Novell ZENworks Application Virtualization 7.1 lets you convert your Windows-compatible applications into self-contained virtual applications. After an application is virtualized, it is a single, isolated file that runs instantly from anywhere, including a thumbdrive. Unlike traditional installation methods, the single virtual application file does not require a separate setup process or rely on external components and runtimes, reboots, or administrative privileges. The application is now isolated from other system applications, preventing DLL conflicts and other deployment nightmares, yet the experience for the application’s user is unchanged.
New features for ZENworks Application Virtualization 7.1 include the following:
* Microsoft Windows 7 support.
* Publish to USB Drive: Lets you publish virtual applications directly to USB storage devices.
* Timebomb: Lets you specify a date on which a virtual application stops working and cannot be launched.
* Bugs fixes.
ZENworks Application Virtualization provides three methods to create and configure virtualized applications. The best method depends on the nature of the application.
* Build an auto-configured virtual application. ZENworks Application Virtualization includes a number of auto-configuration wizards for popular applications so you can build and customize them in a guided, step-by-step process. This simple method is recommended for first-time users. ZENworks Application Virtualization lets you use the Configuration Wizard to create virtual applications for Novell GroupWise®, GroupWise Messenger, and OpenOffice.org Novell Edition.
* If you use ZENworks Configuration Management in your environment, you can control how virtual applications are used and you create and publish ZENworks bundles that you can then distribute to users using ZENworks Configuration Management.
* Snapshot an application installation. Snapshotting captures a system’s state before and after an application is installed and automatically configures virtual application settings based on observed system changes. This method is ideal for virtualizing off-the-shelf applications.
* Manually configure an application. This method is most often used by developers who are virtualizing internally developed applications.
Between now and October 31, 2009, you can offer Novell ZENworks Application Virtualization licenses for only $30 USD--an 18% discount over the regular license price. While this offer delivers particular synergies to existing ZENworks customers, any customer or prospect qualifies for the discount. For more information, visit http://www.novell.com/zavoffers.
ZENworks Application Virtualization 7.1 Now Available !!
openSUSE 11.2 slated for November 2009
At March 2009 openSUSE’s releae manager, Stephan Kulow, posted a proposed roadmap for openSUSE to the project’s mailing list.
The roadmap lays out a schedule for the next four releases of openSUSE, extending into 2011. At the top of the list, however, is 11.2, queued up for a possible November 2009 launch. Features being considered include Ext4 as the default filesystem, a web interface to YaST, and improved Netbook support.
Full email below and a link to the thread here.
Hi,
As you may have noticed, we have yet to publish a roadmap for 11.2. The reason is simple: There are a lot of moving pieces at the moment, and we don't want to commit to a schedule we can't keep -- or keep a schedule that doesn't fit the project's long-term needs.
To give us something to plan around, we would like to propose a fixed release schedule. As a six-month release schedule is not something we consider feasible to maintain high-quality standards, we are proposing a fixed eight-month schedule. We have spent a considerable amount of time asking if we should go with a September release for 11.2 and then adopt an eight-month release schedule, or begin with an eight-month release schedule right away. And we came to the conclusion that it's best to adopt the eight-month schedule right away.
A six-month release cycle is interesting because you "only" have to find two months in the year for a release. Eight months makes it slightly more complicated, as you have a rotating schedule, and lose a month in the summer and winter for holidays.
So, what we're proposing is this -- the next openSUSE release in November 2009, with the next releases in July 2010, March 2011, and so forth:
November 2009: "Fichte" 11.2
July 2010: "Rousseau" 11.3
March 2011: "Voltaire" 12.0
November 2011: "Lessing" 12.1
This gives us a single release in 2009 and 2010, and two releases in 2011. The version names and numbers may change, of course.
Public releases would happen on the Thursday before the 15th of the month, and the gold master (GM) would be finalized one week prior to that. We are planning a strict four-week release candidate (RC) phase.
This means that the last chance to change _anything_ but really urgent fixes would be the check-in deadline of RC1, which would be released in week 41 in 2009. The schedule would leave us with whatever software we have at that point. For example, we'll miss KDE 4.5 for 11.3 or the spring version of GNOME for 12.0. If missing these releases is a problem, let's discuss this _now_.
