ສະບາຍດີ ຍິນດີຕ້ອນຮັບ (Welcome) Anousak's blog

MPT to launch Phetsarath OT and other developments

2011-11-23T18:26:00.000-08:00

The head and staff of the E-govermnet cener of Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) got together, mtyself is included, on 23/11/2011 to finalize the short and long term roadmaps.

The 1/1/2012 shall be the date to launch of national standard font namely Phetsarath OT and products that Center and other teams created.

Until the launch date, the team have to finalize and properly correct any issues with the font and software to be shown and to be promoted.

Congrats to those worked hard on the projects and to make this become reality. It is time that we shall act as the focal point for making national standards and to develop the software that can be benefited for the society, and act as the guidance for others to follow.

Ministry of Post and Telecommunication on Lao UNICODE font and Lao language on mobile/computer

2011-11-23T18:22:00.000-08:00

Well, Sabaidee, all. It has been a while since last update on my blog. It is my great pleasure in anoucing the news here.

Dear friends and colleauges:

On 22/11/2011 at 2pm, I was invited by the MPT to present Lao language on computers and mobiles to the government officials at the Minsitry of Posts and Telecommunications and stakeholders. Thus I would like to share this with you.

Subject: Accept Phetsarat OT as National UNICODE font standard and Lao language on mobiles and tablets (recieving and reading)

Attendees:

Minister Mr. Hiem Phommachanh
Vice Ministers: Mr. Thansamay and Mr. Sithong
Department Heads
Research and Development Division
Anousak
other stakeholders

Open Remarks by the Minister Mr. Hiem Phommachanh followed by Mr. Thansamay
Presentation by Anousak and R and D (my presentation is attached)

Sumamry:
Ministers and committee agreed to accept Phetasarth OT as the National Font stadnard and that to urge [notice and decree will be adopted for support] operators to work with firms to support Lao language on mobile and content. Phones sold in Laos in the future will have some sort of Lao support. It is time for us to teach our younger generation of not to use karaoke language to communicate such as SMS, chat, and information access via networks or etc. Lao is a culture and a nation with unique language and ways of life. We should adhere and support it both in the technology and other meduim. MPT is a single entity that acts on behalf of nation on telecommunications and information technology which will set the standards so that others can follow or adopt. Phetsarath OT will be launch along with other solutions on 1/1/2012 as part of the widely acceptance standard.

Anousak presented the solution and issues dealing with Lao language on mobile and tablet. The content must also be developed to ensure the benefits go to users and operators as whole.

Overall, the Minsitry said it is time we should act, work together and move with a commitment and with strong support all sectors in terms of Lao language usage on mobiles and computers. Local content should also be the key to be used with high speed networks and be able to access to the information technology with YOU own language. Education shall be crucial and to be followed other contents..

I do hope, with this set out by the government, is to work with all operators and stakeholders in all the areas of language to be sued wether it is in the mobiles/tablets or computers or content so we can push this into a broad perspective. You as the operators operating in the country called Lao PDR will have great opportunity to serve not just the country but the people as well.

Look for a brighter side and move forward with exciting developing in the near future.

Thank you all and cheers.

--
Regards,
Anousak (Anothony) Souphavanh

Mono for Android (.NET development for Android)

2011-04-07T00:13:00.001-07:00

It was Netbeans and Eclipse tools to develop Android applications for those experienced in JAVA and C/C++. However other techies experience in .NET are now able to do so with new tool called Mono for Android.

Novell today announced the availability of Mono for Android, the first solution for developing Microsoft .NET applications for Google's Android platform. This essentially allows .NET and C# developers to use their existing skills to easily create Android apps.

Mono for Android consists of the core Mono runtime, bindings for native Android APIs, a Visual Studio 2010 plug-in, and an SDK that contains all the tools needed to build, debug, and deploy apps. Developers trained in Visual Studio can thus continue developing with their preferred IDE, while using their existing skills and .NET code, libraries, and tools, as well as C# programming knowledge. The Visual Studio 2010 plug-in lets engineers develop, debug, and deploy their apps to an Android simulator, an Android device, or the Android Market.

Mono for Android complements MonoTouch, Novell's solution for developing apps for Apple's iOS (iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch). Novell is thus pitching Mono for Android and MonoTouch to .NET developers as an option that will save them time and money because they will be able to share common code between iOS and Android on smartphones and tablets, as well as Windows Phone 7, Windows desktops, and Windows Server.

However the tool comes with the cost and there are four tiers of Mono for Android: Student ($99), Professional ($399), Enterprise ($999), and Enterprise 5 ($3,999). You can check out the differences between them at mono-android.net/store, but we recommend that you grab the trial either way first.

So for those thinking about developing applications for Android but having .NET skills sets are now able play and develop Android apps with an ease.

Happy 20th birthday Linux (Tux)

2011-04-06T23:53:00.001-07:00

It seems time flies. You’ve come a long way, Tux the Penguin. I just can't believe it went so fast that I still vividly remember that day I logged online using back then called the (BB) bulletin Board at the Binghamton University Watson's computer center chatting with friends, mid of 1992, about new OS called MINIX then later on was called Linux. It was the earliest discussion about possibility of having FREE and OPEN operating system (it was talk of the campus at some universities- computer science students and teachers). Back then it was something. I was amazed and exited. I hooked on with the second and follow by many releases, but the first distro was of Slackware...

Yes it is time to celebrate the historical event. The Linux Foundation is celebrating 20 years of the famous FOSS operating system, Linux — or GNU-slash-Linux, depending on how hard-line a fossie you’re talking to — with a slew of special events, both online and IRL.

Today Linux is literally everywhere: in your phone, at your ATM, in your TV, on your desktop, at the movies, in your car, your house, and other gadgets.

The foundation marks the summer of 1991 as the time when Linus Torvalds made a bold decision to share his operating system with the world. Torvalds soon licensed that first Linux OS under the General Public License and indeed nothing in computing has been the same since. HAPPY Birthday, Tux, and many thanks to Linus Torvalds who started it all.

So I wish all happy computing and long live the Openness of Open Source software around the world.

Celebrating 40 years of the Internet

2011-03-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

Can't believe it is only 40 years of the Internet existence. In 1971, I was only 7 years old and barely remember some big event news such as moon landing of Neil Armstrong and the crew but technology has evolved into something that I am now enjoy so much, the Internet. This was a single step of a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. For the internet, that first step was more of a stumble.

On 29 October 1969, engineers 400 miles apart at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and Stanford Research Institute (SRI) prepared to send data between the first nodes of what was then known as Arpanet. This naming convention was commissioned by the US Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).
The fledgling network was to be tested by Charley Kline attempting to remotely log in to a Scientific Data Systems computer that resided at SRI. Figure shows complete network diagram of the first Internet, by 1971 the fledgling internet had spanned the US.

First thing they did was that of Mr. Kline typed an "L" and then asked his colleague Bill Duvall at Stanford's SRI via a telephone headset if the letter had arrived.
It had, Bill replied. Followed by an "O". Duvall said that arrived too. Another character typed was a "G". Duvall could only report that the system had crashed.

They work tirelessly for long hour and everything went fine. After that first misstep, the network almost never put a foot wrong. The rest has made history.
Big changes came when 40 years ago was Dr. Larry Roberts who watched remotely from Washington, the MIT scientist who worked out the fundamental technical specifications of the Arpanet. The engineers who built the hardware that made Arpanet work, did so to his design. "They thought it was a horrible idea," he said.
Bob Taylor, head of Arpa's Information Processing Techniques Office, wanted Arpanet built to end the crazy situation of every institution he funded demanding ever more computer power and duplicating research on those machines. "At the time computers were completely incompatible and moving data was a huge chore," he said.

The main issue was how to break apart the data into chunks so that you can send data without losing them in transit. So engineers thinking about dividing data. The Arpanet became the internet in the 1970s but the change was largely cosmetic. The fundamental technological idea that made it work, known as packet switching, was demonstrated on that October evening. Hence packet switching got its name thanks to late British scientist Donald Davies who was creating a network that used this technique at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). Not only did it make it easier, and cheaper, to use telephone lines it helped speed up the passing of data.
"If you have packets arriving in little pieces you can very quickly sort them," said Roger Scantlebury, one of Dr. Davies' colleagues. "But if you have a huge message you have to wait for that to finish before anything else can happen."
"When we first started we were just going to build something to show it would work, but fairly quickly Dr. Donald Davies realized that in order for it to have any impact it needed to be a proper working system, and we actually built the network which went live at the start of 1970," he said.

From those first two nodes, Arpanet quickly grew and by December of 1969 it had four nodes. By 1972 it had 37 and then started the process of connecting up networks to each other and the internet, a network of networks, came into being.
Thanks to all engineers who helped put things from theory into practical use especially Dr. Donald Davies and his team in England.
The work is concentrating on ways to improve security, enshrine fairness so no-one can hog capacity and guarantee quality of connection to support exquisitely time sensitive applications such as remote surgery.
There's no doubt that the net's first step was the start of a giant leap.

Final words, the appreciation and give big thanks to all who helped made this Internet possible, became the real useful for people around the world to communicate and share endless ideas, research works, pleasure and business, data and information. Without them it certainly we may not have come thus far.
References: http://news.bbc.co.uk and http://wikipedia.com

Paul Baran Internet foundation father dies at 84

2011-03-31T18:46:00.000-07:00

Paul Baran considered most importance figure when it comes to the Interne, who helped build the foundation for the modern Internet by devising a way to transmit information in chunks, has died and was 84 year old in his Pal Alto, California, USA.

The Internet could not be so much advanced if not Mr. Paul Baran and he became one of the pioneers behind "packet switching," which helps a communications network withstand an attack by bundling and dispatching data in small packages, while working on Cold War military research for the Rand Corp. in Santa Monica in the 1960s. The Department of Defense used that concept in 1969 to create the Arpanet, which laid the foundation for the modern Internet and it is so used widely today.

Rest in peace Mr. Baran and we should all remember the history and legacy of yours forever.. Thank you for your involvement which helped change the world communications today.

XY Mobile Lao Tablet for 2011

2011-03-15T02:23:00.000-07:00

During the weekend of March 11-12th 2011. JICA and Faculty of Engineering put up the IT event called IT Festa. XY Mobile presented Lao mobile and tablet as the main event show. We talked about background, history, the need and future of Lao language on mobile and tablet. Audience has been very positive and eye-fulled, and gave thumbs up for our efforts.

Attached is Vientiane Times article of our presentation on Lao language mobile.

Android 3.0 'Honeycomb' SDK to be released

2011-01-30T20:13:00.000-08:00

All anticipated the release date of Android 3.0 dubbed Honeycomb tweaked for especially for the tablet. Various forums and enthusiasts dissected the elements of the new OS, including the UI, multitasking, typing, and Google Apps. Most notable is that in the Android 3.0 SDK. Much is multitasking improvement, handling multiple applications with ease, and displaying the actual in-app screens, instead of just the app name and an icon. Also including home screens, the system bar, action bar, keyboard, cut/copy/paste, web browser, and more. They also highlight that you can drag and drop items, which is a needed feature, but something that we’ve been enjoying on iOS and HTML5 for a while now.

