Adobe's Vanishing Linux Air Support: Personal or Strictly Business? - LinuxInsider.com

Adobe's (Nasdaq: ADBE) recent decision to pull support away from Air for Linux might be the first in a series of market adjustments designed to throttle its bottom line with Android rather than the traditional Linux platform. But the move could cost the company a bank roll of good will.

Adobe officials do not see their action as hampering relations with the Linux community. Instead, they hope to profit from the newly won favor of Android users. And since Android is still in the Linux family, Adobe's stance against the Linux desktop may cause only a few hard feelings among other Linux clan members.

Adobe's decision to drop Air support for Linux is not a matter of the company thumbing its nose at the Linux community. It is more a response to economic drivers.

"They're going where the money is. And right now the money is in Android," Jeffrey S. Hammond, principal analyst for research firm Forrester, told LinuxInsider.

Specifically, Adobe has scuttled new releases of Air and Air SDK programming support for the Linux desktop platform. Air, which combines Flash and a Web browser, is a cross-platform software building tool. It allows programmers to concoct standalone software on any system running Air underpinnings.

Instead, from Air 2.7 forward, Adobe will not provide a Linux version. So Linux developers will lose their cross-platform ability.

This current situation is a bit ironic for Adobe. Last year Adobe raised a ruckus when Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) banned Air-based apps from iOS devices. Apple gave in later on the use of Air-based apps but held firm on banishing Flash Player.

Adobe explained in its Air blog that its customers were creating applications for smartphones and tablets so it had to realign its investments. The new target audience is the device market.

Adobe swears it is not deserting the Linux community. Really. Sort of.

Existing Air applications will continue to work on Linux systems, according to company officials. But Linux developers must target only Air 2.6 or below. Users will still be able to use their existing Air applications. However, users will not be able to install applications or apply application updates and security patches that require newer versions of Air unless an Open Screen Project (OSP) partner develops the release for Linux.

Adobe is playing its partner card heavily to lessen the impact of its Linux dead end. The company is prioritizing a Linux porting kit for Air (including source code). Its OSP kindred can use this porting kit to complete implementations of Air for Linux-based platforms on PCs, mobile devices, TVs and TV-connected devices.

"While we will no longer be releasing our own versions of Adobe Air and the Air SDK for desktop Linux, we expect that one or more of our partners will do so and that we'll be able to announce this information shortly," Dave McAllister, director of standards and open source at Adobe, told LinuxInsider.

So far it's unclear whether a Linux family feud exists. For example, Adobe is both a Linux Foundation member and a friend to Linux, assured Amanda McPherson, vice president of marketing and developer programs for The Linux Foundation.

"Technology markets shift rapidly. Mobile platforms based on Linux, including Android and webOS, are expanding fast and have great prospects for the future. We understand Adobe's rationale here. Companies must focus their resources. We look forward to the company's upcoming LinuxCon session focused on Linux desktop penetration," McPherson told LinuxInsider.

Perhaps it is just a case of mild family freakout over the apparent change in Adobe's allegiance to the Linux platform. In the thick of the fog of business, friendship and tolerance may blur acceptably.

"In terms of Air support for Linux, it is really an issue of focus and practicality. Platforms have proliferated, thanks to the smartphone and tablet revolutions, and Adobe has been aggressively thinking through its strategic investments, supporting the major ones as it seizes on the opportunity to provide a much needed multi-platform development tool. Given Linux's share as a front-end device compared to some of the new tablets coming out, I think this is a wise re-allocation of resources," Al Hilwa, program director for applications development software for research firm IDC, told LinuxInsider.

Adobe considers its move a smart business decision. If dropping Air support for the Linux platform angers some relatives in the Linux family, hey, that's business. Meanwhile, it is all in the family.

"I don't think it's based on any animosity towards Linux. I don't even think it's necessarily a technical issue. Adobe is continuing to very, very aggressively support Flash and Air on Android. Android is based on Linux kernel 2.6 rev, what it comes down to is demand. The company has traditionally been a very good player with analytics, who is downloading what and how are they using it," noted Forrester's Hammond.

