Dr. Bill | The Computer Curmudgeon

Now, Android phones and tablets, as well as Apple iDevices will be able to run Chrome apps (such as run on Google’s Chromebook) with the help of the Open Source Cordova Project!

Chrome desktop apps move to Android, iOS with Apache Cordova

ZDNet – Liam Tung – “Makers of native-like Chrome apps for desktops now have a new set of tools to help wrap their products in a format suitable to distribute on Google Play and Apple’s App Store.

The mobile move builds on Google’s recent efforts to get Chrome app developers to build apps that bring a Chromebook experience to Windows and Macs — for example, web apps that appear to live outside the browser and that can run when the device is offline.

Google yesterday announced an early developer preview of a toolchain based on Apache Cordova, the cross-platform mobile development framework that Adobe donated to the Apache Software Foundation after it acquired PhoneGap-maker Nitobi. The toolchain offers a Cordova command line tool, workflow and other helpers, for example, to correctly format icons and splash screens to iOS and Android specs.

Essentially, it helps developers build mobile apps based on HTML, CSS and JavaScript, without requiring them to be rewritten in native languages such as Java for Android or Objective-C for iOS.

‘The toolchain wraps your Chrome App with a native application shell and enables you to distribute your app via Google Play and the Apple App Store. We provide a simple developer workflow for packaging a Chrome App natively for mobile platforms. You can run your Chrome App on a device or emulator using the command-line or an IDE.” Google software engineer Andrew Grieve wrote.

While the developer preview currently allows developers to publish apps to Google Play, instructions for publishing to the App Store are yet to be released.

Some of the Chrome APIs Google has made available for Chrome Apps on mobile include:

• identity — sign-in users using OAuth2 without prompting for passwords
• payments (currently Android only) — sell virtual goods within your mobile app
• pushMessaging — push messages to your app from your server
• sockets — send and receive data over the network using TCP and UDP
• notifications (currently Android only) — send rich notifications from your mobile app
• storage — store and retrieve key-value data locally
• syncFileSystem — store and retrieve files backed by Google Drive
• alarms — run tasks periodically

Yet to be supported APIs, such as Bluetooth, mediaGalleries, permissions and others are listed here, while developers can use APIs supported by Cordova.”

Due to a lawsuit, Microsoft is backing off it’s “SkyDrive” to refocus on “OneDrive” as a branding for it’s cloud drive offering.

Microsoft’s SkyDrive becomes OneDrive after trademark dispute
https://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/microsofts-skydrive-becomes-onedrive-after-trademark-dispute-235066

Cross-posted from VirtZine InfoWorld – “Microsoft has chosen OneDrive as the new name for its SkyDrive cloud storage service, which it had agreed to rebaptize after losing a trademark dispute last year with British broadcast TV and broadband provider BSkyB.

After losing the case in a U.K. court, Microsoft reached an agreement with BSkyB in July that gave it a period of time to choose a new name for SkyDrive.

[ Control your storage requirements by eliminating data redundancy. InfoWorld lays it all out in our Deep Dive Report on Data Deduplication. | Keep up with the latest approaches to managing information overload and compliance in InfoWorld’s Enterprise Data Explosion newsletter. ]

In its announcement on Monday, Microsoft made no direct mention of the BSkyB dispute, although it did include a link to an article about the companies’ settlement deal.

Instead, Microsoft is trying to position the name change as an opportunity to give SkyDrive a branding upgrade of sorts. The OneDrive name better communicates Microsoft’s goal for OneDrive to be the only cloud storage service users need across all their devices and for all their files, including photos, videos and documents, according to the company.

‘We believe the new OneDrive name conveys the value we can deliver for you and best represents our vision for the future. We are excited about what is to come, and can’t wait to share more,’ wrote Ryan Gavin, general manager of Consumer Apps & Services at Microsoft, in a blog post.

Microsoft has also posted a one-minute video on YouTube promoting the new name.

Current users of SkyDrive and SkyDrive Pro won’t have to do anything as a result of the name change. SkyDrive Pro, which is designed for workplace use and is part of the Office 365 cloud email and collaboration suite, has been renamed OneDrive for Business.

The transition to the new names will be carried out ‘soon,’ according to Microsoft.”

It will be tomorrow sometime. I am running into rendering issues on the files. Hang in there!

I am getting a Canon EOS Rebal T3i DSLR to do the video netcast! I am SO jazzed! But, that makes this week’s GSotW very, very targeted! So, if you don’t have one of the supported DSLR’s…. sorry!

DSLR Controller

“Control your Canon EOS with your Android device!

TP-Link TL-MR3040DSLR Controller was the first and is still the best app to fully control your Canon EOS DSLR from your Android device, with nothing more than a USB cable. No computer or laptop required, no root required. All you need is a compatible mobile device, a compatible camera, and the right USB cable. If you have Wi-Fi-capable EOS model or a WFT box, it also possible to connect via Wi-Fi.

BREAKING NEWS: Turn a cheap TL-MR3040 pocketable wireless router into a Wi-Fi module for any supported Canon EOS model, and use DSLR Controller wirelessly!

Though we still call it a BETA officially, DSLR Controller is the oldest and most complete app to remote control a Canon EOS DSLR from a smartphone or tablet. It offers you remote liveview, control of most common settings, capture, focus and zoom control, image and video review, timelapse, HDR/AEB, focus bracketing – and much more! See the about page for a full list of features, system requirements and screenshots.

DSLR Controller has been covered by several large news outlets, as well as a number of magazines. A prominent core developer of Android itself even called it his app of the year.”

It can even work as a wireless remote with a cheap TP-Link pocket router! Watch this YouTube video for more info: