racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

It’s the post-PC era, as the late Steve Jobs has called it. tablets and smartphones have far overtaken desktops and notebooks in terms of growth. And given the varied price points at which consumers can acquire mobile phones and tablet PCs (what with the cheap China-made Android tablets), computers are becoming cheaper and cheaper. But Microsoft is focusing on a post-post-PC era. Microsoft has already hinted that its upcoming Windows 8 operating system will run on both mobile and desktop platforms.

Will Microsoft merge its mobile and desktop operating systems with Windows 8? Microsoft has reassigned its chief of the Windows Mobile 7 division to a secret project under CEO Steve Ballmer. But whether this means they’re surrendering in the smartphone market, or they’re planning a resurgence through a unified OS, we will know by 2012, when Windows 8 launches.

The mobile industry is in exciting times lately, with news from major players. First is Microsoft’s silent roll-out of its latest Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango” update. The update, which will include WiFi tethering, multitasking and improved social networking features, will start rolling out to Window Phone 7 devices starting this week. Availability will depend on carrier and region, though.

Samsung and Intel Launch Tizen OS

The LiMo and Linux foundations have announced a new mobile operating system. “Tizen” will be co-developed by Intel and Samsung, merging their MeeGo and LiMo platforms. Tizen promises an open-source, open-standards approach to mobile operating systems, and will have the support of various networks and handset makers.

iPod Classic and Shuffle on Their Way Out?

Apple is focusing on touchscreen iOS devices, and might discontinue the iPod Classic (with clickwheel) and Shuffle (without screen) soon. The iPod Nano will be their entry-level device. Should I say goodbye to my 5.5th gen iPod?

Barnes & Noble, Amazon to Launch New Tablets

Amazon has just announced their new Kindle Fire tablets. Priced at $199, and with free access to Amazon content, they might just have a winner here. Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble is reportedly updating their Nook Color line in time for the holidays, with both a premium and an inexpensive Android tablet.

Microsoft Extorting from Android Manufacturers?

Samsung and Microsoft have recently entered a cross-licensing deal, in which Samsung pays royalties to MS for each Android phone sold. Google says Microsoft is extorting money from Android makers. Microsoft basically says “Shut up and pay up.”

Companies Now Subsidizing Employees for Gadget Purchases

IT departments are losing control over devices, as companies move toward “bring your own device” policies. 41% of surveyed firms actually provide subsidies or co-payment schemes for smartphones, tablets and notebook computers.

In other news: Delicious has been relaunched. Facebook will update profiles with Timeline. Chrome 14 is out, with NaCl support and security updates. Do you have a website? Turn then into iPad HTML5 apps with Pressly. Will Facebook ever release an iPad app?

Mobile devices are gaining popularity as preferred communication and productivity devices in the workplace. In fact, mobile devices are set to overtake wireline access (cable, DSL) in terms of Internet use by 2015. But before you start using your iPad or Android device as your main work device while mobile, consider investing in a few apps, including unified messaging services, virtualization software, document management and cloud storage.

Convert Your Content Into HTML5 Tablet Apps

Meanwhile, if you’re on the other end of the content production business, you might want to consider optimizing your website for tablet computers. Apps like Pressly will turn your website into a format for tablets, which will include support for touch interfaces, gestures, swipes and the like. No need to build an iPad or Android app from scratch, since the service will do the conversion for you.

Chrome 14 On Its Way to Secure Browsing?

Google has just rolled out version 14 of its Chrome Browser, with support for the Native Client or NaCl platform. This is a secure environment for developing applications in C/C++, which can securely run in their own memory space.

SSL No Longer Secure?

But before you think you’re securely accessing your email, bank and other secure websites, consider that SSL/TLS transactions may have already been compromised. Security researchers have found a way to undermine the confidentiality of SSL/TLS, and even encrypted traffic can be viewed.

Mac OS X Lion Also Vulnerable

Aside from SSL potentially being broken, OS X Lion users might also want to watch out for possible intrusions. Security researchers have discovered a serious flaw in OS X Lion that lets any user change passwords with local access, without the need for admin access.

Linux, Android Concerns?

If you’re a fan of free software (meaning free as in speech, not free as in beer) you might want to think about how free Android really is. FSF’s Richard Stallman says Android still severely limits user control over the firmware and hardware. And if you use Linux, the introduction of unified EFI in Windows-8 certified computers might limit your options, as dual-booting or even booting Linux may not be possible.

The big tech news this week involves HP announcing plans to exit the hardware business and focus instead on enterprise software. HP will be spinning off its PC business, and is dropping webOS altogether, possibly licensing it to another manufacturer.

Along with this announcement, HP dropped prices of its TouchPad tablet to $99 for the 16GB model and $149 for the 32GB model. The sale price sparked rush purchases across the US, UK and other parts of the world where the TouchPad was sold.

HP TouchPad to Run Android & Ubuntu Linux

Now the bigger piece of news here is that while the TouchPad is considered a dead platform in terms of webOS, developers are starting to tweak the hardware to run other operating systems, notably Android and Ubuntu Linux. So far, hackers have been successful at installing Ubuntu, and an Android Gingerbread port is underway. Will Android and Ubuntu Linux be the saving grace for the HP TouchPad? Has HP done its own TouchPad a favor in terms of sales and desirability by killing off webOS? People are calling it the best $99 tablet ever. With Android coming soon, it’s going to be even better.

In other news …

Facebook on a startup buying spree

Facebook is facing tough competition from newcomer Google+. The company is therefore on the lookout for more startups with interesting ideas, and is set to acquire 20 companies this year (double last year’s 10). These will include talent and products related to design, user interface and mobile services. Do you (or your app) have what it takes to be a Facebook acqusition?

Google Chrome OS Does Windows

Google’s Chromebooks are trying to attract enterprise markets by offering a leasing scheme, with Chromebooks for $28 per month. But the latest Chrome OS build supports Citrix Receiver, which gives virtualization access to users. This means Chromebook users can run Windows apps through an enterprise Citrix server. For people who are worrying about having to adjust to Linux (or the Chromebook interface), this might help with the decision to go full-on with the cloud.

Marketing professionals are targeting you via email

Marketers are increasingly targeting their campaigns through tailor-fit messages. And while social networks are becoming more and more popular, marketers still prefer sending out email messages, since these are more direct and evoke more action from the recipients. If you’re an online marketing pro, what have you been doing to improve the performance of your campaigns?

Google App Inventor Decommissioned

Meanwhile, back on the Android front, Google is reportedly deprecating App Inventor, which used to be an easy wasy to create applications through a GUI interface. Time to brush up on our programming skills?

In the wake of the iPad 2 announcement earlier this month, people are probably wondering whether Apple would lower the price of the original iPad. Seems like they did.