He suspects that Adobe is now supporting about five more platforms than it had intended to support maybe two years ago, most of them mobile and tablet based. Adobe is dealing with spiraling engineering costs. And the classic forms of desktop units are getting more short-shrift because of that, he said.

"As to suggestions that Air is not doing well and this is a way for Adobe to bail out on it, I think that is much less the issue. I think it's more the issue that they are trying to be much more committed to being successful with Air as a mobile platform than targeting classic desktops, Windows as well. It is much more a shift in focus," Hammond said.

Adobe is not backing out of its FOSS (Free Open Source Software) interests, according to IDC's Hilwa. To the contrary, Adobe in the last three years has done quite a bit to portray a view that it is friendly to open source even it continues to be primarily a proprietary technology vendor, he noted.

"A couple of years ago, [Adobe] released the Flex framework in open source, and they based their FlashBuilder IDE on Eclipse. In fact, there is a whole bunch of Adobe Open Source projects out there," said Hilwa.

Adobe, much like Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), has found it important to appeal to open source developers as a community. This is a pragmatic approach because open source has gone mainstream and has seen much wider adoption in enterprises and amongst developers, he explained.

Adobe's decision to make money while continuing its relationship with the Linux community is nothing new.

"Companies like Adobe can make use of free, libre, open source software as both a consumer or a producer. And Adobe is active in both arenas," said Adobe's MacAllister.

Open source lets Adobe build innovative products on stable, widely used and understood code. An Adobe subsidiary, Day Software, uses code from the Apache Foundation. Adobe itself uses Eclipse and SQLite. In return, Adobe has released significant code and technologies under open source licenses, including Flex SDK, BlazeDS and Open Source Media Framework (OSMF), MacAllister said.

Still, part of Adobe's business motivation is profit. Open source cannot survive in isolation.

"Free software from for-profit companies has always been a way to spread a technology that you would eventually stick with or you would depend on. Revenue comes from indirect business generated by the original technology needs," Olivier Debon, Web Developer at 3W Studios, told LinuxInsider.

Adobe is certain that its decision about dropping Linux Air support will not hurt its place at the Linux table. That decision reflects the market direction.

"Adobe isn't moving away from the Linux community. Rather, the company is refocusing its efforts into the emerging Linux-based space found in mobile products. Our customers and partners are likewise focused on this new market powered by Linux-based products, such as Android," said MacAllister.

From the view of a developer who uses Air, it was neither a wise nor unwise decision.

"Actually, that's not the point. They have to put all their forces into creating the ubiquitous suite for mobile software development. And Air is the key. They can't afford any Linux-specific developments, so no more fun at Adobe's," concurred Debon about the impact for the Linux platform.

Is Flash next?

That depends on the Flash vs. HTML5 competition. So far Flash is extremely slow on small devices (phones), said Debon.

But it is possible for Adobe to dump Flash support for Linux as well, warns Hammond. However, he sees that as a distant possibility now.

"I think it's possible this same thing could happen with Flash. For that to happen, Adobe would have to see that the Flash rates on Linux are so low that it doesn't justify the additional porting investment to support the investment. I haven't seen any indication that is where their thinking is. But if they would do this for Air, I do not see any reason why they wouldn't apply the same set of guidelines to making decisions about Flash," said Hammond.

Source : Click Here

Citrix invests in Core Mobile Networks - South Florida Business Journal

Citrix Systems Latest from The Business Journals Citrix invests in Graymatics for cloud video technologyCitrix invests in GraymaticsGame company rockets ahead with changes at Sawgrass Mills Follow this company has made an investment in Core Mobile Networks, a company that correlates information from enterprise systems with content in the cloud and delivers it to mobile devices.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Core Mobile will initially target mobile business professionals using the Apple Apple Latest from The Business Journals Report: Apple set to launch iPhone 5, iPad 3U.S. boosts high-tech weapons developmentApple's iPhone sales surge as Android slows Follow this company (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone and the Google Google Latest from The Business Journals Report: Apple set to launch iPhone 5, iPad 3U.S. boosts high-tech weapons developmentApple's iPhone sales surge as Android slows Follow this company (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android-based smartphone platforms.

