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Nokia Maps officially arrives on iOS and Android, touts offline storage
Nokia Maps is still getting development love, despite the Finnish manufacturer pinning its smartphone hopes and dreams on Windows Phone. The HTML5-powered maps are now willing to play ball with iOS and Android devices. Previously one of Nokia's strongest built-in functions on its own phones, the maps perform well on rival hardware -- although pinch-to-zoom isn't working on our Google devices. With Microsoft's Windows Phones touting some impressive HTML5 credentials, it wouldn't shock us to see something very similar running on Nokia's incoming WinPho. There's a smattering of online settings, including transport directions, but the best part is a new offline mode that will download neighborhood maps from your WiFi connection. Navigate your phone browser to the source link below to see how it works.
Amazon's new e-book format brings HTML5 support to your Kindle library
"Great looking books." That's what Amazon is promising to deliver with Kindle Format 8 (KF8) -- a new, HTML5-based file format for Kindle books. According to the company, KF8 will allow publishers to produce picture books, comics and graphic novels with greater ease, thanks to the platform's rich formatting capabilities and design elements. In fact, this format brings more than 150 new formatting tools to the table, including fixed layouts, nested tables, sidebars and Scalable Vector Graphics, among others. It should be noted, however, that audio and video are not included on the list of supported HTML tags and CSS elements. At first, content creators will only be able to use KF8 for the Kindle Fire tablet, though Amazon says it'll gradually expand to its entire lineup of devices and apps "in the coming months." No word yet on when KF8 will become available as an update to Amazon's Kindle Publisher Tools suite, but you can find more details at the source link, below.
Myriad's Remarkz HTML 5 web annotation app hands-on
W3C tests HTML5 browser compatibility, crowns IE9 the champ Myriad Dalvik Turbo hands-on: Android apps just got fast Myriad 'Alien Dalvik' runs Android apps on any phone... starting with MeeGo (video) It wasn't that long ago that Myriad gave us an exclusive sneak peek at its platform agnostic Android app emulator, Alien Dalvik 2.0. While we were there, the company gave us a glimpse of another project, called Remarkz, that piqued our interest. Remarkz is a slick little HTML 5 application that lets users annotate web pages with text and drawings and share the marked up pages via email, Facebook and Twitter. As opposed to using screen grab programs like Skitch or Jing, Remarkz keeps the web page links live and only requires adding a bookmark to get started. Additionally, a timeline feature lets you see when new notes are made on a page and who made them -- giving it greater potential for use as a collaboration tool. True to Myriad form, it works on any platform (tablets, PCs and Macs) using any browser that supports HTML 5. It's still in beta for now, but the app works pretty well despite a small bug here or there. Plus, given its egalitarian nature, Myriad hinted that we may see it on more screens (think big) in January at CES, which would up its cool quotient considerably. Interested? Check out a video walkthrough of the app after the break, and hit the source to start using it yourself.
MMObility: Illyriad devs shine light on HTML5
HTML5 is somewhat of a mysterious beast. We've probably all heard whispers of the "new" version of the standard web coding language, but to most of us it means very little. After all, why is it number five? Why is there a buzz about this new way of coding websites? Is "coding" even the right word? Oh, I've learned a thing or two over the years; I've built a few websites and have figured out some of the basics. My wife is a graphic designer, so I have learned a lot from her, including some of the stuff that makes up Flash and other graphical... things. But I am far from an expert. So I decided to ask Ben Adams and and James Niesewand, CTO and CEO of Illyriad Games, respectively, about HTML5. They are really starting to push the boundaries of the language with their game Illyriad. It's fun to learn about this stuff, and it's always nice to know how our mobile games are being made. Click past the cut and read the interview! Warning: Big words ahead!
Microsoft's Metro-style IE 10 has seen the future and it's plug-in free
Microsoft seems intent to push things forward, judging by its recent Build 2011 conference and the Windows 8 goods on display. Now, in an official blog post from the Redmond-based company, comes word that Internet Explorer 10 will be doing double duty, accommodating the web's old architecture and its HTML 5 future. Users who opt for IE 10's Metro-style app will be treated to a plug-in free experience, as MS has its eye on the evolving underpinnings of our information superhighway. Not to worry, though, the desktop app of the company's refreshed browser will still function as it always has, providing compatibility for Flash, and a host of other extensions. The company made the decision after surveying 97,000 internet sites worldwide, deducing that a portion of the 62% sampled defaulted to HTML 5 in the absence of plug-in support. Due in part to this intentional omission, the Ballmer-led co. now claims the new, touch-optimized version of IE 10 will run faster, sustain battery life and offer improved security and privacy. Not convinced? Well, you'll be able to test that out for yourselves when those Windows 8 slates hit the market.
