Appatic

Hope you all have a prosperous and Happy New Year 2012. 

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VentureBeat got the report and the story, which is linked as source at the end of the post.

No wonder HP was not able to sell it. Essentially, they wanted the same they had paid for Palm, while at the same time presumably retaining an option to have access to palm patents. This last bit from what i got from other rumors. Which must be the most out of their minds stupid price and deal they could have come up with. Even if the deal included some sort of cooperation from HP for that patent access. 

The reason is simple: Palm assets once the company was killed and absorbed and then disemboweled out of HP on the basis of commercial failure, instantly cuts the value to half. 

That means that if HP really wanted to sell it. The price they must had started at would had to be around 800 million USD, well knowing that they would be lucky if they managed to get 600 million. Even if according to Venture beat it was worth more like 400 million to 500 million. Ouch.

But i guess that in the grand scheme of things, recouping just 500 million out of 3 billion USD of losses was not really that much money for HP or worth the hassle. They may as well lose it all. At least that way they get the patents all for themselves. 

Yet another embarrassing move from HP. I think the most interesting fact of this news was that Facebook actually wanted to buy WebOS and Palm assets. Surprising, as Facebook was not even on the list of those that were rumored to have showed interest in it. 

Source: http://venturebeat.com/2011/12/28/hp-palm-sale-price/

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With the best of wishes and cheers this Christmas 2011 from Appatic.com 

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Or  you could also call them 100 HD Bing Photo Wallpapers.  In any way, that is what I bring you in a single file download, thanks to the amazing Bing Dynamic Theme For Windows 7.

Just that now you can enjoy them anywhere and on your own terms, No matter if you are running Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7.  And these Bing HD Photo Backgrounds are TRULY HD, as they come in a 1920x1200 pixels resolution.  So they will look amazing in almost any screen you put them.  Anywhere from a 10-incher netbook to a 73 inches HDTV.

100 HD Bing Photo  Wallpapers/Backgrounds that should be enough to keep you amused for many months.

Just Download, Unzip and Enjoy.

Linkage

100 HD Bing Desktop Backgrounds For Windows        <—Download Page Link

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Kara Swisher got a report that states Google will be paying up to $300 million USD to Mozilla PER YER for the next 3 years. At almost triple what Google was paying the past 3 years. All thanks to a bidding war with Microsoft and – surprisingly – Yahoo.

Google Will Pay Mozilla Almost $300M Per Year in Search Deal, Besting Microsoft and Yahoo 

WOW, yesterday i wrote a post in Google Plus talking about Mozilla and  the firefox search deal, and i feel the need to quote almost all of it, in the sake of context:

From what is buzzing, everything points out on Microsoft indeed doing a bid for Firefox search integration. No surprise there, as it was worth Microsoft's time to do so, even if just to show a kind hand to Mozilla and to keep Google paying high. If Mozilla managed to get one last nice deal out of Google, they only got Microsoft to thank for it. How ironic is that uh?

Also, i don't think Google really intended not to pay up and continue a deal with Mozilla. Dropping that deal would had meant Bing getting it. And considering that they still out bid Microsoft for the AOL deal. The idea of they effectively not caring about burning that last bridge with Mozilla and letting Bing get a lot more comfty with Firefox is something i found very hard to believe

The next 3 years still do look uncertain for Firefox. Now that Microsoft is activating IE AutoUpdating, Windows XP share decline continues to accelerate at the same time Windows 7 share growth continues to hold steady and Chrome For Android is looming closer

The chances of they just getting slammed out to a distant 3rd place in the browser race by Microsoft and Google look to be all high

And i knew i was right as i had followed the whispers in the net, sort of speak. But never ever expected that the bidding war for Firefox Search included Yahoo in it. And that this had forced Google to overpay for it. From what the Microsoft rumor mill was buzzing, the only i could gather was that Microsoft had indeed tried to get the Firefox deal. But never that they were also bidding against Yahoo, that it is Microsoft search partner!

Now the obvious question many will be having is: Why would Yahoo do that if it is powered by Bing?

For two simple reasons:

1.-Yahoo gets 80% of the pie right now from their Bing Powered Search. The more searches they get, the most money they can get out from Microsoft too.

