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Sun xVM VirtualBox: free x86 virtualiztion
We first noted the open-source virtualization application VirtualBox way back in 2007, and since then this open-source competitor to VMware Fusion and Parallels has come a long way. Most importantly, perhaps, the project was acquired by Sun Microsystems and has now become Sun xVM VirtualBox with a great deal more support.The application is free for personal use and is available for a wide variety of x86 platforms including OS X on Intel Macs. The feature set is extensive and includes a lot of the features of its commercial counterparts. That said, it lacks many of the niceties of those programs, including any kind of 3D graphics support. Nonetheless, it's hard to argue with free and is probably worth checking out if your virtualized Windows requirements are modest.Sun xVM VirtualBox is a free download from Sun.Thanks, Dean!
Neil Young's entire music archive to be released on Blu-ray
Sun Microsystems's pledge to aid the widespread development of interactive content on Blu-ray wasn't the only thing going down today at the JavaOne Conference in San Francisco. Rather surprisingly, famed musician Neil Young announced plans to "release his entire music archive on Blu-ray discs that can be updated over the internet." Reportedly, the first installment of Young's archive will cover 1963 to 1972 and will be released as a ten-disc set this fall on Reprise / Warner Bros. Records, and subsequent archives will be released chronologically and "include some previously unreleased songs, videos, handwritten manuscripts and other memorabilia." Stressing Blu-ray interactivity, it was also noted that fans could download more songs, photos and tour information via their internet-connected decks. Needless to say, we're pretty stoked about the whole ordeal, and can only hope that more artists follow suit in serving up their work via Blu-ray.[Thanks, JDS]
Sun Microsystems announces support for BDLive.com, aims to promote development of interactivity
Today at the JavaOne Conference in San Francisco, Sun Microsystems professed its love for BDLive.com and the availability of the BDLive.com developers disc. Put simply, Sun -- a proud member of the Blu-ray Disc Association Board of Directors -- has teamed up with Related Content Database Inc. in order to create said website and offer devs, BD content owners and consumer electronics manufacturers "advanced network services focused on improving the overall BD Live user experience." Essentially, the web portal weds Sun's network.com infrastructure and RCDb's recently announced BD Live Platform to "enable the quick creation of device-appropriate features that provide a user-friendly DVD-like experience." If you're eager to know more, click on past the break.
Interview with Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz on Engadget Mobile
We recently got a chance to briefly sit down with Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz, who definitely ranks among the geekier and more sincere CEOs we've had the privilege to meet. We discussed the long-missing JavaFX Mobile platform Sun promised a while back, as well as Java on the iPhone, and doing battle with Microsoft as an open source software vendor. Check it out over on Engadget Mobile!
Sun aims to speed up data by swapping wires for frickin' laser beams
It's far from the first time we've seen lasers touted as a means of boosting data speeds exponentially, but Sun seems to think it has a better chance than most of making it a reality, thanks in no small part to $44 million in funding from DARPA. As The New York Times reports, that cash haul will be put to use to "explore the high-risk idea of replacing the wires between computer chips with laser beams," which would not only allow for computers to be smaller, but as much as a thousand times faster as well. Needless to say, however, there's quite a few significant hurdles to overcome before that happens, and even Sun itself admits that there's a "50 percent chance of failure." They also say, of course, that the potential benefits are worth the risks, with them even going so far as to boast that the technology would be a way of "breaking Moore's Law."
Sun prepping Java for iPhone: your craplet investment is safe
We're sure there have been some really great Java Micro Edition apps developed over the years, we just haven't been fortunate enough to find any that aren't a Bejeweled variant run into many of them. But that could very well change with the news that Sun is using that fancy new SDK to develop a Java Virtual Machine for the iPhone, which it expects to have ready "some time after June," and which will allow iPhone users access to the vast libraries of existing JME apps. We suppose the real conundrum now is which Java ME app we'll grab first: Harry Potter, or MapQuest Mobile. These choices, they overwhelm us.[Via Mac Rumors]
Sun working on Java for the iPhone
Sun Microsystems is known for many things, but it is probably best known for Java. The promise of Java is that programmers can write an application once and run it on any machine, or device, that has a Java Virtual Machine (a virtual environment that runs on a computer which includes the Java runtime, so that the Java code can run). That's the promise of Java, sadly, the reality isn't always the same. Java Virtual Machines on different platforms often require special code (which kind of defeats the purpose) and most damning of all (especially on the Mac) is that Java has its own library of UI elements. Unless a Java programmer goes out of their way to make sure their app looks like a native app, it often has an unmistakable 'Java look' to it.Sun now wants you to have all that Java fun on the iPhone. Shortly after the launch of the iPhone SDK, Sun started looking into the possibility of making a Java VM for the iPhone. After some investigating, they are sure that Java ME (that's the version of Java optimized for mobile devices) on the iPhone is possible and Sun wants to bring it to you. I'm sure there are many Java developers out there are very happy to hear this news.Thanks, TJ.
