"Ubuntu for Phones" Turns Smartphones into Desktop PCs

Millions of people have tried out Ubuntu, a free operating system for desktop and notebook PCs. Like Android, Ubuntu is open-source and based on Linux, and while it's mostly seen as an OS for hobbyists here in the U.S., hardware manufacturers like Dell and HP make Ubuntu PCs for markets like mainland China.
Now Canonical, the startup which drives Ubuntu's partly community-based development, has announced a version of Ubuntu that's made for smartphones. The company previously showed off an experimental version of desktop Ubuntu that hobbyists could install on their Nexus 7 tablets. But the version Canonical demoed Wednesday was tailor-made for smartphones.
What makes Ubuntu different?
The smartphone version of Ubuntu bears little resemblance to the desktop version, aside from its graphical style. Its interface is based around gestures and swipes; instead of a back button, for instance, you swipe from the right-hand edge of the screen to return to a previous app. Swiping up from the bottom, meanwhile, reveals an app's menu, which remains off-screen until then.
Tech expect John Gruber was critical of the Ubuntu phone interface, noting that "gestures are the touchscreen equivalent of keyboard shortcuts" because they need to be explained to someone before they can use them. The Ubuntu phone site itself calls the experience "immersive," because it allows more room for the apps themselves.
What will Ubuntu fans recognize?
First, the apps. The same Ubuntu apps which are currently available in the Software Center (Ubuntu's equivalent of the App Store) will run on an Ubuntu phone, provided the developers write new screens designed for phones -- much less work than writing a new app from scratch. Ubuntu web apps, already integrated into its version of Firefox, will also work in the phone version.
Second, the dash and the app launcher. Ubuntu's universal search feature is easily accessible, and swiping in partway from the left edge of the screen reveals the familiar row of app icons.
What unique features does it have over other smartphone OSes?
Besides the gesture-based design, higher-end Ubuntu smartphones will be able to plug into an HDTV or monitor, and become a complete Ubuntu desktop PC. Just add a keyboard and mouse. This feature was originally announced for Android smartphones (using advertising which insults grandmothers), and Android phones featuring Ubuntu are expected before full Ubuntu phones launch.
When will it be available?
Ubuntu phones (not just Android phones with Ubuntu included) are expected to be on shelves starting in 2014. In a few weeks, however, Canonical will have a version available that you can put on your own Galaxy Nexus smartphone to try it out.
Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

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Acer and Asus to Stop Making Netbooks

The last two major netbook manufacturers, Acer and Asus, are closing the doors on these mini-laptops. According to Digitimes' Monica Chen and Joseph Tsai, Acer "has no plans to release more netbook products" such as its Aspire One, while Asus has already ended its Eee PC line.
Other netbook manufacturers, such as Samsung, have long since abandoned the market.
Why netbooks failed to catch on
Netbooks were "still enjoying strong sales" as late as 2010, according to an optimistic report by ABI Research. But the growth trend which it predicted flattened out and declined, thanks to four factors pointed out by the Guardian's Charles Arthur.
Not worth it for many, compared to notebooks
One is that the original, Linux-based netbooks failed to catch on, as they had trouble running Windows PC software. But Microsoft charged between $30 and $50 for each netbook's Windows license, and insisted that the new crop of Windows netbooks be larger and more expensive than the original Linux-based models. This placed them in close competition with low-end laptops, the prices of which were going down instead of up.
The rise of the iPad
The other biggest factor is that the iPad and Android tablets took the place of netbooks for many buyers. While Apple's iPad was the price of a full-sized laptop, the company soon introduced discounted or refurbished versions ... as well as the smaller, $329 iPad Mini, which doesn't cost much more than most netbooks. Besides that, the whole iPad line was even lighter than netbooks and had longer battery life, besides being more responsive and having more popular apps.
Meanwhile, companies like Amazon and Barnes and Noble made $199 Kindle and Nook tablets, which beat out even the original $249 Linux-based Asus Eee's price tag.
A little bit bigger, a lot better
During the netbook's heyday, many called for Apple to make one of its own. As Apple tech expert John Gruber pointed out, however, netbooks were "cheaper, not better," which contradicted Apple's business model of selling high-margin, premium products.
When Apple did release a small laptop computer, it was the $999 11-inch MacBook Air, which went on to be a best-seller. Other PC manufacturers tried to follow in Apple's footsteps with Intel's "Ultrabook" specification, which is basically a recipe for MacBook Air clones that run Windows, but so far have failed to make a dent in the market.
Taking the place of netbooks
Besides Ultrabooks, the other notable netbook-like computers on the market right now are Chromebooks, ultralight laptops which start at $199 and run a slimmed-down OS based on Google's Chrome web browser. Former netbook manufacturers Samsung and Acer are both making Chromebooks, while Asus manufactured Google's popular Nexus 7 tablet.