2.-Brand Boost. Yahoo as the brand in Firefox would also mean Yahoo getting more visits to their portal, which in turns keeps them relevant and also making more Display Ad money.

But i bet Microsoft was not entirely happy to see Yahoo bidding in on the Firefox deal. Until/Unless that after awhile they had realized Google was willing to pay anything. A realization that must have come up quickly enough and by then they were just happy to make Google spend a lot more. Even if that meant neither Bing or Yahoo would get the deal.

The whole thing is certainly an amazing development for Mozilla. And i will correct what i said yesterday. If Mozilla got someone to thanks for being able to live and fight for another 3 years, is to Microsoft….. and Yahoo. Is not that something?

And live and fight, Mozilla will now can. With that serious budget boost. I just hope that they realize that what they need to do  is to start developing more apps like Firefox Sync. and push them over all the OSes around. Apart from accelerating their Firefox Mobile development in Android.

In respect of Google, they have now overpaid for both the AOL and the Firefox deals to keep them out of Microsoft hands. The next deal they could be overpaying for is probably the iOS search deal. Will they? Will Apple let them? Those are now the questions.

Source: All Things D

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If you read about this news of Grooveshark now being in the brink of facing a big lawsuit from the top record companies and have been using Grooveshark just casually or without much care about its history. You may be left wondering why is this lawsuit happening just now. Let me explain:

Grooveshark has now been around for over 5 years. Shocking, i know. And they have based their startup in being lawsuit fearless by using a very clever technique where they welcomed individual lawsuits from content owners. Because they can be dragged down for years and because since they operate in very well thought self-audited process abiding by the DMCA. They know they got a chance to win. But not only that. They go to trail with a counter offense to undermine the lawsuits by saying:

"Hey, we would love to do a licensing rights deal. That way we can all make money. You know, like we already had been asking you.."

By doing that. They increased their chances of making the cases go away quicker. Something that had been working very well for them so far. So much it was working for them that they got a deal worked out with EMI. Deal that had saved them from Legal Heat and Danger for a good while.

Unfortunately for Grooveshark. EMI is now owned by Universal. Making Universal the biggest Top Record Label. One that happens to be quite friendly and cozy to the RIAA’s line of thinking..

Don't know the details of the Grooveshark-EMI deal. But i assume that it can be broken off if EMI was acquired. And because of that, Universal is now aiming to destroy Grooveshark. Something they had been wanting to do for years now.

2012 is now looking uncertain for Grooveshark. As this is not like any other lawsuit they had to face. This is a focused mega lawsuit. One where they got all odds against in. Wishing Grooveshark the best. And hope they bring all their smarts and cleverness into this fight because they just became a David having to fight 3 Goliaths in one go.

Source The Verge

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IF what the very solid rumor i got ahold to is to be true. SkyDrive's new more aggressive stance is a response not to iCloud. But to DropBox surge in 2011 and they releasing their API a month or so ago. With things like iCloud and CloudApp being more of secondary reasons. Yet regardless of the why. The fact is that Microsoft has started responding loudly.

I always said that the reasons why Microsoft didn't pushed SkyDrive hard before was because of the state of competition not being worth it, against the cost and complexity of running SkyDrive. People just don't have a clue how incredibly costly and complex is to run a service like SkyDrive at the scale and reach Microsoft has ran it since 2007 alone. In perspective, running SkyDrive is as costly and complex as let's say something like Xbox Live. Just that is it don't appears to be so.

But cost and complexity are the reasons why a Google Cloud Drive – or whatever it gets to be called in the end – has still to come out and is only presumably to be released in the next I/O conference.

Once the state of competition reached a point where Microsoft has validated the need for they to respond as it is now. Microsoft now has given the green light to start reacting. And from the already dozens of moves and bets Microsoft is making now that they no longer have to hold back. You can expect a very aggressive Microsoft in 2012. That is already very clear to me.

In the end it is also great that SkyDrive is now being used as a Power Play by Microsoft. It has been the best cloud storage service overall since it was released.

