Tag: Oracle

Categories
News and Resources Tools

Oculus previews a new untethered VR headset

razer fund gaming startups

Welcome to DeveloperEconomics’ weekly news roundup. In this edition Oculus previews a new untethered headset, Cyanogen shifts business strategy to a modular OS program and online furniture store Wayfair releases its first API. Read on for the full news rundown.

 

Oculus working on cheap untethered headset

 

Oculus revealed plans to release an untethered VR headset during its developer conference last week. The new VR device is intended to sit between mobile and full PC experiences, without relying on a separate smart device, like Google Daydream. The device is currently in a prototype stage and Oculus has remained silent on a release date.

 

Cyanogen shifts to Modular OS program

 

Cyanogen has appointed a new CEO and says it will shift its business model toward a Modular OS program. The new Modular OS program gives developers more freedom to borrow from Cyanogen’s technology, removing the limitations of the full Cyanogen OS stack. The company previously admitted it was having difficulty scaling its userbase and laid-off 20% of its staff earlier this summer.

 

iOS 10 adoption outpacing all other iOS versions

 

iOS 10 is now installed on 66% of active devices, according to marketing firm Fiksu. The adoption of the latest version of Apple’s mobile OS has been faster than all previous versions, according to the company. A Fiksu representative said: “We’ve never seen this kind of acceleration in the adoption curve for an iOS upgrade.” Apple’s official numbers dispute Fiksu’s and claims the OS has reach 54% of devices.

 

Oculus introduces $499 VR-ready PC

 

Oculus showed-off an VR-ready PC costing just $499, during its developer summit last week. The rig meets new Oculus minimum requirements, enabled by asynchronous spacewarp technology, which lets 45 frames per second look like 90 frames per second. The new price point is half the cost of the VR-ready PC Oculus introduced last year.

 

WaveMaker enhances app tool API integrations

 

WaveMaker has updated its platform to allow enterprise devs to create hybrid mobile apps. The update supports integrations of apps on any stack, including Java, .NET, PHP, Python and Node.js. WaveMaker says its new platform also doesn’t require the deployment of server-side components, required to access data from systems independent of the technology stack.

 

Wayfair launches 3D model API

 

Online furniture retailer Wayfair has released its first API. The API gives developers access to over 10,000 “realistic” 3D furniture and décor models. Wayfair says it’s also working on its own VR and AR app that allows customers to view its catalogue of furniture in their own home.

 

NetBeans 8.2 releases ahead of Apache hand-off

 

Oracle has released version 8.2 of NetBeans. Version 8.2 is the last NetBeans release before the Java IDE leaves Oracle and becomes part of the Apache Software Foundation’s Incubator Project. New features include ECMAScript 6 support, Docker Support, PHP7 support and NodeJS enhancements.

 

Facebook open-sources Yarn, a JavaScript package manager

 

Facebook in collaboration with Exponent, Google and Tilde has open-sourced Yarn, a new Javascript package manager. Facebook are already using Yarn in production. It greatly improves speed compared to the official npm client and adds security by comparing checksums of the modules installed.

 

Visual Studio Code updated with TypeScript 2.0

 

Microsoft released version 1.6 of the code editor, bringing TypeScript 2.0 and more. Other improvements include Format on Save, Switch Windows (partially addresses this issue), search term history and more.

 

Facebook launches Workplace, enterprise social networking

 

Facebook has launched Workplace, an enterprise-focused messaging and social networking service. Workplace has chat, live video and audio calling, multi-emotional reactions and automatic translation services. Workplace has the Graph API for building custom integrations

Sign up for our weekly newsletter, with the latest facts and insights on the app economy.

Categories
News and Resources Platforms

Google announces new hardware and “Actions on Google” platform

google announces

Welcome to DeveloperEconomics’ weekly news roundup. In this edition Google announces new hardware and “Actions on Google” platform, Apple and Deloitte team-up for enterprise solutions and HTC’s Viveport VR app store goes live globally. Read on for the full news rundown.