When 3.0 SDK released on Febraury 2nf, 2011, we expected a rush of developers and alike to get their hands on it. This could interesting...stay tuned.

Samsung Galaxy S tablet supports Lao language

2011-01-05T22:22:00.000-08:00

Just recently I installed Lao font and Lao keyboard onto Samsung Galaxy S tablet. This unit has Android 2.2 (Froyo). We are working on the development for a complete of Lao language capability (menu) on all Android based mobiles. It will be interest to see Android become a common gadget in Laos and for Lao people to communicate and to be used for business and for other purposes.

The pictures show of a Lao student Danousone Inthavong of his new gadget Samsung Galaxy S with Lao language capability. He uses the tablet for school activities and as pleasure.

Motorola enveils Zoom tablet with Android 3.0

2011-01-05T17:53:00.000-08:00

As said 2011 is a year for the tablet. Companies are churning tablets because Android 3.0 is enhanced and designed for tablets. Motorola finally unveiled its highly anticipated tablet, the Xoom, with a 10.1-inch touchscreen with the latest version of Google's Android mobile software on board, formerly called Honeycomb.
Google worked with Motorola and chip maker Nvidia on the launch of Android 3.0 on a tablet device.
The Nvidia Tegra 2 dual core processor on board can deliver up to 2GHz of power, since each core runs at 1GHz.

2011 wll be theyear of tablets and Andoid

2011-01-04T19:07:00.000-08:00

2011 started off with the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, USA. Many vendors showing off their new year gadgets namely Android mobile phones and tablets. Companies such as Asustek showcased its 7.1-inch Eee Pad Memo, 12.1-inch Eee Slate and 10.1-inch Eee Pad Slider tablets. It also demonstrated its Eee Pad Transformer, which uses a docking station to convert the device into a notebook computer and extend battery life.

Like other computer makers, Asustek is trying to catch up with Apple Inc. (AAPL), which started the tablet trend last year with its iPad product. Since then, rivals including Dell Inc. (DELL) and Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE), have rolled out competing products. Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM), maker of the BlackBerry line of smartphones, is expected to launch a tablet called the PlayBook in the first quarter.
Tablet computer shipments are expected to more than triple to nearly 61 million units this year from just 18 million units last year, according to industry tracker iSuppli.

Also, 2011 could be the year of mobile payment service which Google is planning to launch a mobile-payment service based on near-field communication (NFC), enabling payment via cellphone at retailers.
Google joins several other companies with similar plans. Late last year, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Moble unveiled Isis, their own plan for NFC payments due in mid-2011, and eBay is said to be working on a system where phones could beam PayPal payments, also due later this year. NFC is a technology that communicates only over very short ranges—a matter of inches—and is built into very few phones currently on the market.
Thus 2011 could be the Android year which will surpass IPhone in terms of units shipment and roll out from major mobile and electronic vendors. According to Nielson, Android ran 40 percent of US smartphones purchased in the six months leading up to November 2010.

LG Optimus 2X Brings Dual-core CPU with Android

2010-12-16T22:28:00.000-08:00

Well, well. This development has gotten me excited. LG announced today the first smartphone with a dual-core chip, the Optimus 2X. Dual-core phones, which pack more processing power than the current single-core models, are expected to be a major trend for cell phones in 2011.

The Optimus 2X's 1 GHz processor, Nvidia's Tegra 2 chip, enables features like HDMI mirroring, which lets you duplicate whatever's on the phone's 4-inch WVGA display, including games, at full HD resolution on an external screen. It's also said to provide smoother Web browsing and allow multitasking of applications with virtually no screen lag. This new phone to be shipped with on Android 2.2 (Froyo) but will be able to upgrade to 2.3 (Gingerbread).
The phone will launch in Korea in January 2011, with Europe and other parts of Asia "to follow.

Samsung introduces Nexus S by the 16th 2010

2010-12-07T23:29:00.000-08:00

Some of us may already have some information on Samsung Nexus s (or Nexus 2). This is the latest Android phone to be introduces and this time is Samsung who produced the next version of Android mobile for Google. This Nexus S will have latest Android dubbed Gingerbread or simply called version 2.3. Nexus S is the first smartphone to run Android 2.3. With the device, co-created by Samsung and Google, Google reprises the Nexus line. The search engine launched the Nexus One online last year, but shuttered the store in May after disappointing sales. The latest OS build, codenamed Gingerbread, has a number of improvements, including support for NFC (near field communications) to enable mobile payments and other sensor-swiping capabilities; a gyroscope for improved gaming, multitasking and a refreshed user interface with a better keyboard. The Nexus S Android 2.3 runs on is no slouch, either. It offers the latest Google mobile applications, accessible via a contoured handset with a 4-inch Super AMOLED display to make the device comfortable whether it's in a user's hand or up against his or her ear

Samsung Nexus S will be on sale at the Bestbuy.com on the 16th December 2010.

China is now number 1 in supercomputer

2010-11-15T20:51:00.000-08:00

I just can't believe this could happen to the US where they owned and invented the technologies. But it is a reality, China is now called the super power in supercomputer. China has usurped the supercomputer crown from the United States. It may seem like just a day in the life--just another former glory of the United States falling to a rival nation. But, in the post-Cold War, Internet-era, this particular claim to fame comes with crucial bragging rights that can define the nation.

China's Tianhe-1A supercomputer, located in Tianjin at the National Supercomputer Center, is the new leader, though, with performance measured at 2.57 petaflops per second. The Chinese supercomputer is nearly 50 percent faster than the Cray, and another Chinese supercomputer--the Nebulae--holds the number three spot.

The United States still owns 275 of the top 500 supercomputers in the world, but that number has dwindled slightly--falling from 282 just since June of this year. The United States is not sitting idly by and watching its dominance of the supercomputer arms race trickle away, though.

In fact, the United States isn't just planning on retaking the supercomputer crown from China with some meager 50 percent gain in performance. The United States is developing two supercomputer systems reported to be theoretically capable of 20 petflop performance. That is an increase in performance almost 1000 times greater than the Chinese Tianhe-1A.

AMD Joins MeeGo

2010-11-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

AMD Joins MeeGo Linux Open Source Project for Next-Generation Mobile, Embedded Platforms. AMD to Contribute Engineering Resources to Help Drive Linux-Based Open Source Operating System for mobile.
This is a good combination since ADM has good reputation in making chips for embedded devices and for PCs in general.

Complete story from here: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/amd-joins-meego-linux-open-source-project-for-next-generation-mobile-embedded-platforms-2010-11-15?ref=nf

Android 2.3 'Gingerbread' is ready for showdown

2010-11-14T22:48:00.000-08:00

Android mobile operating system is ready to be served up to users—literally. The official Google Mobile Twitter account now links to a rather suspicious image of a plethora of gingerbread cookies that have been baked in the style of, you guessed it, the Android logo.

The culinary move comes in the wake of Google's first big clue that Gingerbread was nearing release—the launch of a giant Gingerbread man in the front of the company's Mountain View, Calif. headquarters. It's been a longstanding tradition that larger-than-life replications of the company's mobile OS codenames, all conveniently themed around delicious desserts, get added to the ever-expanding "sculpture gallery" at Google.

Ginerbread is the codename for the next version of Android and dubbed 2.3. With the functionalities that IPhone can only be envied of such as Video Chat, and VoIP and other services that integrated directly into its mobile OS.

With the plan of release Gingerbread on Samsung Nexus S, the new Android be the PLAYER and should be the real competitor to IPhone.

Android 3.0 Gingerbread ready by end 2010

2010-10-20T00:53:00.000-07:00

Google's Android operating system is set to get a major update in the coming weeks, in the form of Android 3.0 Gingerbread, which should become the first flavor of the platform to include real support for tablet PCs. With the OS version almost here, all that remains to be seen is when the first devices powered by it would be ready, something that might happen before the end of the year.

Among the major companies set to unveil tablet PCs in early 2011, we can count Acer, Asustek Computer and Micro-Star International, all three expected to bring their devices at CES in January.

Tablets should the major market targeting for the Android 3.0. Companies like HTC Corporation and Motorola are expected to launch Android 3.0 tablet PCs, as well as Samsung, which is said to plan showcasing at CES its “Android 3.0-updated Galaxy Tab.”

With the new release, Android is expected to increase its share on the tablet PC market. Moreover, it should grow even more next year, as soon as Android 4.0 is brought to the market.
Android is seen as a much cheaper option for makers interested in pre-loading it on Tablet PCs.

More interesting developments in the work.

Father of fractals, Benoit Mandelbrot, dies at 85

2010-10-18T01:30:00.000-07:00

Not so long ago, I was in love with fractals on my IBM PS/2 with 386 cpu (1988) and a very cool (back then) graphics card. I remember that I have constantly played, changed one or two values of fractal set which changes the look of fractals by itself...gosh...it was fun.

Benoit Mandelbrot, the father of fractals, died on October 14 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 85.
Mandelbrot fled Poland ahead of Nazi occupation when he was 11 and moved with his family to Paris. He studied at the Ecole Polytechnique under the mathematicians Gaston Julia, whose Julia set is a function of complex dynamics closely affiliated with a set of fractals now called the Mandelbrot set, and Paul Pierre Levy, an expert in probability theory.

After World War II, Mandelbrot got a Masters degree in aeronautical engineering at the California Institute of Technology and a PhD in mathematical sciences from the University of Paris; he did a stint at the Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton University after that, where he was sponsored by none other than John von Neumann.
In 1958, after a few years in academia, Mandelbrot became a mathematician at IBM's TJ Watson Research Center, a post he held for 32 years before retiring as an IBM Fellow and taking a teaching position at Yale University a decade ago.
Just as personal computers were going mainstream in the early 1980s, Mandelbrot put together his now famous book, The Fractal Geometry of Nature, which mainstreamed the idea of fractional dimensions and, more importantly, illustrated these fractals, as Mandelbrot called them, with hypnotic graphics.The Mandelbrot subset of the Julia set, seen herewith, is probably the most famous image in mathematics, akin to the most famous equation in physics, E=mc2.

Well, indeed, he was the one who gave the life and the meaning of mathematics which lead to computer graphics. Rest in peace Dr. Mandelbrot.

Lao mobile company on Viengjanh Times (VTE Times)

2010-10-12T22:04:00.000-07:00

Highlight of XY Mobile was on VTE Times Business section: Lao Mobile to be produced and developed by Lao company. Anousak, Allan, Lars Pedersen, and Lars Nielsen were interviewed.

OpenOffice.org leaves Oracle, becomes LibreOffice

2010-09-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

After months of Oracle since it acquired SUN Microsystems, OpenOffice.org, the open-source office software suite that for years has been trying to position itself as a free alternative to the Microsoft Office behemoth, is evolving. A major restructuring of the OpenOffice.org project announced today has separated OpenOffice.org from database developer Oracle, which inherited it when it acquired Sun Microsystems earlier this year.

This removes control of the suite from any one company. As if to highlight the change and signal the start of a new era, the OpenOffice.org project is now officially known as The Document Foundation. Because the OpenOffice.org trademark is owned by Oracle, the software suite itself has been given the temporary name of LibreOffice—"free office." (According to reports, Oracle has been asked to join the Foundation and donate the OpenOffice.org brand to the cause.)

