Month: November 2011

Adobe Donates Flex to Apache

Adobe moves an other step away from the Flash platform and donates Flex to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). The ASF will still have to vote whether they will take on Flex and have not yet commented on the matter.

While Adobe states they are still committed to Flex, they also say that HTML5 will be the best technology for developing enterprise web applications on the long term.

Now honestly: would you really care investing your precious time in learning Flex now that Adobe has made this move, even if they say they are still behind the technology and its community? I actually feel sorry for the developers who did, and also for the people who invested their time and skills in Microsoft’s Silverlight which is going the same path as it looks right now.

Here are some links on the subject for your reading enjoyment:

Number of Android Malware Apps Is Growing Faster Every Month

The lesson to be learned here is in the last sentences of the article:

In a related blog post, Juniper said it discovered a “trove of malicious applications aimed at Android users hosted across different Russia-based third party app stores,” which serves as a reminder to only download Android apps from trusted locations, like Google’s Android Market, Amazon, etc.

Link : HotHardware – Android Malware Infestation a Fast Growing Problem, Report Says

Using Registry Cleaners Still Pays Off, Even in Windows 7

Source: Windows Secrets

Fred Langa of Windows Secrets did some interesting research on the effect of registry cleaners on Windows 7. Older versions of Windows were notorious for making a mess of the registry and not cleaning up correctly after uninstalling software. But what about Windows 7? Has this OS improved over its predecessors?

Langa’s conclusion: using a registry cleaner in Windows 7 still has a positive effect on your systems’s performance and bootup time. Of the tools that he put to the test, jv16 PowerTools turned out to be the most effective.

Want to know how he tested this, what other registry cleaning software he used and the statistics he gathered? Then hop over to Windows Secrets to find out.

Link : Windows Secrets – Putting Registry-/system-cleanup apps to the test

Microsoft May Halt Development Work on Silverlight Plugin after Next Release

Will Microsoft follow Adobe in calling it quits on the development of their rich content plugins for (mobile) web browsers?

I bet they are laughing their asses off at Apple’s headquarters right now reading these announcements.

Link : The Verge – Microsoft may halt development work on Silverlight plugin after next release

Oracle Rumored to Buy webOS from Hewlett-Packard

Today I read the post linked below that talks about a rumor that Oracle is planning to buy webOS from Hewlett-Packard. HP became the owner of webOS when it acquired Palm and released the Touchpad a few months ago that used webOS as its operating system. Sadly for HP, this tablet failed miserably and only became popular for a short while when the price was dropped to $99 in the United States, resulting in a fire sale.

The post is a bit cynical when stating the following:

Oracle? How does that work, you ask? Well, Oracle has close ties to Apple, since Oracle’s CEO, Larry Ellison, was one of Steve Jobs’ closest friends. This explains – in large part – Oracle’s interest in suing Google over Android’s use of Java technologies. Since Oracle probably has some spare change lying around, a purchase of webOS and associated IP may give them some additional patents to sue others with.

I sincerely hope that a great, though unpopular operating system like webOS will not end up as ammunition in patent lawsuits.

An other post on ZDnet publishes the same thoughts and has some other views as well. The link to this post can also be found below.

Thoughts: Yet An Other Reason to Switch to iPhone

For the past few months I have been pondering: will I stick with Android or switch to iPhone? One of the strongest arguments for me to go for a new generation Android phone as the replacement of my (rather crappy) HTC Desire is the dedicated Gmail app. In my opinion this app is the best email experience on a mobile device available today. As a big fan of Gmail, this app is something I simply cannot live without. It has all the important features that the desktop version has: conversation threading, labeling and starring email, email address autocomplete using my Google Contacts, et cetera.

Well, the argument I made above may actually go out of the window. Rumor has it that a dedicated Gmail for iPhone is on the way. This app could be the argument that tips the balance in favor of the iPhone and steer me away from the Android platform.

Link : The Next Web – Could a native Gmail iPhone app finally be on the way?