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Software updates: Aperture 3.1, Java Update 3, and ProKit Update
Three big updates just showed up in Software Update: Aperture 3.1, Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3, and ProKit Update. Aperture 3.1 weighs in at nearly 375 MB. Aside from the usual improvements to "overall stability and performance," Aperture 3.1 brings compatibility with the brand new iLife '11 suite. There's also a whole host of bug fixes -- too many to list here, honestly. Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 3 is about 78 MB and updates Java SE 6 to 1.6.0_22. The ProKit Update "fixes issues with user interface software that is shared by Apple's professional applications," which includes Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Aperture, Final Cut Express, Soundtrack, Logic Studio, Logic Pro, MainStage, WaveBurner and Logic Express. The specific issues this ~14 MB update addresses: -- Improves reliability for browsing iPhoto libraries in Aperture. -- Addresses cosmetic issue with appearance of disclosure triangles in Aperture. -- Fixes a problem in Logic Pro and MainStage where numeric parameters display incorrect information. All three updates are available via Software Update now, so fire it up.
Blast the internet with 'Asteroids' applet
Andy writes to tell us his buddy has completed work on the new American Eagle site. No, we aren't directing you to seasonal Zelda jammies (would you wear those?) -- the update includes a "hidden" Asteroids mode! Just add "?mode=asteroids" to the end of any page url to crack this Easter egg open.
Modu reveals the T, a tiny modular Brewphone, keeps us waiting for the Android-based W
Modu Mobile finally came clean about the T-phone today, but we're afraid it's bittersweet news -- it's not the lilliputan Android device we've been lusting after for months (that's coming "in the near future") but rather a Brew-based tri-band phone with a 2.2-inch QVGA touchscreen on the relatively old QSC6270 chipset. Thankfully, it does have a host of modular accessories that up its geek quotient radically. You can "camerafy" your Modu by sliding it into a 5 megapixel shell, "sportfy" it with an exercise armband sleeve, "boostify" by slotting it into a combo speaker dock / base station, or even "textify" by adding a vertical QWERTY keyboard. Considering the phone is apparently still Guinness-certified as the lightest touchscreen device in the world, we imagine these combinations will be similarly svelte, but we'll still be waiting for the Android-infused Modu W to appear, thank you very much. PR after the break. %Gallery-104718%
Google responds to Oracle's Android patent lawsuit, we break it down
It's been just over a month and a half since Oracle first sued Google for infringing various Java-related patents in Android, and the big G's just filed its official response to the lawsuit after calling it "baseless." For the most part, it's a pretty standard answer to a patent complaint: Google says Android doesn't infringe any of Oracle's patents, and even if it does, those patents are invalid and / or unenforceable for a variety of reasons anyway, so, you know, shove it. That's basically all Google -- or any patent defendant -- needs to say in the answer, and if that was it, we'd just note it and move on with our lives. But we were struck by the factual background section, which reads to us like Google's geared up for war: it basically accuses Sun and Oracle of not playing fair when it comes to Java's open-source license situation and directly implies that parts of Android are based on code that might require a patent license. It's a little wonky, but let's break it down:
BioShock Infinite's Columbia city gets Minecrafted
A team of crafters led by one "DrKamina" has pieced together BioShock Infinite's floating city, Columbia, in the suddenly popular indie creation game Minecraft. The 3D model incorporates design elements adapted form screenshots and concept art, video and, of course, sheer imagination. The group's vision of Columbia is housed on DrKamina's "City of Rapture" server, which is also home to adorable recreations of BioShock's underwater utopia and Half-Life 2's City 17 and Black Mesa. Visitors be warned: Kamina and company run a tight server, as evidenced by the prominent graveyard for the banned. RIP Snifflles, Errorz and Deerman -- we hardly knew ye!
Timelapse game programming brings you from concept to final boss in 06:38
We only managed to take a couple of programming classes in high school before we realized that you couldn't do Friendster and code the next Super Mario Bros. 3 at the same time--so we decided to become bloggers. Luckily, some folks stuck with it long enough to be able to show off what a strictly limited social networking policy can do for the gaming world. Many of the competitors in the annual 48-hour Ludum Dare 18 competition took time-lapse videos of their coding experiences, and they're almost as entertaining as the games themselves: check after the jump for the thrillingly compressed making-of documentary for Notch's addictive Metagun. SPOILER ALERT: Apparently, Notch had time to sleep and eat. Bummer.
Google calls Oracle Android lawsuit 'baseless,' says Java goes 'beyond any one corporation'
Oracle's decision to sue Google for infringing its patents and copyright on Java in Android has certainly stirred up a hornets' nest of commentary and analysis on the web today, but it's only just now that we've received Google's official statement, in which the search giant calls the suit "baseless" and vows to "defend open-source standards." Them's fightin' words -- and considering the Dalvik virtual machine at the heart of the Android OS is the centerpiece of this dispute, we wouldn't expect either side to back down quietly here. Get ready for years of litigation, friends. Here's Google's full statement: We are disappointed Oracle has chosen to attack both Google and the open-source Java community with this baseless lawsuit. The open-source Java community goes beyond any one corporation and works every day to make the web a better place. We will strongly defend open-source standards and will continue to work with the industry to develop the Android platform.