Sun entering virtual worlds market, maybe aiming at educators?
The Sun Worldwide Education and Research conference, which starts today and runs until Wednesday has an intriguing entry on tomorrow's agenda entitled Project Wonderland, Darkstar and Immersive Education. If you follow the link to their (long) video about the session you will see that it isn't quite ready to roll yet, but they have taken a number of the issues with Second Life (which they identify at the 800lb gorilla in the room) and they are deliberately aiming to circumvent them.I have to say that, being hard of hearing, I found the video really hard to watch and understand - the audio quality isn't the highest, but I think from what they said, they are working, deliberately, with open source code wherever possible, or code that is going to be open sourced soon. Many will regard this as an improvement on Second Life, although Linden Lab are aiming this way. However, it also appears that there are some high cost outworld tools required - for example outworld modelling is possible, but only in Maya if I understood their too quiet speech.At first, and second take, this is not yet ready to go live, but it is looking like it could be a real contender, and it does look like they have learnt the lessons from Second Life.
Intel's 6-core Xeon and Nehalem CPU info leaked
Intel's had its new processor plans slipped out to the public thanks to Sun, according to DailyTech. Details on the 6-core (!) Xeon Dunnington, as well as the kinda-sorta hush-hush Nehalem were apparently leaked out onto Sun's public web server over the weekend, including plans for the new Xeons to overtake the company's Tigerton CPU line. The Dunnington processors will have a 16MB L3 cache shared by all six cores, and will be pin-compatible with the Tigertons, thus making integration with your Clarksboro chipset slightly less painful... by being possible. The Nehalem also got the spy treatment, with news that it will not only replace the Penryn line in Q4 '08, but will also be the first time in 18 years that Intel includes on-die memory controllers. If this sort of thing is important to you (and we think it may be) hit the read link and get all the juicy details.
Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, others sued by Implicit Networks in patent brouhaha
Implicit Networks isn't exactly a household name, but it sure looks like its trying to make itself known with its latest lawsuit, which takes aim at no less than Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Sun and Real Networks (plus semiconductor company Raza Microelectronics). As you've no doubt surmised, the cause of all that litigiousness is some alleged patent infringement by those big name companies, and specifically a violation of Implicit's patent for "Methods and System for Demultiplexing a First Sequence of Packet Components to Identify Specific Components Wherein Subsequent Components are Processed without Re-identifying Components." Exactly what that is, we're not sure, but Implicit claims that each of the aforementioned companies violated it in their own particular way, and it's now demanding an unspecified amount of cash in return.
The LapDome: tent-shaped sunscreen for your laptop
Friends, are you sick and tired of the constant struggle to use your laptop while sunbathing? Do you find yourself battling the life-giving rays of our closest star, desperately trying to finish that presentation... pool side? Well toil in vain no more -- the LapDome is here. That's right, instead of going inside like a normal person, now you can cover up your laptop with the most ludicrous and embarrassing product since the Pocket Fisherman. You'll get the idea real quick -- it's a mini-tent used to shield your computer from the sun, and the glare which it causes. The company's ad campaign asks "Does this look familiar?" next to the depiction of a woman covering her laptop with a beach towel, then suggests covering your laptop with a small tent might look better. We suggest stopping the madness, ASAP.[Via Pocket-lint]
All newspaper crossword game endorsements are not created equal
Majesco was smart to license the New York Times name for their DS crossword game. The NYT is renowned for having both high standards of quality in its reporting, and also having good crossword puzzles. Thus, associating your game with that organization makes the game seem more intellectual and classy.The Sun, on the other hand, is a tabloid best known for its topless women and anti-immigration stance. It's a less desirable association, we think, in terms of prestige. However, The Sun has the highest circulation of any daily English-language newspaper, so maybe it's not such a bad idea. No, it's a pretty bad idea to tie your puzzle game to an insulting rag.[Via DS-x2]
Hands-on with the solar powered Iqua Sun
Not a lot to say here -- which in the case of the Iqua Sun is a good thing. The term "solar powered headset" evokes images of headborne monstrosities no sane individual would allow to ride on their noggins, but the Sun is a totally reasonable looking and reasonably sized Bluetooth headset that just happens to be able to charge off the sun's rays. Yeah, it takes longer to juice it that way than it does via the mains, but hey, it's free and it's everywhere. Good stuff!