But with the new updates, the new API and apps. Now Microsoft is finally aiming to make it the very best BY FAR. DropBox free run in the space is now officially over.

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Previously I wrote about the Kindle Fire even when it was still just a  Kindle Slate. Both posts are still worth a read for context sake.

At least in my personal opinion it is a bad deal. Had not talked about the Kindle Fire bad angles because i had not used one myself. Only had seen the videos and read the perceptions from others. Finally, i got to play with one for 90 minutes to get a quick impression of it. With the false pretense i would buy it....i know...Bad, Bad me.

Anyway, found it horrendous. Everything bad it is being said about it is true. Let me enumerate the bad things about it:

1.-Bad Software UX

Who designed this Android OS Layer User Experience should be fired. From the way you don't have consistent overlay controls. From the fact you need to backtrack a hell of a lot all the time just to do something. And from the infamous 1-click trigger-happy purchasing that will make it impossible for you to let a kid use it or the fact you cannot disable or control anything about it.

2.-Constrained Ecosystem

Meaning no Google Market, Google Apps, App Sideloading. All Amazon, All the time. Oh and it will do require you to have an Amazon Prime account too if you want actually enjoy the thing.

Never thought it would be that bad. But unless you live in California or Washington state. There is really no way for you to be 100% happy with being so tied down to the Amazon Ecosystem this bad. In a way is like the Apple iTunes tied ecosystem from 2007 from what i could observe.

3.-Bad Performance

Maybe it is the Android Custom OS Layer not being optimized and the fact everything is a version 1.0 in it. But it choked too much. I mean i used the thing for 90 minutes and it slowed down while me navigating it every 10 minutes or so. What the hell?

You may have read or heard the hardware is a riff on The Playbook. But let me tell you this: The Playbook performance is great and the OS is great too. The experiences are not alike at all.

4.-Bad Browser

Amazon Silk Browser is crap. Seriously, it is crap. Another area where it cannot even surpass the stock browser in Android, much less Firefox Mobile or The Playbook Browser.

5.-Not Apt For Exteriors Or Commuting

This thing got a weak Wi-Fi stability. Forget about the fact it is not good to use while on the go or with too much natural light. Pairing it with a Wi-Fi hotspot will do work. just get used to it being spotty at times.

6.-Cloud Bound

The Kindle Fire reminded me in a bad way to ChromeOS. It is completely cloud bound. And because there is really little storage space. 8gb space that turns to be more like 5gb of usable space in practice. 1gb less than what Amazon is stating. you need to be connected. And not only you need to be connected, you need to make sure the connection is stable while downloading. Requiring you to stare at the screen and not moving the Kindle Fire much when you are downloading stuff. Downloading that sometimes will have errors. Oh joy.

7.-Management Needy

You will find yourself having to manage your Kindle every week or every month -- Depending on your usage -- because of the low non-expandable usable storage.

Conclusions

Do not buy. Or if you plan to buy it. You may want to wait until Amazon has resolved all they can via Software Updates as in 3 months minimum. But even if they do resolved most of the UI and UX problems. There will be many problems and limitations that will linger on.

My recommendation is that if you want something like the Kindle Fire and you are NOT tied to Amazon in any way. Check out the Nook Tablet. It may be $50 bucks more. But it is a lot better in several ways. And you can expand its storage beyond what it comes with.

If you on the other hand want to be able to use Amazon Kindle App and don't want to be in a walled ecosystem. Take a look at the very overlooked Vizio Tab 8. Also $50 bucks more. But it also works as a universal remote and with a little Know-How you can use it as a basic game console or media center for your TV.

The Kindle Fire will still be a smashing success. I predict that Amazon should be able to surpass shipping out 4 million of these things on 2011 alone. But not because it is popular and cheap. It means you need to suffer through what is a clear rough around the edges 1.0 version device.
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My points here are from a general and by default perspective. As it would be from a new kindle user and not a Android User or a Technically Advanced user.

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Was there really any other move for HP to go with it?

At least now those who want to experiment with WebOS or even fork it to other purpose, will be able to do so. Would be good for Intel and RIM to add what they could from WebOS to their Tizen OS and BB10 OS respectively.

