operating

China-based Alibaba Group is planning to launch an English version of its Aliyun mobile operating system, Reuters reports.

The English version of Aliyun will be available later this month, according to the news service, which was on-hand during an Alibaba press conference earlier today in Hangzhou, China. The company also told reporters that it's currently in negotiations with hardware vendors to bundle its operating system with their devices.

Alibaba launched its mobile operating system in China in July. The platform, which was developed by the company's Alibaba Cloud Computing group, relies heavily upon the cloud, offering cloud-based e-mail, … Read more

Samsung has no plans to acquire WebOS, the company's CEO Gee-Sung Choi said at the IFA conference in Berlin.

According to Bloomberg, which published his comments today, the executive said that his company will "never" attempt to acquire HP's WebOS operating system, adding that "it's not right that acquiring an operating system is becoming a fashion" nowadays.

Last month, HP made the surprising decision to discontinue its mobile hardware, including the TouchPad tablet, and focus its efforts on software and solutions. It hasn't necessarily turned its back on WebOS, but the platform'… Read more

An Asia-based report surfaced today that claims Intel will temporarily halt development of its MeeGo operating system for tablets and smartphones due to lack of interest. Intel, however, says it's still committed.

The DigiTimes report claimed that Intel plans to "temporarily discontinue development of its MeeGo OS due to a lack of enthusiasm for the platform from handset and tablet PC vendors."

Instead, Intel will focus on hardware that is paired with either Android or Windows Phone in 2012, according to the report, citing industry sources.

"We remain committed to MeeGo and open source, and will … Read more

Windows 8 will usher in yet another revision to the file management system used by millions of people.

A blog post today by Microsoft Director of Program Management Alex Simons details at great length the future of the new Explorer interface, and lessons learned from previous versions.

One fascinating aspect brought up from Microsoft collecting hundreds of millions of anonymous usage reports (from Windows users) is that despite having over 200 commands in Explorer, "the top 10 commands represent 81.8% of total usage" (such as paste, properties, copy, and delete). Many commands go unused.

Microsoft found that the context menu from right-clicking an object is usually the main method of entering commands at 54.5 percent, with keyboard shortcuts coming in second at 32.2 percent.

It was found that the command bar--the most visible feature of Vista and 7's Explorer menu--contains two of the top 10 commands used overall in Explorer, and was only used a measly 10.9 percent during file management sessions. Therein lies the opportunity for change, Simons said. … Read more

As promised, Nokia took the wraps off its latest update to the Symbian operating system today.

Dubbed Symbian Belle, the OS brings a number of interface improvements, new apps, and enhanced feature support. On the UI front, you now get six instead of three customizable home screens, and widgets can now be resized to your liking. In addition, the company has added Toggle widgets, so you can more easily complete tasks, such as turning on/off wireless connections and changing profiles.

In Belle, the status bar now incorporates a pull-down notifications tray, and the lock screen provides more information, such … Read more

Google's Android mobile operating system dominated the U.S. smartphone market last quarter, research firm NPD announced today.

According to NPD, Android was running on 52 percent of all the smartphones sold in the U.S. last quarter, overshadowing iOS, which secured 29 percent market share. BlackBerry OS came in third in the smartphone space with 11 percent share, NPD said. Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile, and WebOS all trailed with less than 5 percent market share each.

NPD's findings follow a similar report earlier this month from research firm Gartner. That company, which analyzed worldwide smartphone sales, … Read more

I'm upset. Really, really upset.

Earlier today, HP dropped the bombshell that it was abandoning WebOS and discontinuing the production of the TouchPad and WebOS phones. True, this doesn't mean that WebOS is completely dead, as HP could sell or license the mobile operating system, but in a competitive market that's dominated by iOS and Android, it would be a hard sell.

What happens to WebOS in the future remains to be seen, but it's still a sad day. What's most upsetting to me is that HP didn't even give it a full go and simply let WebOS die a quiet death. Perhaps I should have seen the signs when then HP CEO Mark Hurd said in June 2010 that the Palm acquisition wasn't about smartphones.

"We didn't buy Palm to be in the smartphone business. And I tell people that, but it doesn't seem to resonate well. We bought it for the IP," said Hurd.

Still, I had hope as HP unveiled the TouchPad, Veer, and Pre 3 in February and talked of bringing WebOS to desktop computers, printers, and other electronics, including appliances and cars. When you consider how much the company talked up WebOS, perhaps you can understand why I feel betrayed and angry right now. … Read more

Microsoft is reportedly locking down its latest Windows 8 build to prevent unauthorized people from installing it and leaking details about certain features, WinRumors reported yesterday.

Other purported details about the latest Windows 8 build, known as 8064, were revealed earlier this week by WinRumors, which is a Windows enthusiast site, and other sites. The new build is apparently the Windows 8 Developer Preview that Microsoft is likely to unveil at its Build conference next month.

In an attempt to thwart unauthorized users from accessing the new developer build, Microsoft has apparently set up unique product keys that are now … Read more

Mac OS X Lion finally shows up on a USB stick, the FCC reviews San Francisco BART's decision to shut down cell phone service, and Amazon launches an iPhone app that enables students to scan barcodes and includes six months of free two-day shipping.

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded: