Before we really get your hopes up, we need to stress that this process isn’t exactly “download – click to install – enjoy”. But if you’re running any distro of Linux, I’m assuming your at least a fairly versed in getting down and dirty behind the scenes of the pretty UI into the heart of your machine. And that’s a good thing because that is exactly what it’s going to take to get this unholy union to kiss and make up. The image above is a nice graphical representation of what the installed software stack is going to look like when everything is firing on all cylinders. A rainbow for nerds! A quick highlight of what everything does:
- libusb-1.0: provides an advanced API to access USB devices under Linux, replacing the old libusb-0.1 API
- usbmuxd: coordinates application access to the device and talks the specific iPhone/iTouch USB protocol
- libiphone: implements the Apple-specific protocols that are tunneled through usbmuxd: it can launch services through lockdown, retrieve device info, send notifications, and access the filesystem via AFC.
- iFuse and gvfs-backend-afc: both provide access to AFC to regular Linux apps. iFuse does this by mounting via FUSE, while gvfs-backend-afc is obviously a backend for gVFS.
- libgpod: (the library that traditionally has managed music databases for iPods) is being extended to support the new SQLite format, the new hash, and also to talk to libiphone to properly put the device in to and out of sync mode.
- **Theoretically, actual music players such as Amarok and Rhythmbox will need none or very few modifications to work.
Still not sure what to do? If so, this may not be the thing for you to try as the full gist over at Marcansoft doesn’t get any easier. Still, if you’re a Linux user and an iPhone/iPod user looking for some iTunes sync love, you may just want to seclude yourself in a dark corner for an entire weekend and figure this grand hoop jumping thing out.
TiPB > Marcansoft
- September 18, 2009 8:21 am
Ads are a bittersweet tool. For most end users they’re a pain, taking up valuable seconds and pixels in your life. For advertisers they are a bet that they can reach just one more person than they did yesterday. It’s all about getting your name and product out there right? However, for some of the Zune free Zune games that were just released, the ads are full screen videos that can last as long as 30 seconds when launching certain games. Should we be surprised? No. In an age were ad revenue is going through some drastic changes, the ad market and how they’re delivered is sure to get shaken up.
However you have to remember that it costs money to develop apps, if you can recoup a small portion of that development by selling some ad space more power to ya. It’s when ads get out of control and inhibit enjoyment of the task at hand. Moving back to the Zune, the apps aren’t all 30 seconds in length or full screen. Some are your traditional smaller ads placed strategically throughout the app during live game play while some are the full screen ads that display while a game is loading. It’s also worth mentioning that not all the free apps have ads. The weather app for instance is ad free.
So the question comes up of which is better and for who? Would you rather have a small ad(s) placed throughout your screen during game play or have one large, longer add during game loading? Heck, those seconds lost during loading are useless anyway aren’t they? My vote is during loading time. I’d much rather have my gaming sessions make use of as many pixels as possible. Feel the same?
Source: Slashdot, Ars Technica
Creative is one of those electronics companies that doesn’t necessarily stay in the here and now consistently. Instead, they have one really good product ever few years that really wows us or at least gets our attention with the years in between more like “beta years” if you will. An FCC filing fresh of the desk of the big guy himself shows the outline of Creative’s next move in the PMP market. The filing shows an HD camcorder on the back as well as support for WiFi, touchscreens, and a unit titled “developer edition”. So what does it all mean? Only that Creative is getting ready to unleash a bomb shell if they can manage to get hardware and software to co-exist happily. Keyword: Happily. If they want the element of surprise and to enjoy the limelight for any more than just a few days, they may want to hurry up as Apple is rumored to be bringing camera modules to the entire iPod line as various leaked cases have shown. Suddenly in a world full of Android phones, iPhones, and Palm Pre’s, the PMP market just get hot and relevant again.
Source: Engadget, FCC
