Adobe outs experimental Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool, calls it Wallaby

Ah, if only we could flip a big happy switch and convert all the web’s Flash content into (functional) HTML5 code. It’s a dream shared by many and, funnily enough, the company pushing to make it a reality is none other than Adobe itself, the owner and proprietor of Flash. Its Labs research team has just released an experimental new dev tool, dubbed Wallaby, that’s targeted at taking Flash-encoded artwork and animations and turning them into a more compatible mix of HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Of course, the intent here is not some magnanimous move to free us from the shackles of Flash — Adobe openly admits that the initial goal for the new tool will be to help convert animated banner ads so that they work on the iOS platform — but hey, even bad tools can be used for good sometimes, right?

Continue reading Adobe outs experimental Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool, calls it Wallaby

Adobe outs experimental Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool, calls it Wallaby originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 00:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Download Blog  |  sourceAdobe Labs  | Email this | Comments

WiFi-only Xoom rumored to release on April 3rd for $539

The hotly anticipated Xoom hasn’t been out very long, has been receiving good reviews, and according to Motorola’s CEO Sanjay Jha, has been “off to a good start.” However many people have been holding out on purchasing the new Android Honeycomb tablet due to the high cost and the…

Western Digital to Buy Hitachi GST for $4.3 Billion

Western Digital Logo

Everyone debating whether Western Digital or Hitachi drives are better can stop arguing now: WD has dropped $4.3 billion in a combination of stock and cash to buy Hitachi GST and fold the two storage technology companies into one. The new company will retain the Western Digital brand, and keep most of its staff and its headquarters in Irvine, California, but Hitachi GST President and CEO Steve Milligan will get a new office as President of Western Digital. 
The new merged company hopes its combined resources will put it in a better position to scale and compete with their now chief rival: Seagate. It may not be Seagate the company will really have to contend with though: as SSDs and NAND based flash memory becomes more popular in desktop PCs, notebook computers, and tablets, traditional spinning hard drives may be on the way out both in consumer and enterprise applications. 
Still, hard drives aren't going anywhere just yet, and Western Digital hopes that the new merger will give it a stronger foothold in enterprise storage while retaining its hold over consumer technology. 
[via Forbes]

ComScore: Android leapfrogs BlackBerry among US smartphone subscribers to take first place in market share

Last time we checked in with ComScore’s report on smartphone platform market share among US subscribers three months ago, Android was doing a little happy dance as it overtook iOS for the number two spot overall. Well, the cuddly green bots have self-replicated yet again, enough to overtake RIM this time thanks in part to a 5.4 percent decline on BlackBerry’s part (down to 30.4 percent in January) coupled with a 7.7 percent boost on the Android side, moving up to 31.2 percent. We imagine ComScore’s next report — covering the period through March — will see a little boost on the iOS side thanks to Verizon’s iPhone launch, but RIM’s knight in shining armor might be further out; we still don’t know when QNX-based phones are going to happen, after all, and devices like the Monaco don’t really seem like cure-alls.

ComScore: Android leapfrogs BlackBerry among US smartphone subscribers to take first place in market share originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Flying House From Pixar’s “Up” Is Flown In Real Life [Video]

Engineers built and flew a replica of the flying house in Pixar’s “Up” — setting the record for the largest cluster balloon flight ever.

It took 300 balloons, each 8-feet tall and filled with an entire tank of helium. The stint was for or National Geographic Channel’s “How Hard Can It Be?” show. Watch the video report:

Google Maps Navigation for Android adds real-time traffic re-routing

Google Maps Navigation becomes more of a threat to the traditional in-car GPS business seemingly on a daily basis, and they’re taking another stab at it today with the addition of traffic re-routing capability in the Android app (which, while technically still in beta, is pretty darn solid) in both North America and Europe. Of course, Maps has had access to traffic information for a long time, so this is a natural progression — and just as Google uses an interesting combination of sources (including phones) to cull that data, it’s employing some smart schemes for re-routing that take into account both current and historical information about your route. The update’s available today.

Google Maps Navigation for Android adds real-time traffic re-routing originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung demos ambient light-powered transparent LCD

Wirelessly-powered TVs are nice, and transparent displays are cool and all, but what about an ambient light-powered transparent LCD? Well, that’s nothing short of awesome. Samsung showed off just such a device at CeBIT 2011 last week — a prototype 46-inch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution and ten-finger touchscreen capability. We aren’t sure what kind of black magic Sammy put in this thing, but it’s an incredible feat of engineering to make such a large display — and its accompanying solar cells — efficient enough to run exclusively off the juice it pulls from surrounding light sources. No word on how the photon-powered LCD compares to existing HD monitors in terms of brightness, refresh rates, or color reproduction, but a muted picture is a small price to pay for cutting the electrical cord forever.

Samsung demos ambient light-powered transparent LCD originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhysOrg  |  sourceIT Pro Portal  | Email this | Comments

Try Playing Rock Paper Scissors Against This All-Knowing Computer. You’ll Probably Lose [Games]

How many rounds of rock, paper, scissors have you played in your life? Probably not enough to outsmart a computer. Have you identified trends in playing behavior? Doubtful. Are you predictable with your throwing strategy? Likely. Is it even possible to be any good at the game? Well, here’s your chance to find out. Test your rock, paper scissors prowess against a super smart, battle tested opponent: a computer. More »







Leaked BlackBerry 2011 Software Roadmap shows OS 7 is coming

Earlier this year various presentation slides leaked out of all the BlackBerry handsets RIM will be releasing this year Malibu, Torch 2, Monaco and Apollo/Sedona. Now a new set of slides has leaked online showing that 2011 BlackBerry software roadmap. There are some interesting things coming down the pipe this year… most of them involve […]

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