Fort Lauderdale-based Citrix (NASDAQ: CTXS) is the largest software company based in South Florida, with $1.87 billion in revenue and $277 million in profit in 2010.

This is the third investment for the Citrix Startup Accelerator, which looks for new technologies and business models that have the potential to enable new capabilities in areas such as virtualization, cloud, mobility, networking, security, storage, collaboration and software as a service. The initiative not only provides seed investments to select startups, but enables them to benefit from the global Citrix presence, its entrepreneur-friendly environment, large customer base and seasoned go-to-market strategies, according to a news release.

The investment in Core Mobile follows funding commitments made to Primadesk and an undisclosed company.

“The popularity of the cloud and rapid growth in smartphone and tablet adoption by business users is creating the need for enterprise IT to make cloud-based services more easily accessible from mobile devices,” Core Mobile CEO Chandra Tekwani said. “The Citrix vision for enabling anyone to work and play anywhere on any device really resonated with our business goals, making it a natural next step to join the Citrix Startup Accelerator program to help us propel our momentum.”

“Core Mobile addresses a gap in delivering useful content to end users of cloud-based services with a technology that identifies the most relevant subset of content, correlates it across multiple sources, and delivers it via a user-friendly interface that fits the small display of a smartphone – all in real time,” said John McIntyre, senior director of Citrix Startup Accelerator. “The goal of the Citrix Startup Accelerator is to equip innovative entrepreneurs like Core Mobile with the key resources that will help them achieve the rapid market traction and customer validation that will help make their ideas a reality.”

Citrix shares closed Monday at $74.79. The 52-week high was $88.49 on June 1. The 52-week low was $41.62 on July 2.

See all your followed company news on your personalized dashboard.

To access the full benefits of bizWatch and receive a weekly email with aggregated news on all the companies you are following, please provide your email address below.

Source : Click Here

Android 4.0 loaded Google Nexus 4G : This "monster" could chomp down Apple - International Business Times

Sporting a "monster sized" screen with high definition capabilities, dual processor, very thin size, and Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, Google's Nexus 4G could give Apple's iPhone 5 some heavy competition as both devices are set to have similar release dates. 

The Nexus 4G rumors have sounded very attractive as the latest Android device may seem to be the most powerful smartphone to hit the market.  One of them says that the device will be powerful enough to run the Android 4.0 operating system which will include 3D features, Open GL head tracking for facial expressions and sensing.  For gamers, they can have USB capabilities enabling them to plug in external hardware devices such as an Xbox controller.  The open platform can allow developers to sync up various devices ranging from remotes, controllers, to bikes.  This opens a huge door of opportunities for apps running on the next generation Nexus 4G. 

According to reports, Apple has many features rolled up in its sleeve for the iPhone 5, including integration with the anticipated iCloud and ramped up iOS.  Speculations on iPhone 5 specs include an A5 processor with large end-to-end screen and very thin sized incorporating a teardrop shape design. 

If the iPhone 5 is to run with the same A5 processor found in the iPad 2, floating in the 1 GHz range, then the Nexus 4G will have an advantage with its 1.2 or 1.5 GHz dual core processor, possibly a 28nm Qualcomm Snapdragon Krait, and 1 GB of ram. 

The Nexus 4G design utilizes a spacious touchscreen but eliminates all the hardware physical buttons, possibly utilizing Google's continuing development of voice search and commands.  The iPhone 5 curved glass touchscreen has also been in talks with reports of Apple already processing machinery to create the touchscreen glass displays.    Apple also will launch their iOS 5 platform that incorporates voice technology through Nuance voice command app.  Apple's move may appear to be a counter to Android, which has already integrated voice features early on with much investment in improving the feature for Ice Cream Sandwich.    

It may still be too early to determine if Nexus 4G can truly take a bite out of its rival, but the specs and rumors have seemed very impressive for this fall's matchup against Apple's iPhone 5.   

Source : Click Here

Huawei plans to invest $500 mn on new plant - Business Standard

Huawei plans to invest $500 mn on new plantBS Reporter / Chennai 

Huawei Technologies, a telecom equipment maker from China, is planning to start operations at its manufacturing facility in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai in the next two years to cater to the domestic needs of the telecommunications market. The plant is expected to attract an investment of around $500 million.