 

Google announces new hardware and “Actions on Google” platform

 

Google has launched two new premium smartphones using the Pixel brand, a Daydream VR headset, a new WiFi router, and a 4k Chromecast. They have also announced dates and pricing for the previously announced Google Home speaker. On top of this, December will see the availability of a new ‘Actions on Google’ platform for developers to add to Google’s new Assistant in Allo, Google Home and exclusively on Pixel phones.

 

Google combines services under ‘Cloud’ brand

 

Google has created a new umbrella brand for its cloud services. Google for Work – Google’s Cloud Platform – and Google Apps for Work – which itself is being rebranded as GSuite – all now fall under the newly created Google Cloud brand. Google said its decision to rebrand underscores its seriousness about enterprise services.

 

Android Wear 2.0 delayed until 2017

 

The release of Android Wear 2.0 will be delayed until 2017, Google has announced. The release, originally scheduled for this autumn, was pushed back to allow Google to collect more feedback and fine tune the software. Google has instead released the third developer preview of the OS, which includes Google Play on Android Wear.

 

Genymobile announces cloud-based Android platform

Genymobile has announced a new cloud platform to help enterprises build and test Android applications. Genymotion Cloud features support for Jenkins and Bamboo, along with support for testing frameworks such as Robotium, Appium, Expresso and Calabash. The platform also features virtual device sharing, live demos and app sharing for cross-company collaboration.

 

HTC’s Viveport VR store goes global

 

HTC has launched its official store for the Vive VR headset. Viveport is launching in 30 countries, with around 60 titles covering categories such as education, design, art, social, video, music , sports and health. The store is currently highlighting content from the likes of Everest VR, The Blu, Google Spotlight Stores and Stonehenge VR.

 

Occipital launches $500 VR dev kit for smartphones

Start-up Occipital has released a dev kit that offers room-scale motion tracking for iOS and Android phones. The $500 kit uses Occipital’s Structure sensor, which has already been used on smartphones to create 3D meshes of environments. The kit includes a Structure Sensor, custom faceplate, phone case and 120-degree wide vision lens.

 

Codenvy partners with Bitnami for “one click” cloud stacks

 

Codenvy and Bitnami have teamed-up to offer “one-click” programming stacks for common frameworks. The stacks integrate the Che cloud IDE and workplace server with Bitnami stacks, allowing devs to intantly access Dockerized workspaces, removing the need to set-up and configure IDEs and frameworks before writing code. Frameworks supported include Express, Swift, Play and Rails.

 

Waratek enhances Java app security with RASP

Waratek has released a new version of its AppSecurity platform for Java apps. The release lets developers modernise the security capabilities of older Java apps with a RASP plug-in that the eliminates the need to replace existing Java Runtime Environments. Waratek adds that its virtualisation-based architecture avoids the performance penalties associated with other RASP products.

 

Oracle loses appeal against Google in Java battle

Oracle has lost its appeal against Google, in the long-running legal battle over whether Android infringes on Java copyrights. This latest appeal concerns whether Google failed to disclose its intent to develop tools to run Android on the desktop using the Android App Runtime for Chrome. A District Court Judge denied the motion, saying it had “no consequence with the defined scope of our trials.”

 

Apple and Deloitte announce iOS partnership

 

Apple has teamed-up with Deloitte to help companies get to grips with the enterprise features of iOS. The partnership involves a “first-of-its-kind” Apple practice with over 5,000 strategic advisors, who are focused on helping business take advantage of the iOS ecosystem. The deal will also see Deloitte offer native app development services for ERP, CRM and HR departments.

 

Skymind raises $3m for Java deep-learning library

 

Skymind, which offers an open-source deep-learning library for Java, has raised $3 million from investors such as Tencent, SV Angel and Mandra Capital. The start-up aims to build a library that lets Java developers work on AI deep learning. Skymind says its libraries have been downloaded 22 thousand times just in the last month.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter, with the latest facts and insights on the app economy.

