The Blog

First it built the Surface, and now Microsoft is said to be working on another new hardware product, this time a smartphone. That’s according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal, which says Microsoft is currently working with Asian component suppliers on its own handset design, though it isn’t yet clear whether or not the device will ever … Read More

Two of the four robots inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame on Oct. 23 ran embedded Linux. Aldebaran Robotics’ humanoid, partially open source Nao robot, known for its use in RoboCup robot soccer competitions, won in the Education & Consumer category. And iRobot’s PackBot remote sensing robot, which runs proprietary Linux, took the Industrial & Service award. Parrot’s AR.Drone 2.0 quadricopter … Read More

“Microsoft is spending billions on marketing for Windows 8, but there’s no equivalent for Linux,” noted Google+ blogger Linux Rants. “Most people haven’t even heard of Linux, and those that have usually have only heard the false rumors that have been around since the 90s. That preconception has to be changed. Preloaded computers are the first step.” It’s no secret … Read More

THE cassette tape is about to make a comeback, in a big way. From the updates posted by Facebook’s 1 billion users to the medical images shared by healthcare organisations worldwide and the rise of high-definition video streaming, the need for something to store huge tranches of data is greater than ever. And while hard drives have traditionally been the … Read More

A ROBOT that learns to play ping-pong from humans and improves as it competes against them could be the best robotic table-tennis challenger the world has seen. Katharina Muelling and colleagues at the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany suspended a robotic arm from the ceiling and equipped it with a camera that watches the playing area. Then Muelling physically … Read More

A lot has changed in the three years since the last major Windows announcement. Netbooks were on the rise. The iPad wouldn’t be introduced for another six months and Nokia still had the lead for most smartphone sales in the world. Only 172 million smartphones were sold in 2009 vs. an estimated 146 million units in just one quarter of … Read More

fter losing an appeal in a UK high court last week against a judgement that Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablets do not infringe the design of the iPad because their design is just not cool enough, Apple has now published an acknowledgement of the court’s judgement on its U.K. website — in line with the court order. You can’t call it … Read More

Plasma Active 3 offers new apps and improved performance. KDE has released a new version of Plasma Active. According to the announcement, the Plasma Active user interface is touch-friendly and works well across a range of devices, giving users a natural way to organize and access their applications, files, and information. Version 3 features an enhanced and expanded set of … Read More

Microsoft is out with Windows 8 this week, and the operating system–which straddles standard Windows interface conventions and touchscreen-style conventions–is being described as the company’s biggest gamble in years. That seems like an apt thing to call the new OS, since Microsoft has a tough sell in convincing users that they need new versions of Windows. But many analysts are … Read More

Microsoft, the world’s best-known software company, is now in the business of making its own computers. That could get complicated. The delicate balancing act Microsoft must perform was apparent at two events it held on Thursday in New York to introduce two major products. At the first event, it showcased devices made by Samsung, Dell and other hardware partners that … Read More

Dear Microsoft, Thanks for Windows 8! Love Linux By Sean Michael Kerner   |    October 25, 2012 From the ‘End of the Traditional Desktop’ files: Microsoft has a big launch event today in New York City for Windows 8. Surprisingly I got invited, but no I won’t be there. Linux users like myself however really should thank Microsoft though, Window 8 is … Read More

In his few short years as a developer, 19-year-old Sam Kottler has racked up what seems like a decade’s worth of Linux experience. After starting a small web consultancy building Drupal sites as a high school student in Connecticut, he dabbled in systems administration for Drupal, worked in hosting engineering at Acquia, then joined mobile payment startup Venmo as a … Read More

This week’s top open source cloud headlines raised a few interesting questions. Does OpenStack need a Linus Torvalds?  This week’s top open source cloud headlines raised a few interesting questions. Does OpenStack need a Linus Torvalds? And can Eucalyptus be the next billion-dollar open source company? Announcements from Rackspace and OpenNebula are also featured, along with an inside look at Cisco’s … Read More

As you finalize your plans for LinuxCon Europe, you may find yourself needing to plot out your schedule for each day of the event. After all, in addition to the main conference, there are an abundance of co-located events throughout the week, including the Embedded Linux Conference Europe, the KVM Forum, the oVirt and Gluster workshops, and even a few more With all that going … Read More

Ever since it was apparent that Red Hat would become the first billion-dollar Linux company, fans of free and open source software have held the company up as the poster child for Linux’s business success. That milestone was officially achievedearlier this year, but somehow the good news about Red Hat just keeps on coming. Case in point: On top of the … Read More