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HP Cloud Ushers in 2013 and GA Compute Service with Reduced Pricing

HP Cloud Services is continuously working to increase efficiency in our datacenters, so we can pass these efforts along to our customers via enhanced enterprise-class service and/or lower prices.  As a result, HP Cloud Services is starting the New Year by permanently lowering the prices on Linux instances of HP Cloud Compute by 12.5% and Object Storage by as much as 25%.
Furthermore, to celebrate our Compute service’s move to General Availability (GA), we are offering a time-limited 40% discount on all Windows and Linux instances until March 31st, 2013.  We’re doing this to make it even easier for new and existing customers to try our new GA service and perform their initial integration work. You can read more about our differentiated, industry-leading SLA at “Under the Hood of HP Cloud Services SLAs” and about what we’re doing behind the scenes to actually deliver on and surpass our SLAs at “How HP Cloud Services Became Enterprise Class.”
It’s worth noting that we also recently moved HP Cloud Block Storage to public beta and added several major new features, including bootable persistent volumes and enhancements in volume backup to object storage, as detailed here.  HP Cloud Block Storage is being discounted by 50% while in public beta, so now is the perfect time to give it a test drive if you haven’t already!
You can sign up now to start exploring our enterprise-class cloud.  For ongoing news about our new services, pricing and special offers, follow us on Twitter @hpcloud, subscribe to this blog, and follow our Facebook page.

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China says it will end prison labor camps. Will there be real reform?

China appears poised to end an inglorious history of labor camps, and the practice of “re-education through labor.”
This week, Beijing announced it would end the decades-old system, which gives police and other officials power to detain people up to four years without charge or having to go through the legal system.
It appears that the mounting dissatisfaction among citizens and lawyers has brought about a potential moment in the Middle Kingdom, and new leaders in Beijing are giving it some attention. Yet whether China will seize this moment and conduct real reform, close the camps, and stop incarcerating people without trial is unclear.
One concern, say longtime China justice watchers, is that Beijing may merely retool the policy on labor camps. That is, officials will create new legal measures that appear improved, but that change little – except to make it more difficult for monitors to claim or prove human rights violations.
RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about China? Take our quiz.
China admits to a network of some 310 labor camps with 190,000 inmates who are forced to work, often in grueling conditions – sent there without due process or a judge.
Re-education through labor has been used to control dissent and political prisoners. When the camps were started in the 1950s, they held “counter-revolutionaries” on ideological charges. But Beijing stopped that in the late ‘90s.
Today, the types of people who may end up in a camp for years are democracy organizers, upstart bloggers, underground church ministers, unhappy lawyers, members of the Falun Gong sect, Tibetan monks or ethnic Uighers with the temerity to protest, or those deemed too outspoken and thus threats to the “harmony” of China’s society.
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Labor camps may have been necessary in the past, said Chinese Ministry of Justice Chief Meng Jianzhu Monday, but in today’s China, “conditions have changed.”
So this week when Beijing started talking about ending “forced labor” – those words echoed loudly in China watch circles.
“This is a big measure if it really happens,” notes Nicolas Bequelin, a justice expert with Human Rights Watch based in Hong Kong, and author of many reports on conditions in China. “It is driven by the top and resisted by police and public security bureaus.”
What concerns Mr. Bequelin: “We may end up seeing a less overtly abusive system, one that has a different name and some small changes, but one that in the end makes the uprooting of abuse more difficult.”
To be sure, compared with the old Soviet Siberian wasteland labor camps chronicled by Alexander Solzhenitzyn, where inmates died in the snows by the thousands, Chinese camps are a kind of “Gulag-lite.” But they are also plenty grim. Torture is sanctioned, medical treatment withheld, and grueling work enforced. Beatings and other inhumane conditions are overseen by often-corrupt police officials.
“Chinese authorities will need to replace “re-education by labor” with something,” says Joshua Rosenzweig, a Hong Kong-based expert formerly with the Dui Hua group. “But what will it be? That is the question.”
The cornerstone of any justice system is that those accused by police must go to court where evidence is produced. In the case of the forced labor camps in China, police arrest and act as judge and jury without a trial. Currently, the camps are inspected by the Ministry of Justice, which happens to be the same ministry that operates them.
Will Chinese police give up some of their current power?
Can Chinese authorities start moving away from a long-held obsession with “stability” – and begin to acknowledge individual rights as more significant?
What concerns analysts like Mr. Rosenzweig is that there has not yet been a fundamental change of heart or spirit in Beijing behind the coming change.