Oracle sues Google over Java patent infringement in Android
It's no secret that Android and the Dalvik virtual machine it uses are heavily based on Java, and it looks like Oracle isn't so happy about it: the database giant (which acquired Java when it bought Sun) just announced that it's suing Google for copyright and patent infringement. The suit alleges Android violates some seven patents and contains copies of Sun's original Java code -- a damning accusation given that Google CEO Eric Schmidt once led the Java team before leaving Sun and eventually arriving in Mountain View. Oracle says Google's known about these issues for around five years now, so it's clear that whatever licensing negotiations these two were having have broken down -- we've got a feeling this case will drag on for years to come, but we'll definitely keep an eye on it. [Image courtesy of Chris Onstad and Achewood]
Hey, Lego my Droid, you remote-controlled fiend! (video)
That original Motorola Droid looking long in tooth? Not sure what to do with it once you upgrade to Incredible, X, or even the progenitor's most direct descendant? Take a cue from Mike Partain, who threw in a Lego NXT Robot kit and some ingenuity to create a rather clever proof of concept. The building blocks serve as the bulk of the structure and motor skills, the phone serves as camera, GPS, and compass. The missing links between these two elements and Partain's remote controlling are three little pieces of complex software... so maybe it's not in your immediate future, but having a few dreams and vicariously living through the videos after the break should get you through the weekend, right? And if you really want to fiddle with one yourself, the source code has been provided.
Adobe and Greystripe partner for ads that convert Flash to HTML5
When you complain about Apple's products lacking Flash support, we figure you're talking about games and video, but web developers have to make a living too, right? That's why Greystripe and Adobe are working together to bring ads to iDevices all around, with an intriguing technology that might one day enable the real reasons we want Flash as well. Like the Smokescreen demo we saw last week, Greystripe can reportedly transcode the banned content to HTML5 on the fly, and it's apparently impressive enough that Adobe's signed on to create an interactive, crossplatform ad solution (also on Android and Java devices) priced and marketed specifically to rival Apple's own. With Apple's distinguished record as keeper of the walled garden, we'll see how well that goes, but we're definitely interested in other possibilities for the company's code. Full press release after the break.
Keepin' it real fake: N8 available now, only not from Nokia
Well, it was bound to happen: a flagship device released as a KIRF (for the second time) well ahead of its official launch. Unfortunately, that's what happens when you delay a product that already leaked months in advance. The $99.20 "N8-00" might share its name and stylings with Nokia's imminent Symbian flagship but that's where the similarities end. This Chinese N8 packs a 3.3-inch touchscreen (resistive, no doubt), a quad-band GSM radio, pair of VGA cameras (ha!), 2GB of MicroSD blah blah blah... hey, let's be honest, the specs don't really matter do they? This "Nseries" device, like all KIRFs, will be sold to poseurs who want to look the part before quickly discarding it for the next trend. Picture of the backside after the break. [Thanks, Arnout and everyone who sent this in]
Java for OS X updated
Fire up your Software Update, because there's a Java update waiting for both Snow Leopard and Leopard users. For Snow Leopard (requires 10.6.3), there's Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 2, which weighs in at around 80 MB. For Leopard users (requires 10.5.8), there's Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 7, a much larger 122 MB download. Both updates bring Java SE 6 to version 1.6.0_20 (compatible only with Intel-based Macs), while the Leopard-only update also updates Java SE 5 (compatible with Intel and PowerPC Macs) to 1.5.0_24. The upshot of these updates? "Improved reliability, security, and compatibility" of Java in OS X, with more detailed security notes available for the truly curious.
WoW on iPad via streaming
World of Warcraft on the iPad? Apparently, thanks to an interesting service called Gaikai. Gaikai, currently in beta, is a new technology that will let you play any game online in your browser. Here's how it works -- Gaikai hosts the games on their servers and worries about the hardware and software updates, then they stream the games to you through your browser. They call this technology "Streaming Worlds." What does this mean for the average WoW player? Well, when you have a computer that otherwise looks seemingly impossible to play WoW on such as the iPad, you can use Gaikai to stream the game via Java, Flash or Silverlight to your computer, resulting in the screenshot shown above. While the screenshot is amazing, there are doubts to its credibility since iPad's browser doesn't support Flash. Unfortunately no video of the game in action was provided. However, the concept surrounding Gaikai, and the implications for browser-based games that are graphically intensive like World of Warcraft are fascinating.
Free for All: A look at WURM Online
WURM Online is no ordinary MMORPG. Sure, we have seen some systems like this in a few other games and are seeing more games come out that promise features like this, but WURM has a charm and a community that make it second to none. Essentially it is a game of survival, pitting the player against themselves. There are many ways to die but those can be avoided if you use your head and practice some patience. I have a short history with the game, recently playing it with my social network site and for my blog, but after a few months break I decided to check out some of the changes that came along. There have been some tweaks to character models (which are essentially slightly animated dummies) and improvements to performance (the game runs in JAVA) but it was nice to see some of the same buildings still standing and to hear the familiar sounds of sawing and wolves howling.
