| Hitachi, NEC lead 70-strong coalition pitching iPad, iPhone for the business crowd Jun 20th 2012, 10:37  The Japanese must have more of a thing for Apple than we thought. A group of 70 local companies, led by heavyweights such as Hitachi and NEC, wants to spur iPad and iPhone app development for the corporate world. Along with helping to get the apps built in the first place, the alliance could help spread the work abroad. Members have even said they'll press Apple to get more information for writing business apps, although we wish them the best of success on that front -- Apple isn't exactly known for letting developers learn more about iOS' inner workings. With as many as 600 members joining over time, the coalition's success could shake up a Japanese suit-and-tie culture led by domestic cellphones and PCs. There also wouldn't be any shortage of irony from NEC partnering to support a platform that undermines its own tablets. Hitachi, NEC lead 70-strong coalition pitching iPad, iPhone for the business crowd originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 06:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  The Verge |  Nikkei | Email this | Comments | | MightyText launches in earnest, enables browser-based texting through your Android phone number Jun 20th 2012, 09:48  Nah, it's not exactly iMessage (or BBM) for Android -- in some ways, it's better, but it lags behind in others. MightyText has launched in earnest today, graduating from its Chrome-only beta state and opening up a world of new messaging possibilities for those with Android handsets. In order to gain access, users need only install the free app linked below on an Android 2.2+ smartphone, and then install a plug-in at the company's website into your browser of choice. Once synced, you'll be able to view, send and reply to messages through your Android phone number, with no additional charges added at any point. The only niggle is that this is still SMS; unlike iMessage, which utilizes data, you won't be able to use this as a loophole to send messages whilst using Gogo on a plane, or using a WiFi hotspot in an international destination. The SMS still gets routed through your phone, so you'll still need a texting plan (or a pay-per-text plan) and a solid cellular signal to make the magic happen. For those still interested, the links below are beckoning. MightyText launches in earnest, enables browser-based texting through your Android phone number originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 05:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink TechCrunch | MightyText, Google Play | Email this | Comments | | Google Maps to soon include waterway travel in England and Wales Jun 20th 2012, 08:45  Here in America, avid motorists tend to tick that 'Avoid Ferries' option whenever possible. In England and Wales, however, travel including waterways is looked quite fondly upon. To that end, Google has reportedly started the process of mapping towpaths in the two nations, as it attempts to map bridges, locks and some 2,000 miles of canal / river paths. The Guardian quotes Ed Parsons, a geospatial technologist at Google UK, as saying the following: "Canal towpaths offer green routes through our towns and cities, and by working with the Canal and River Trust we're adding towpaths to Google Maps and encouraging people to discover their local waterway." As delightful as the news may be, we still can't help but focus on a single mental image. That image, if you're curious, is embedded after the break. Continue reading Google Maps to soon include waterway travel in England and Wales Google Maps to soon include waterway travel in England and Wales originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 04:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink Trusted Reviews | BBC, The Guardian | Email this | Comments | | 48 PandaBoards chained together in solar-powered ARM cluster Jun 20th 2012, 08:26  Michael Larabel already had a 12-core PandaBoard-based mini-cluster under his belt. Clearly, the only way to outdo that is to go bigger, better and greener. The Phoronix founder took 48 of the OMAP 4460-powered boards, got them up and running on Ubuntu 12.04 and chained them together in a massive ARM cluster of Linux goodness. Even with 96 cores chugging along at 1.2GHz the cabinet of tiny computers used only 200 watts -- a threshold Larabel was able to meet with a solar panel strapped to a handtruck. Sadly we don't have any performance figures yet, but MIT, where the little ARM experiment was conducted, should be releasing benchmarks and video soon enough. In the meantime, hit up the source link for some more details and photos of this 96-core, solar-powered wonder. 48 PandaBoards chained together in solar-powered ARM cluster originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 04:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Phoronix | Email this | Comments | |