AT&T Foundry innovation center opens its doors in Palo Alto to help devs do what they do
We've heard of keeping up with the Joneses, but this is getting ridiculous. First it was Verizon, then Vodafone, and now Ma Bell -- with an assist from Ericsson -- has built an innovation center in Silicon Valley. This new center completes the triumvirate of AT&T Foundry facilities (the other two are in Texas and Israel), and is a part of the company's strategy to accelerate the process of developing and delivering new products to its customers. Right now, there are over 100 projects in development in Palo Alto, and AT&T is looking to add more. Those who are chosen gain access to AT&T's networks and expertise to ensure that new projects play nice with all of the company's gear, and it's already produced a few things that were on display at the center's grand opening. Want a sneak peek at what's in AT&T's innovation pipeline? Read on past the break to get it. %Gallery-133819%
Visualized: an interactive timeline of the web
Ever wondered what the World Wide Web's illustrious history would look like if plotted in timeline form? Well, thanks to Google's "Evolution of the web," you won't have to. The delectable chart traces the evolution of HTML, the web technologies that came alongside it and the browsers that've held it all together -- all in a seriously meta HTML5 package. Ready for a trip down memory lane? Hit the source, friend, and revel at how far we've come.
BlackBerry Bold 9930 review
It's been something of a long time coming, this emboldened Bold. We got our first glimpse of the thing in February, spent some quality time with it back in June, and since then have sat around eagerly awaiting its release. Now, here it is. From a distance, or at a quick glance, it looks little changed from 2008's Bold 9000. But get closer, pick it up, and the difference is astonishing. RIM has gone to great pains to talk up this device's high-end design, its luxurious stylings, its sophisticated aesthetic. We're far from Vertu territory here, but the first time this phone hits your palm you know a lot of people spent a lot of time making it feel just right -- even if it still looks just the same. Of course, it's what's inside that counts, so join us as we find out whether the soft and hard bits beneath the surface can do the business too. %Gallery-130637%
BlackBerry Torch 9850 review
Monza. It's a beautiful part of Italy, a majestic park split by one of the most historic racetracks in the world, and it was also the codename for this rather more homely looking phone. This is a handset that would go on to be known by many names (Storm 3, Touch...) before receiving its final moniker: Torch 9850. Why all the pseudonyms, and why choose to confusingly overlap this with the somewhat similar but rather different Torch 9810 that's also officially launching today? Maybe RIM didn't know what to make of this keyboard-free phone. Maybe the company wanted to distance itself from the Storm. Or, maybe what we have here is a smartphone that's trying to find an identity by sadly ditching the feature that, for many, makes a BlackBerry a BlackBerry: the physical keyboard. How does this smoothie compare to the others, and is it worth sacrificing all the QWERTY wonder found within the 9810? Read on to find out. %Gallery-130638%
Mozilla planning a Chrome OS-like operating system for phones and tablets
The jury is still out on whether Chromebooks will sell like hotcakes (we're guessing not), but no matter to Mozilla. The organization behind Firefox has plans to develop its own operating system for mobile devices -- a clear shot across the bow at Google's browser-based Chrome OS. In a page on Mozilla's own wiki, a handful of senior developers announced their intentions to create a "complete, standalone operating system for the open web" running HTML5 apps. The OS, codenamed "Boot to Gecko," will be designed with tablets and handsets in mind, says Mike Shaver, the foundation's VP of technical strategy. And here's the fascinating part: the OS will rely on Google's own Android drivers and kernel to boot the device. In a Google Groups discussion thread, the lead devs said they chose Android over a Linux stack since so many device makers have focused their efforts on Android, and it makes sense to "reuse its lower layers." Still, they insist that they otherwise intend to borrow from it as little as possible. Obviously, don't hold your breath for Firebooks, as the project's very much in its infancy, but in the meantime there's some mighty interesting conversation happening in that discussion thread about Mozilla's lofty end game: breaking "the stranglehold of proprietary devices over the mobile device world." [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Microsoft updates Hotmail with more signature options, Gmail and Yahoo Mail keyboard shortcuts
Okay, it's not as titillating as the time Microsoft added conversation view to Hotmail, but the outfit did just freshen up its email service with a handful of helpful tweaks. Topping the list is an assortment of shortcuts, including the ability to right click a message to reply, reply all, or forward (you could already do this for other things, like marking something as unread). Hotmail also now responds to some additional Gmail- and Yahoo Mail-specific keyboard shortcuts, such as "#" for deleting messages -- a Gmail trick. And the company is none too subtle about admitting it wants the service to be user-friendly for folks if -- or when -- they switch from Google or Yahoo. Rounding out the batch of improvements, you get an easy way to recover deleted emails, an improved back button, HTML5-fueled speed improvements, and the option of changing your default font signature -- something we can't believe Hotmail has been missing until now. Hit the source link for the full spill, and find a short demo video after the break.