Hell, even Canonical could learn and take something from WebOS now. Hope so, as they need it.

Whatever happens with WebOS Code, at least now there is a chance of it going somewhere and not just die in the vine.

But so much for HP being willing to sell it. I guess the offers were too low.

Linkage

HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

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It is so sad what situation RIM has got into the past 5 years. In a way it reminds me about Sony stumbling for the same amount of years. I also believe that at this point it is not just making the wrong decisions. It is also about having a sheer lack of vision. Not just today the news still was that RIM will not be able to call the next QNX based BB-OS as BBX because they lost a lawsuit. And instead of coming up with something better they are just calling it BB10??? Jeeze...

Now about RIM getting Blindsided by Kindle Fire pricing as reported by +John Paczkowski is also something i am not surprised about.

RIM Blindsided by Kindle Fire Pricing

Less chance to be surprised when you consider how clueless they were when launching The Playbook.

The Playbook launch failure was not just about the glaring omission of not having the apps needed for it. It was also the lack of a Plan B and not taking serious enough the lack of the apps they needed for it and compensating accordingly.

There were really only two things they could have done once it became evident that they could not have the apps and the platform ready for launch:

1.-IF they wanted to release The Playbook starting at $499, then they must had offered something to make it up for the early adopters and to avoid getting slammed to the ground by a quite merciless Tech Blogosphere. Specially the one that is U.S.A based.

They could have easily offered it up for $499 if they had added a sleeve and a case, a dock and the still long delayed keyboard.

What they did? NOTHING. They offered up NOTHING for the premium asking price for a new platform and new hardware THEY KNEW was not ready for the planned launch date. Yet they expected that people would line up for The Playbook!!

So much they expected and thought nothing was wrong that put out some of the most aggressively bullish advertising about it. One that almost looked as if it had been made by whoever did the one for the Motorola Xoom.

2.-They could have instead taken out all accessories but the USB to microUSB cable and offer up The Playbook starting at $299 for the 16gb version

Simple.

They may have not made money on the 16gb version. But what would had happened?

THEY WOULD HAVE SOLD. Thing RIM knows now. As The Playbook started to move once it got down to $299. Who would have thought it?!

Because after all. The Playbook is an actually very good piece of hardware, with a very good 1.0 OS. I know, as i got a friend who let me use one for a day.

What strikes me as eerie about The Playbook launch screw up by RIM. Is that HP launched the HP Touchpad in almost the exact same dumb way. Because just like great minds think alike. dumb minds also think alike.

So while there is no need to be as harsh to RIM as some U.S.A based Bloggers seem to like to be. There is also no need to feel pity for a company that screws up after having screwed up. Without even realizing it.

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Along with the news of Windows 8 App Store, there seems to be a lot confusion about two things regarding Windows 8 App Store. And i want to give it a shot and clear some things. Even with the risk of just generating more questions:

1.-Do Desktop Apps can be in the Windows Store?

YES, they will be able to be in the Windows Store as listings if they meet the requirements for being added. But will not be hosted and installed via the Windows Store installer, instead they will link out to an external app page or may include a download link with the file address of the app. But i would imagine that in order for that to happen, There will be a disclaimer about how you are not installing it from Microsoft.

1.1- Wait, wait. But i thought that desktop apps would also be hosted and installed via the Windows Store installer?

Yes, No or Maybe. One of the still yet to be officially cleared out scenarios by Microsoft. Is the fact that they have not given a way for apps  -- that i know of – to be dual-mode like in the case of IE10 and other Microsoft apps will be. Because in Windows 8, Apps cannot only cooperate with the OS or with other apps. They can also exist in two different versions. The Metro UI-UX version and The Desktop Mode UI-UX version.

Now we just need Microsoft to talk more about this scenario. But even if they were for some reason not to be hosted. They would still be able to be listed. Just that the installation of the app would be more like now. Nothing wrong with that.

2.-If i develop a Metro App that Microsoft refuses to certify, does this means that my app will not be able to be installed in Windows 8?

