Technology News: Products

Verizon Launches a Droid of a Different Color
November 06, 2009

Amid the frenzy Friday surrounding the launch of Verizon Wireless's Motorola Droid smartphone, another Verizon Android handset also made its debut -- the HTC Droid Eris. The Eris is essentially a slightly modified version of the HTC Hero, a phone Sprint started selling last month. The one-two punch powered by the Droid and Droid Eris mark the beginning of a new Android line of phones from Verizon.

Droid Lurches to Life
November 06, 2009

Today is the day of the Droid. The Motorola smartphone touches down today in what's shaping up to be one of the biggest handset launches in recent memory. Of course Verizon is going all-in as far as advertising is concerned, but there's more to the Droid's story than a marketing campaign.

Droid: Enjoyed
November 06, 2009

If I had my way, I would encourage Verizon Wireless to invest in both hologram technology and more "Star Wars" film rights. That would allow the carrier to hire an Alec Guinness lookalike who could pop up in 3-D visions in Verizon stores across the country, wave his hand over racks full of Motorola's new smartphone, and in full Obi-Wan Kenobi drag intone the words, "these are the Droids you're looking for."

There's Something About Droid
November 05, 2009

Verizon Wireless is stoking the excitement around its upcoming Motorola Droid smartphone, which it will officially put on sale on Friday. The buzz on the Droid isn't driven entirely by a marketing team, though. The phone's hardware has received many positive reviews, and it will be the first phone to ship with an updated version of the Android operating system.

Yahoo Lets FOSS Community Drive Its Traffic Server
November 04, 2009

In a move that resembles a major food vendor giving away its prize recipe -- minus the secret sauce -- to all of its customers and competitors, Yahoo on Monday donated the source code for its Traffic Server software to the Apache Software Foundation through the Apache Incubator Project.

Sony Ericsson Starts Some Early Buzz for a Late Android
November 03, 2009

Handset maker Sony Ericsson on Tuesday announced the new Xperia X10 smartphone. It will run on the Android 1.6 mobile operating system, also known as "Donut." The Xperia X10 will begin shipping to select markets next year. In announcing the Xperia X10, Sony Ericsson named the handset as the flagship device of a family of phones coming to market during the first half of 2010.

Firefox 3.6 Tweaks Are Mostly Under the Hood
November 03, 2009

Promising faster performance and a bevy of new features, Mozilla on Friday released the first beta version of its Firefox 3.6 browser. Built on the Gecko 1.9.2 Web rendering engine, the new version contains numerous improvements for developers and users, Mozilla said, including support for what it calls "personas," improved responsiveness and faster startup time.

Can the Karmic Koala Take on Win 7?
November 02, 2009

Well the Karmic Koala finally climbed down from its eucalyptus tree last week, and the general result was feverish excitement across the Linux blogs. Reviews of the new release seem highly favorable, on the whole, as does the download process via release mirrors and torrents. However, not everyone is convinced Linux is ready for the mainstream.

The Audacity of Droid
October 30, 2009

The Android mobile operating system is graduating soon to 2.0 status, and Google gave it a pretty nice present to celebrate: a free turn-by-turn navigation app called "Google Maps Navigation." It'll run on Android 2.0 phones with GPS, and it'll use the phone's cellular Internet connection to get live map information.

A Taste of Android's Freshly Baked Eclair
October 30, 2009

When the Verizon Droid from Motorola arrives next month, it will include a new version of the Android Operating system. Android 2.0, also known as "Eclair," will no doubt show up in lots of other new smartphones over the coming months. Android 2.0 ushers in a host of new features. Perhaps the one that sparks the most interest is its native support for Microsoft Exchange.

FOSS Goes to Washington, and Nvidia Keeps Its Driver Code to Itself
October 29, 2009

You know it's going to be a good week when it kicks off with news that the Obama administration has officially embraced the open source content management system Drupal. Just a few days later, the Department of Defense issued an almost glowingly positive memo on open source software.

Droid Steps Out of the Shadows
October 28, 2009

Following a spate of rumors, leaked specifications, and an ad campaign explicitly challenging the iPhone, Verizon and Motorola on Wednesday officially announced Droid, the first smartphone based on Android 2.0. It features high-speed Web browsing, voice-activated search, a customizable large screen, and access to thousands of applications and hundreds of widgets through the Android Market.

Android 2.0 Phones Get New Google Nav App
October 28, 2009

Google on Wednesday announced the beta release of a GPS navigation application for Android 2.0 devices. The application is part of Google Maps for mobile. Android version 2.0 will appear on the upcoming Droid handset from Motorola and Verizon, and other manufacturers also plan to release handsets carrying the updated, Google-backed mobile OS.

Ubuntu Karmic Koala Climbs Into the Ring
October 28, 2009

Canonical, the commercial developer of the open source operating system Ubuntu, will release on Thursday Ubuntu 9.10 Server Edition and Ubuntu 9.10 Desktop Edition. The two latest releases come on the heals of last week's release of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system. The latest Ubuntu releases could raise the ante in the competitive field of computer operating systems.

Drupal Takes Up Residency in the White House
October 27, 2009

Free and open source software just got a major boost: The Obama administration announced that it has adopted open source content management system Drupal for the Whitehouse.gov Web site. Though it may look much the same to visitors, the newly revamped Web site went live on Saturday with the goal of improving the tools visitors use to engage with White House officials and each other.

Mozilla's Raindrop to Provide a Tidy In-Box for Everything
October 23, 2009

Mozilla on Thursday introduced Raindrop, a project that seeks to consolidate online communications. The Raindrop team consists of the same people who worked on Mozilla's Thunderbird, an open source, cross-platform email client. Raindrop will complement Google Wave, the new data communication and collaboration tool from Google.