Catch up with the Ubuntu 11.10 Cd’s Sale

After the release of Ubuntu 11.10 for download, it is now the Cd’s on sale. The release was much expected after the 6 long months of its making by the developers. The hype has been created by itself and so is the result. The Unity interface has been remodeled several new and improved features have been added in Ubuntu 11.10. It’s not like a revolutionary modification Ubuntu, but the noted drawbacks and updates to Ubuntu 11.04 has been made in this new version. Simple additions and updates have been made in several elements like the Unity interface, login screen and default applications. All the simple changes has made up to a better usable and friendly work space.

The developers have focused on improving the usability as there are more and simpler home users looking unto Ubuntu for home use as it is safe and simple. This has been a major uphold for Ubuntu since its first release as it was used mostly by the system administrators and expert users alone. Major of the changes have been made to the Unity where the Dash welcomes you with a launcher icon. The Dash matches well with the color of your desktop wallpaper and has been set to be so derived. You can now access all the Lenses from the Dash. The Lenses now load faster, produces better results and there are newer filter options now added to Ubuntu 11.10. All these have made it easier for you to retrieve your application easier from the Dash. The new Music Lens is an extra addition where the user can easily browse music on the device and can even purchase music via the Ubuntu One Music Store. The default music player is as usual Banshee.

14 new High definition wallpapers have been added to make your Ubuntu screen look welcoming. Talking about the looks, the new login screen looks chic and sexy. The ‘LightDM’ login screen is sleek and light and gives a professional look. The new Ubuntu 11.10 has a few pre-installed softwares like the Firefox 7 which has been set as the default web browser. LibreOffice Suite has been added as the office suit and is compatible with Microsoft Office. The change has been mad where Mozilla Thunderbird has been used as the e-mail application instead of Evolution. Managing photos has been made easier with Shotwell photo manager with easy upload facility to social network site. Must mention is the revamped edition of ‘Gwibber’ which has been made more usable. ‘Deja Dup’ backup tool has been provided for maintaining a backup. There are also six preinstalled games.

The cd’s are available only in the 32 –bit version whereas the online download can be done in the 64 bit version. Cd’s are a great gifting idea and a way to support the developers. To install, it is required to have 4 GB disk space and a system of at least 256 MB RAM. The pre orders are through for the Ubuntu 11.10 CD’s and the orders are scheduled to be shipped from 20^th October 2011 onwards. 

Big Talks About iOS 5

With the release of iOS 5 released on Wednesay, October 12^th, Apple has made another leap making things easier for its users. With the release of iPhone 4 S round the corner, this new operating system has made news at the stands. iOS 5 was initially released in June at the Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. This has taken the Apple  iOS devices beyond the boundary and has cleared the border line between computer running iTunes software and the iOS device. The iOS devices are the trend of the time with iPad Sale having rocketed since its release and above the Apple Mac sales.

The company has progressively eliminated all its drawbacks when compared to Android devices. The major attraction has been the Apple’s iCloud service which has enabled wireless syncing and updating. The company has come with an astonishing 200 new features added to its new OS release. One of the major advantages of the Andriod devices over Apple as been the wireless syncing facility and that has been cleared with iOS5.  Several iOS devices can be linked to a single iCloud account and can be synchronized. This makes it easier as you can make your iOS independent of your computer.

The irritating pop notifications can now be parted with the new iOS5. The new notification centre has combined all the notifications into a single drop down bar at the top of the iOS device. All notifications like missed call, messages, application updates and even the weather info have been added into the notifications bar and the priority can be set by the user. The compatibility with social network services has also been improved with the ability to post photos right from the image gallery. Twitter service can also be accessed directly from Youtube, safari and maps. Twitter has been well integrated into iOS 5.

Tabbed browsing with Safari is another notable addition that has made browsing easier for iOS users. Safari now even has a Reader option where articles in multiple pages can be viewed in a simple way leaving out the ads and displays the photos. This is very useful in reading those websites which have a strange format and could only be viewed well on a computer. You can now view any kind of websites even those which have to been optimized for the mobile devices.  In the iOS 4, you could send only the links to an e-mail address, while with iOS5, the whole text from a Safari page can be emailed easily.

Several new features have been added to the Camera under popular request. The camera and music can be easily accessed from the home button. The camera has grid lines for focus and can be pinched to zoom and even the exposure can be changed. The photos can be cropped, rotated, color corrected and red-eye removal done directly from the gallery. Rick text formatting has been added into the iOS Mail application. ‘Reminders’ is a new handy additional Application in the iOS 5 and lets you save the to-do lists with dates and even GPS locations. In a whole, te iOS 5 is indeed a must update for all iOS devices and must be explored for its 200 new additions. 