No, as in Yes, your app will be able to be installed in Windows 8. Just that you will have to manage your own in-app updates. And you will have do a modification so that your App can launch right directly from the Metro Ui-UX, instead of The Desktop Mode. In short, there will be some compromises needed from you as the developer. But the user will barely notice or care if you do things right.

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Now, there are of course other questions like if having a Windows 8 App Store then will spin off other non-Microsoft apps for non-allowed apps. In a way that makes these app work and be installed as if they were downloaded from the Windows Store.

The answer is YES to that, not only there will be. There is one already in the works and you can bet that Windows App Download Sites from Today and Yesterday will also be looking for ways to replicate how the Windows Store will work.

There are a lot of cool hacks already in development for Windows 8. One of my favorite ones so far is one that forces plugins and runtimes to work in Metro IE10 or another that want to make it possible for you to force the Metro UI-UX into and App Window a la Media Center that can then be controlled from The Desktop Mode.

My point is that there is no need to be scared to change if you are a Windows App Developer. Things are barely getting started and there are still lots of scenarios yet to open up. Just make sure you get your Apps or a version of your Apps in the Windows Store to maximize your chance to make money while delivering good apps. And then just remember that the Windows Store does not negate you the right to have other Apps that can work and be used in the way Apps in Windows 7 are used right now.

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As Windows Phone 7 gets to be pushed more broadly around the world. One of the things i had wondered about, was what Microsoft would do to fill-in the gaps for countries where Zune is not available at all.

Now, that answers comes in as 7digital. The music store available in 34 countries that is always happy to partner with everybody/anybody and that has served as a stopgap partner for many. Including at one point and for quite awhile handling MP3 track purchases for Spotify before they were able to sell MP3's on their own.

If 7digital is still not that familiar to you. It is also the same Music Store that Canonical partnered with for the Ubuntu Music Store.

Must say that i didn't see this one coming. But does makes perfect sense as 7Digitial is the only Big Music Store left not competing directly in anyway with Microsoft.

Linkage

7digital music store app headed to Windows Phone in January, North American expansion planned

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There was a video going around a week or so ago, that had Siri versus TellMe and performed a test CLEARLY tailored for Siri, leaving TellMe in a very bad light. Many blogs ran with it without doing their own test or looking for a second opinion. Nothing that rare these days on the blogosphere unfortunately.

But i think this video test performed by a Hungarian developer shows how they both perform very well. just that they work quite differently.

Something that to be even fairer, could also be said about Android. As +Joe Wilcox found out performing a test with Android.

Now, returning to the Siri vs TellMe test and comparison done in this video. You can see that the only things missing in TellMe really comes down to two main things if you know how both tech implementations work. Both coming to WP 7.5 in Tango 1 or Tango 2 for that matter. And that in the case of Android Voice Actions is also what needs to be added in order to match Siri.

1.-Natural Language coming first instead of short/fast commands+keywords sentences

2.-Personalized experience in engaging with what so far i have read described by some as Bing Voice Logic. The same you can now use in Xbox 360 with the Kinect

Other than that, they are both very good. Hopefully this video can lead to a more objective perspective on Voice Assisted Actions in the Top 3 Smartphone OSes.

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As of November 30 of 2011, Lovefilm announced that they would be changing from Flash based Video Player to a Silverlight based one.

Why we’re switching from Flash to Silverlight… – LOVEFiLM

Because as surprising it may be to some that really don't know much about Silverlight.

Silverlight is actually still quite superior by default compared to Flash when it comes to Video Streaming. 

Some of the reasons are as they follow:

Smooth Streaming - Adapts to speeds and serves the optimal stream quality based for it on the fly. This in turn helps the performance of the video stream and results in economic advantages for those who adopt Silverlight.

Smart Bandwidth Saver - Apart from counting with Smooth Streaming, Silverlight cuts immediately the loading of a video from the server if the user closes the tab the video player was. Even if the tab was in the background. It also determines a buffer save parameter. Meaning that it will not continue buffering if you leave the video player in a background tab in your browser for more than a certain amount of seconds. These measures saves lots of money in bandwidth.

Better Analytics - Silverlight has always been searchable and indexable. This allows for a better grip when it comes to tracking what is going on with a video stream running in a player.

