw-circuits-instantly?ref=live
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Internet Download Manager 6.18 Build 9
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PowerArchiver 14.02 Beta 1
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HTC One Max: Does Size Matter?
The HTC One has been a very popular Android phone, mainly due to the fact that it has a stunning display, an industrious build and features some top specifications. So when HTC released the One Max handset it would be logical to think that bigger is better, or is it? Does size matter?
By comparing the One Max with the original HTC One handset, as well as other popular devices, we can find out whether HTC have been able to improve on its successful smartphone.
Display
There is no arguing that with a 5.9-inch screen, a weight of 7.65 ounzes and measuring 6.47 x 3.24 x 0.40-inches, the HTC One Max is one of the biggest phones out there. Even when compared next to the Nokia Lumia 1520, it’s large. But does it make a difference?
Well the original HTC One and the One Max have the same LCD 3 scrren and 1080p resolution. Where as the One is smaller and therefore squeeze in 469 pixels per inch, the One Max stretches the resolution over a bigger screen and achieves 373 pixels per inch. This is by no means a negative though, as you still get rich and clear colours on the display, which are better than the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 ‘phablet’.
Where this large sized handset and larger screen starts to be a problem is when you come to operate it one-handed. That is where the Galaxy Note 3 scores an extra point. With a smaller display of 5.7-inches and overall slightly smaller measurements, it is better proportioned and therefore easier to physically operate.
What HTC has failed to do with the One Max, is to provide users with enough to do that makes full use of the huge display. The Galaxy Note 3 has great practical use, with its built-in stylus for drawing amd writing. The One Max just makes everything look bigger.
Hardware, Software and Bloatware
The One Max is identical to the HTC One when it comes to hardware. It comes with a quad-core 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 chip and 2GB of RAM. Although this is plenty of power, it doesn’t match the Galaxy Note 3, which has the more up-to-date Snapdragon 800 and 3GB of RAM.
The software is pretty similar too, with the One Max running Android 4.3 or Jelly Bean, as well as HTC’s Sense 5.5, which adds extra features on top of Android,
The Sprint version of the One Max also comes with quite a lot of bloatware, mainly Sprint-branded apps as well as some pre-installed third-party apps like eBay, Lookout and NextRadio to mention a few.
Design
At a quick glance the One and One Max look identical but under closer inspection you can see that the One Max is lacking the premium body that made the original One so attractive. Despite having an aluminium front and back ,the One Max has chunky plastic edges which are no so appealing.
It does have a microSD card slot which will give you an extra 64GB of storage. It offers a slightly bigger battery than that of the Galaxy Note 3 but it is worth noting that the 3,300mAh battery is fixed and cannot be removed.
It comes with a fingerprint sensor but don’t get too excited. The sensor is located on the back of the handset, right below the camera sensor. If you don’t want blurry photos, avoid sticky fingers when using the fingerprint sensor.
The fingerprint sensor can be used to unlock the phone but not in one step. First you need to click a button on the side and then move your finger back and forth over the sensor. It can’t be used as a password replacement like on the iPhone 5S, and makes you wonder why HTC included it anyway.
Round-Up
So in conclusion, the HTC One Max is a good phone but that’s possibly because it is so similar to its predecessor the HTC One. The larger size doesn’t really add anything and instead results in a handset that is slighty too large to handle and a reduced quality camera due to the pixels being forced to stretch over the huge screen.
If size matters to you then maybe this is the phone for you, otherwise just stick to the HTC One.
[Images via thenextweb & imore]
SOURCE: http://gigaom.com/2013/11/25/htc-one-max-review/
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New Creative Commons license gives users more flexibility
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10 Black Friday HDTV and camera deals not to be missed
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TopStyle 5.0.0.100
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NASA Developing Anti-Bug Airplane Wings
NASA is looking at new ways of combatting the problem of bugs in its systems. I’m not talking about computer bugs but actual insects, which can cause an increase in fuel consumption and pollutants when they spatter onto planes and other vehicles.
Researchers at NASA, known as the ‘Bug Team’, have been testing various coatings in a bid to reduce the amount of insect guts left on commercial airplanes. It is hoped that if the amount of contamination can be reduced, then it could possibly result in lower flight costs.
Airplanes are subjected to the same onslaught from flying creatures much the same as a car windscreen. As these bug remains build up on the wings of an airplane, they disrupt the flow of air over the wings, creating a slight drag. This causes the plane to use slightly more fuel to reach the same speed that it would if the wings didn’t contain the corpses of bugs.
Using NASA Langley’s HU-25C Falcon aircraft, the team tested eight different coatings during takeoffs, landings and low altitude flights. Each flight had an engineered coating attached as well as an uncoated surface, which acted as a control.
“We fly controls and assume that if the other surfaces were not coated, they would get the same density of bug strikes,” Mia Siochi, a materials researcher at Langley, said in a statement.
What the researchers found was that the coated wings had fewer splats on them when compared with the non-coated surface. They also found that there was less sticky matter on the coated wings, minimizing the disruption of the air flow.
It is unlikely that we will see these coatings anytime soon on commercial flights though, as the best coatings will have to undergo tests that put them through the most gruelling of environmental conditions.
“We have to get through that hurdle of practical application of these materials,” Siochi said.
So no cheaper flight prices for the near future then!
[Image via FineArtAmerica]
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All the movies fit to gobble: Your streaming Thanksgiving marathon
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15 Black Friday doorbuster tech deals that are worth the money
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Shockwave Player 12.0.6.147
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Maxthon Cloud Browser 4.2.0.3000
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