Skype for Linux 4.3 Arrives

Microsoft finally announced Skype for Linux 4.3 on June 18th, 2014. The new release dropped support for direct Alsa support, now it uses PulseAudio for better calling experience.

Skype 4.3 contains below changes:

  • An updated UI: Login screen, main window and options has been updated with the new release. With the new release, the UI is neat and clean.
  • Our new cloud-based Group Chat experience
  • More reliable file transfer support when using multiple devices at once
  • Greater accessibility by blind and visually impaired users
  • PulseAudio 3.0 and 4.0 support
  • Added Skype’s own Interactive notification
  • Floaty widgets
  • Lot of bug fixes

 

Skype for Linux 4.3 can be downloaded from the official Skype website.

 

 

 

Introducing Samsung GALAXY S 4

On 14th March 2013, Samsung finally unveiled its flagship device of the year, the Samsung Galaxy S4. The mobile giant has released an introduction video which describes its features and functionality, This is what they want to say:

Technical Specification

Network2G NetworkGSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G NetworkHSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100
4G NetworkLTE (market dependent)
EDGEYes
SpeedHSDPA, 42.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps; LTE, Cat3, 50 Mbps UL, 100 Mbps DL
WLANWi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
BluetoothYes, v4.0 with A2DP, EDR, LE
NFCYes
Infrared portYes
USBYes, microUSB v2.0 (MHL), USB On-the-go, USB Host
MEMORYCard SlotmicroSD, up to 64 GB
Internal16/32/64 GB storage
RAM2GB
CAMERAPrimary13 MP, 4128 x 3096 pixels, autofocus, LED flash
FeaturesDual Shot, Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, touch focus, face and smile detection, image stabilization, HDR
VideoYes, 1080p@60fps, 1080p@30fps, dual-video rec.
SecondaryYes, 2 MP, 1080p@30fps, dual video call
FEATURESOperating SystemAndroid 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean)
ChipsetExynos 5 Octa 5410
ProcessorQuad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A7
BatteryLi-Ion 2600 mAh battery
SIMMicro-SIM
BODYDimensions136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm (5.38 x 2.75 x 0.31 in)
Weight130 g
DISPLAYType5 inch Full HD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080) display
MultitouchYes
ProtectionGorilla Glass 3

 

Firefox Mobile OS on your desktop Firefox

Everyone is quite eager to test and use Firefox mobile OS. May be we still have to wait for some more time for the mobiles to be available in market. However using a Firefox add-on you can simulate the Firefox mobile OS. This add-on is not stable and you might find lots of bugs and issues.  First of all download the Firefox mobile OS, you will find three version, based upon your operating system, download the respective version. Once the installation is complete, you will be redirected to a dashboard.


Firefox mobile Add-on Window
Firefox mobile Add-on Window

 

Suppose If you have missed the page somehow, you can get the dashboard by navigating to  Web Developer and click Firefox OS Simulator. For Mac, Linux it appears under Tools.

 

Accessing the Addon - Firefox mobile OS
Accessing the Addon – Firefox mobile OS

 

Click the Stopped button. It changes into the Running button and Firefox OS boots up in its own window. The default size for this window is 320×480. To stop the Simulator, click the Running button in the dashboard, or just close the Simulator window.


phone

 

Note: Because of the size of the add-on, Firefox may freeze for several seconds while installing it, and its unresponsive script dialog may appear, due to bug 814505. If it does, just click the Continue button, and Firefox will continue installing the add-on.

 

Steam for Linux Now in Open Beta

The Steam for Linux beta is now open to the public, meaning anyone and everyone can join. All that’s required is that you download/upgrade the latest Steam Linux client and you’re good to go. Currently around 39 games added to Linux list, expecting more games to be added in the coming weeks.

linuxsteam

Valve announced in July 2012 that they were developing a Steam client for Linux and modifying the Source engine to work on native Linux, based on the Ubuntu distribution. The team developing the Linux client had been working for a year prior to the announcement to validate that such a port would be possible. Initial internal beta testing of the Linux client started in October 2012, with an external beta testing occurring in early November. Not only will Valve’s Linux group focus on improving the Steam client but will assure that their selected first Source game, Left 4 Dead 2, will run at acceptable frame rates and connectivity with the Windows and Mac OS X versions.

Check out the following useful links

 

Courtesy: Steam,  Wikipedia

 

Well explained Animated Ad for ‘Ubuntu for Android’

Ubuntu for Android is an upcoming free and open source variant of Ubuntu designed to run on Android phones. Recent animated ad on Ubuntu for Android explains its features, functionality and benefits.

Features

  • Both Ubuntu and Android run at the same time on the device, without emulation and without the need to reboot. This is possible because both Ubuntu and Android share the same kernel (Linux).
  • When the device is connected to a desktop monitor, it features a standard Ubuntu Desktop interface.
  • When the device is connected to a TV, the interface featured is the Ubuntu TV experience.
  • Ability to run standard Ubuntu Desktop applications, like Firefox, Thunderbird, VLC, etc.
  • Ability to run Android applications on the Ubuntu Desktop.
  • Make and receive calls and SMSs directly from the Desktop.