A statement on The Document Foundation's Web site lays out the Foundation's goals:

Our mission is to facilitate the evolution of the OpenOffice.org Community into a new open, independent, and meritocratic organizational structure within the next few months. An independent Foundation is a better match to the values of our contributors, users, and supporters, and will enable a more effective, efficient, transparent, and inclusive Community. We will protect past investments by building on the solid achievements of our first decade, encourage wide participation in the Community, and co-ordinate activity across the Community.

The current version of LibreOffice, LibreOffice 3.3 Beta (picking up at exactly the version number where OpenOffice.org left off) can be downloaded from The Document Foundation's Web site.

So it is a turning point of OpenOffice for better of course.

Samsung introduced Android based tablet

2010-09-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

Samsung Galaxy Tab Tablet, it is also called the Android's Dream Machine. This tablet is here to compete with Apple’s just launched tablet iPad. Samsung Galaxy Tab is Samsung’s first tablet device. Nearly half in size as compared to iPad, the Galaxy Tablet has a perfect 7-inch display screen with a pixel resolution of 1024-by-600 .Weighing only 13.8 ounces, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is bound to become a trendy tablet soon amongst the young professional crowd.
With a keyboard which looks relatively similar to the iPad, the typing experience is also good enough. The user interface, however, does not impresses with a large number of newly added features. Little alterations have been rendered to the desktop, the widgets, the status bar and the applications tray. But the calendar, e-mail and music applications do look a bit more exciting and worthy of usage.

The table was on the show in IFA Berlin last week. It's a 7-inch touch-screen tablet featuring Android 2.2, or Froyo, Flash 10.1, 16GB or 32GB of memory, GPS, a gyroscope, accelerometer, and a 3.2-mega-pixel camera with autofocus and a flash.

Samsung hasn't said how much it will cost yet. It could sell for between $200 and $300, but because it will be sold through wireless carriers, each will be allowed to set their own price.

The same WSJ report says that in the U.S., three major carriers--AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint--will sell the Galaxy Tab.

Android to overtake Blackberry and IPhone within this year

2010-09-12T20:59:00.000-07:00

Unthinkable when Android was introduced two years by the giant Google. It is happening now. So move over iPhone and Blackberry: the Android is on its way to the top. Thanks to a variety of devices and smart pricing, smart phones based on Google’s OS may take over the US and global cellular market by 2014.
ArsTechnica website reports that Android based devices threaten to take second place from Apple’s iPhone in the American smart phones market and by the end of the year are expected to lead the market. The German research company,Gertner, believes that by 2014 Android based devices will rule the cellular market and their distribution will be second only to Nokia’s Symbian devices. RIM’s Blackberry and Apple’s iPhone will settle for third and fourth place respectively.
Undoubtedly the data shows an expansion of global Android distribution from 18% today to 30% by 2014. This represents a large chunk of mobile based Android indeed.

Google giving away free development tool

2010-08-09T23:39:00.000-07:00

Yes, Google is so generous that is giving away development tool called App Inventor. Yes indeed. This is very smart move made by Google itself. Google is launching a new tool on Monday (July 12th,2010) that lets anyone create an app for Android phones.

This app allows anyone to create and develop an Android App. Google App Inventor claims to enable non-coders to develop complete (without having knowlegde of C/C++/Java or other programming languages), working Android apps by connecting a series of “blocks.” Google has been testing App Inventor in schools for a year. At the time of writing, App Inventor is only available to those who apply via a form. Anyone can join.

It’s a smart concept. Not only is the Android Market, an open platform for developers (with no approval process, a la Apple’s App Store), but now we’ll likely see a vast array of specialized apps built by non-developers. This could radically increase the volume of apps in the Market versus the App Store.
I do hope to have some young Lao team to take advantage of this as well. We will be able to develop some good Lao contents and apps for various sectors, especially educational apps, for Android mobile.

Sales of Android surging past iPhone's, Nielsen study says

2010-08-02T23:55:00.000-07:00

More smart phone research on Monday indicates the Android operating system has moved past the iPhone platform.

The Nielsen Co. reported that Android now represents 27 percent of new smart phone purchases in the United States, ahead of 23 percent for the iPhone. The numbers are for the second quarter, but it's unclear how much of the iPhone 4 is represented, considering it came right at the end of June.

But the figures, if accurate, show that Android is indeed on a tear, no surprise to anyone watching the smart phone space. With every carrier in the United States now supporting multiple Android phones, it's a simple numbers game, one that Apple can't overcome with its once-a-year new phone strategy. The latest figures back up a similar finding by NPD earlier this year that Android devices have eclipsed the iPhone.

According to the report, Android sales have gone from 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 17 percent in this year's first quarter. Apple's share has dropped from 34 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 to 27 percent in this year's first quarter. Research in Motion is also seeing slowing growth with new sales dropping from 39 percent in the fourth quarter to 33 percent in the second quarter. A year ago in the second quarter, RIM's share in the United States was 45 percent.

Again, in the end this is a numbers game and Android has the advantage of running on devices from a handful of manufacturers. The latest fleet of Galaxy S Android phones from Samsung will only add to the platform's momentum.

This is a significant move since its inception nearly two years ago. In this coming months more and more handset manufactures will spin out more Android based handsets thus will even make Android system more attractive among the existing and new users.

Hold your breath: A 35 USD computer IS ON THE WAY

2010-07-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentle men, can you believe this a $35 computer has been introduced in India that will run on the Linux operating system. This machine will be the solution to low cost computing we all been looking for ands should a big leap in resolvring digital divide gap in many partsof the wotrld, Laos is including.
This computer is a touch-screen tablet looks like an iPad and will be Internet accessible, have web browsing, basic word processing and video chatting. To cut manufacturing costs, the device uses a memory card instead of a hard disk, and buyers will be able to purchase a solar power add-on. "This is our answer to MIT's $100 computer," Kapil Sibal, India's human resource development minister, told the Economic Times.
A prototype of a $100 laptop was introduced in 2005 by Nicholas Negroponte, cofounder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab. India rejected this model because it was too expensive.
Sibal hopes to eventually get the cost of the $35 Linux device down to $10 after initial launch.
It is unthinkable where US have tried couple of times anfd failed becuase parts were quite expensive. what a solution and remarkable ways that IIT engineers have come with. Cheers!! I can't wait to get my hands on this machine and put Laonux on it.

My first cell phone

2010-07-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

Well...almost everyone has a story to tell. This is my story of having the cell phone. That was around 1989 when I was still in the college in upstate New York, USA. The cellphone was only the beginning at that time and it was a hot commodity. People seemed to be quite fasinated of this new technology including myself. So I decided to get one and it was a car cellphone from Motorola where long antena has be attached to the rear of the vehicle and that cellphone is attached permanently to the long wire. This seems to be alright; however, the fees that incurred for this was outraged compare to nowdays. Fro example it was 300 USD to install, $300 for the phone, and you have to sign 2-year contract with the service provider. There is no flat rate fee for calls if my memory serves me. The calling rate depends on time and place you made the call and was around 0.50-1.50 USD. Go figure.

In Laos, a friend once said. In 1993 or so, If you owned a mobile phone, it means you either rich or you are crazy. To own a mobile phone, 20 grams or so, you have to spend at least 2000-3000 USD which meant that cell phone cost around 2000 USD, the SIM card priced at 500 USD, and some other accessories that service provider able to drain your pocket.....my, my....I thought it was tough call for my to make in New York but in Laos as even harder ...that was then and this is now where SIM card is just pennies. Time flies and changes so fast in 20 or odd years.

Android gains martket share

2010-07-08T23:37:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not Android with its two years existence has gain market share from Apple and the rest of the smartphone market.
Google's Android platform grew by 44 percent from February to May, according to a report released Thursday by ComScore. During the three-month period from December to February, Android commanded an average of 9 percent of the U.S. smartphone market. In the next three-month period, from March to May, it had shot up to an average of 13.

Now, it goes without saying that 13 percent is still a relatively small piece of the pie. But the overall trends are what we're watching here -- and, gauging by a wide range of data from numerous sources, Android is showing consistent growth at a pace its competitors can't match.

Meego on Nokia N8

2010-06-28T21:19:00.000-07:00

This is actual Meego OS runs on Nokia to called N8 mobile.

Meego (Linux mobile and Tablet) OS has arrived version 1.0

2010-06-28T21:08:00.000-07:00

Nokia has released the first version of Meego 1.0. The reason was because MeeGo 1.0 is aimed at developers and device manufacturers - actual MeeGo netbooks are not expected until later this year. The Linux-based MeeGo operating system will be the new platform of choice for Nokia's flagship N-series smartphones
Further, this MeeGo release is only for netbooks. MeeGo 1.1 for handhelds and other touch-based devices such as tablets is promised in October, though Nokia's Valtteri Halla has said that "a kind of pre-alpha release" of the handset software is set for June 30 Nokia has recently announced that its high-end N Series will move from Symbian to MeeGo in future editions.

Stay tuned.....

Nokia E66 and E71 hacked to include Lao language

2010-06-28T19:35:00.000-07:00

I recently cracked Nokia E66 and E71 for Vientiane Times staff to include or should I say be able to handle Lao language interface. It was a good learning experience, especially Symbian type of OS.

Lao language in the mobile has been gradually surfaced nowadays since I started to develop the first version of Lao mobile in 2006. Thanks to the operators and others for their willingness and support of their own languages on computer and mobile as a whole.

Vientiane Times IT my second article June 26th

2010-06-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

My second article of Computers History has been published. There will be three parts altogether. This article covered many interesting events in the history making of computer scientists starting early of 1900's towards the end of 1970.

[most deleted..]

Hollerith built a company, the Tabulating Machine Company which, after a few buyouts, eventually became International Business Machines, known today as IBM. IBM grew rapidly and punched cards became ubiquitous...

Entering the Harvard Mark I computer which was built as a partnership between Harvard and IBM in 1944. This was the first programmable digital computer made in the U.S. But it was not a purely electronic computer.
.... One of the primary programmers for the Mark I was a woman, Grace Hopper. Hopper found the first computer "bug" and it was the word "bug" had been used to describe a defect since at least 1889 but Hopper is credited with coining the word "debugging" to describe the work to eliminate program faults. Around 1953 Grace Hopper invented the first high-level language, "Flow-matic" and eventually became COBOL which was the language most affected by the infamous Y2K problem. A high-level language is worthless without a program -- known as a compiler -- to translate it into the binary language of the computer and hence Grace Hopper also constructed the world's first compiler.

In 1959, the IBM Stretch computer was constructed of 33 foot length and hold the 150,000 transistors (this later became what is I called now a Mainframe).

One interesting aspect of computer comes around 1937 when by J. V. Atanasoff, a professor of physics and mathematics at Iowa State University, attempts to build an all-electronic (that is, no gears, cams, belts, shafts, etc.) digital computer. By 1941 he and his graduate student, Clifford Berry, had succeeded in building a machine that could solve 29 simultaneous equations with 29 unknowns. This machine was the first to store data as a charge on a capacitor, which is how today's computers store information in their main memory (DRAM or dynamic RAM). Professor Atanasoff was considered a forefather of modern digital computer by most scholars.

