Monday, September 17, 2012

Basic4android .. Clever!

I can't deny it. I'm addicted to BASIC.

Although through the years I've used several programming and scripting languages, the BASIC programming language, being my first love, is the nearest and closest to my heart. I've done complete working applications with MSX BASIC, MS-Basic, GW-Basic, QBasic, Visual Basic, RealBASIC and even ones like Gambas.

Few days ago, I found something called "Basic4android", and immediately downloaded the free trial version from their website, and currently playing with it a little. So far, it seems good enough.

One thing that actually got my attention was that they use the emulator, or an actual phone, as a visual GUI designer. Clever, isn't it? Instead of coding their own visual designer, which is the reason some similar projects have ended badly, they're just using the actual device.

The only drawback I see so far is that it is only released for Windows.

From what I can see, so far, the produced apps are small in size and performs really nice. I haven't done any benchmarking, not yet anyway, but they seem quit equivalent to those written in Eclipse/ADK.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Another Reason to Burn Down Windows!

I'm already annoyed for using Windows on my notebook, and not being able to get the full potential of it under Linux. This said, it seems like Windows doesn't want to leave it that. I used my work computer to log on to WLM, only to find a message on my next login telling me that my account has been hacked. OK, might happen, although I thought it was a mistake from Microsoft's Live.com. But two days later, after changing my password, I'm faced with the same message and required to change my password again.

This time, after finishing all the identification process and changed the password, I went to check my SENT folder. Right to the point, it was full of spam. About 50 messages that I haven't sent. What stupid hacker sends emails from my account, and forgets to delete them from my sent folder?

Investigating the problem, it seems that it was caused by me logging to WLM from my work computer. This one has Windows XP on it, and is managed by the Company's IT team. I can't even do a proper scan on it, as I don't have the proper privileges.

So, until I get Linus properly setup on my notebook, I'm sticking to my Android phone for online services!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Nokia's new Windows Phones

October 2011 was when Microsoft announced they're working with Nokia to develop a series of Windows mobile based smart phones. These days it's all over the tech scene news, with leaked news, specs, photos, etc., which promises the phone is about to hit the market.

The question I'm asking now is: will Microsoft-Nokia's phone survive the smart phone war and have a piece o of the Plus pie?

I'll look the Arabic/ middle east market. Here, people who but Nokia phones can be divided into two main categories: the ones buying cheap feature phones, and those who are buying Nokia because they feel they're more familiar with the phone's GUI. Despite the fact that most modern phones have GUI's that don't resemble the old ones.

Both of these categories don't actually care about the "smartness" of the phone, they want to either buy cheap phones that does voice calls, or buy modern phones, despite the price, that would have a familiar interface to what they're used to. I have personally had many discussions with Nokia phones owners about switching to iPhone or android-based and their answer was that they don't need all the features nor do they ready to try new things.

Hence, Nokia shall face a great challenge in marketing their Windows phones. They're not cheap low end phones, nor have the same "familiar" software. If Nokia fails promoting for their new devices, they will be in a bad situation that might bring down three whole company!

On the other hand, back in the days before iPhones and android phones, Windows phones were not so popular. Blackberry's were the mark for smart phones. Windows phones were something that geeks would buy just to check out or experiment with. Something like showing off to your friends today by having an 8.5" diskette. This doesn't contribute well to marketing the phone.