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India lashes Pakistan after deadly Kashmir encounter

JAMMU, India (Reuters) - India denounced Pakistan on Wednesday over a firefight in the disputed territory of Kashmir in which two Indian soldiers were killed, but the nuclear-armed rivals both appeared determined to prevent the clash escalating into a full diplomatic crisis.

India summoned Pakistan's envoy in New Delhi to lodge a "strong protest", accusing a group of Pakistani soldiers it said had crossed the heavily militarized Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir of "barbaric and inhuman" behavior.

The body of one of the soldiers was found mutilated in a forested area on the side controlled by India, Rajesh K. Kalia, spokesman for the Indian army's Northern Command, said. However, he denied Indian media reports that one body had been decapitated and another had its throat slit.

"Regular Pakistan troops crossed the Line of Control ... and engaged the Indian troops who were patrolling the sector," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement after Pakistan's high commissioner to India had been called in.

"Two Indian soldiers were killed in the attack and their bodies subjected to barbaric and inhuman mutilation."

India's foreign minister sought to cool tensions, however, saying that exhaustive efforts to improve relations could be squandered if the situation was not contained.

"I think it is important in the long term that what has happened should not be escalated," Salman Khurshid told a news conference. "We cannot and must not allow the escalation of any unwholesome event like this."

"We have to be careful that forces ... attempting to derail all the good work that's been done towards normalization (of relations) should not be successful," he added, without elaborating on who such forces might be.

MOST SERIOUS INCIDENT IN 10 YEARS

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir, and both are now nuclear-armed powers.

Away from the border, ties had appeared to be improving of late. Pakistan's cricket team completed a two-week tour of India on Sunday, its first visit in five years.

Firing and small skirmishes are common along the 740-km (460-mile) LoC despite a ceasefire that was agreed in 2003.

However, incursions by troops from either side are rare. Retired Indian army Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal, who previously commanded a brigade on the LoC, said Tuesday's incident - about 600 meters from the de facto border - marked the most serious infiltration since the ceasefire was put in place.

Indian army officials said cross-border firing broke out hours after the clash but, on Wednesday, the LoC was quiet.

Naveed Chand, a shopkeeper in Chatar village just 2 km from the LoC on the Pakistani side told Reuters by telephone that there had been a pick-up in cross-border firing recently, unusual movements of army trucks and reinforcement of bunkers.

"We think something is up. People in the area are very alarmed," he said.

It was not possible to independently verify events in the remote area, which is closed to journalists on both sides.

Pakistan's foreign ministry denied India's allegations of an incursion as "baseless and unfounded" and said in a statement that it was prepared for an investigation by a U.N. military observer group into recent ceasefire violations.

Like New Delhi, it stressed the need to pursue better relations, adding: "Pakistan is committed to a constructive, sustained and result-oriented process of engagement with India."

PROPAGANDA

Nevertheless, a Pakistani army spokesman described India's charges as "propaganda" aimed at diverting attention away from an Indian incursion two days earlier in which one Pakistani soldier was killed. India denies that its troops crossed over the line during last weekend's incident.

Mushahid Hussain, a Pakistani senator and member of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security, said the Indian government - dogged by corruption scandals and facing a tough election as early as this year - was returning to "the war-like language of the past" for domestic political reasons.

"Pakistan has its hands full with a full-blown insurgency inside its borders. It doesn't suit Pakistani interests at all to raise the temperature along the LoC," Hussain said.

There was little coverage of the skirmish in Pakistani media, but a succession of commentators voiced fury on Indian news channels and the main opposition party urged the government to expose Pakistan's actions to the international community.

"Pakistan can be named and shamed for this brutal attack," Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley told reporters.

India considers the entire Kashmir region of snow-capped mountains and fertile valleys an integral part of its territory. Muslim Pakistan contests that and demands implementation of a 1948 U.N. Security Council resolution for a plebiscite to determine the wishes of the mostly Muslim people of Kashmir.

Some commentators drew parallels between Tuesday's clash and a conflict in 1999 when Pakistan-backed Islamist infiltrators occupied the heights in Kargil, in the north of Indian Kashmir. India lost hundreds of troops before re-occupying the mountains after fighting that almost triggered a fourth war.

"India's response will be measured but, as a former soldier, I do not rule out a measured military response to teach them a lesson," said retired Brigadier Kanwal. "You cannot tinker with bodies."