Another candidate for granddaddy of the modern computer was Colossus, built during World War II by Britain for the purpose of breaking the cryptographic codes used by Germany.

The Harvard Mark I, the Atanasoff-Berry computer, and the British Colossus all made important contributions to evolution of modern computers. Both American and British computer pioneers were still arguing over who was first to do what, when in 1965 the work of the German named Konrad Zuse was published for the first time in English. Zuse had built a sequence of general purpose computers in Germany. The first, the Z1, was built between 1936 and 1938 in the parlor of his parent's home. Zuse's third machine, the Z3, built in 1941, was probably the first operational, general-purpose, programmable (that is, software controlled) digital computer. Without knowledge of any calculating machine inventors since Leibniz (who lived in the 1600's), Zuse reinvented Babbage's concept of programming and decided on his own to employ binary representation for numbers.....

Will continue with more recent events in the next article....

My first IT article in Vientiane, 19th June 2010

2010-06-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

My first IT article in Vientiane Times, a well-known English newspaper, was published on the 19th June, 2010.
I will be covering topics in computer and its technology ranging from the first in the history of computers to software development in Lao PDR. The subjects should be of the computer/network/Internet securities, software for banking, software for the government and education, database development, Internet usage and its benefits, Lao software development, and last but not least, the most important one, is of the Open Source software for Lao PDR as a whole.

I welcome any suggestions or comments of my style of writing or anything that needs to be improved.I can be reached at anousak@gmail.com

History of computers (Two part series)

Computers has come a long way. Let's examine and start from the beginning and see how much we have developed since the first computer come to realized.

(deleted most of the contents, extracted some contents herewith)

Starting with and described the eariest form of computer called the abacus which used for mathematical computations. Described in 1617, a Scotsman named John Napier invented logarithms and his Napier's Bones which led directly to the slide rule, first built in England in 1632 and still in use in the 1960's by the NASA engineers of the Gemini, Mercury, and Apollo programs which landed men on the moon. Other section described the other event in 1642, Blaise Pascal, 19 years old, invented the Pascaline as an aid for his father who was a tax collector. Pascal built 50 of this gear-driven one-function calculator (it could only add) but couldn't sell many because of their exorbitant cost and because they really weren't that accurate (at that time it was not possible to fabricate gears with the required precision). Few years after Pascal invention, the German Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (co-inventor with Newton of calculus) managed to build a four-function (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) calculator that he called the stepped reckoner because, instead of gears, it employed fluted drums having ten flutes arranged around their circumference in a stair-step fashion. Although the stepped reckoner employed the decimal number system (each drum had 10 flutes), Leibniz was the first to advocate use of the binary number system which is fundamental to the operation of modern computers. Leibniz is considered one of the greatest of the philosophers but he died poor and alone.The other change takes place in in 1801,when the Frenchman named Joseph Marie Jacquard invented a power loom that could base its weave (and hence the design on the fabric) upon a pattern automatically read from punched wooden cards, held together in a long row by rope. Descendents of these punched cards have been in use ever since. In 1822, the English mathematician named Charles Babbage has changed much of what it is in modern computing today the Difference Engine. The machine would be used to compute tables of numbers, such as logarithm tables. and the Analytic Engine. This device, large as a house and powered by 6 steam engines, would be more general purpose in nature because it would be programmable, thanks to the punched card technology of Jacquard. But it was Babbage who made an important intellectual leap regarding the punched cards. Because of the connection to the Jacquard loom, Babbage called the two main parts of his Analytic Engine the "Store" as known today as the hard drive and the "Mill", as both terms are used in the weaving industry. The Store was where numbers were held and the Mill was where they were "woven" into new results. These same parts are called the memory unit and the central processing unit (CPU) in the modern computers. At the same time an English lady named Ada Byron (19 years old) was a friend Babbage and was fascinated by Babbage's ideas and thru letters and meetings with Babbage she learned enough about the design of the Analytic Engine to begin fashioning programs for the still unbuilt machine. ... Ada earned her spot in history as the first computer programmer. Ada invented the subroutine and was the first to recognize the importance of looping. Ada programming language has been used in today computers around the world.

The next breakthrough occurred in America. The U.S. Constitution states that a census should be taken of all U.S. citizens every 10 years in order to determine the representation of the states in Congress. .. The census bureau offered a prize for an inventor to help with the 1890 census and this prize was won by Herman Hollerith, who proposed and then successfully adopted Jacquard's punched cards for the purpose of computation.

Hollerith's invention, known as the Hollerith desk, consisted of a card reader which sensed the holes in the cards, a gear driven mechanism which could count (using Pascal's mechanism which we still see in car odometers), and a large wall of dial indicators (a car speedometer is a dial indicator) to display the results of the count. Hollerith built a company, the Tabulating Machine Company which, after a few buyouts, eventually became International Business Machines, known today as IBM. IBM grew rapidly and punched cards became ubiquitous...

....continue next week.

iPhone Hacked to Run Android 2.2

2010-06-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

Android ...Android seems to be everywhere. It is another revolution indeed. If you are stuck with an old iPhone but wish you had an Android device, there’s a way to combine the two, creating a smartphone with the body of the former and the brains of the latter.

A recent hack shows how to run the latest version of Google’s mobile OS, Android 2.2 aka FroYo, on Apple’s iPhone 3G. The mod still has a few bugs and isn’t stable enough for everyday use, but it’s a first step towards creating a hacked Android operating system for the iPhone.

Next would be Android for Blackberry...

Chrome OS Strives to Replace Desktop Culture

2010-06-03T03:05:00.000-07:00

Google's Chrome OS is coming to a netbook near you sometime later this year. The Web-centric, Linux-based, open source platform will offer a lightweight, cost-effective alternative operating system for portable computing. Eventually, Google plans to expand the scope of Chrome OS to take on Windows on the desktop as well--a goal that requires both a solid operating system and a significant culture shift.

It is happening now...am I dreaming.

Google bans Windows OS at work

2010-06-03T02:54:00.000-07:00

This might be a sign of of desperation. Google 'getting rid of Windows'. Google is reported to be getting rid of desktop PCs running Microsoft. Windows across the corporation to eliminate a security risk.

The Financial Times reports that the company, which has more than 10,000 staff worldwide, is now offering new recruits the choice of using computers running the free Linux operating system or Apple Macintosh computers.

The company refused to confirm or deny the reports, issuing a brief comment saying that it would not discuss "operational issues".

Microsoft, however, claimed that the move was simply part of Google's attempts to standardize on its new in-house operating system, called ChromeOS.
The shift away from Windows is claimed to have begun in January, after Google realized that the operating system had been part of a chain of weaknesses that allowed a damaging attack against some of its core systems by Chinese hackers in December.

IPad it is a revolutionized product but not to rule the world

2010-05-31T00:29:00.000-07:00

The news seem to be everywhere that IPad is an revolution product. Apple has done a very good job in bring a new product such as an Iphone and now it is an IPad. I can say it will turn the tablet industry up-side down but this will no mean that the Ipad will rule the world. Now, the scenario, is that the attention is turning into domino effect such as Android has gain so much momentum in both of the world of the mobile and tablet sectors. So many companies are chruning out their mobile and tablet based Android OS. So whether IPad can stand this trend is another story to see. Also Meego, a consortium of Nokia and Intel, is also in hard working on mobile and tablet developments as well. I can simply say that Ipad will short live until the two giants will step in for kill. The market still have a big room for growth though so competition will make even smarter products as far as we have seen the trend in the past. Cheers all!

One Laptop Per child re-invent itself for low cost tablet

2010-05-28T00:55:00.000-07:00

The MIT-hatched nonprofit that has tried to produce a $100 laptop for children in the world’s poorest places is throwing in the towel on that idea — and jumping on the tablet bandwagon.

One Laptop Per Child’s next computer will be based on chip maker Marvell Technology Group’s Moby tablet design. Marvell announced a prototype of the device this year and said it costs about $99.

The new tablets will have at least one video camera. They’ll sport Wi-Fi connections to the Internet and “multi-touch’’ screens, and have enough power to play high-definition and 3-D video. Marvel hopes to make the screens 8.5 inches by 11 inches, the size of a standard sheet of paper. Unlike Apple Inc.’s iPad tablet, the device will also work with plug-in peripherals such as mice.

Negroponte said he eventually wants the tablets to run some version of the free Linux operating software. But the first generation of the tablet will probably use Android, the mobile-device operating system from Google Inc., or something similar.

Sweet new features of Android 2.2 Froyo!!!

2010-05-20T18:53:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have new stuff coming off of Google Today (Thursday 20, 2010). The Google I/O conference gave much of anitcipated new features of Android codenamed 'Froyo'. The list of new feautures seem to be quite excited for all of us and shall surpass the rivals:

The complete details from: http://www.pcworld.com/article/196833/google_android_22_questions_and_answers.html

What are the biggest new features in Android 2.2?

Where to start? The most significant core changes to the Android operating system revolve around these four points:

• Speed: Android 2.2 runs two to five times as fast as previous versions, thanks to a new Dalvik JIT compiler that allows for better CPU performance. And with a brand new Javascript engine, the stock Android browser is also two to three times faster than it was in Android 2.1. Plus, app switching should be noticeably smoother due to improved memory reclaim in the Froyo build.

• Flash: Froyo will be the first Android edition with full support for Adobe Flash and Adobe Air. (If you don't want to use it, you don't have to. If you do, you can. Choice -- now, that's refreshing!)

• Tethering: Android 2.2 has built-in support for tethering, though carriers will likely have to choose to allow it. Of course, you can turn your Android phone into a wireless modem on your own -- right now, with or without Android 2.2 -- if you know how.

• Mobile hotspot support: Along with tethering comes the ability to use your phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot, spreading your 3G connection wirelessly to other devices. Again, carriers will presumably have to sign off on this and may or may not allow it for free.

(Time out: Are you seeing the Android 2.2 images on this page? If not, you may want to click here to view the story in its original location. That'll let you see screenshots of all these tasty Froyo features in action.)

How will apps change with Android 2.2?

Hey, good question; you're clearly an intelligent and amiable individual. The answer is that with Froyo, Google's giving us a bunch of new ways to take advantage of apps from the Android Market and beyond. The highlights:

• SD card installations: Yep, you'll finally be able to install apps on your SD card, smashing the space limitations of Android versions past. You'll be able to select where you want each app to be installed -- SD card or internal storage -- and even toggle it back and forth with a couple of clicks later.

• Auto-update and update-all functionality: Froyo introduces the option to have your apps automatically update themselves when new versions roll in; you just configure the permissions to your likings and Android does the rest. If you decide to stick with manual updates, Android 2.2 will let you update multiple apps at the same time with a new "Update All" button inside the Android Market.

• App backup: A new option within the Android settings menu lets you back up and restore your apps' data. You could use this to recover lost information or even just move data and settings from one phone to another.

• Cloud-to-device messaging: It's as cool as it sounds. Android 2.2's new cloud-to-device messaging capability means developers can build in Web-based functions that will communicate directly with your phone. So, for example, you could click on a button in a Google Map on your PC and have it automatically open the same map -- complete with driving directions -- on your phone. Not too shabby.

