Ubuntu To Become The Official OS Of China

Canonical, the makers of Ubuntu have announced that they will be officially affiliated with the Chinese government to bring a new Ubuntu based OS to the Chinese population.

In a recent blog post on the Canonical blog, they went on to explain that Ubuntu Kylin (the official name of the new OS) will go way beyond just a version of Ubuntu with Chinese language packs installed. The blog post went on to say:
“Ubuntu Kylin goes beyond language localisation and includes features and applications that cater for the Chinese market. In the 13.04 release, Chinese input methods and Chinese calendars are supported, there is a new weather indicator, and users can quickly search across the most popular Chinese music services from the Dash.”


This isn’t just a one off release, it’s going to be a completely separate version of Ubuntu that is designed specifically for the Chinese market. Much like Kubuntu, or Xubuntu, Ubuntu Kylin will have on going development separate from the core Ubuntu build. The blog post goes on to say…
“Future releases will include integration with Baidu maps and leading shopping service Taobao, payment processing for Chinese banks, and real-time train and flight information.
The Ubuntu Kylin team is cooperating with WPS, the most popular office suite in China, and is creating photo editing and system management tools which could be incorporated into other flavours of Ubuntu worldwide.”

This is a very big move for Canonical and Ubuntu as a whole. We all know how huge China are, and for the Chinese government to push an official Ubuntu build onto the population can be nothing less than an amazing bonus for the Linux world.

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LG Reported to be Working on its own smartwatch and a Google Glass-like Project

Apple, Google, and Samsung are all rumored to be building their own smartwatches, LG becomes the latest manufacturer to reportedly join the fray. According The Korea Times.

LG is currently developing both a smartwatch and another wearable computing device described as something similar to Google Glass. It wouldn't be the first time that LG developed such a product — back in 2009, the company showed off a "watch phone," which came with a full GSM radio built-in for voice calls. This rumored new product would be more along the lines of the Pebble and other speculated smartwatches, with the ability to sync with your smartphone and check messages or other notifications.

The watch is reported to run on Android, which fits considering the company's heavy focus on Google's OS — but there's also a chance it'll run the new Firefox OS that was shown off in detail at MWC last month. While it would certainly make sense for LG to be exploring wearable computing options, the timing of this rumor helps put LG in the conversation alongside consumer technology's giants — smartwatches from Samsung, Google, and Apple are probably the biggest rumor in technology right now.

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Google reported working on its own smartwatch!

Reports claimed that Google's Android unit is working on a smart watch. With Samsung confirming that it is working on a smart watch and rumors about Apple's "iWatch" continuing to circulate, it appears that the three companies are set to battle in a new mobile device segment.

The report unsurprisingly suggests that Google views the smart watch as a more mainstream wearable accessory than the Google Glass project that has garnered significant attention in recent months.

While Glass is being created in its X Lab, home to experimental “moonshot” projects such as the self-driving car, Google’s smart watch is being developed by its Android unit, according to a person briefed on the project, to act as an extension to the smartphones using that operating system. The project is separate from Samsung’s efforts, the source said, although there is no indication of when it might launch.

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Google Anounces Google Keep a new Cloud Service

Google Keep, the newly announced service from Google which allows users to quickly jot down notes, voice memos with transcription support, reminders, checklists, ideas or anything else including photos to keep track of important things that matter.

Your notes and data are safely stored on Google Drive and synced to all devices for anywhere access.

 

Google Keep allow the user to
Keep track of your thoughts via notes, lists and photos
• Have voice notes transcribed automatically
• Use home-screen widgets to capture thoughts quickly
• Color-code your notes to help find them later
• Swipe to archive things you no longer need
• Turn a note into a checklist by adding check-boxes
• Use your notes from anywhere - they are safely stored in the cloud and available on the web

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Google Babble: The Next Big Thing

Google's messaging platforms might all be rolled into one new platform, according to a recent report.
The search giant is planning to combine its many messaging platforms, including Google Talk, Hangout, Voice, and Messenger, into one service it'll call Babble, Geek.com is reporting, citing "multiple sources" who claim to have knowledge of its plans. The move is designed to make it easier for Google's users to communicate and also reduce the sheer number of places the search giant needs to work to keep communication going.

Google has long suffered from a communication issue. There are currently several ways for its users to communicate with others, but actually getting them to work across its many services hasn't proven so easy. Getting Babble into the mix will make that much easier and allow for more flexibility, Geek.com's sources say.
Once Babble launches, users will be able to share photos and chat. The same chat window can be used across all of Google's products, according to Geek.com.
Geek.com's sources didn't say when Babble might launch, but said the feature should be shown off at Google I/O in May.

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