System requirements

  • According to Canonical a phone needs the following requirements:
  • Dual-core 1 GHz CPU
  • Video acceleration: shared kernel driver with associated X driver; OpenGL, ES/EGL
  • Storage: 2 GB for OS disk image
  • HDMI: video-out with secondary framebuffer device
  • USB host mode
  • 512 MB RAM

Courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_for_Android
                   http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android

 

Skype For Linux Loses Beta Tag, Gets 4.0

Skype 4.0 for Linux, codenamed ‘Four Rooms for Improvement,’ which is now available for Linux users. With this release, skype finally filled the gap with our other desktop clients. With this release Skype will likely hope that rumours of the applications demise on Linux are finally put to rest.

You will find four major changes in this release:

  1. New Conversations View where users can easily track all of their chats in a unified window. Those users who prefer the old view can disable this in the Chat options.
  2. Brand new Call View.
  3. Improved Call quality and video quality.
  4. Additional Web Cam support
  5. Improved Chat synchronization
  6. Tabbed Conversations
  7. New status icons and emotions
  8. support for new languages
  9. after all its looks fabulous (personally its much better than Windows and Mac Desktop client)

Skype for Linux 4.0 can be downloaded from the official Skype website.

How To Upgrade From Ubuntu 11.10 To Ubuntu 12.04

The latest version of Ubuntu 12.04 is out few hours back. If its a fresh installtion, you can download from Ubuntu Site or download from here

To upgrade from ubuntu 11.10 to ubuntu 12.04, follow the procedure

1. To start the upgrading process, Press ALT+F2, type update-manager –d and press Enter
Note: You can also you Terminal for the same.

2. This will open the Update Manager where an upgrade button will be visible with a message that the new Ubuntu release is available for upgrade. Click Upgrade to continue.

 

3. Shortly after continuing, Release Notes window will be visible. Click Upgrade to initiate the upgrade process.

 

4. Just before the upgrade, you will be asked to enter your password, after which the upgrade process will initiate.

5. During the process, it will list out install files, no longer needed files, no longer supported by canonical files, Remove files and upgrade files. Click Start Upgrade to continue. Update will take time depending upon your internet connection speed.


6. Once the the upgrade is complete, you will be prompted to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.That’s it you have successfully completed the process.

Geekphilip tips:
1. Make sure, you take backup of your files
2. You can cancel the download, any time you like. When you try again, it will resume from the same location.
3. Make sure, you don’t halt the upgrade process once the installation process begins.

How Linux Is Built

While Linux is running our phones, friend requests, tweets, financial trades, ATMs and more, most of us don’t know how it’s actually built. This short video takes you inside the process by which the largest collaborative development project in the history of computing is organized. Based on the annual report “Who Writes Linux,” this is a powerful and inspiring story of how Linux has become a community-driven phenomenon.

Introducing the HUD to Ubuntu

Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical Ubuntu Linux’s parent company, has announced that Ubuntu will be adopting a radical new change to the interface that will do away with the “menu” in the Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointer (WIMP) interface, which has defined the desktop for the last thirty years. Shuttleworth states, “The menu has been a central part of the GUI since Xerox PARC invented ‘em in the 70?s. It’s the M in WIMP and has been there, essentially unchanged, for 30 years. We can do much better!” This new interface, which will first appear as a beta in April’s Ubuntu 12.04 release, is called Head-Up Display.

Head-Up Display, or HUD, which will ultimately replace menus in Unity applications. Here’s what you’ll see in 12.04 when you invoke the HUD from any standard Ubuntu app that supports the global menu:

Menus serve two purposes. They act as a standard way to invoke commands which are too infrequently used to warrant a dedicated piece of UI real-estate, like a toolbar button, and they serve as a map of the app’s functionality, almost like a table of contents that one can scan to get a feel for ‘what the app does’. It’s command invocation that we think can be improved upon, and that’s where we are focusing our design exploration. HUD seems to be very promising, lets wait and see.

For more information check out Mark Shuttleworth’s blog

Preview Any Kind Of File In Ubuntu 11.10 With Globus Preview

Gloobus-Preview is a Nautilus extension to get preview of audio, video, images, documents, code and text files. This enables sorting out junk files within numerous directories and opening different kinds of file types (such as pictures, music, video, code files etc), without requiring multiple applications to be installed on your computer.

To Install:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:gloobus-dev/gloobus-preview
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get install gloobus-preview
sudo apt-get install gloobus-preview gloobus-sushi

Globus Preview
Globus Preview

To Use:
Once installed, click any file and hit Space key to get an instant preview. You can open full-screen view by using the full-screen mode button present at the bottom of the screen. To exit full screen mode, hit ESC. The file preview window contains a Cog icon located at the top right corner, which provides access to preview settings. These settings enable users to keep the preview window on top, close the window and to use a GTK theme for file preview.