Will Android 2.2 look any different?

The Froyo interface isn't substantially different from the Android 2.1 UI, but there are a few small tweaks: The home screen gains a new permanent bottom-bar with links to the phone app and browser; that bar stays in place even as you switch from one home screen panel to another.

If you're an Android newbie, Froyo has a new home screen tips widget that can help you learn the ins and outs of configuring your home screens.

And the unlock screen in Android 2.2 gets a new twist: You'll be able to set it to have a numeric or alphanumeric PIN instead of just a swipe pattern, if you so choose.

How about some Bluetooth voice dialing already?

Ask, and ye shall receive: I'm happy to report, my fellow Android enthusiasts, that Android 2.2 will in fact support Bluetooth voice dialing. It'll also have added support for Bluetooth-enabled docking stations and better compatibility with car-based kits.

What's this talk about a new Web-based Android Market?

It isn't ready yet, but Google is working on an update to the Web-based Android Market that'll bring all sorts of new app options our way.

With Android 2.2 and the new Android Market, you'll be able to browse apps on your PC and then download them to your phone -- without ever plugging the phone in. The apps will be delivered over-the-air as soon as you complete the transaction.

Also in the works is a new music service that'll offer MP3 sales directly from the Web-based Android Market. The files will be automatically downloaded over-the-air to your phone with this feature, too.

Then there's the streaming: You'll eventually be able to stream any non-DRM music files from your PC to your Android phone. It'll be made possible with the help of software by Simplify Media, which Google revealed it had recently acquired for use within Android.

So far, there's no set date on the launch of any of these features.

Will Froyo do anything for my phone's camera?

Android 2.2 does have a few small improvements to the camera function, namely a set of new on-screen buttons that'll make it easier to zoom and adjust your settings without having to dig around. The camcorder gains an LED flash option for nighttime videos (you're welcome, Paris), and also new options for optimizing video size and quality for MMS or YouTube uploads.

On a related note, Android 2.2's Gallery app gets a nifty new feature that'll let you use a zoom gesture to look inside stacks of photos.

Anything new on the enterprise front in Android 2.2?

You'd better believe it, bucko. Android 2.2 boasts auto-account-discovery and calendar sync for Exchange, as well as beefed up enterprise security features such as remote wipe for administrators, minimum password settings, and lock-screen timeout. It'll also offer global address list look-up within the E-mail application, meaning users will be able to autocomplete names from a company's directory without having to mess with their personal contact lists.

Spiffy. So when will Android 2.2 come to my phone?

Early word is that the Froyo update will hit the Nexus One within the "next few weeks." The Motorola Droid is said to be scheduled for an update soon thereafter, allegedly in June. (Bear in mind, though -- especially Droid users -- past experience tells us that these target launch dates don't always work out as planned.)

HTC has indicated that most of its 2010-launched Android devices will be in line for a Froyo fix, likely sometime in the second half of the year. From the sounds of it, even the newly released Droid Incredible and soon-to-be-released EVO 4G will be on this same schedule.

For everyone else, it's a game of wait and see -- and, if you're a true Android fanboy, maybe salivate -- for the taste of Froyo.

LG releases first Android device – ships May 20

2010-05-17T01:25:00.000-07:00

Another mobile maker, LG, has done it and has announced their very first Android-based device, the LG Ally, which you can pre-order starting today or get one in stores May 20.

The LG Ally features a QWERTY keyboard and a 3.2-inch tempered glass touch screen with tactile feedback. Based on the specs, 512MB ROM and 256MB RAM, along with a MSM7627 600MHz processor, clearly the LG Alley is a mid-range Smartphone.

However, with a 3.2-megapixel camera, 4GB microSD card pre-installed, Android 2.1 OS, and Wi-Fi. It isn’t that bad of a device for someone who wants an Android phone, but wont need much in the way of pure power.

Complete details:
http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201019/5610/LG-releases-first-Android-device-%E2%80%93-ships-May-20

Verizon CEO: ‘We’re Working With Google on a Tablet’

2010-05-17T01:19:00.000-07:00

I know this could happen but not this soon. I am quite happy to see the trend is going upward as Google is pushing ahead to be THE mobile and tablet player with the Android OS.

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam says that his company is working closely with Google on a tablet computer. The tablet will be based on the Android operating system.

While neither Verizon or Google would confirm the hardware partner, McAdam mentioned Google in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “We’re working on tablets together, for example,” he said. “We’re looking at all the things Google has in its archives that we could put on a tablet to make it a great experience.”.....

Complete details story:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/05/verizon-ceo-were-working-with-google-on-a-tablet/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

ICANN reveals first non-latins domain names

2010-05-10T01:06:00.000-07:00

The first non-Latin domain names made their debut on the Internet on Wednesday

Choosing Arabic as the initial language, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) picked Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates as the first three regions able to use country-code specific top-level domains (TLDs). This means people in those countries will now be able to type addresses for regional Web sites using their own native language characters.

So Lao language could be added in the near future. Something like ອານຸສັກ.ລາວ rather anousak.la. Cheers ICANN for their multilingual vision.

Complete details: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-20004429-93.html

Hacker Brings Android to the IPhone 3G, IPhone 3GS Up Next

2010-05-10T01:03:00.000-07:00

Who said that Android cannot run on iPhone...it happened!
Apple surely isn't happy about this

Much like the open platform Windows invaded the traditionally closed hardware platform of Apple's Macs -- first unofficially, and then later officially condoned -- Android is now establishing a beach head on Apple's coveted iPhone.

Hacker David Wang, better known as "planetbeing" on the internet, made waves a few weeks ago when he showed off a first generation (2G) iPhone that he got running a modified Android OS kernel. Wang is well know in the hacking community for being one of the key contributors to the iPhone 3GS jailbreak. This week he showed off Android running on the iPhone 3G, or the version with the "nasty plastic, easily scratched back", as Wang puts it.

More complete details: http://www.dailytech.com/Hacker+Brings+Android+to+the+IPhone+3G+IPhone+3GS+Up+Next/article18331.htm

Biggest snake found in Laos 20-4-2010

2010-04-20T03:50:00.000-07:00

This makes my skin crawls...amagine what to do when you face this kind of snake...
I have heard and have seen (movies) that Anacoda is very big snake in the Amazon, Brazil but the snake found in Khammuan province makes Anaconda a baby snake.

This huge snake was killed by the dam construction workers in Nam Theuan Hinboun (hydro power plant) in Khammuan province, Laos. One worker lost life and was eaten by this snake.

PC Pioneer, H. Edward Roberts, Dies at 68

2010-04-05T22:07:00.000-07:00

Not many people in the computer world remembered H. Edward Roberts, not after he walked away from the industry more than three decades ago to become a country doctor in Georgia. Bill Gates remembered him, though.

As Dr. Roberts lay dying last week in a hospital in Macon, Ga., suffering from pneumonia, Mr. Gates flew down to be at his bedside.

Mr. Gates knew what many had forgotten: that Dr. Roberts had made an early and enduring contribution to modern computing. He created the MITS Altair, the first inexpensive general-purpose microcomputer, a device that could be programmed to do all manner of tasks. For that achievement, some historians say Dr. Roberts deserves to be recognized as the inventor of the personal computer.

For Mr. Gates, the connection to Dr. Roberts was also personal. It was writing software for the MITS Altair that gave Mr. Gates, a student at Harvard at the time, and his Microsoft partner, Paul G. Allen, their start. Later, they moved to Albuquerque, where Dr. Roberts had set up shop.

Dr. Roberts died Thursday at the Medical Center of Middle Georgia, his son Martin said. He was 68.

More details:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/03/business/03roberts.html

Android has Office applications (AndrOffice)

2010-03-17T23:45:00.000-07:00

This is very important for many smart phone users, Android in particular. The AndrOffice is now released version 1.5. You could be able to open/read/write any documents based on “Open Document Format for Office Applications” on your Android phone.

Details:
http://www.androffice.com/

Apple To Add Multi-Tasking In iPhone 4.0

2010-03-11T18:32:00.000-08:00

Friends. The race on smartphone has moved another step and now Apple has to be the one. IPhone users who've been longing to be able to run multiple applications on the device at the same time may soon get their wish.

Apple this summer will include multitasking in its iPhone 4.0 update, which will allow several third party apps to run at the same time as well as in the background. This is very unique features where Open Source and UNIX had capacity to perform.

Not too distance future, our Android will also add this feature as well.

Stay tuned and let the race goes on....

Should You Be An Entrepreneur?

2010-02-25T23:10:00.000-08:00

This question seems to be quite obvious. However most people think starting a business has to do with a nature of one's ability and etc. Whether you are fit to start up a business or not, Daniel Isenburg, professor of Management and Practice, Babson College in Boston, had come up with a series of questions that can give you and guide you whether you fit for a business

Some of your friends might be doing it. People who do it are in the front pages and web almost every day. Even President Obama is talking about it. So should you do it? Prof Daniel's a 2–minute Isenberg Entrepreneur Test, below, to help you find out. Just answer yes or no. Be honest with yourself and take this test.

I don't like being told what to do by people who are less capable than I am.
I like challenging myself.
I like to win.
I like being my own boss.
I always look for new and better ways to do things.
I like to question conventional wisdom.
I like to get people together in order to get things done.
People get excited by my ideas.
I am rarely satisfied or complacent.
I can't sit still.
I can usually work my way out of a difficult situation.
I would rather fail at my own thing than succeed at someone else's.
Whenever there is a problem, I am ready to jump right in.
I think old dogs can learn — even invent — new tricks.
Members of my family run their own businesses.
I have friends who run their own businesses.
I worked after school and during vacations when I was growing up.
I get an adrenaline rush from selling things.
I am exhilarated by achieving results.
I could have written a better test than Isenberg (and here is what I would change ....)

If you answered "yes" on 17 or more of these questions, you might fit and start yourself a company.

otorola expands its lineup of smartphones powered by Google's Android OS at Mobile World Congress (MWC) with the touch-screen Quench.

2010-02-15T19:57:00.000-08:00

Quench, its latest handset powered by Google’s Android open-source operating system. The touch-screen smartphone, which offers capabilities such as pinch and zoom and a touch pad, also features Motoblur, Motorola’s Android-powered content delivery service, which organizes messages and synchronizes contacts. The handset also includes Adobe Flash Lite support. It will be available in the first quarter of 2010 in the United States, the company said, where it will be known as the Cliq XT and offered through T-Mobile USA.

Samsung's Bada (ANdroid alike) revealed

2010-02-15T19:48:00.000-08:00

Samsung is finally revealed its Android like OS for mobile dubbed Bada. The new phone is called Wave and is a swift and effective, slim and responsive, with a very bright "Super AMOLED" screen and an interface that looks like Android's, but isn't. This phone runs on 1 GhZ processor and touchscreen that seemingly is the best of its kind. The Wave runs Samsung's new Bada OS, which relies on their traditional widget-based TouchWiz UI but lets third-party programmers write their own apps for the phone.

Further news to come....