Of course, this doesn't mean we can't publish supported or unsupported addons or updated live CDs with the respective desktops or similar software: We just need people willing to do it.
Why such a late release date? Releasing 11.2 in November has some advantages over releasing in September:
- We don't rely on contributions during the summer months that much.
- We can easily integrate GNOME 2.28.
- We are more likely to have working drivers for hardware released in early
summer is higher. (This is a weak advantage since the summer release of
Intel's graphic chips didn't work out with a December release either.)
- We simply have more time for everything.
The features we have in mind for 11.2 center around these top features:
* Newer and better software, including:
- KDE 4.3
- GNOME 2.28,
- Linux kernel 2.6.30 or higher
* Ext4 - possibly even as the default filesystem.
* Provide YaST Web interface for easier remote adminstration.
* Netbook support
- Offer USB images - possibly even with deployment tool if someone writes it.
- Include free drivers necessary for the netbook support.
* Officially support live updates - we need way more people to use factory and report problems though.
* Quicker, Faster and more Colourful
OK, I better stop here. This is already a pretty long mail - looking forward to your feedback. The last time we discussed schedules, the feedback was very good - and got us thinking quite a long time. ;)
Greetings, Stephan
Ten Must Have Palm Pre Applications
What is nice about the Palm Pre there are already native applications built into the webOS that are very handy and don't require any downloads such as PhotoBucket, Universal Search and Google Maps.
As a new Palm Pre users, you maybe looking on other useful applications for your daily task, and preferable the applications are free. Here's a list of the top best Palm Pre webOS apps so far. All these Palm Pre apps are available in the Palm Pre Catalog (App Store) directly on your Palm Pre.
uLocate WHERE: Palm Pre WHERE is a location-based mobile application which provides information about places around you. It gives youlocal content based on your current location, including weather, news, restaurant reviews, gas stations, movie show times. The app uses the Palm Pre's built-in GPS to provide location-based data . It's currently the 5th most popular app in the Palm Pre's App Catalog. You can connect with other users through Buddy Beacon and the WHERE Wall. WHERE comes in many versions and we name WHERE App of the Day for the BlackBerry Storm. WHERE also comes in Nokia, iPhone and BlackBerry.
Evernote: Evernote for Palm Pre lets you capture your experiences and inspirations instantly as they occur, and then find them whenever you want. It allows you to create text and snapshot notes on the go, edit existing text notes, and search through all of your memories, even those created on your desktop or the web. Evernote for Palm Pre also lets you open and view multiple notes at once, launching a new “Card” for each.
Don’t forget to try the image recognition. Take a photo of something containing printed or handwritten text, send it into your Evernote account, give it a minute to process, then try searching for the text. This is great for whiteboards, business cards, wine labels, signs, scribbles, and more.
Evernote takes full advantage of the Palm Pre location awareness capabilities. Whenever you create a new text note, Evernote captures your location and associates that with your note. Later you can search for notes created within 5 miles of where you’re standing. So, say you’re visiting headquarter and want to find the notes your took on your Palm Pre the last time you were there. All you need to do is launch Evernote, tap the Search button, and tap Search Nearby. Voilà .
FlightView: The FlightView app gives users up-to-the-minute information on where a flight is – tracked by flight number or by departure and arrival cities. Travelers can check flight status before departing for the airport, loved ones can monitor the flight while it’s in-air and arriving passengers taxiing to the gate can check connection status and gates. In addition to flight tracking, functionality unique to Pre includes:
Flight status alerts give travelers immediate notification of changes to the flight – status changes, delays or cancellations. The FlightView app uses Pre notifications to update the user of status changes or delays - whether it is opened or closed - giving users the information they need to act on.
Interoperability with Pre’s calendar gives travelers a visual look at travel plans while guarding against double-booking appointments – flight details are viewable while the calendar shows the schedule from departure to arrival.
A notes field for managing all aspects of a trip, such as rental car, hotel and other reservations. Phone numbers, reservations numbers and locations are all in one easy-to-read location.
