Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Android 4.0 SDK and Platform Highlights

Android 4.0 SDK and Platform Highlights

Google has just released Android 4.0 (ICS) preview SDK and platform highlights. Android 4.0 Highlights Summary New User Features: Refined, evolved UI – Common action more visible, new typeface, improved multitaksing and notifications. Home screen folders and favorites tray – New home screen folders offer a new way for users to group their apps and shortcuts logically. Resizable widgets – Interactive widgets are resizable, so users can expand them to show more content or shrink them to save space New lock screen actions – The lock screens now let users do more without unlocking such as accessing the camera app. Quick responses for incoming calls – Respond by pre-written SMS if you are busy during a call Swipe to dismiss notifications, tasks, and browser tabs Improved text input and spell-checking – The softkeyboard now comes with a spell-checker and can automatically correct typos. Powerful voice input engine – Talk to […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Delete Old Revisions to Reduce Time to First Byte for WordPress Blogs

Delete Old Revisions to Reduce Time to First Byte for WordPress Blogs

I’ve already implemented several steps to improve this blog performance: Install W3 Total Cache plugin. Register to CloudFlare CDN to reduce the load on the server. Those two work pretty well, but there was still a problem with the Time to First Byte according to http://www.webpagetest.org. It got an F mark for First Byte Time. Sometimes I would get TTFB (Time To First Byte) of 20 seconds and more. TTFB is synonym of slow back-end processing either because of poorly optimized software or insufficient hardware specs or both. Part of the problem is probably due to my hosting provider (I use a shared hosting) and I sometimes get very high server load in CPanel (e.g. 50 (4 cpus)) whether my blog is running or not. But I found a blog post explaining how to try to reduce the TTFB for WordPress blog by installing Better Delete Revision plugin in order […]

Khadas Edge2 Arm mini PC
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Online Petition Requesting to Allow Linux Installation on Windows 8 Devices

Online Petition Requesting to Allow Linux Installation on Windows 8 Devices

Back in September, some concerns emerged about UEFI secure boot requirement for Windows 8 and its possible consequences on Linux and other open source operating systems: it may be impossible to install such systems on computers or devices shipped with Windows 8, either by replacing Windows 8 or in a dual boot installation as the bootloader (UEFI) would prevent such installation for security reasons. Microsoft has already replied to those concerns and stated that: At the end of the day, the customer is in control of their PC. … We work with our OEM ecosystem to provide customers with this flexibility. The security that UEFI has to offer with secure boot means that most customers will have their systems protected against boot loader attacks. For the enthusiast who wants to run older operating systems, the option is there to allow you to make that decision. So there should be an […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 2 Comments on Google and Samsung Galaxy Nexus Android 4.0 Smartphone

Google and Samsung Galaxy Nexus Android 4.0 Smartphone

Samsung and Google jointly announced the very first Android 4.0 (ICS) smartphone in Hong Kong. They did not get too original to name the device. Remember the Nexus S and Galaxy S series? Well, the smartphone is named Galaxy Nexus. The phone features a dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP4460 processor, a 4.65″ super AMOLED plus display (1280×720),  LTE/HSPA+ network support, 1080p video recoding, NFC, barometer and more. It will be sold in the US, Europe and Asia (including Japan and China) in November. After Samsung showcased the smartphone, Google presented the new Android 4.0 (ICS). 3 Design principles: Beautiful: Enchant me Easy: Simplify my life Powerful and Smart Here are the main points I gatherer of Android 4 presentation: The new UI uses the Roboto font. They removed the physical buttons on the smartphone. Everything is now done with gestures. It looks like Honeycomb for smartphone with stacks and widgets. Widgets […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Current and Future Intel Atom Processors Promotion Video

Current and Future Intel Atom Processors Promotion Video

Intel upload a new promotion video about the application made possible by Intel Atom processors: home and building management, intelligent displays, retail, IVI, communications devices, digital signage and more. You’ll see applications built around Intel Atome6xx, e6x5c, z6xx as well as future Intel Atom processors using 32nm process (Cedar Trail?)

Rockchip RK3568/RK3588 and Intel x86 SBCs
Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - 7 Comments on Using Raspberry Pi as an Internet Kiosk

Using Raspberry Pi as an Internet Kiosk

Following up on this morning post explaining how to get the kernel and minimal rootfs to run debian in qemu emulating an ARM1176 processor, I’ll show how to make a minimal rootfs to run Chrome browser in this platform. I tested it in QEMU, but this should also run on the Raspberry Pi hardware. First, you’ll have to complete the step I provided in Raspberry Pi Emulator in Ubuntu with Qemu. Start qemu: sudo qemu-system-arm -M versatilepb -cpu arm1176 -m 256 -hda rootfs.ext2 -kernel zImage -append “root=/dev/sda” -serial stdio Once you login to the console as root, create a new user (e.g guest): adduser guest This user will be needed to login with the graphical interface and ssh. In order to get an Internet Kiosk, we’ll need a web browser (Chromium) and a window manger. I chose fluxbox instead of gnome because of the size difference (8651 KB vs 1739 […]

Posted on by Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) - No Comments on Archos 80/101 G9 Firmware Version 3.2.56 Released

Archos 80/101 G9 Firmware Version 3.2.56 Released

Archos has just released a new firmware for Archos 80 G9 / 101 G9. Here’s the changelog: Version 3.2.56 – October 14th, 2011  Android browser: add support for new browsing modes in settings (using various tablet/desktop user agents) Network shares: improve browsing behavior robustness and mounting reliability Memory management: reduce time for an application to load Wi-Fi: achieve faster reconnect Wi-Fi: fix mobile access point support Accessories: add support for some USB Ethernet adapters (chipsets: RTL8150, ASIX AX88xxx, Davicom DM9601, SMSC LAN75xx, SMSC LAN95xx, NetChip 1080, MosChip MCS7830) on micro USB port Video: fix sound being lost sometimes while playing and need to seek/play/pause to recover it Filebrowser: make it usable with Archos remote application Battery: apply less intrusive low battery warnings Keyboard: no need to reboot to apply keyboard layout The firmware can be downloaded at http://update.archos.com/9/gen9/gen9_3.2.56/firmware_archos_it4.aos

Khadas VIM4 SBC