Nokia, Intel team up in phone software race

2010-02-15T19:43:00.000-08:00

It will very interesting scenario indeed. Nokia and Intel partnered in what is called a unique position for mobile development, especially in the software side.
Nokia, the world's biggest maker of mobile handsets, said on Monday it would merge its Linux Maemo software platform, used in its flagship N900 phone, with Intel's Moblin, which is also based on Linux open-sourced software, to create a new platform, MeeGo.

The market is already crowned with new OSes such Android, Bada, and now Meego. Phew....

Complete details:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61E2Y920100216?type=technologyNews

OpenOffice.org 3.2.0 released today

2010-02-11T19:20:00.000-08:00

There are lots of new improvements to OOO:

OpenOffice.org 3.2.0 (build OOO320_m12) was released today.

A lot of new features have found its way into the new version. Here are just a few of them:

faster start up times
improved compatibility with open standard (ODF) and proprietary file formats
improvements to all components, but especially in the Calc spreadsheet with many new or enhanced features
the Chart module (usable throughout OpenOffice.org) got a usability makeover as well as offering new chart types
Impress and Draw provides the new Comments implementation that is already known from Writer
Base got now also the zoom slider to increase/decrease the view seamless

Lao language will be added in the next release of OOO with modifications and add-ons.

Details:
http://blogs.sun.com/GullFOSS/entry/openoffice_org_3_2_0

Powerful Smartphones Bound for Mobile World Congress

2010-02-11T00:50:00.000-08:00

Only couple days left to the Mobile World Congress to be held, Barcelona, Spain.

New mobile operating systems, improved AMOLED displays and an onslaught of Android phones are expected to highlight the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

We expected to see Samsung own OS dubbed Bada, couple of Android phones from HTC, new and improved, Sony-Ericsson, Win Mobile 7 in action, LG, Nokia, and Chinese made Android.

Details:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/189068/powerful_smartphones_bound_for_mobile_world_congress.html

Symbian is officially 100% Open Source

2010-02-05T00:32:00.000-08:00

Well...good news for us and for Nokia ...Symbian is now as of Wednesday 4th, 2010 become 100% Open Source mobile Operating System. No one ever thought this could happen but Nokia spent 400 millions bought out Symbian in early 2009. Symbian is the most popular OS for mobile and is being used and installed on many brands around the world (approx 400 millions handsets worldwide). There is pierce competition between two biggest rivals: iphone and Android. The decision made by Nokia to release Symbian as Open Source is 4 months ahead of the official target.
Cheers and happy programming and hacking on Open Source Symbian from now on.

Lenovo Android 2.1 Lephone

2010-01-20T23:42:00.000-08:00

Lenovo Lephone Features and Specification:

WCDMA
Snapdragon 1GHz Processor
3.7-inch (480 x 800 pixels) Touchscreen
3 megapixel Camera
Front VGA camera for Video Calls
Custom UI
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
GPS

LG shows off Moblin and Intel Atom-powered phone

2010-01-10T17:34:00.000-08:00

Well, CES 2010 is just finished and most of the show went to to mobile gadgets namely Android and some others in particular other variant of Linux Mobile OS namely Moblin short for Mobile Linux.

LG has unveiled the GW990 smartphone at CES, the first to use Intel's Moorestown platform, alongside Intel's Moblin Linux OS.

The phone itself is gigantic, but includes a 4.8-inch screen that features a 1024x480 resolution. The device gets about 4 hours of talk time and 300 of standby for its 1850 mAh battery, and includes a now-standard 5MP camera.

The Moblin OS looks similar to Android but has much less developer support as of yet. LG uses an "S-Class" UI for the GW990, adding 3D effects and large, colorful icons.

Details from here:
http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/21214.cfm

Google One (N1) has revealed today at 1PM pacific time

2010-01-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

Finally Google has done it and officially annouched the exisitence of Nexus One. It said it is all hyped but the fact is the Google Android has gain so much attention in the market and within the mobile community. So it may not be the IPhone killer but it is the big rival that Apple can think hard on how to counter pursuit. As said the Android OS has gain large percentage within 3-4 months time frame. The race has just begun and the strongest will survive and indeed will be here for good.

What's in Nexus One:

3.7-inch WVGA AMOLED screen
HSPA 900/1700/2100 (3g)
7.2Mbps download speeds, 2Mbps upload speeds
EDGE support for AT&T
512MB RAM
512MB ROM
4GB microSD in the box
Up to 32GB memory extension support
5-megapixel camera with autofocus, 2x digital zoom, LED flash and geotagging support
802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi support
Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
A2DP stereo Bluetooth
AGPS
Digital compass
Accelerometer
Dimensions: 119 x 59.8 x 11.5 mm
Weight: 130g with battery
Android 2.1 OS the latest version

Very impressive!

Priicng:

1) $530 USD for unlocked (can be used with GSM or 3g networks around the world) can buy from Google directly or its resellers yet to be determined
2) T-Mobile and ATT (subsidized/with 2 year contract for $179 US)

Statistics show Android has gain the market share

2010-01-05T01:26:00.000-08:00

and the future looks bright indeed. Google is poised to unveil its strongest iPhone rival yet later today(5/1/2010) — the Nexus One.

Time will tell and see what Google has in store for the users.

Google Nexus One Phone Likely to Launch Jan. 5, 2010

2009-12-29T19:19:00.000-08:00

Google’s much-anticipated new phone, the HTC-designed Nexus One, could make its debut next week.

Google has scheduled a press event for Tuesday, January 5 at its Mountain View, California, headquarters. Though the company hasn’t mentioned Nexus One, the invitation mentions Android, Google’s mobile operating system for phones, and the company is widely expected to show the device that has had smartphone industry watchers buzzing for weeks.

This is going to interesting year for Android indeed. Go Android!

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/new-google-nexus-one-phone-likely-to-launch-jan-5/

Hacker Breaks GSM Mobile Phone Code

2009-12-29T19:09:00.000-08:00

December 29, 2009

A German computer scientist working with a team of experts has broken the code used to secure about 80% of the world's mobile phones. But the group responsible for protecting GSM communications said Tuesday the feat is a "long way from being a practical attack."

Researcher Karsten Nohl, a former graduate student at the University of Virginia, revealed his decryption methods this week at the Chaos Communication Conference in Berlin, the largest hackers conference in Europe. Nohl and a team of two dozen other experts worked for five months to crack the security algorithm that protects Global System for Mobile communications.

What does it mean? Well, this can be bad for users which someone can purchase tools on the market and be able to listen to your conversations.

Details:

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/185552/gsm_encryption_cracked_showing_its_age.html

Virtualbox for multiple OSes on your machine

2009-12-29T19:02:00.000-08:00

VirtualBox is an x86 virtualization software package, is the third most popular software package for running Windows programs on Linux desktops and vice versa. Originally created by German software company Innotek, now developed by Sun Microsystems as part of its Sun xVM virtualization platform. It is installed on an existing host operating system; within this application, additional guest operating systems, each known as a Guest OS, can be loaded and run, each with its own virtual environment.

Supported host operating systems include Linux, Mac OS X, OS/2 Warp, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Solaris; there is also an experimental port to FreeBSD.^[1] Supported guest operating systems include a small number of versions of NetBSD and various versions of DragonFlyBSD, FreeBSD, Linux, OpenBSD, OS/2 Warp, Windows, Solaris, Haiku, Syllable, ReactOS and SkyOS.^[2] The latest version also supports Windows 7.

The application can be downloaded via SUN:

http://dlc.sun.com/virtualbox/vboxdownload.html#linux

Google phone: Nexus One

2009-12-15T21:18:00.000-08:00

Hooray!! The rumor has revealed the truth. Yes Google has made its own phone dubbed 'Nexus One' and is based on Android 2.1. The Google has given its employees the phone to try out on 14-12-2009.

The Google Inc plans to sell two versions of its own-branded cell phone: one with a service contract with T-Mobile USA and another that is unlocked, a source familiar with the matter said. The phone, manufactured by HTC,

This believed to be the PHONE that can be up against Apple's IPhone

Stay tuned and more to come.

Cheap netbook for everyone, Cherrypal $99

2009-12-15T21:16:00.000-08:00

Budget computer vendor CherryPal has announced the availability of a new $99 netbook. The device, which has a 7-inch display and a 400Mhz ARM processor, is designed to run Windows CE and Linux.

This could be huge benefits for developing countries like Laos.

More details:

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/12/cherrypal-announces-99-netbook.ars
http://www.cherrypal.com/products.php

Samsung has a new Mobile OS called Bada

2009-11-10T19:26:00.000-08:00

Well, Samsung the number two South Korean electronics maker has recently announced that it has its own mobile OS called Bada (from bada.com) and will reveal its SDK in December 2009. The new mobile OS will be based on Linux system similar to Mobile Linux Foundation and others. However the framework will be different. Stay tuned for more details during December 2009.
I strongly believe that Samsung will learn from both Iphone and Android so that it could enhance the features to suite the users' needs.
Cheers and stay tuned.

Moto Droid (Android V. 2.0) on sale

2009-11-10T19:21:00.000-08:00

Yes this is indeed a good news for Android fans around the world. Motorola and Verizon USA had jointed hand to bring Moto Droid and HTC Eris to the market. It seems there is much hyped during pre-launch on the 6th of Novemever 2009. During the first weekend, the source, Verizon sold at least 100,000 units of Droid. This is quite impressive but far below Iphone launch in 2007. Anyhow it is the first mobile that used Android 2.0 and that it was quite inpressive in terms of look-n-feel and features available on the Android 2.0.
The analysts had it that in a long run Android will surge and to be matched of Iphone in poplarity and features. Close but no cigar. Stick with it Android and ling live the free and open system.

Android 2.0 code named Droid by Motoroal revealed by Verizon USA

2009-10-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

Android 2.0 code named Droid by Motorola revealed by Verizon in the USA today and to be on sale by the 6th of November, 2009. It is the first phone that incorporated the latest SDK of Android 2.0 and the first Android 2.0 phone impresses with a strong suite of Web features and a stunning 3.7-inch display. The Droid is a powerful Web surfing and communications tool that has a chance of living up to its hype. Analsysts predicted that this could be the IPhone contender and that manay more handsets to be coming soon to the stores near you.

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/product/324707/review/droid.html

Web addresses may adopt non-English characters

2009-10-26T21:22:00.000-07:00

The Internet may be getting friendlier for a significant chunk of the world. A proposal is up for a vote to let Web addresses use non-English characters.

Such a project for Lao could be created to take the localization into an account. For example, ອານຸສັກ.ຄລກ (for business) could be translated to anousak.com at the root level easily.

The proposed change (PDF), known as Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), will allow the use of non-Latin characters in the entire address. Currently, such characters are allowed only in part of the address. IDNs will let people who write in Chinese, Korean, or Arabic use their own languages to surf the Web, and is expected to jump-start Internet use in many regions across the globe.

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which is responsible for managing domain names on the Net, will review the historic, hot-button proposal on Friday at its six-day 36th International Public Meeting in Seoul. If approved, IDNs could kick in as early as mid-2010.

Complete details: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10382873-93.html

Acer debuts Liquid Android Smartphone

2009-10-15T19:01:00.001-07:00

Acer has official released Android based Smart phone: Liquid.