Categories
News and Resources

Google planning hybrid Android/Chrome OS tablets

razer fund gaming startups

Welcome to DeveloperEconomics’ weekly news roundup. In this edition Google is reportedly planning hybrid devices that run both Android and Chrome, game developers boycott Oculus due to its founder’s support for Donald Trump and Google takes its Daydream SDK out of beta. Read on for the full news rundown.

 

Google planning hybrid Android/Chrome OS tablets

Google is reportedly planning hybrid devices that run both Android and Chrome, according to 9to5Google. The Andromeda project bakes Chrome OS features into Android and is reportedly being released on a Nexus-branded tablet and a convertible laptop. Rumours suggests the laptop device will launch in Q3 2017.

 

IBM releases IBM Bluemix Runtime for Swift

IBM has introduced a production-ready Swift runtime on the IBM Cloud. The release allows enterprises to take advantage of the server-side capabilities in Apple’s programming language, for building microservice APIs on its cloud platform. IBM says by unlocking Swift for enterprises it’s “reached another milestone” in its “shared journey with Apple.”

 

Microsoft announces 400m Windows 10 users

Microsoft says Windows 10 now has over 400 million active users. The last update on user growth was in July, when the OS hit 350, just before it ended its free upgrade period. Microsoft’s original goal was to have one billion devices running Windows 10 by 2018, but the company has since backtracked and is not specifying when it will hit the one billion milestone.

 

Oracle announces new products for cloud platform

Oracle unveiled 20 new products and services for its Oracle Cloud Platform at the annual OpenWorld conference last week. New products include the cloud-based Oracle Database 12c Release 2, along with an SaaS offering, which combines third party data with real-time analytics for “adaptive” app development. During the announcements, Oracle’s CTO Larry Ellison said Amazon now has “serious competition going forward.”

 

SoundCloud devs must submit application for API access

SoundCloud has announced changes to its API policy, requiring devs to apply for access. The application form asks devs what categories their app falls under, how it makes money and whether the app plays content from the SoundCloud API. SoundCloud says the changes were made to stop apps from using content without the permission of creators.

 

Mopub modular ad SDK reduces app sizes

Twitter’s MoPub ad network has announced a new SDK that lets devs cut out the ad formats they don’t use. The modular SDK means devs can save up to 60% on disk space for Android apps and up to 35% for iOS apps, without losing any functionality. MoPub says the space savings will be particularly useful for Asia-Pacific devs, where expensive data plans can impact bigger apps.

 

Google takes Daydream VR tools out of beta

Google has released a new VR SDK, allowing devs to build VR experiences for Daydream-ready phones and headsets. The Daydream VR SDK 1.0 supports “integrated asynchronous reprojection, high fidelity spatialized audio and interactions using the Daydream controller.” The release also supports native integration in both Unity and Unreal Engine 4.

 

Facebook rolls-out Profile Expression Kit SDK

Developers can now integrate Facebook’s Profile Expression media into the apps. The Profile Expression Kit lets users turn media – such as Vine videos, Bommerang GIFs and Lollicam stickers – into profile pictures. Facebook says profiles are the second most visited surface on Facebook, allowing Expression Kit apps to generate a lot of exposure.

 

Onsen UI 2.0 now available

The Onsen UI team has released version 2.0 of its UI framework, which helps developers create native mobile apps with HTML5. While Onsen 1.x was based on Angular JS, the new version has no library dependencies, as well as new Material Design components. The team has also released new and improved documentation to make it easier for devs to get to grips with the framework.

 

Developers boycott Oculus over Trump-supporting founder

A number of Oculus developers are boycotting the VR platform due to the political views of its founder, Palmer Luckey. According to a Daily Beast report, Luckey funded a pro-Trump activist group, which posted anti-Hilary Clinton ads. Developer Scruta Games said it will “cancel Oculus support” unless Luckey steps down from his position at Oculus.