Solar-powered kayak attachment nixes need for paddling
Although this isn't the first time we've heard "solar-powered" and "kayak" used in the same sentence, the SPK-1 does its darnedest to make us shake our heads in disbelief. This "outrigger attachment" essentially hooks onto any medium / large-sized kayak and relies on the sun to charge up the 12V deep cycle marine battery. From there, a Minkota trolling motor provides the power your kayak needs to move about in the water, leaving you with nothing better to do than kick back, enjoy a book and keep an eye on any incoming yachts. Sure, you could consider the $1,100 adornment an exemplification of indolence, but we think it's more like training wheels... only, for your kayak.[Thanks, Rich H.]
Iqua's Sun, the solar-powered Bluetooth headset
Bluetooth headsets are one of those accessories that need to work well and stay the hell out of your way, and often times remembering to charge them (in addition to your phone) is a real drag. Incoming from the ridiculously obvious department: Iqua's solar-powered Bluetooth headset. We're not sure how much solar charging is an order to combat the energy stresses of use (or whether this thing for sure has a battery -- although we can't imagine why it wouldn't), but one less minuscule gadget to worry about charging is just fine by us. We'll hit you with more on this one as info becomes available.
Around Azeroth: Improved sun
Redbeard of Hellscream (EU) sends this shot our way, noting that Blizzard seems to have made some heavy improvements to the sun. And I have to admit, that brilliant glow does look quite impressive -- but has Blizzard changed things, or have we just caught the Theramore sky at the right angle and the right time of day?Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing a copy to aroundazeroth@wow.com, with as much or as little detail as you'd like to share with the world! %Gallery-1816%
Sun's SPOT: a poor man's Minority Report interface
What happens when you combine Sun's Small Programmable Object Technology with its Project Looking Glass 3D user interface environment, and add a glove with an accelerometer? Apparently, the second third attempt at the early 21st century's equivalent of Minority Report's glove based user interface, with a demo video showing an operator browsing a desktop using simply hand and finger motions. There's a pretty noticeable lag, the system still uses a mouse pointer, and the operator obviously has to stand dead still for it to work, but this is probably the closest anyone has come to emulating the geek dream that is the pre-crime memory navigator that Tom Cruise evangelized in the film. It's about time that someone figured out a system that could replace the humble mouse: unfortunately, this is only a baby step towards that goal.[Via sLists; thanks, akhel]
Samsung, Sun teaming up for Java phone?
Considering that we've already seen Sun parade its iPhone-like Java Mobile FX platform around, it's not too surprising to hear that Samsung and Sun Microsystems could be teaming up to "jointly develop a mobile phone to challenge Apple's iPhone." Furthermore, the two firms already have a history together, and according to Sun Chairman Scott McNealy, the duo could be working on "a Java phone that would surpass Apple's iPhone in functionality and cost less." Of course, Sun's spokespeople couldn't be reached for comment and Samsung's folks simply stated that "no decision had been made regarding co-development of the Java phone," so it looks like we'll be filing this away in the somewhat believable rumor cabinet for the time being.[Via CNET]
Sun looses 'world's fastest chip' -- the 1.4GHz Niagara 2
In a bold and presumably calculated statement, Sun Microsystems has proclaimed that its newfangled Niagara 2 is "the world's fastest multi-core commodity chip." Clocking in at 1.4GHz, this eight-core chip also boasts 64 threads, eight lanes of PCI Express I/O, and four memory controllers, all of which will supposedly boost server performance beyond anything we're currently seeing. Reportedly, the aforementioned claim was based on a "pair of record-setting SPEC benchmark results," but we still think that's a bit dodgy to base such a remark on. Nevertheless, Sun is suggesting that this CPU will "consume less power and do more work per clock tick than its rivals," and isn't shying away from taking on the likes of Intel, IBM, and AMD. Eh, we'll stick with our 8.18GHz Pentium 4.[Via The Register]
CE-Oh no he didn't! Part XLI: Sun's James Eagleton says Microsoft guilty of "patent terrorism"
In the most recent round of the Microsoft vs. Linux debate, Sun's systems product manager James Eagleton lobs the latest volley, stating that the Redmond-based software giant's business tactics amount to "patent terrorism," and that the current climate it's created is akin to a "cold war." Eagleton goes on to offer that Sun and even IBM have much fairer approaches to patent protection which don't go against "the spirit of innovation," in the way he claims Microsoft's policies do. If the dubious arrangements Microsoft has agreed upon with Novell and Linspire didn't convince you that something was rotten in the state of Washington, comments like sour-grapes-Eagleton's should at least make you take pause.[Via The Inquirer]