Acer Liquid is a touchscreen smartphone running Android version 1.6, formerly codenamed Donut and the latest upgrade to the software. Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset inside the smartphone provides processing power and other capabilities.

The smartphone also includes a camera that tags photos with location information from the built-in GPS receiver, so people know where and when they snapped a shot. Songs and videos can be played on the handheld. Liquid is designed for Internet browsing, and allows high speed Web access through HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) mobile networks.

Details: http://www.pcworld.com/article/173648/acer_debuts_liquid_android_smartphone_new_netbook.html

Acer releases dual boot Android and Windows netbook

2009-10-15T18:56:00.000-07:00

Acer has moved another step closer to make Android become THE OS for both PC and mobile platforms. It just released its first Aspire One netbook running Google's open source Android mobile operating system (OS). The Acer Aspire One AOD250 dual boots both Android and Microsoft Windows XP, out of the box. On the AOD250 Android is acting as an "instant on" operating system for quick access to the Internet while Windows boots.

Completed details: http://www.h-online.com/open/news/item/Acer-releases-dual-boot-Android-and-Windows-netbook-829795.html

Acer 1 Android to be unvealed within weeks

2009-09-28T02:01:00.000-07:00

A description of the Android-powered Acer A1 that has come out ahead of the formal unveiling shows that this model will have features include:

* Processor: Qualcomm 8250 768 MHz
* Androïd 2.0 (Donut)
* ROM: 512 MB
* RAM: 256 MB
* 3.5-inch touch-sensitive screen
* WVGA resolution
* HSPA/WCDMA: 850, 1900, 2100 MHz – Up to 2 Mbps up-link and 7.2 Mbps down-link speeds
* Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE: 850/900/1800/1900 MHzInternal GPS antenna
* Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR and A2DP
* Wi-Fi: IEEE 802.11 b/g
* 3.5 mm headset jack
* 5MP camera with auto focus
* 1350 mAh Lithium-ion battery
* 300 minutes talk time
* 400 hours standby time
* MicroSD expansion slot
* Dimensions (LxWxT): 115 x 62.5 x 12.5 mm
* Weight: 135 grams with battery

Motorola reveals Cliq Android phone

2009-09-10T23:19:00.000-07:00

Motorola has revealed the Android phone, for the first time, named Cliq. The design and feel and look is quite similar to HTC T-Mobile G1. It is incorporated Google' OS Android 1.5 Cupcake into the system.
The company hopes to gain market share back with more models coming out later this year.
Details from this link.
http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-6454_7-10001537-1.html?tag=mncol;txt

Microsoft mis-educates buyers at Best Buy on Linux

2009-09-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

From http://news.cnet.com/8301-13846_3-10346669-62.html

Just when it seemed like Microsoft was content to bag on Google and Apple, screenshots of anti-Linux training materials hit the Internet a few days ago. If these are fakes, someone certainly spent a lot of time making them look and sound a lot like previous Microsoft training materials.

According to the anonymous source, Microsoft has been sending Best Buy retail staff training material that deliberately attacks and distorts Linux. And from the screenshots below (originally posted on Overclock.net forum) it's clear Microsoft is threatened by Linux--if for the wrong reasons.

ຄວາມແຕກຕ່າງລະຫວ່າງ Ubuntu/Suse ກັບ ລີນັກຊ໌ ອື່ນ ຯ

2009-08-30T19:51:00.000-07:00

ຄວາມເເຕກຕ່າງມີດັ່ງນີ້:

1) Ubuntu/Suse ເເມ່ນພັດທະນາເພື່ອສັງຄົມທົ່ວໄປ ສະເພາະ ເເລ້ວ ເເມ່ນ ໃຫ້ຄົນໃຊ້ລະບົບ ລີນັກຊ໌ ດ້ວຍຄວາມສະດວກ, ງ່າຍ, ເເລະ ປັດສະຈາກປັນຫາກັບປັນຫາ drivers ເເລະ ສີ່ງອື່ນ ຯ. ສ່ວນຫລາຍ ຜູ້ໃຊ້ ຄອມ ເຄີຍໃຊ້ ລະບົບ ວີນໂດ ສະນັ້ນ Ubuntu/Suse ຈື່ງ ມີການພັດທະນາ ໃຫ້ມີຄວາມສະດວກດັ່ງກ່າວຄືກັນ ເເລະ Ubuntu/Suse ກໍ່ໃດ້ເພີ້ມ features ຫລື ລູກຫລີ້ນ ເເລະ ປັບ Desktop ໃຫ້ໃຊ້ງ່າຍ ເເລະ ຫນ້າເບີ່ງ/ສົນໃຈ. Ubuntu/Suse ຈະເປັນ ລະບົບ ເເບບ workstation ເເຕ່ສາມາດປັບໃຫ້ເປັນ ລະບົບ ເເມ່ເເຈກ (server) ກໍ່ໃດ້.
ຄີດວ່າ ລະບົບ ນີ້ຈະເປັນ ລະບົບ ທີສະມາດ ເເຂ່ງ ກັບ Microsoft ໃດ້.

2) ລີນັກຊ໌ ອື່ນ ຯ, ຕົວຫຍ່າງ Redhat/Centos, ເເມ່ນ ພົດທະນາໃນໂຕກ່ຽວກັບການປ້ອງກັນ (securities) ເເລະ ຈະເນັ້ນໃສ່ເປັນລະບົບ ເເມ່ເເຈກ (server) ນັ້ນເອງ.. ນີ້ລະ ເປັນຈຸດເເຕກຕ່າງກັນ.

Tethering is not new and useful tool to access the net

2009-08-28T23:24:00.000-07:00

The word Tethering is not new and it is increasing important part of accessing the Internet from your Netbooks, Notebooks, and/or PCs via smart phones like Android based HTC G1, G2; and Nokia phones, and most of the Windows based systems. The good old ways, as most of us have used to, accessing the Internet without the boradband was via modem. Nowadays, with broadband accessibity from mobile makes life easiser, my case that is...So
Tethering works by connecting a device that can access the Internet to another device that cannot. This can be done through Bluetooth wireless technology or WiFi, USB, GPRS, EDGE, CMDA, 3G, and etc.

Here are some tools:

Linux:
Proxoid- from
AZLINK- http://code.google.com/p/azilink/

Steps to configure Proxoid. For Ubuntu users and having HTC G1 or G2 follow here:http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Blogs/Productivity-Sauce-Dmitri-s-open-source-blend-of-productive-computing/Tether-an-Android-Phone-Using-Proxoid

I found Proxiod very easy to setup and configure over the USB connection fast and reliable.

For Windows smart phones, please check your mobile model and do a search with the word ' Tethering xxxx how to' you'll find many tools.

Have fun!

Motorola set to hold international event for Android handsets

2009-08-26T19:45:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago I posted an article about Motorola to reveal its mobile phones Android based and now it is confirmed. The 10th of September Motorola will hold an event in San Francisco to show off the 3 Android based mobile phones: Blur, Sholes, and Morrison. These three models be the life saver for Motorola according to many sources. The handsets is supposed to be budget-friendly, which means it could come out for less than $100 for Morrison and upper range of 100 and 200 USD for Blur and Sholes respectively. We will see the reaction of the users and alike. Cheers to Motorola for taking such drastically move and god blessing the Android.

Details:
http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2009/08/motorola_to_sho.html;jsessionid=PN54RUIA3IRQBQE1GHRSKHWATMY32JVN

Linux and Virus...far less with Linux than Windows...

2009-08-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

Linux and Virus... It is known that Virus problems are far less with Linux than Windows...

There are discussions about this in lenght and one can find the comparison quite easy.

Let me summary this way;

1) A virus in Linux would have to gain root rights and know the root password to damage the system
2)Windows systems just are far more easy to infect, hijack. Windows have standard build: for example, a virus can target iexplore, outlook express, outlook etc.

3) Linux has multiuser privileges built. Unix/Linux architecture/account-file privileges ensures that any malicious programs/scripts that manages to get executed, damages the home-directory only (in case of root, its a disaster!!). Keeping the rest of the accounts safe!!!

4) Specifically, for many years, windows ran everything as administrator. Which meant you could change anything. Made life more convenient, and far more dangerous. Malicious active-x controls could do *anything* to your machine.
5)Microsoft applications there is almost always some kind of API hook into the program. A virus writer or malicious user just needs to find one of these API calls that has a bug in it, and they can cause mass havoc. In essence, Microsoft is its own worst enemy...

Final summarize is that the Linux/UNIX is the toughest and hardest to infect with viruses, spams, because the system has been designed and built with the security in mind from the beginning period. Billions of servers and up coming desktops are running 24/7 without a glitch that proves the strongest of all. Windows on the other hand prone to viruses and malwares, and spams so thus will always be as it is no matter what version is producing for the consumers.

Details of discussions can be found here: http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers=&gid=43875&discussionID=6342678&commentID=5946340&trk=NUS-DIG-DISC-Q-uc-mr&goback=.hom#commentID_5946340

Unthinkable: Nokia Enters PC Market With Mini-Laptop Launch

2009-08-24T18:57:00.000-07:00

In a bid to bolster sagging handset sales, Nokia Corp. (NOK), the world's biggest mobile-phone maker, is entering the PC business.

On Monday, Nokia unveiled its Nokia Booklet 3G. The "full-function" personal computer with high-speed mobile Internet access capability uses Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Windows software, Nokia said. Nokia didn't reveal pricing details, but the device appears to be a high-end version of netbook computers that have become popular because of their mobility and low price tags.

Details: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090824-710475.html

Linux Software RAID - A Belt and a Pair of Suspenders

2009-08-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

Linux comes with software-based RAID that can be used to provide either a performance boost or add a degree of data protection.

This tutorial is an excellent about LINUX RIAD software which described the method for the various tasks. It gives a quick introduction to Linux software RAID and walks through how to create a simple RAID-1 array.
Details:
http://www.linux-mag.com/cache/7475/1.html

Hackers attacked more than 660 banks in US

2009-08-19T18:30:00.000-07:00

Latest:

I posted a day earlier that there was a massive credit thelf by gang of hackers. Now the information has it that there are more than 660 banks nationwide were impacted in the massive credit card data theft allegedly executed by international computer hacker Albert Gonzalez, according to a list compiled by Bankinfosecurity.com, underscoring the need for credit card and debit card users to check their statements regularly for charges that seem out of place.

The banks, which voluntarily reported their involvement to the Web site, range in size from small, single-branch, operations to nationwide behemoths.

Details:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/finance/banks-hit-hacker/

Dell's Android officially unvealed in China Mobile

2009-08-19T00:22:00.000-07:00

It is no longer a 'rumor', it is official. The Mini3i will be an Android-based smart phone with an entry level features. The Dell MiNi3i was unveiled today by the Chinese wireless carrier China Mobile. It is not clear where the phone will be released elsewhere.
Another excellent news. Go Android!!

Details: http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=15529&news=Dell+mini3i+Google+Android

Using Cyber space as a place for war

2009-08-19T00:14:00.000-07:00

Last year's cyber attacks that brought internet traffic to a standstill in Georgia were carried out by civilians and Russian crime gangs, in some cases with the unwitting help of websites and software companies located in the US, according to researchers.

