Google keeping Honeycomb source code on ice, says it’s not ready for other devices
March 24, 2011 No Comment
Itching to put some sweet, crunchy AOSP Honeycomb on your hardware of choice? You might have quite a wait, as BusinessWeek reports that Google will not release the Android 3.0 source code in the near future, and we just received confirmation of the same. Google forwarded us the following statement, which pretty much says it all: Android 3.0, Honeycomb, was designed from the ground up for devices with larger screen sizes and improves on Android favorites such as widgets, multi-tasking, browsing, notifications and customization. While we’re excited to offer these new features to Android tablets, we have more work to do before we can deliver them to other device types including phones. Until then, we’ve decided not to release Honeycomb to open source. We’re committed to providing Android as an open platform across many device types and will publish the source as soon as it’s ready. It’s fairly clear that the company’s motivation here is the same as it’s been all along — Google wants to restrict Android to the devices it was designed for. Though the company long insisted that earlier versions of Android were not for tablets , manufacturers quickly adapted the source code to slates anyhow, and we can imagine the company wasn’t thrilled some of the middling results. At that time, Google’s only weapon was to deny access to Gmail, Maps and Android Market, which it did liberally (with a few exceptions to the rule) but this time it sounds like it’s simply withholding the ” entirely for tablet ” source code instead of sending cease-and-desist letters out. Another explanation, however, could just be that Honeycomb’s not ready for primetime without some OEM help — last we checked, smartphone support was a far cry from final, and even the finished Motorola Xoom still has a few software kinks to work out. Here’s hoping a nice cold bowl of Ice Cream will smooth things over with the open source community before too long. Google keeping Honeycomb source code on ice, says it’s not ready for other devices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 17:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …A second Minnesota Republican is getting off the 2012 sidelines, sort of: Michele Bachmann will form a presidential exploratory committee by early June, CNN reports. The Minnesota congresswoman may form her committee earlier in order to participate in early GOP debates—sources tell CNN she’ll file if debate sponsors require…
Continue reading …Two 7.0-magnitude earthquakes hit northeastern Burma less than a minute apart today, shaking the ground as far away as Bangkok, where buildings swayed. The quakes struck near the country’s borders with Thailand and Laos, about 70 miles from the northern Thai city of Chiang Rai. The US Geological Survey…
Continue reading …US spy drones have been in the skies over Colombia scouting for drug traffickers and guerrillas since 2006, a newly released State Department cable reveals. The drones were initially sent out to “support hostage rescue efforts,” reads the cable from the then-ambassador to Colombia, “But it promises to be equally…
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No, that’s not the Apollo command module you’re looking at up there. What’s old is new again in space design, and what’s floating weightless above this text is a photo of humanity’s next great chariot into space. It’s the Orion spacecraft from Lockheed Martin, commissioned for NASA and designed to carry a crew of four not just for trips into orbit but well out into the solar system. Lockheed Martin has just taken the wraps off the thing for the first time, also showing off its new Space Operations Simulation Center (SOSC), located neither in Houston nor Cape Canaveral. It is instead dug into built atop the bedrock in Colorado, theoretically isolating it from seismic and other disturbances so that the testing crew can do their thing without any outside interference. In that bunker the ship is currently testing ahead of a planned first launch in 2013, taking a crew into orbit as soon as 2016. Mars? That might be another few years. Update : John wrote in to point out that the facility is actually built on some bedrock, not within the bedrock. So, it’s not an underground lair after all — but it’s still a lair by golly. Lockheed Martin shows off Orion spacecraft, new secret lair originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …NCIS: L.A. Sneers That Murderous Venezuelan Villain Is the ‘Karl Rove of Caracas’
March 24, 2011 No Comment
CBS's primetime drama NCIS: L.A. on Tuesday took a gratuitous swipe at a prominent conservative strategist, referring to a murderous Venezuelan villain as ” the Karl Rove of Caracas .” As if to emphasize the point, the jab was repeated later in the episode. The March 22 show, titled, “Enemy Within,” revolved around a Venezuelan politician who was supposedly pro-American, but turned out to be opposed to the U.S. During a visit to Los Angeles, “Gutierrez” is targeted for assassination. A Navy lieutenant explained, ” Look, there's a hard-line faction in the country led by a guy named Miguel Cortez. He's like the Karl Rove of Caracas .” Later in the episode, the insult is needlessly repeated. “Special Agent Callen,” played by Chris O'Donnell parroted, “Cortez is the leader of the hard-line faction in Venezuela.” Another agent, played by Daniela Ruah, reminded, “Yeah, Chambers said he's the Karl Rove of Caracas.” See a detailed show story here . This isn't the firs time the NCIS franchise has resorted to liberal propaganda. On December 15, 2009 , the program featured an episode about a Christian suicide bomber. (Hat tip to NewsBusters reader Suzanne Smith for the heads up.) A transcript of the two exchanges from the March 22 episode follows:
Continue reading …Some of the very same European countries now leading the charge to destroy Moammar Gadhafi’s weapons were pushing each other out of the way to sell him those same weapons just months earlier, according to a survey of international arms sales. France, the UK, Russia, and Italy have all been…
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Panama City Beach — A cell phone camera captured the action in the Panama City Beach Burger King on Front Beach Road Saturday, as a crowd of tourists nearly rioted at the restaurant.
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