Pandora: The popular internet radio application provides a personalized free mobile music channel to Pre customers. Playlists are based on artist or song. Pandora on the Palm Pre is fully integrated with Pandora on the web. Users enjoy all their existing stations - and create new ones right from the Palm Pre. Time Magazine named the iPhone version of Pandora their top iPhone apps and we named Pandora a BlackBerry Storm App of the Day.
Fandango: Not only can Palm Pre users view movie trailers and order tickets nearby using this app, but Fandango will automatically schedule your upcoming movies on your calendar with Palm Synergy.Film fans can also create a reminder to let them know as tickets go on sale locally for upcoming movies guaranteeing them access to the season's hottest flicks.
Speed Brain: Concentration and memory improvement app. Designed to improve your processing speed and reaction time, Speed Brain exercises your ability to quickly understand information and react to it. You can also connect to your Lumosity account on your Palm Pre, which will allow you to track your Lumosity Brain Profile.Speed Brain for webOS was created with heavy involvement from doctors, neuroscientists, and psychologists at universities. Search "Speed Brain" in Palm App Catalog.
Accuweather: - A weather application with weather data and with 5 day forecasts based on your location. In addition to showing basic current weather and weather forecast, it also does radar and satellite imagery. It defaults to 5-day forecasts, and shows wind, humidity, dew point, and the sunrise and sunset time for any given city. Tapping on the clock icon in the bottom menu bar brings up an hour-by-hour forecast.
AccuWeather also has a proprietary parameter called “RealFeel” that takes into account humidity, wind-chill, and other factors and displays a temperature that represents what it really feels like on the ground. As weather applications go, this one is pretty advanced
Shortcovers eBook Reader: this cloud-based reader app gives you access to the Shortcovers service with an eBook store that offers some free eBooks. The Shortcovers service allows readers to read thousands of bestselling books, chapters, news and magazine articles, short stories, blog posts and more, online and on your Palm Pre. As a member you can bookmark and save books, chapters, articles and stories, plus build a digital library and rate, comment and share your favorite reads with your friends and family. Creative types can also write their own shortcovers. Books are reasonably priced and appear cheaper than the paper versions.
Intuit GoPayment: Mobile credit card payment processor. Intuit GoPayment turns the Palm Pre Phone Into Credit Card Terminal. GoPayment helps improve cash flow by giving small businesses an affordable and hassle-free way to process credit card payments.
Tweed: Palm Pre Twitter client with ability to change fonts, and access more than one Twitter account. It offers easy navigation, browsing, the ability to find real-time information on a topic Multiple accounts. You can access your work and personal accounts at the same time Bookmark searches and timelines. You also can save searches, trending topics or user timelines. There can be notifications when you receive messages or replies. You can add your current location to your tweets and update your profile with your current location.
Taiwan Acer and MSI to push Moblin SUSE Edition
The world's third-largest PC vendor, Acer plans to roll out the Moblin Linux operating system, championed by Intel, in its products, a top executive said June 3rd 2009.
"Acer is in the process of putting Moblin in the range of its products," said R.C. Chang, Chief Technology Officer at Acer, at a news conference in Taipei. Acer products that will soon run with Moblin Linux include Aspire One Nettops, as well as regular laptop and desktop PCs, he said.
Aspire One Netbooks already running Moblin were on display at the news conference. Moblin was developed for Netbooks, which are mini-laptops built for mobility with low-power microprocessors, 10-inch screens and six-cell batteries for long run times. An updated version of the operating system, Moblin 2.0, was released last month, and it has proven popular at Computex Taipei 2009.
"We are pleased to work with Novell and Intel to demo the SUSE edition of Moblin on Acer devices as we have always been interested in providing new and innovative mobile computing options to our customers," said Jim Wong, senior corporate vice president and president of IT Products Global Operations at Acer. "Moblin gives customers innovative software with applications and tools that deliver a fully optimized Netbook experience on Linux."
The SUSE edition of Moblin running on these leading Netbook and Nettop devices can be seen at Novell booths M1314-M1318 and M1413-M1417 in the Nangkang Exhibition Hall at the Computex conference in Taipei, Taiwan June 2 -6, 2009.