Targets: In some cases during the week-long offensive, servers and botnets used to attack Georgian websites simultaneously targeted e-commerce sites.

In all, 11 government websites were felled by the botnets, which directed a torrent of traffic at their targets.

Details can be found: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/18/georgian_cyber_attacks/

Google's Chrome browser for better and faster

2009-08-19T00:08:00.000-07:00

I have been following the Chrome Google browser for quite sometimes and have asked them to include Lao language as well. Recently, the have built the browser for Linux systems and have tested. It seems that it is much better then the rest in terms of performance, loading, graphics, rendering of texts, and etc.

Google hopes to take a large share of users a way from IE, Firefox, and Safari. I think they can and they will.

Details: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2009-08-18-google-chrome_N.htm

Hackers hacked retailers systems stolen 130 millions credit info

2009-08-18T23:59:00.000-07:00

There were headlines during this week about hackers attacked computer systems and stolen at least 130 million consumers' credit cards information. The technique they used simply called ' SQL injection attacks' method. They use SQL injection attacks to break into Heartland's systems and those of the other companies. Once they gained access to a network, the attackers then planted sophisticated packet-sniffing tools and other malware to detect and steal sensitive payment card data flowing over the retailer's networks.

Complete details information can be found here: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9136805/SQL_injection_attacks_led_to_Heartland_Hannaford_breaches_

Motorola's reveals Android handset

2009-08-03T22:59:00.000-07:00

This is quite exciting news and indeed another proof that Android will become the OS for next generation of mobile.

Motorola Shules is a Google Android powered smartphone set to be released on the Verizon networks. Shules is the codename and the device will be known differently when launched.

The rumoured features include:

3.7″ Touchscreen with 480*854 resolution
512MB Internal Memory and micro-SD card slot supporting cards upto 16GB (8GB card included in package)
5 Megapixel Camera with Autofocus
256MB RAM, GPS, Wi-Fi
3.5mm Audio Jack, Bluetooth 2.0
60.00 x 115.80 x 13.70 mm, 169 grams
1400mAh Battery- 450 Hours Standby Time, 7 Hours Talk time
Audio Formats-AMR-NB/WB, MP3, WAV, AAC, AAC +, eAAC +, WMA
Video Formats-MPEG-4, H263, H264, WMV

Review: New Android phone better, the Cupcake

2009-07-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

New model of HTC Android phone dubbed G2 or to be named myTouch for T-mobile USA. The myTouch, which goes on sale Aug. 5, looks similar to the G1, but replaces the bulk of its predecessor's slide-out keyboard with a slimmer, lighter frame that sports a touch-screen keyboard like that of the iPhone. Its face is still dominated by a long screen, but it has a few more buttons below the screen, including one that offers a shortcut to Google's search engine.
Complete review:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jB28-nm5aBb9iciVBMoQ9kyvd_7AD99OCFDO1

ຮູບພາບ ພາສາ ລາວ ເເອນດຮຍ Screenshots Lao Android 1.5

2009-07-20T23:47:00.000-07:00

This build of Android is especially for Lao ...the following images show the internal localization of Lao language.
1) Virtual Lao keyboard
2) Build system under Laonux machine
3) Settings localized partially
4) Voice Recorder App
5) Apps: Settings, Browser, AlarmClock, Camera, Calendar, Msuic, and email
6) Android Desktop shows Lao apps...

Today 20-7-2009 Lao Android in enabled!!!!

2009-07-20T01:19:00.000-07:00

Today, I was able to compile Android 1.5 so-called Cupcake with Lao language ,(full localization is just begun).I shall capture the screenshots and post it soon. Hooray and Hooray...the new beginning!

Phetsarath is now included in Android

2009-06-30T23:48:00.000-07:00

Good news is that I have included Phetsarath font as part of the system wide development. The is display still have some issues with tonemarks and will need to work with the Android to patch the rendering engine of the Android system.
Cheers,

Android 1.5 Lao virtual beyboard map developed

2009-06-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

The virtual keyboard for Android is now developed and is working correctly as display in the attached picture.

Khmer on Android 1.5

2009-06-30T23:24:00.000-07:00

Recently I has a chance to work with a Khmer friend, Danh Hong, to see if Khmer is supported in Android 1.5. We installed Khmer Opentype font and modified the system to accept the new font. Voila it works as shown here. However there were some issues with Khmer displays such as positions of characters and that vowels were not display correctly. These issues shall be fixed by the Android team where they need to patch the rendering engine of the Android.

Dell to make Android phone

2009-06-30T02:31:00.000-07:00

Hardware giant Dell has advanced plans to make an Internet capable handheld device which uses the Google Android operating system.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the machine can't be used as a cellphone but instead falls into a category Intel has been pushing called a mobile internet device (MID).

But Dell won't be following its well worn route of using Intel chips, claims the report. Instead it is likely to use an ARM based chip - that's something of a slap in the face for the chip giant, which faces fiercer competition in this sector from the British based fabless chip company.

The Journal said that Dell started developing the MID last year after it abandoned an attempt to compete with Apple in the iPod sphere.

The report also claimed Dell is working on Android smartphones and is negotiating with different cellular companies to promote the gizmos.

Moblin and Android Developments

2009-06-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

Moblin and Android shall be the best Netbooks and Mobile OSes...tweaking internals now so it will include Lao support soon.

OpenOffice with JavaFX

2009-06-03T19:39:00.000-07:00

Oracle was the first top-tier IT vendor to announce it was putting its key product - the database - on Linux. The logic was simple: Linux freed Oracle from depending on a single company for operating system - that company was Microsoft.

Taking the baton from Sun Microsystems' co-founder and chairman Scott McNealy at JavaOne this week, Oracle's chief executive Larry Ellison has seen his opportunity for independence again

Ellison threw a curve ball at JavaOne: he revealed he's been secretly meeting Sun's product groups and has decided that he likes JavaFX as an interface architecture. Ellison, ahem, "encouraged" the OpenOffice group to quickly build libraries for the C++-based suite using JavaFX.

This is going to be quite unique...JavaFX is better then what we have in the OpenOffice (look and feel and etc) now.

Complete story from here:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/04/ellison_javafx_commitment/

Lao users needgood contents and local language

2009-06-03T01:06:00.000-07:00

As far as I am concerned, most operators lacked good contents. Why? I think it is neither cost nor capability. It is because they simply ignored the potential. Most of the vendors here don't seem to care much about Lao language as well. I have developed the first version of Lao language mobile and users seemed to react positively but they want more options- who can provide them?
Most of the mobile phone, nowadays, having only Thai and other languages but sad not having Lao support.
Operators, too, are not thinking about utilizing the full potential of mobile phones as well. Most contents as I observed are capable of downloading ringtones, music, some video clips....they want more.

I am working with the officials at the NAPT to do more..policy and pusing the operators to pay more attention. I hope that users can get more contents with the local language support within not long distance.

Cheers!

Security Project: Open Source called Dazuko

2009-05-31T21:39:00.001-07:00

Open Source Project Dazuko

An example for the IT security competence of Avira is the open source project Dazuko with the first on access scanner under UNIX.
http://www.dazuko.de

ໄວລັດ ຊື່ Thayet Myo Hacking Day! ລົງຕົວ

2009-05-31T21:22:00.001-07:00

ມື້ນີ້ຄອມທີ່ເເລ່ນໃນ OS Windows ແມ່ນມີປັນຫາກັບ ໄວລັດ ຊື່ Thayet Myo Hacking Day! ທ່າງແກ້ກໍ່ຄືລົງ ໂປຣແກຣມຕ້ານ ຫລືຖ້າມີກໍ່ໃຫ້ update ຫຼືໃຫ້ຊ່ຽວຊານເບີ່ງຊ່ອຍ.

ຖ້າຍັງບໍ່ມີກໍ່ດາວໂລດຈາກບ່ອນນີ້:
http://download.cnet.com/windows/3055-2239_4-10322935.html?tag=pdl-redir

ວິທີແກ້ໃຂ:

1. Open My Computer, click on tools and select Folder option.

2. Go to View Tab, and select “Show Hidden files and folder” and uncheck “Hide extensions for known file system” and “Hide protected operating system files (recommended)”.

3. Start the pc on Safe mode.

4. Delete the explorer.exe files in C:\recycler, C:\Windows\Backup and C:\.

5. Open regedit and delete explorer file in hkey_local_machine/software/microsoft/windows/current version/run .

6. Restart the pc. Update the AV installed on your pc and scan whole HDD.

ລາວ ອັກສອນນໍາເຂັ້າໃຊ້ໃນ ແອນດຣອຍ/ Lao UNICODE is included in Android

2009-05-30T00:16:00.000-07:00

ອັກສອນລາວ ແບບຢູນິໂຄດນໍາເຂັ້າໃຊ້ໃນ ແອນດຣອຍ ເເລ້ວ/ Lao UNICODE is included in Android ແລະ ມັນກໍ່ທໍາງານໃດ້ດີຫລາຍ...ອັກສອນລາວ ເພັດຊະຣາດຈົ່ງຂະເລີນແລະຫມັ້ນຄົງ.

18 to 20 Android phones to land by the end of the year

2009-05-29T23:20:00.000-07:00

This is quite interesting road ahead for Android based phone roll-out. There may only be a couple Android-capable phones on the market right now, but by the end of the year, there could be as many as 20. Google discussed the company's plans this week to work with eight or nine unnamed manufacturers in order to roll out the devices, which may be available overseas earlier than here in the US.
Bring them on...cheaper ones so I can make them in Lao language for the Lao mass.

For news:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2009/05/18-to-20-android-phones-to-land-by-the-end-of-2009.ars

ແປ້ນພີມຊອບເເວລ໌ ລາວສໍາລັບ Android ໃດ້ແລ້ວ

2009-05-29T22:09:00.000-07:00

ໃນເວລານີ້ ແປ້ນພີມລາວ ຊອບເເວລ໌ ສໍາລັບ Android ໃດ້ສ້າງ ແລະ ທັດລອງແລ້ວ. ຈະໃດ້ພັດທະນາຕໍ່ໄປອີກ.

Success build Lao Android virtual keyboard...
Cheers!

AIS Thailand offers Android phones

2009-05-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

This is good news...AIS ໄທ ນໍາ Android ມືຖືເຂົ້າສູ່ຕະລວດແລ້ວ. ມັນເປັນການດີອາດເປັນຕະລາດຕໍ່ໄປໃນລາວ. ດີໃຈນໍາເດີ AIS.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/telecom/17413/ais-offers-android-phones

ສົມທຽບ ມືຖື ແອນດຣອຍໃຫມ່ HTC Magic vs. Samsung I7500

2009-05-23T02:35:00.000-07:00

ນີ້ຄືມືຖືລູ້ນໃຫມ່ ຂອງ Samsung ລູ້ນ I7500 ກັບ HTC G2ໃ ສັງເກດເຫັນວ່າ I7500 ຈະມີຂະນາດໃຫຍ່ກ່ວາ G2. ເລື້ອງລູກຫຼີ້ນອາດຈະເປັນການລໍຄອຍອິກນ໋ອຍນື່ງເດີ.

http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&sik=1243070651559&aIdx=0&articleID=37750347&goback=.hom