Nazomi Communications makes friends by suing everyone you know
When the Java programming language burst onto the scene in the mid-'90s, the mantra was "write once, run anywhere." Any Java coder will tell you that dream never quite became a reality, and while plenty have worked on ways to make Java code run like instructions specialized for this or the other family of processors, Nazomi Communications wants there to be only one: its way. The company was founded in the late '90s by Sun expatriates and created some processors capable of running compiled Java code natively. Now its biggest production is a lawsuit against Amazon, Microsoft, Nokia, Garmin, Sling, and others for patent infringement. Exactly which patent hasn't been made clear at this point, but we wouldn't be surprised if it's 6,332,215, the same one the company referenced when suing ARM back in 2007. Nazomi lost that suit (plus a subsequent appeal) and, given how much we dislike these annoying patent disputes from tiny, seemingly struggling companies (Nazomi currently has four whole employees according to LinkedIn), we're hopeful that all these lawsuits go away soon too.
Apple updates Java for Snow Leopard and Leopard
Apple just released a Java update today, bring improvements to Java in Mac OS X. Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 1 for Snow Leopard updates Java SE 6, while Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 6 updates J2SE 5.0 and Java SE 6. Both of these updates improve reliability, security, and compatibility for Java. The Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 6 update also disables J2SE 1.4.2, as it's no longer being updated to fix issues. These updates can be downloaded with Software Update, or from the Apple Support Downloads page.
Oh, by the way: August 24, 2009
Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of mobile for Monday, August 24th, 2009: Sony Ericsson is taking its Java runtime downmarket, committing to roll it out to what it's billing the "entry 3G segment." On a completely unrelated note, is it just us, or was the mini-golf game that came on the T610 one of mankind's greatest entertainment achievements of all time? It appears that parts of Europe will be receiving a tweaked version of the Samsung B7320, creatively rechristened the B7330. Differences are mainly cosmetic with one critically important material change: the screen's now up to 320 x 320 resolution from the original model's QVGA. German site AreaMobile is quoting a local release in October, but other than that, it's anyone's guess. [Via the::unwired] A whole bunch of new 850MHz 3G spectrum is now online in AT&T's San Francisco and New York City networks. 850 does a better job of penetrating buildings than 1900, and if there's one thing the Big Apple has plenty of, it's buildings -- so we'll see if this improves the dropped call situation at all. If you have a curious tendency to drop your phone into kiddie pools, throw it at brick walls, and engage in lengthy heart-to-hearts from Antarctica's Base Esperanza, you'll be delighted to know that Sonim's ultra-rugged XP3.20 is now shipping in the US unlocked for $399. [Via Gearlog]
Software Updates: And the hits keep coming, Bluetooth Firmware Update
I guess the iPhone 3.0 update and Safari 4.0.1 weren't enough for Apple. Along with the just released update to Safari, Apple has just tossed in one more Software Update:Bluetooth Firmware Update"This update provides bug fixes and better compatibility with the Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse and Apple Wireless Keyboard. It installs on all Macintosh systems with Bluetooth based on the Broadcom chipset."This update is only applicable to certain hardware configurations (as noted above), so if you don't see it, you don't need it. After running, the Bluetooth Firmware update will provide you with an installation screen and require a reboot when it's done.I wonder if Apple will throw us any other new surprises today.
Java vulnerability in Mac OS X finally patched
It's been a long wait. Fire up Software Update and you should see Java for Mac OS X 10.5 (or 10.4) update 4. This update closes a vulnerability first discussed in August of last year; it was patched by Sun and most other JVM developers months ago.Apple's sluggishness on fixing this security issue could have allowed attackers to run arbitrary applications or processes on your machine if you visited a webpage hosting a malicious Java applet. The vulnerability was pointed out in graphic fashion by security researcher Landon Fuller. Fuller took the exploit code that was circulating in the wild and built a proof of concept page that would run an innocuous program (the command-line 'say' utility) from a rigged Java applet; after the ensuing publicity, less than a month later, we have a patch.Once you've updated, if you took the precaution of disabling Java in your browser settings, you can feel free to go ahead and turn it back on... although, if you haven't missed it, no need to change anything.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.[via Glenn Fleishman / TidBITS]
Dreamer trying to draw Java developers to its BIDDLE API
So far, BD-Live seems like an answer to a question no one particularly cares about, but we're still holding out hope that the technology will be put to good use by someone. The devil's in the details (read - please make it pleasant to use), but putting Profile 2.0 into service as a streaming service like Videocity is promising sounds like a step in the right direction. Lest we forget Dreamer's efforts along the same lines, the company is showing off its Java-based BIDDLE API to developers in hopes of gaining some traction for "BluTube" type of applications. Yeah, we need another way of accessing YouTube about as much as we need more dust bunnies behind the TV, but we see way more potential on this front than, say, Yakuza Fighter redux. With wireless networking, more codecs and increased persistent storage showing up in Blu-ray decks, APIs like BIDDLE just might make the line between STBs and Blu-ray players really blurry -- and if it means we can eBay away some of those STBs, we're all for it.