Father of C Programming and UNIX, Dennis Ritchie Dead at 70

Dennis Ritchie, one of the biggest contributors to the world of computer science, passed away on 12^th October 2011. He gifted the world with UNIX and C programming and changed the outset of computer programming with his contributions. He has been suffering from illness for a long time and died at his residence last Wednesday. The programming arena is sure going to miss this great person.

He was the father of C programming and one of the key developers in the UNIX development team. Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie developed C programming in 1970 when he was working with Bell Labs. With his new venture onto C programming he gifted several other elements like I/O libraries which are now widely in use. C has been the oldest programming language and the predecessor to several related programming languages. Even though C language is less prevalent these days and used mainly for low level OS and device driver programming, the aspects of C programming can be seen in many new languages. One of its direct descendants is C++ which is now widely used as a popular programming language. Others like C#, Java etc still have elements adopted from the basic C programming.

Ritchie was born in 1941 in New York and was a graduate in BS and PhD in Physics. He joined Bell Labs in 1968. Prior to joining Bell Labs, he was associated with the team that was into building computer operating system. Along with Ken Thompson of Bell Labs, they worked together to develop UNIX and released it in 1971. It was the development of UNIX that paved way for Ritchie to develop C programming. Ritchie converted UNIX into C language which was initially written in assembly language.

UNIX is one of the most popular operating systems and has influenced the computer world to even influencing the development of MAC OS. UNIX was one of the earliest open source OS and was given free of license to universities and commercial purposes. In the 1980, the UNIX code went major transformations and several branches of UNIX came into being with BSD UNIX, Solaris and many others. UNIX paved way for the GNU and LINUX. LINUX and Windows have all taken inspiration from UNIX and are now the most popular operating systems. Even after making such significant changes in the world of computer science, Ritchie was never a noted figure nor in the limelight.

Ritchie received several recognitions for his contributions like the Turing Award in 1983 and the National Medal of Technology in 1998. He served as the head of Lucent Technologies System Software Research Department till he retired from his job in 2007. His memories still remain with us through one of the best programming books that the world has ever witnessed.  He started the work of the book ‘The C programming Language (K & R)” 15 years back and he has left his mark on the world of technology and the technical world is immensely thankful to him for his contributions. 

Cadillac to Release CUE Technology in 2012 after 4 Years of Development

The 2012 Cadillac XTS will be the opening ground for the release of Cadillac User Experience (CUE) system which is an in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) and navigation system. The system works on a triple core ARM 11 processor with an eight-inch touch screen and a cluster display. The cluster display of 12.3 inch is optional and other facilities of the CUE system is the ability to sense proximity, voice recognition of any language, and the popular open application development arena.

Cadillac began its work on the CUE system 4 years back and 2012 will see its release. The company aims to begin its set up in ATS luxury sedans and SRX luxury crossovers and then will be found in other Cadillac models too. Cadillac CUE system is based on LINUX and is not complaint with Genivi Alliance’s specifications. The system runs on the older version of ARM11 architecture when the other similar systems in the market are using Intel Atom, Cortex-A8 and A9 systems. The Cadillac CUE works on a secret chip and has been known to have three cores. The processor used in the system is 3.5 fold faster than the normal speed of consoles.

Cadillac CUE system can intake voice data and therefore two of the cores handle the voice processing function. The third core is then evaluated to be a digital signal processor, even though this configuration is not confirmed. The system is exposed through a touch screen of eight inches fixed onto the dashboard of the vehicle. The screen has been reported to be of 24-bit color and has been manufactured to face up to -40deg F temperature. The system is inbuilt with Bluetooth 3.0 and can connect up to 10 Bluetooth devices. It also has additional USB ports, SD card slot and even an MP3 player facility.

The navigation can be done on board and even weather details can be provided by the system. The messages and emails that arrive on the Bluetooth connected device can be viewed from the system. The system has AM/FM and XM radio integration and BluRay entertainment system in the name of adding enough of entertainment to the drive. The whole Cadillac CUE system is customizable whereby the user can increase the size of the information displayed, relocate the icons, and many other options. The hardware buttons include two buttons and a direction pad and they will be available on the steering wheel too making control and manipulation easier for the driver.

The screen is fully touch enabled and can be used through tap, flick, swipe and even spread movements making it easier to scroll, zoom and search through the system. With the proximity sensor, the icons pop up when the user’s hands reach near the screen. The speech recognition enables the conversion of text-to-speech and speech-to-text for more usability. The user can configure his favorites by which up to 60 items can be ordered according to priority and can be easily accessed from the bottom of the screen. The top of the screen displays the icons of the last used functions.

Cadillac CUE will be the perfect gift for a techie giving entertainment, communication, navigation and access all at the fingertips while on the drive.