Better performance - Silverlight has been GPU accelerated since SL3.

Better DRM - If you want and need to lock a video stream. You can fiercely do so. I remember that from a study made last year. It was determined that Silverlight was the most secured way to serve video up to now. 

All this in turn is helped if you also use IIS7 to serve the video. As it also can serve and target closed platforms or devices using Web Stack based Video Players. This is how Microsoft Customers of IIS7 have been able to target iOS and Android.

The most famous company using Silverlight in the Video Streaming space is without a doubt Netflix. Many thought that it was because Reed Hastings was a member of the Microsoft Board, that he choose Silverlight. And while that certainly had something to do with it. It was also the Content Owners  the ones demanding it.

It is not only used for Video as a matter of fact.  It can also secure music streaming and lots of other things. Microsoft used it for Zune.Net browser based music streaming and another European music site used Silverlight Players for the very same reason. Silverlight is actually quite well used around the world. Specially when it comes to E&B LOB RIA’s.

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Keyboardp is a developer that 3 days ago released a video on YouTube on a .NET based project of his, where he shows how he can control Zune Software or A Browser in order to play a music track or a music video via voice. Saying and showing how it can work with any microphone. Be it a WebCam Mic or even a Kinect Camera connected to the PC. But as cool as that is. Such actions are not new in Windows. As it is something you can tune the PC to do if you care to put up time in it. This being then possible for years.

But Keyboardp many breakthroughs come from the facts of how fast his implementation works, that it is a instant setup thanks to his app and that he can even use an App in his WP7.5 device -- In this case a Lumia 800 -- preemptively called PhoneZune to do it from anywhere in the house.

If you think that is a very cool show, but you are left enviously wondering "what is it for me?", then you will be happy to know -- if got a WP7.5 device of course -- that he is planning on releasing the code and the app so anyone can do the same. How cool is that?

On top of that, Windows Phone Developers Manager top guy Brandon Watson has already contacted KeyboardP about doing a Dev Tutorial about the app.

Linkage

 http://www.keyboardp.me/81802318

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Mary Jo Foley got ahold of a rumor going around that Paul Thurrott in turn pushed into the public that ended up converting into this post:

Microsoft to drop Desktop App from Windows 8 ARM tablets- ZDNet 

To what I say:

Not from what i have read up and know up to this point. What Microsoft dropped was the idea of shipping a virtualization layer to run x86 apps on Windows 8 ARM. But up to now, i have not seen that the plans for supporting Desktop Mode have changed.

Lots of people, Microsoft Partners and an army of .NET develops included will be very pissed off if Microsoft drops Desktop Mode in ARM. More so since Microsoft has already publicly stated they would support it. And i have in good authority that some big Microsoft Partners have already received some top secret documentation about Windows 8 Desktop Mode in ARM with some details about it. Since Windows 8 Desktop Mode apps are dependent on being ported if they are not .NET apps.

For that reason i think that Paul Thurrott source is wrong. Fortunately there is very good chance that is indeed the case. So, lets see.

If that were not to be the case. then I would be really surprised and frankly vastly disappointed.

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If you have been paying attention to the rumors i push. You should have already noted what a good track record i got and how they are always enticing rumors. Otherwise i would not dare to run them. And yes most are about Microsoft or Microsoft related because that is where i got my lurking mind in the right places.

The latest one has to do with the news of Microsoft planning a unconfirmed Office for iPad.

Now i can tell you that it appears – from what the rumor mill pours – that it will be called Office For iOS. And it will emulate iWork. Will cost the same and will also be 3 apps. Only detail missing? If it is going to be Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Or if it will be counted as Word, Excel and OneNote. Also unclear is why if it will be like Office Starter it will cost money. Unless that means it will not be carrying ads.

Office For iOS is planned for the first half of 2012. Beyond what i tell you here. Not much known if it will come with SkyDrive or Office 365 integration. However, pushing both along cross-promoting other apps like Skype and Windows Live Messenger could be the reason why Microsoft is willing to be releasing a Office Suite for iOS.  And if they do release one. One would then need to wonder if a Office for Android could be following later....

But there you go. Nice and juicy rumor right there.

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