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Officials: Possible 5th killing by Mexico dog pack

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — A 15-year-old girl found fatally bitten by dogs outside a Mexico City park in mid-December may have been the first victim of a feral pack suspected of killing at least four other people over the last month, prosecutors said Wednesday.
Authorities began capturing dogs in the park this week after a mother and her infant boy were found dead and covered in dog bites on Dec. 29 and the bodies of a teenage couple were found covered in fatal bites from as many as 10 dogs a week later.
The four were believed to have been the only victims until the mother of 15-year-old Ana Gabriela Nataret Ramirez told Milenio Television lateTuesday that their daughter had died in hospital after being found covered with apparent dog bites near the Cerro de la Estrella park in the poor southeastern Mexico City district of Iztapalapa on the night of Dec. 16.
The city prosecutor's office confirmed the details of the case Wednesday and said it was looking into whether her case was connected to the other deaths.
"An autopsy revealed that the victim had multiple injuries and puncture wounds on both arms," the prosecutor's office said. "After the events of recent days, the Mexico City district attorney's office broadened the investigation and confirmed the possibility of a new case of homicide resulting from wounds caused by dogs."
Animal control officers swept the park for feral dogs again Wednesday after capturing 36 animals over the last two days. Borough president Jesus Valencia told reporters at the pound where the animals are being kept that 33 dogs were captured but his office said later that 36 dogs had been caught.
In addition to rabies, the dogs have been tested for traces of human blood and DNA in order to determine if they were involved in the killings. Valencia said the rabies tests had all come back negative, and the prosecutors' office said the other tests were pending.
He said the borough was helping pay funeral costs for the victims and get psychological help for the relatives.
Many family members have expressed skepticism that dogs could have killed their loved ones, saying their injuries appeared too devastating to have been the result of dog bites.
Valencia said that the borough planned to allow people to adopt any dogs not involved in the killings.
After authorities released photos of the captured dogs, activists started an online campaign protesting the animals' innocence and calling for authorities not to euthanize them. Tens of thousands of dogs are euthanized each year in Mexico if they are captured by animal control officers and not claimed within 72 hours.
Many people re-posted the images of the dogs staring sadly from behind bars at an animal shelter, and the hashtag for the campaign briefly became the top trending topic on Twitter in Mexico.
Mexico City Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said his government would launch a new program to spay and neuter dogs in order to reduce the number of animals in the street, sending 25 mobile surgical units to neighborhoods where residents would be encouraged to take advantage of free sterilization for their pets.

