Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Your 2 hourly digest for Engadget

Engadget
Engadget
Microsoft releases update to Windows Phone SDK, adds support for 256MB devices
Mar 26th 2012, 20:36

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A 7.1.1 update to the Windows Phone SDK has just hit Microsoft's servers today with tools tailored for Tango's lowered memory support in tow. According to the company's Windows Phone Developer Blog, this refresh "doesn't add much in the way of new features to [the] WPSDK," mostly addressing emulation for 256MB handsets, compatibility for Windows 8, a patch for Visual Studio, bug fixes for the Advertising SDK, additional language support and an ability for IntelliSense to switch between RAM configurations. It's a hefty 300MB download, since the package accommodates both OS images (512MB and 256MB), and should take about 15 minutes for a complete install. Consider yourself part of the mobile dev pack? Then hit up the source below to get a head start creating those Metro-style apps.

Microsoft releases update to Windows Phone SDK, adds support for 256MB devices originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWindows Phone Developer Blog, Microsoft  | Email this | Comments

HTC T328w to be the Wind beneath Chinese consumer wings?
Mar 26th 2012, 20:04

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Invasion of the One S chassis snatchers? That certainly seems to be the case here, as a render and listing for the T328w -- what is supposedly HTC's Wind -- has popped up over on Chinese site, Tenaa. The dual-SIM 4-inch handset, sporting an uncanny resemblance to its mid-tier look-alike, will purportedly occupy a lower rung on the smartphone scale, toting a single-core 1GHz CPU, 512MB RAM, a rear 5 megapixel shooter and WCDMA bands with support for HSDPA and HSUPA. From that list of internals alone, the unit sounds more like a dressed-up, specced-down One V, albeit without that idiosyncratic lip. On the software side, we're looking at Ice Cream Sandwich smothered in Sense 4a -- presumably, a localized variant of the OEM's newest UX. With a global rollout for the One line slated for this spring, our friends to the East could be seeing this device breeze its way onto retail shelves sooner than later.

HTC T328w to be the Wind beneath Chinese consumer wings? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AndroidCentral  |  sourceTenaa  | Email this | Comments

Nivio brings the Windows desktop to your iPad and Galaxy Nexus, we go hands-on
Mar 26th 2012, 19:26

Nivio mobile Windows desktop

Remember the hoo-hah OnLive cooked over some supposedly fast-and-loose Windows licensing? Well Nivio's been quietly rolling out its own, proudly licensed, version of a cloud-based Windows desktop. Its minimum requirement is the ability to handle HTML5, meaning that a Microsoft-powered OS can be used across iPads, Android phones, MacBooks and everything else in between. Nivio offers up a cloud storage platform alongside a Windows 7-style (it's based on the Windows 2008 R2 Server; same building blocks) OS that allows the user to sync up to 10GBs across devices. What else does it have? Microsoft Office -- on your tablet or smartphone of choice and all licensed through Redmond's very own Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA). The service launched in February, and is currently clearing a backlog of users on its books, attempting to gauge how people are using the service before exploding any servers. It's also started making its first steps in Europe, so we decided to take a look while its makers were in London.

Continue reading Nivio brings the Windows desktop to your iPad and Galaxy Nexus, we go hands-on

Nivio brings the Windows desktop to your iPad and Galaxy Nexus, we go hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceNivio  | Email this | Comments

FTC wants new privacy framework: asks for simple controls, transparent policies
Mar 26th 2012, 18:49

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There's plenty of people bothered by the dossiers of data companies like Facebook and Google can (and do) compile on their users, particularly in places across the pond. Now, the Federal Trade Commission has come up with a privacy framework to help address consumer concerns and provide companies with best practices to proliferate better privacy policies. This new plan is articulated in the FTC's recently released privacy report, and seeks to persuade companies to adopt a Privacy by Design ethos. Companies can do this by building in simplified privacy controls throughout product development and making info collection and practices transparent to users.

In order to meet these goals, the FTC came up with a five-pronged approach. First up is the widespread implementation of a Do Not Track system -- for which the W3C is currently creating an international standard -- that has already made its way into Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome to make it easy to opt out of targeted ads. Mobile services are also a priority, as the FTC wants concise, meaningful privacy disclosures to make them easy to digest when on smaller screens. Next, the FTC wants consumers to be able to easily find what personal info is held by data brokers, and is pushing those data brokers to create a centralized website to that end. ISPs, social networks, operating systems, and other so-called "large platform providers" are also under scrutiny for their ability to comprehensively track consumers, and the FTC will have a public workshop later this year to "further explore" issues related to that capability. Lastly, the Commission is working with the Department of Commerce to create business sector-specific codes of conduct, and pledges to continue to take action against companies that don't abide by their own policies.

In order to assuage fears that its framework puts too big of a financial burden on small businesses, the FTC made clear that it doesn't apply to companies that collect data from less than 5,000 customers and don't share that data with third parties. Sounds like a good plan, fellas, but we won't get too excited until we see the big boys actually implementing it.

FTC wants new privacy framework: asks for simple controls, transparent policies originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Mar 2012 14:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Techmeme  |  sourceFTC (PDF)  | Email this | Comments

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