Google Apps is moving on, you'll need an HTML5 browser to go with it
HTML5 beckons the world with its dashing logo and also, we suppose, all the clever little things it can do. Desktop notifications in Gmail and folder-dragging in Docs already refuse to work with anything less -- and before long that will apply to the entirety of Google Apps. Come August 1st, you will find that Gmail, Calendar, Talk, Docs and Sites are all unsupported unless you're using either the current or last major release of Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome or Safari. An older browser won't suddenly stop working with Google Apps, but it will begin a steady descent into oblivion. Hey, being popular means you don't have to be nice.
No Comment: Friskies makes iPad web games for cats
So it's come to this. Originally, discovering that cats liked to play with the iPad was just a matter of coincidence -- Felix just liked to bat around the Magic Piano, and that was fine. But pet food maker Friskies has blown that idea right out, releasing a line of three full web-based games for the iPad meant to be played entirely by cats. It's true. Cat Fishing!, Party Mix-Up! and Tasty Treasures Hunt! are all games accessible from that website and built in HTML 5 just for the iPad, and as you can tell from the video after the break, all three of them are designed to attract your cat's attention. With bright shapes that move around in a jerky yet lifelike manner and flashy graphics that respond to paw touches, your cat now has its own games to play on your iPad 2. Friskies even warns that while cat claws can't scratch the iPad's glass screen, certain plastic covers might get scratched, so be careful. What they don't warn about, however, is that you might lose all of your Angry Birds free time to a game-addicted kitty. Beyond that, we have no comment. [via Laughing Squid]
Big pharmaceutical companies stockpiling iPads for future sales apps
Big pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of time, money and effort trying to attract the attention of doctors in order to get them to use their expensive new products. Doctors, it turns out, are busy people who give the sales reps about 30 seconds of their valuable time -- most of which is taken up signing receipts for the samples they're being given. So now big pharma is turning to the iPad as a way to grab doctors' attention -- even though they apparently don't, yet, have anything to actually show the doctors on those iPads. "During recent conversations with large pharmas, I have heard leadership at several companies make comments similar in nature to 'we have not yet purchased an iPad-based SFA (Sales Force Automation) software product, but we know we will eventually, so we're buying the devices now'," says Eric Newmark, an analyst at IDC Health Insights community. He says "more than one" big pharmaceutical company has told him that they're stockpiling iPads "in significant volume" for later use. The companies aren't even considering looking at alternative devices, believing that Apple's product gives them a better chance of keeping up with the latest technological developments. Apple products are already popular with medical staff, and it can't hurt to present new pharmaceutical products to them using iPads. "With big pharma already stocking up on the hardware, it seems likely that the apps they want will follow," says Newmark. Apple's absence in the pharma market is likely to rapidly change with Apple "likely to quickly become a dominant hardware vendor in the space." [Via The Mac Observer/MacOS Ken]
Apple approves JavaScript iOS games that don't use a browser
Look Ma, no WebKit! Your inner geek and nerd should give each other a little hug this morning as you read about the latest rather cool accomplishment of Dominic Szablewski, creator of the Impact JavaScript HTML 5 game engine. He's just released two free games, Biolab Disaster and Drop, which are not, as Szablewski says, the first JavaScript games to be released in the App Store. "Tools like PhoneGap or Titanium make it easy to bundle some HTML pages and JavaScript together in an app and display them in a UIWebView, which is basically just a browser window," he says. However, his games are different because they don't use a browser window to display them. "They don't use PhoneGap or Titanium. They don't even use a UIWebView. Instead, they bypass the iPhone's browser altogether and use Apple's JavaScript interpreter (JavaScriptCore) directly. All graphics are rendered with OpenGL instead of in a browser window and all sound and music is played back with OpenAL," Szablewski says. What Szablewski has done wasn't particularly easy, and as games, his offerings aren't up there with Angry Birds. But his work could open the way for other developers to write more apps with a minimum of fuss. Read his blog for full details of the process.
