Fennec’s third alpha now ready for Windows Mobile
September 4th, 2009 | 
Author: On Friday, Mozilla released Fennec Alpha 3 for Windows Mobile, the latest in Mozilla’s effort to put its Firefox browser on a mobile phone. As with Fennec 1.0 beta 3 for the Maemo platform found on some Nokia Internet Tablets, Fennec for Windows Mobile makes changes to the mobile browser‘s theme, and its scrolling and panning performance.
In particular, it’s using what’s called a tile cache rendering system to hold onto the part of the screen that has already been rendered. As you scroll and pan around, it should take less time to refresh the screen, since Fennec won’t be downloading the same content afresh. This is the same type of technology used in Google Maps.
In addition, Mozilla says it has increased Fennec’s startup time, though you’ll need to reboot the Windows Mobile phone for the difference to take effect. Swiping along the edge of the directional pad on the HTC Touch Pro now controls zooming. In the meantime, Fennec now supports more screen resolutions for any other Windows Mobile phone, so it could potentially look better on your device.
While Mozilla has no hard date set for completing Fennec 1.0 for Windows Mobile (which in all probability, could be called Firefox for Windows Mobile when it’s done) they have set a target time for releasing Fennec on the Maemo platform in Q4, which brings us to before the end of December. This fits the timeline of Mozilla’s open design competition for the company’s Firefox for Mobile campaign, which will cut off voting on October 7, 2009.
Fennec Alpha 3 for Windows Mobile is ready to try for your Windows Mobile phone and can be downloaded from this CAB file. Remember that as an unstable alpha release, you may encounter bugs and other issues. For more details about what’s new, you can find Mozilla’s release notes here.
http://download.cnet.com/8301-2007_4-10345800-12.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Fennec, Mozilla, Windows, Windows Mobile | 
Tags: Fennec, FireFox, Mozilla, Windows Mobile | 
Comments Closed
IBM is its own open-source lab for social software
Most vendors must guess what customers want to buy, and how they’ll use it. For IBM, however, with about 400,000 employees, it has the potential to be its own best laboratory, one that becomes even more potent when mixed with active participation in open-source communities.
That potential, as I discovered in an interview on Friday with Jeff Schick, IBM’s vice president of social software, isn’t a “gimme,” but is powerful if you can enable the right sort of corporate culture and processes.
For example, Schick mentioned that IBM has a technology adoption program for employees that spans the gamut of new products, add-ons and patches to existing products, and still-raw technologies direct from IBM’s labs. While the invitation list and process is different for each particular item, IBM generally encourages its product groups to “experiment” upon each other. The earlier in the development process, the better.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10345493-16.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Fox retweets Fringe tonight
For more details click the link below.
http://www.fox.com/futurefox/blogs/index.php/2009/08/30/tweet-fringe-tweet-glee/?src=carousel_on_home_page
CNET News Daily Podcast: Why the Gmail outage matters
CNET News reporter Tom Krazit joins today’s podcast to talk about what caused Tuesday’s Gmail outage and what it means as we move more of our businesses and personal lives into the cloud. Also in today’s podcast: Oracle’s acquisition of Sun could be delayed by an antitrust inquiry by the European Commission, Sony unveils a new smartphone and Netbook in Berlin, and more.
Listen now: Download today’s podcast
Source : http://news.cnet.com/8301-11424_3-10336483-90.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
IBM launches cloud virtual-desktop service
IBM launched on Monday its Smart Business Desktop service, a combination of thin client computing, virtualization, and the cloud, which is claimed to be the “industry’s first public desktop cloud service.”
“Today more than ever, enterprises need an affordable, reliable, and efficient way to deploy and manage desktop infrastructures,” said Jan Jackman, vice president, IBM Global Technology Services. “The public desktop cloud service is designed to help bring cost savings, flexibility, scalability, and security to clients like never before.”
The service will be available to businesses in Europe and North America in October, the company said.
According to IBM, companies will need minimal hardware to use the service. “All that’s needed is a machine–a thin client or PC–capable of running an Internet browser and Java. Users simply log on over a secure connection through the Internet,” the company said.
The new desktop service is part of a wider strategy around desktop virtualization as a potential alternative to buying new hardware, IBM said. “Through key technology and business partnerships with Citrix, Desktone, VMware, and Wyse, along with IBM tools for customer assessment and strategic planning, IBM is helping clients address PC replacement dilemmas.”
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10332030-92.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20