Categories
News and Resources

Angular team announces final release of version 2.0

google announces

Welcome to DeveloperEconomics’ weekly news roundup. In this edition, Google announces the release of Android Studio 2.2, Oracle confirms rumours of a Java EE 8 delay and Microsoft has been crowned the new king when it comes to open source contributors. Read on for the full news rundown.

Google app ads beat Facebook with 3 billion installs

Google says its ad products are now responsible for more than three billion app install ads. The announcement follows Facebook’s claim in April that its ads have generated over two billion installs. Google says it’s also experiencing a decline in average ad prices, down 9% year-on-year, due to the continuing growth of YouTube ads.

Microsoft has most open source contributors, says GitHub

Microsoft has beat Facebook to become the organisation with the most open source contributors on GitHub. Microsoft racked-up 16,419 contributors, beating Facebook’s 15,682 and Docker’s 14,059. GitHub’s report also found that JavaScript is the most popular language, Font Awesome is the repository with the most open source contributors and Homebrew is the repository with the most users reviewing code.

Java EE 8 not ready until end of 2017

Oracle says the release of Java EE 8 will be delayed until the end of next year. The delay, which was rumoured for some time, was announced at the JavaOne conference last week, where a new roadmap was proposed. Oracle now plans to release Java EE 8 with basic microservice and cloud capabilities, before releasing EE 9 sometime in 2018 with more features.

Affectiva emotional analytics platform now free for indie devs

Start-up Affectiva is allowing any company that earns less than a million dollars a year to use its SDK and API. The Affectiva platform uses “emotional analytics” to analyse user sentiment via chatbots or surveys. The company also announced a partnership with Giphy, which will see Affectiva encode Giphy gifs for sentiment analysis.

Angular team announces final release of version 2.0

The Angular team has announced the final release version of Angular 2.0. The new version of the JavaScript framework features better support for modern browsers, modular functionality that makes it easier to use third-party libraries, and is recommended for use with Microsoft’s TypeScript. Google also says it will provide devs with more guides to learn Angular 2.0 faster.

Android Studio 2.2 released

Android Studio 2.2 is now available to download. The update brings a significant number of new features, including an improved layout editor, an activity recorder that generates Espresso code for automated testing, and an emulator that can simulate data from different sensors. The new IDE also boasts an APK analyser, GPU debugger and much more.

GitHub announces project management tools and support for formal reviews

GitHub has announced the “biggest update yet” to its platform, bringing project management features to the table. The built in Trello-like project management tool lets users move cards with pull requests and switch cards between columns such as “in progress” and “done.” GitHub also now lets devs formally approve all pull requests and leave review summaries.

Kochava releases free version of app analytics tool

Kochava has launched Free App Analytics, a tool to measure and optimise app ad campaigns. The free tool lets devs optimise campaigns across big networks such as Facebook, Google, Amazon, Twitter and Snapchat. The tool also includes a global index of integrated ad networks. However, features such as scaling are only available in Kochava’s paid Enterprise offering.

Microsoft opens Desktop Bridge for Win32 app conversion

Microsoft’s Destktop Bridge is now ready to use, allowing devs to repackage desktop apps, including Win32 apps, for the Window Store. The Desktop Bridge also converts apps to the Universal Windows Platform, allowing Win32 apps to run on any device running Windows 10. Microsoft says the bridge has already been used by the likes of Evernote, Arduino IDE and doubleTwist to bring full featured apps to Windows Store.

Oracle announces ‘drag and drop’ chatbot platform

Oracle has unveiled a new platform for building and running chatbots. The tool doesn’t require any coding experience – featuring a drag and drop graphical interface – and is positioned an easy-to-use bot builder for enterprises. According to Oracle, its bots will work with all modern messaging platforms, such as Facebook, Slack and Kik.

Google acquires API.AI bot building start-up

Google has bought API.AI, a start-up that provides dev tools for building conversational bots. According to Google, over 60,000 developers are using API.AI’s tools to build conversational experiences for environments such as Slack, Facebook Messenger and Kiki. The terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.