The company has already started contract manufacture of optical infrastructure in the facility and would scale up the facility to manufacture more products in the next one or two years, said P Sanjeev, sales director, Huawei Devices, a division of Huawei Technologies.

The investment for the facility would be part of its announced $2 billion investment for capacity building in India. Last November, we announced an investment of $2 billion in India to be made over the next five years. We are yet to finalise the plans and earmark investment for each of our project, he said. Decision on the nature of capacity expansion and investment would be taken in the fourth quarter of this fiscal.

The company is also exploring options to set up a semi-knock down for fixed wireless phone (FWP) in the facility. It has around 16 offices across the country including a research and development (R&D) centre in Bangalore.

The investment of $2 billion would be infused into expansion in R&D centre, setting up of manufacturing facility, capacity building and India operations investments, setting up regional hubs for training and development of human resources and corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The investments in some of the activities has already commenced, he added.

According to a few earlier reports, Huawei had earlier promised the Tamil Nadu State government officials, led by the then deputy chief minister for the state M K Stalin, that it would invest around $500 million (around Rs 2,300 crore), on a plant in Chennai. However, company officials refused to confirm the numbers, stating it is yet to decide on the investment and related matters.

The company, which announced launch of three smart phones with the Android platform this week, also has over 50 per cent share in data download business in the country. It caters to around 3 million units of data cards used for data downloads in the country through various telecom operators, of the 5.5 million units sold in the country, said Sanjeev.

The company is planning to bring in brand visibility by co-branding the data cards with its logo in collaboration with the telecom operators, he added.

Source : Click Here

African business that more us investments - voice of America

Scott Stearns. Lusaka

African business leaders say that the United States can do more to encourage investment on the continent. Obama administration is in agreement. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should close a meeting in Zambia on U.S. trade preferences.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act has been the cornerstone of the investment on the American continent for over ten years. But the vast majority of goods imported duty-free is textiles and oil.

African producers met in Zambia want to diversify exports and that the Government of the United States can do more to help.

Chungu Mwila, the Director for the development of the private sector in the common market for Eastern and southern Africa, says the trade preferences known as AGOA would be more valuable with the more direct U.S. investment.

"If American companies to invest in Africa and to strengthen our production capabilities, and then, in our view, AGOA would become more significant,"said Mwila.

With most U.S. foreign direct investment still go in Latin America and Asia, Mwila said that the Obama administration should do more to bring American companies in Africa.

"I think that there is much more that the United States, the strongest economy in the world, can make by assisting in the strengthening of the capacities of our industries, by ensuring that certain US companies come and look around." "After all, Africa is no longer a place of risk," said Mwila.

The Obama administration accepts and asks Congress to extend trade preferences of AGOA for ten years. Assistant American Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson, said that there should be a greater tax incentives for compensation of U.S. from investments of AGOA.

He said "the AGOA already provides savings substantial tariff business U.S. importers of eligible products from Africa, but there is not other types of tax incentives provided under the law,". "We recommend that the Government of the United States support to eliminate U.S. tax on revenues in returnees from us companies that invest in factories in Africa who manufacture eligible products to the AGOA.".

Carson, said he is encouraged by the progress of Africa, but the rest of the continent economically challenged and continues to need programs like the AGOA to provide incentives for greater growth.

"Although AGOA has reached a certain amount of success, it has not solved the challenges economic, financial and trade in Africa and the region has not undergone fundamental economic transformation that we seek for Africa as a whole," he said. "" "". Africa continues to struggle to compete in an increasingly competitive global economy. »

Carson, says the Obama administration wants U.S. legislators to extend beyond the next year a provision allowing nations AGOA eligible materials materials textile source of third countries.

Mwila says that this extension and renewal of AGOA as a whole, will bring more business to a continent which is more attractive for investors.

"We have very liberal economic regimes," Mwila said. "Our fundamental economic macro is implemented." For example, the rate of inflation fell. Exchange rates are stabilizing. And the economic growth rate is among the highest in the world, around five or six per cent. You will not even to the United States. »

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to close this forum of AGOA Friday before the meeting with Zambian President Rupiah Banda.

Source : Click Here