URL Hunter game takes place entirely in your browser's address bar, courtesy of HTML5
That's right, kids: the tyranny of the browser window is over! Thanks to Corey from ProbablyInteractive (as well as clever use of HTML5 and the Canvas tag), we now have URL Hunter. Using the left and right arrows keys, the player controls an ASCII "O" that has nothing better to do all day but kill the letter "a." When you find yourself on top of the "a" key, hit the space bar to earn a point. Simple? In theory, yes. But trust us -- It's harder than it sounds! Hit the source link to try for yourself.
Adobe releases Wallaby, experimental Flash to HTML 5 conversion tool
Adobe announced the release of Wallaby, an experimental tool designed to convert FLA files to HTML 5. This initial version of Wallaby is meant to convert animated Flash banners to HTML 5-compliant code. This output is optimized for viewing by WebKit-based browsers, including those on the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Since it is designed for banners, the first iteration of Wallaby is limited and will not convert ActionScript, movies or sound. The tool converts the Flash file to an HTML File, a CSS file, a JavaScript file and an asset folder that contains SVG and image content. The exported content has been tested on and is compatible with iOS 4.2. If you are not happy with the output, these files can be tweaked with a text or image editor if needed. If you are a Flash developer and want to give Wallaby a try, point your browser to Adobe Labs' website and grab the Wallaby application. It is a 32-bit Adobe Air application and is available for Mac OS X 10.5/10.6 and Windows XP/Vista/7.
Opera browser headed to Sony TVs and Blu-ray players
Opera has officially announced its much-loved web browser will be appearing on Sony TVs and Blu-ray players. There's no specific details, but it given its low-key presence at CES a few weeks ago (Sony Insider grabbed a video of it in action on the show floor -- embedded after the break -- unfortunately hampered by slow connection speeds) it will spread at least across the company's 22 new connected HDTVs. Since the browser is based off of the Opera devices SDK backbone, it's also not a stretch to imagine that Opera-enabled web applications, widgets, or other content using standards like HTML5 (no Flash, at least not yet) could piggy back onto Sony gear at some point. The real elephant in the room though is how this move relates to the Japanese tech giant's Internet TV initiative that's powered by Google TV. While we can't imagine it signals Mountain View's solution is destined for a dumping, between this and a similar move by Samsung including a browser in its own Smart TV platform, a little bit of jealousy could be just the kick Google needs to fix some glaring issues -- which we're all for, especially if it spawns a new round of potato based cajoling.
Flash working poorly on your Google Cr-48? Adobe's working on it
Yep, that Flash error up there is one of many we got today on our Cr-48s. On top of that, as you may have read in our in-depth preview, we've been experiencing incredibly sluggish Flash performance, including choppy playback of YouTube and Hulu videos. It's certainly not a good situation, but Adobe's aware of it and promising that hope is on the way. Adobe's Senior Director of Engineer Paul Betlem has put up a post regarding the matter on the company's very own Flash Player blog, and says that " In terms of Chrome notebooks specifically... video performance in particular is the primary area for improvement." He also goes on to promise that the updates will be seamless as the Flash plug-ins are integrated directly into the self-updating operating system. That sure sounds good to us, but in the meantime, we'll be waiting for these Flash errors and stuttering 480p videos to disappear -- or, you know, for HTML 5 to take over.
Sour's 'Mirror' browser-based music video is absolutely wild
Is Japanese band Sour's "Mirror" music video the single best thing we've ever seen in a browser? It probably is. Load it up in Safari or Chrome and make sure you connect your Facebook, Twitter, and webcam -- we tried it out and it's totally fine. In fact, it's more than fine. It's stunning. Why can't HTML5 and Flash always play this nicely together?
