software

Chips based on ARM designs power the majority of smart phones

Mobile phone chip designer Arm has announced an alliance with the makers of the Ubuntu open source software.

The deal will produce a version of the operating system for small net-browsing computers known as netbooks.

It marks a departure for Arm, which before now has been best known for designing the chips inside smartphones and feature phones.

The new operating system for Arm-powered machines looks set to be available in April 2009.

Battery power

Rob Coombs, director of mobile marketing at Arm, said he expected to see the first devices running the version of Ubuntu by the time of the Computex show in June.

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Pakistan has taken up seriously the growing menace of piracy that has been hurting the productive sectors and causing a loss of Rs 10 billion revenue every year, said Chairman of Anti-counterfeit and Infringement Forum Aamina Saiyed here on Thursday.

Speaking at a workshop, on “Countering software piracy as a social and economic Issue,” organised by Microsoft to create awareness, she said that the menace was not confined to a specific sector and appallingly critical medicines used in intensive care were also either pirated or fake.

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Pakistan’s first and the largest state-of-the-art software house, Systems Limited participated in the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX)-2008 held at the World Trade Center U.A.E recently.

The five days exhibition commenced on October 19 and was attended by a large number of owners, CEOs, CIOs and Directors of private organisations and highly placed government officials from Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Europe, Far East, Asia and Australia.

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When I joined the Gmail for mobile team a year ago, the mobile client worked like a web application designed for networks that were always available. This was fine on a fast and reliable network, but when you hopped on the subway, network reliability could be a big problem.

Today, we’re happy to announce Gmail for mobile 2.0 for J2ME-supported and BlackBerry phones. For this version, we changed our fundamental assumption about the network. We re-thought every action that you might perform with the app and tried to solve for the case where there is no signal. We wanted to make the mobile client faster and more reliable and added some other new features along the way.

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Ovex Technologies, one of Pakistan’s leading companies in providing business process outsourcing and IT solutions, is participating in GITEX Dubai 2008, the world’s foremost technology event held annually in the UAE capital city.

GITEX Dubai is among the world’s top three technology events and will be held from 19-23 October, 2008. This flagship event has placed Dubai on the map internationally as an emerging global technology hub and it continues to be the most important gateway to the Middle East ICT market, a spokesman of the company said.

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When David Teater’s 12-year-old son, Joe, was killed in 2004 by a driver who was talking on a cell phone, he tried to cut back on his own habit of driving and talking. It turned out to be very difficult.

Software

“You have to remember to turn the phone off … which you never remember to do. Or you have to ignore a ringing phone, which is incredibly hard,” Teater said. “We’ve been conditioned our entire lives to answer ringing phones.”

Teater became an advocate for curbing what he calls “driving while distracted,” and now, he’s part of a company with a technology that can help.

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The Pakistan Telecommunication Ltd (PTCL) has increased its reliance on modern technology by introducing new IT software to facilitate customers with quick information/connectivity providing efficient services.

Walid Irshad, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of PTCL stated this here on Wednesday while addressing the signing ceremony of Enterprise Agreement for Information Technology (IT) Infrastructure Optimisation between PTCL, Ufone and Microsoft. He termed the agreement a “milestone” and said that this strong technological partnership will allow PTCL and Ufone to benefit from the Microsoft’s innovative products.

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The BlackBerry Storm, which will go on sale later this year, is competing with Apple’s iPhone 3G and T-Mobile’s G1. 

You just can’t keep a secret in the tech industry these days. Early pictures of T-Mobile’s Google phone leaked onto the Web the week before its Sept. 23 launch, and now images are surfacing online of another eagerly awaited device: a new handheld from Research in Motion (RIM), the BlackBerry Storm. RIM hasn’t officially launched the new device yet — and it declined to comment on the leak — but the Storm is clearly a direct assault on Apple’siPhone 3G and T-Mobile’s G1. It’s also an attempt to wow consumers with both a jazzy new design and an App Center filled with games and other add-on programs.

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The first mobile telephone using Google’s Android software has been unveiled.

The T-Mobile G1 handset will be available in the UK in time for Christmas.

The first device to run the search giant’s operating system will feature a touch screen as well as a Qwerty keyboard.

It will be available for free on T-Mobile tariffs of over £40 a month and includes unlimited net browsing.

Other features include a three megapixel camera, a ‘one click’ contextual search and a browser that users can zoom in on by tapping the screen. continue

The launch reflects the company’s strategy of making the PlayStation 3 more than just a console for gamers. Sony on Thursday launched “Life with PlayStation,” an online service that leverages the videogame console in delivering a variety of visual and interactive news and information from around the globe.

The initial content of Life, which Sony describes as a “lifestyle service,” is Live Channel, a collection of news and information centered on two themes, “place” and “time,” on a world map interface. Live content includes cloud imagery, weather information, news headlines, and camera images from nearly 60 cities across the globe. Content providers include Google , The Weather Channel, The Earth Television Network, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center.

To connect to the online services, PlayStation users click on the Folding@Home icon on the network column of the console’s XrossMediaBar. The service is available at no additional charge, and Sony plans to add content in the future.

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Apple has unveiled the latest version of its iPod Nano, featuring what it says are the thinnest measurements yet.

The fourth generation Nano was launched at a US press conference by Apple chief Steve Jobs, who announced new shuffle and library features.

He also listed the Nano’s environmental credentials, including arsenic-free glass and a mercury and PVC-free body that is “highly recyclable”.

The Nanos are expected to sell in the UK for £109 ($191) for the 8GB version.

The 16GB version will retail at £149.

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Nokia, the worldwide leader in mobility, on Saturday announced the launch of a range of mobile applications and content tailored for the Holy Month of Ramazan. Building on last year’s offering, the new solutions are for free and come preloaded in select Nokia devices or as downloadable applications that extend to a range of Nokia devices.

The online applications can be accessed and downloaded on the compatible Nokia devices from anywhere in the world under www.nokia.com/ramadan. “The overwhelming response and feedback that we received from last year’s offering allowed us to improve and expand this year’s application, making it a complete solution that gives Nokia users a single and easy access to many of the cherished experiences that Muslims like to be close to during the Holy Month,” said Imran Mahmood, Country General Manager, Nokia Pakistan.

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