"Designed to meet Internet Access, Media and Social Networking demands of mobile computing users, the SUSE edition of Moblin is a natural fit for the netbook form factor," said Sambora Chern, senior director of Global Marketing of Micro-Star International (MSI). "MSI already offers SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop preloaded on MSI devices and this new Novell version of Moblin offers another interesting desktop computing opportunity for our customers."
A number of Netbooks were on display at the news conference, running several different versions of Moblin on various Netbooks, including SUSE Moblin, Xandros Moblin, Linpus Moblin, Red Flag Moblin and Ubuntu Moblin running on Netbooks from Hewlett-Packard, Asustek Computer, Micro-Star International and Hasee Computer.
There were also a few handheld computers, which Intel called Mobile Internet devices, running Moblin 2.0. BenQ displayed its new S6 MID running on Moblin, while Compal Electronics showed off an MID with a slide-out QWERTY keypad.
Ellis Wang, software product marketing director at Asustek Computer, showed off an Eee Keyboard, which is a keyboard with a built-in LCD screen and computer, with a Moblin OS at the conference.
Moblin 2.0 has met with some controversy since its launch. The easy use and nice look of the software has prompted several reports to call chip giant Intel an OS company, and Moblin 2.0 a rival to Windows in Netbooks. Moblin 2.0 offers a number of improvements over the previous version, including an improved user interface, quick boot-up and easy connections to messaging and social networking sites such as Facebook.
Doug Fisher, Vice President of the software and services group at Intel, said his team is aiming for a 5-second bootup for Moblin because mobile users are accustomed to quick boot-up times. The company will also continues to optimize Moblin to squeeze the most power savings possible out of its Atom microprocessors, he said.
Novell's announcement of a Moblin version 2-based edition of SUSE demonstrates Novell's leadership in the Intel Atom™ processor-based Netbook market," said Doug Fisher, vice president of Intel's Software and Services Group and general manager of the System Software Division. "The combination of Novell's Moblin-based implementation and Intel Atom™ processor based Netbooks from leading hardware vendors will offer consumers a great opportunity to appreciate the breadth and depth of the Moblin experience."
You can read up more about Moblin here
Palm Pre Review Part 5 : Pricing and Wrap-up
Pricing
Given its undeniable status as a hero device (the hero device?) in Sprint's lineup, and considering the high-end phones it's designed to fight, "value" might not be the first thing that comes to mind when talking about the Pre, but it's not just about saving $10 or $20 month to month -- over the course of a couple years on a carrier contract, even a modest difference amongst plans can turn into hundreds or thousands of dollars. On paper, Sprint seems to have the clear-cut advantage here over the other nationals -- Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile -- on account of its hyped $99 Simply Everything plan that it's pushing harder than ever with the launch of this device. But in practice, what does it mean for your wallet?
For phones like the Pre and its contemporaries, it's a forgone conclusion that you want unlimited data -- email with attachments, powerful mobile browsers, and streaming video all collaborate to make it a non-negotiable requirement these days. As for messaging, granted, not everyone's blowing through thousands of text and picture messages a month, but the capability is more important (and better implemented) than it ever has been before, so you may as well lump it in. Really, that leaves only voice calls as the wild card -- some smartphone users make a handful of calls a month (often these are the same folks working their thumbs raw on texts), while others are on the horn several hours a day. To that end, we wanted to break down what the Pre's going to cost you over the course of a two-year haul versus its closest competitors -- Verizon's BlackBerry Storm, AT&T's iPhone 3G, and T-Mobile's G1 -- on unlimited and relatively low-minute voice plans.
As its name implies, Sprint's Simply Everything plan is... well, simply everything. $99.99 gets you unlimited voice, on-device data (sorry, no free tethering here), and messaging of all types. As we mentioned before, you get Sprint's TeleNav-powered navigation at no additional charge, which most other carriers bill for as an a la carte service. On Verizon, you're paying $99.99 too -- problem is, that's only for voice. The closest thing to unlimited messaging on Big Red's going to be the 5,000 plan, which runs another $20, data for $29.99, and VZ Navigator for $9.99. All told, you're paying $159.97. Similarly, AT&T will cost you $149.99 (of course, turn-by-turn's not an option here) and T-Mobile -- commonly considered the value leader -- takes second place at $124.98. At the end of 24 months, that means you would've shelled out $2,599.75, $4,039.27, $3,799.75, $3,179.51, respectively, after you take the costs of the phones into account; Sprint wins by a country mile, and there's a stunning $1,439.52 savings against its most expensive competitor, Verizon. Sticker prices on phones are subject to near-constant variation thanks to regional fluctuations, rebates, and moon phases, but even if the Storm were free and the Pre were $500, you'd still come out well ahead.