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Friday's Sports In Brief

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) -- Alabama coach Nick Saban sent home two backup players from the BCS championship game for violating curfew.
A person with knowledge of the decision said the players were freshman linebackers Dillon Lee and Ryan Anderson. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the school didn't release names.
A statement from Saban announced the disciplinary action. Alabama's student newspaper, The Crimson White, first identified the players.
Lee played in eight games, mostly on kickoff coverage. He did intercept a pass in his college debut against Michigan in the season opener and made his only tackle in that game.
Anderson didn't play this season.
The second-ranked Crimson Tide will play No. 1 Notre Dame on Monday night.
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M became the fourth FBS quarterback with 20 touchdowns passing and 20 touchdowns rushing in the same season.
Manziel got his school-record 20th rushing touchdown on the Aggies' opening drive of the Cotton Bowl against Oklahoma when he tiptoed 23 yards down the sideline. He added a 5-yard TD run before halftime. The first freshman to win the Heisman, Manziel also has 24 passing TDs.
The other 20-20 quarterbacks were Auburn's Cam Newton and Florida's Tim Tebow, who like Manziel are Heisman winners from the SEC, and Nevada's Colin Kaepernick.
Three other A&M players had 19 rushing TDs in a season, the last Jorvorskie Lane in 2006.
NHL
NEW YORK (AP) - A federal mediator held over 12 hours of separate talks with the NHL and the players' association before stopping for the night with a promise to get going again in the morning.
The sides remained apart all day, buffered by the presence of federal mediator Scot Beckenbaugh, who shuttled back and forth between the hotel where the union is working, and the league office. He started at 10 a.m. EST and wrapped up discussions for the day shortly before 11 p.m.
Similar talks were scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.
It still isn't known when the league and the union will get back together at the bargaining table. Neither side provided details, but the all-day discussions may signal progress.
NFL
NEW YORK (AP) - With the ink not even dry on the New York Jets' dreadful season, Rex Ryan fled to the Bahamas only to be photographed lounging poolside at a resort hotel, book in hand, with an interesting tattoo gracing his right biceps.
It showed his wife, Michelle, wearing an unmistakably green Jets jersey emblazoned with the unmistakable No. 6 of embattled quarterback Mark Sanchez - and nothing else.
The Daily News ran a front-page photo and by lunchtime it was an Internet sensation. That's pretty much the way the NFL team's soap-opera season played out. Ryan was criticized for sticking with Sanchez despite losing efforts when Tim Tebow was available. The Jets finished the season 6-10.
NBA
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Kobe Bryant is no longer a holdout. He's on Twitter.
With five words - ''The antisocial has become social'' - the Los Angeles Lakers guard sent the first tweet from his account. About 365,000 people were following his verified account, (at)kobebryant, within a few hours.
Bryant tiptoed into the Twitterverse last week when he briefly took over Nike basketball's account, sending out things like a photo of him hanging out with his daughter, an ice bath that he was dreading and even a suit he was wearing to a particular game.
Heat star LeBron James has 6.8 million followers, the most of any NBA player.
GOLF
LONDON (AP) - World No. 1 Rory McIlroy said he may skip the 2016 Olympics because of the dilemma over which country to represent.
McIlroy, from Northern Ireland, is eligible to compete for either Britain or Ireland when golf returns to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. McIlroy said in a BBC documentary that missing the Olympics is ''definitely an option'' because ''I don't want to upset too many people.''
McIlroy stirred controversy last year when he said in a British newspaper interview that he felt ''more British than Irish.'' He then posted a letter on Twitter saying he grew up ''a proud product of Irish golf'' and had not made a decision on the Olympics.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
NEW YORK (AP) - The seven Catholic schools that have decided to leave the Big East and form their own league continued to plot the future, retaining Proskauer Rose LLP and Pilson Communications, Inc., to aid in their defection.
St. John's, Georgetown, Marquette, DePaul, Seton Hall, Providence and Villanova all decided last month to set off on their own as the Big East continues to reshape itself.
The university presidents met in New York to discuss the future of the new league. They vow to ''Honor the history and tradition on which the Big East was established.''
There is no timetable for when other schools will join the league.
CYCLING
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The New York Times reported that Lance Armstrong, who has strongly denied the doping charges that led to him being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, has told associates he is considering admitting to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The report cited anonymous sources and said Armstrong was considering a confession to help restore his athletic career in triathlons and running events at age 41.
Armstrong was banned for life from cycling and cannot compete in athletic events sanctioned by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency.
But Armstrong attorney Tim Herman told The Associated Press he had no knowledge of Armstrong considering a confession.

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Report says Armstrong may confess to doping

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Lance Armstrong is reportedly considering a change in course, dropping his years of denials and admitting that he used performance-enhancing drugs.
The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported late Friday that Armstrong has told associates he is thinking about the move.
However, Armstrong attorney Tim Herman says that the cyclist hasn't reached out to USADA chief executive Travis Tygart and David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
USADA stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles last year and issued a report portraying the cyclist as the leader of a sophisticated doping operation on his winning teams.
A USADA spokeswoman declined comment on Saturday while Howman was quoted by the Sunday Star-Times in New Zealand, where he is vacationing, saying Armstrong has not approached his group

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Report says Armstrong may confess to doping, though move could have cons and benefits

AUSTIN, Texas - Lance Armstrong is reportedly considering a change in course, dropping his years of denials and admitting that he used performance-enhancing drugs.
The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported late Friday that Armstrong has told associates he is thinking about the move.
However, Armstrong attorney Tim Herman says that the cyclist hasn't reached out to USADA chief executive Travis Tygart and David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
USADA stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles last year and issued a report portraying the cyclist as the leader of a sophisticated doping operation on his winning teams.
A USADA spokeswoman declined comment on Saturday while Howman was quoted by the Sunday Star-Times in New Zealand, where he is vacationing, saying Armstrong has not approached his group.

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Oregon governor says Nike plans expansion

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Nike wants to expand its Oregon operations and hire hundreds of workers but is asking the government to promise it won't change the state tax code.
Gov. John Kitzhaber (KIHTS'-hah-bur) says he'll call the Legislature into session Friday to create a law to give Nike its wish.
The company has not specified its expansion plans except to say it would create at least 500 jobs and $150 million in capital investment over five years.
Nike Inc. has its headquarters in Beaverton, outside Portland. Company officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
It employs 44,000 people globally, including 8,000 in Washington County.
Nike has been selling off brands and making other moves to focus on its most profitable businesses, which include its namesake Nike brand, Jordan, Converse and Hurley.

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