| Microsoft details the People app, its cloud-connected address book for Windows 8 Jun 14th 2012, 02:28  If you've yet to try the Release Preview of Windows 8 for yourself, fear not, because along with our detailed impressions, Microsoft is catering to your trepidation with a series of blog entries on its MSDN site that explore the nitty-gritty details of its latest OS. In the latest installment, we're given an in-depth preview of the People app, a cloud-connected address book that promises to be one of the many centerpieces in the Metro environment. For starters, Windows Phone users are bound to feel right at home, as the address book relies on cloud services to populate the entries from sources such as Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft and Twitter. Not only does this ensure that one's address book is always accessible and up-to-date -- friend removals come to mind -- it also brings quick access to social feeds via the "What's new" section and lets you keep tabs on specific contacts via live tiles on the home screen. By leveraging APIs known as contracts, Windows 8 makes the address book available to other apps such as Mail and Messaging, along with other programs written to take advantage of the service. One of the hurdles Microsoft is working to overcome with its cloud-connected services are the inevitable duplicate contacts. Currently, Windows 8 does a pretty good job of identifying and linking multiple accounts to one individual, but for the rare exceptions, the company will soon add the ability to manually edit and link various accounts to specific contacts. Naturally, with such a connected approach, security could be an issue for businesses, and for this reason, one's Exchange contacts will not be synced with their Microsoft account. In this scenario, users must manually add their Exchange accounts for each device they use. Take one look at the length of the MSDN blog entry and you'll be left wondering how Microsoft employees find time to code, but it makes for a worthwhile read. Microsoft details the People app, its cloud-connected address book for Windows 8 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jun 2012 22:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  MSDN | Email this | Comments | | Developer teases iOS apps running on BlackBerry PlayBook, stops short of releasing the software (video) Jun 14th 2012, 01:42  Sometimes, it's much more rewarding simply to appreciate a technical achievement rather than worry about its legal or practical implications. That philosophy couldn't be more true for the travails of businesscat2000, whose handiwork has made it possible to run iOS apps on the BlackBerry PlayBook. The developer likens his project to WINE, which doesn't do hardware emulation, but rather relies on a custom set of APIs to make the wheel go round. While the software was initially greeted with a heavy degree of skepticism, businesscat2000 has since risen to the challenge of CrackBerry, and not only has he personally demonstrated the software, he's shown its ability to run a wide array of apps -- one specifically at the behest of CrackBerry, which belongs to its sister site, iMore. For the moment, the implementation isn't perfect, particularly if the app relies on Apple's UIWebView or CoreData frameworks. For those curious, businesscat2000 has yet to make the software publicly available, although he's expressed a bit of interest. It remains to be seen whether this project will ever see the light of day, but feel free to peek the videos below and scour the CrackBerry forums, where you can learn more of the technical details and dream of what may never be.
[Thanks, @mosologist] Continue reading Developer teases iOS apps running on BlackBerry PlayBook, stops short of releasing the software (video) Developer teases iOS apps running on BlackBerry PlayBook, stops short of releasing the software (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jun 2012 21:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | CrackBerry, CrackBerry forums | Email this | Comments | |
