In a statement, Apple notes,

"In particular, we are relaxing all restrictions on the development tools used to create iOS apps, as long as the resulting apps do not download any code. This should give developers the flexibility they want, while preserving the security we need."

This is clearly a step in the right direction, for all we know, this might mean a certain someone [hint hint, Adobe] might be able to allow Flash-to-app development for iOS again.

Apple has also made available a copy of the new App Store guidelines for all to see.

via Neowin

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

Let’s talk Android. Android is indeed a wonderful, wonderful mobile operating system for smartphones. Let me emphasise that last phrase: for smartphones. Android isn’t fit whatsoever to be on a tablet and to compete with the iPad. The Market is great and all, but most of the apps are fit for phones. Unless the maker of the tablet decides to make some useful tools such as proper photo editing and a nice video player, Android tablets are doomed for failure.

Secondly, let’s go from Android to Windows 7. The HP Slate is going to fall flat on its face if HP decides to keep going on the 7 edition. Full-blown operating systems on a tablet are very, very bad, and Apple understood this with the iPad and even the iPhone. I can appreciate Microsoft trying to bring Windows 7 to more than one platform, but they should probably stick with Windows Phone 7 (we’ll touch on that later) and build on THAT mobile operating system.

Next, webOS: a fabulous mobile operating system that Palm whipped up for 21st century smartphones. I really love the multitasking features of webOS, and I think webOS tablets would be a great idea if Palm/HP were to modify it and include some productivity apps.

And Windows Phone 7? It’s a great mobile operating system, but in its current form, it’s not fit to be on a tablet. With no multitasking or cut/copy/paste, one shouldn’t even consider a WP7 tablet so early in development. If Microsoft were to create a tablet version of WP7 (Windows Tab 7 *tongue in cheek*), it would be a great tablet OS, especially considering the Metro UI and how it makes browsing a phone easy.

Overall, here’s the perfect tablet that I so dream of and hope someone makes someday. The tablet should run custom software (no Android or anything like that), should include things people do on the go (movies, music, photo editing, games, and so on), and should have a nice interface that is easily accessible without having to go through too much to access an app. The device should run open source software (make developers want to develop for it) and should have an app market that’s moderated strictly, but with no ridiculous restrictions. Team up with companies like Adobe to create simple but functional apps for the tablet, and be sure to work with developers to ensure that the tablet has a nice library of apps in every category.

Have your say in the forums!

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

Facebook is about to release a new feature that tells you where you’re logged in from, where that location is, and at what time you (or someone else) were logged in at.

This is part of Facebook’s new privacy features, and the Palo Alto company says that this feature will help increase your account security. The new feature is slowly rolling out, and when it’s here, you can access it under the Account Security tab.

Source: Neowin

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

As we’ve discussed before, Windows Phone 7 is a new approach to Smartphone computing, and not just simply another rip of iOS, which has done so well for the past 4 years. Unlike iOS, WP7 is different in many ways; first of all, the OS is based on “experiences” and “hubs” or what can also be known as gateways to different features on your Smartphone. Instead of having a single 4×4 grid of icons, you have dynamic “tiles” that present information in real time.

As Microsoft has stated before, the launch is expected to be on September 16th, which is about 2 weeks away as of the time of this writing, and we’re expected to see devices during the 2010 Holiday Season. There certainly a lot of excitement going on, and we can’t wait to give it a run by.

via Windows Phone Blog

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

So what did they announce?

New iPod Shuffle – A lot of people wanted the buttons on the Shuffle, so what did Apple do? They added the buttons back, and made it smaller.

New iPod Nano – Now without a wheel, the new iPod Nano is compleately multi-touch based, with a simplistic UI, similar to that of iOS devices.

New iPod Touch – The new iPod Touch comes with an A4 Processor, front and rear facing cameras, a thinner framework, and iOS 4.1. You can edit HD movies with iMovie as well!

New Apple TV – Even though rumors suggested that the Apple TV would be renamed, Apple did what they always do and keep the existing brand. The new Apple TV is smaller, and storageless with Streaming Video, Music and Photo capabilities including the ability to stream TV Shows and Movies from the iTunes Store.

iTunes 10 – With a enhanced feature set including a hybrid list view, social integration with their very own Ping, and support for iOS 4.1, it brings a whole new way of looking at Movies, TV Shows, and other content.

AirPlay – Formally known as AirTunes, AirPlay allows you to stream content to your Apple TV from your iOS Based device.

So what didn’t make the cut? Apple didn’t announce a new iPod Classic, which seems to suggest that they have moved onto a more portable venture with the Nano, Shuffle and Touch models.

So there you have it folks, stay tuned for the press video!

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

It looks like you’ll be able to sort your contacts, events, photos, and so on (just like MyPhone for Windows Mobile 6.5), and presented in the familiar-to-most Metro UI.

The program looks really interesting, so we’ll have to wait and see what Microsoft delivers when WP7 is finally released!

[via istartedsomething]

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

Since MIX there has been a Platform Preview for developers which was used to show the progress of Microsoft’s Trident engine, and their compliance with not only the Acid3 test, but HTML5 as well. According to Neowin, in 20 days, Microsoft plans to let loose a public beta for users to try out, and see for themselves.

So what’s changed? In the screenshot above?

1. Address bar is merged with the search bar
2. The back button is slightly larger then the forward button
3. Tabs are positioned beside the address/search bar
4. Home, favorites, and settings are sitting beside the tabs
5. No favorites bar
6. No status bar

The screenshot certainly looks interesting, and in many ways was to be expected. Overall it looks like it is heading in the right direction. If they can pull off 100/100 on Acid3, and give me the functionality that Chrome currently gives, I can see a big jump to IE 9.

via ZDnet

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

Not that this is a big surprise to anyone, especially since Apple dropped the gun in 2005 with their new Intel Macs, and have dropped support for the architecture in later versions of Mac OS.

Director of the Firefox, Mike Beltzner, states:

"I am gathering data on the number of PPC users we have, but the likely outcome is that we will not be supporting PPC [PowerPC] for Firefox 4,"

So why the sudden change? According to a blog posting made by Mike Beltzner, he notes two big features that make it difficult to work with?

One, out-of-process plugins, which are moved to a region of memory so that it does not crash the browser, like say, Flash Player.

Secondly, the JIT Debugger [just-in-time], which allows you to debug JavaScript, among other things.

"I believe that Firefox 4 should be relatively faster and superior to previous versions–so to be better than Firefox 3.6. Two of the significant mechanisms for performance improvement will not be available for PPC based computers, and so we are not planning on extending Firefox 4 support to those architectures,

So there you have it folks, no Firefox for PowerPC.

via Cnet

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

In a time where computers were a novelty to have, and only so many had them, now we’re in an age where everyone has a computer, on every desk, every lap, or anywhere they go, just like good ol’ Bill said.

Happy Birthday Windows 95, this one is for you.

Video after the break

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.

Stricker told TechCrunch, noting;

“At any given time we are running between 50-200 search experiments. You can learn more on our blog,"

More after the break…

Google, in recent months has been known to copy Microsoft’s Bing, including the layout and how they display results, what they haven’t copied is this ‘live search’ feature, something most Operating System and Software makers have done in the past decade.

Google did confirm to TechCrunch that the video [shown below] is in fact real, but whether it would come soon is yet to be seen.

via TechCrunch

Feel free to Flattr this post at flattr.com, if you like it.