Stepping down to more modest voice allowances, Sprint loses -- but only because T-Mobile cheats. On Sprint, you'll pay $69.99 for 450 minutes, totaling $1,879.75 over the duration of your contract including the cost of the phone. Verizon gets you going for $99.97, or $2,599.27 over 24 months and AT&T goes for $89.99, $2,359.75 in total. T-Mobile doesn't offer a 450 minute individual plan, but you can step down to 300 with no myFaves for $29.99, which means $64.98 with features added or $1,739.51 by the time your two years of indentured servitude is up. So yes, T-Mobile comes out on top here, but only because you're getting short-changed a smidge on the voice bucket.
In the final analysis, this is definitely a valid talking point for Sprint and something would-be Pre owners ought to consider. Granted, no one's going to question that Verizon's got a larger coverage footprint -- but if Sprint works everywhere you need it to, you're basically looking at a new laptop, a bunch of steak dinners, or a metric ton of ramen by the time you've worked your way through a full contract.
Wrap-up
It's not easy to sum up things as complex as webOS (a totally new operating system and UI) and the Pre (a totally new piece of hardware) in a tidy closer. Even if we could strip away all of the superfluous details and just look at those two aspects of Palm's work in a vacuum -- not accounting for things like carriers or price-points -- it still wouldn't make the job of leveling a verdict much simpler. Still, it's gotta be done, and we wouldn't want anyone else at the reins. So... what do we make of the Palm Pre?
There's no question that Palm has built this phone on the foundations laid by numerous devices before it -- most obviously the iPhone -- but the Pre clearly carves out its own path as well. Some of the ideas and concepts at play in webOS are truly revolutionary for the mobile space, breaking down lots of the walls that separate the experience of using a dedicated PC versus using a handheld device. One feeling that we were constantly stuck by while testing the phone was a kind of revelatory, 'Hey, this actually feels how a computer feels.' It was an experience not completely unlike our first encounter with the iPhone -- that little light that goes on that tells you that things can really be different than how they've been before. We also felt that same thing the first time we picked up a Treo, so it's fitting that the Pre should inspire a similar response.
To put it simply, the Pre is a great phone, and we don't feel any hesitation saying that. Is it a perfect phone? Hell no. Does its OS need work? Definitely. But are any of the detracting factors here big enough to not recommend it? Absolutely not. There's no doubt that there's room for improvement in webOS and its devices, but there's also an astounding amount of things that Palm nails out of the gate.
Still, if you're considering the Pre right now, you have to debate whether or not you want to hop onto Sprint's network. If you're already a customer and you're looking for a new phone, this one is a no-brainer -- but is this enough to lure you away from another carrier? We've debated (and continue to debate) the point ourselves -- though it looks like given what AT&T and Verizon are saying, that might not matter pretty soon. We will say that our experience on Sprint's network has been excellent, and its pricing more than competitive, though being mostly limited to North America is certainly a major factor when making this decision. There's also no guarantee of developer support with this phone. As we mention earlier, Palm needs to stoke those fires or the Pre will quickly be cemented as a tiny island in a large sea. We think the platform looks very promising, but with no big push (yet) to put a great SDK into dev's hands, and no existing userbase for those apps, it's hard to feel assurance that the software will come.
Ultimately -- carriers and developers notwithstanding -- what Palm has done is not only a major feat for a company of its size (and its dire position), and we think it's an important step in the evolution of mobile computing. Just like the iPhone's notches up the ladder, and the G1's contributions, the Pre moves the game forward in a very real way. We know this won't be the last of the webOS devices, and we know that as Palm improves its products, so will Apple, RIM, Microsoft, Google, and the rest of the smartphone gang. Unfortunately for them, their work just got a little bit tougher.
