Want to get rid of your bulky laptop? If yes, then you may want to check out Nokia's new N810 internet tablet, which is available right now at your nearest electronic retailer stores. Equipped with good things such as upgradable 2GB RAM, a 4.13" screen with 800x400 widescreen resolution among other things, this is all the device that you'll need.

Seven big names in the online and mobile industry have banded together in an effort to release a new standard of mobile application software that will be easily available for mobile users everywhere.

ARM, a British company responsible for designing chips for cellphones, announced its plans during the fourth annual ARM Developers' Conference held this week in Sta Clara, California. ARM, along with Samsung, Texas Instruments, Mozilla, Marvell, MontaVista, and Movial have decided to design a Linux-based open source platform to base the next generation of mobile applications on.

The purpose of this new collaboration is the hope that they will be able to create products and technology at a quicker pace with the help of the online community by developing enhanced applications through this open source platform.

ARM plans to release the full platform by 2008 and expects that the first devices bearing this new platform will be available by 2009. However, some critics were saying that the iPhone already has the exact same capabilities as the ones planned by ARM and the other companies.

However, the potential of this new platform is still very high considering the amount of applications open source programmers can contribute to the effort. Mike Inglis, an execute VP at ARM had this to say about the collaboration:

Today's consumers are very knowledgeable about technology, want to be connected to the Internet and access multimedia content and applications anywhere, at anytime, yet they do not want to be restricted by short battery life and inadequate features that will limit their experiences.

By stepping up the collaboration among key stakeholders in the mobile market, we will be able to jointly deliver the devices and applications with the cutting-edge innovation consumers have come to expect.

Did Microsoft software got too expensive that even the French government couldn't afford it anymore? Not that they really couldn't, but they are soon switching to open-source software because they're thinking Microsoft stuff is a waste of money.

Beginning June 2007, the French government would require members of parliament and their staff to use desktops and servers running on Linux, Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and OpenOffice.org. The latter is currently in version 2.0.4, and in direct competition to Microsoft Office System.

Given the nature of open-source software, it looks like their government would indeed save some money because of the switch. However, some software research groups are advising that it may prove to be costly as well. "There has been some evidence that companies have to spend a good deal on training and support after you deploy the operating system," explains Chris Swenson, Director of Software Industry Analysis for NPD.

The total cost, Swenson added, would be dependent on which flavor of Linux the French are planning to use. "If you buy your software from a Linux vendor, you obviously have to pay for licenses, support, and maintenance. The average company or organization can probably save some money by switching to Linux, but deploying software from an established Linux vendor certainly isn't free," argues Swenson.

Mozilla has released Thunderbird 1.5.0.4 along with its Firefox update. This version of Thunderbird promises fast, safe and easy e-mail.

The following are the features of Thunderbird 1.5.0.4:

• Application presents a full-featured email that's simple to use and is customisable, supports POP and IMAP mail protocols and HTML mail formatting. This has built-in RSS capabilities, spell check, quick search, global inbox and advanced message filtering.
• This comes with a more efficient Junk Mail Filter. Thunderbird will also utilize the user's mail provider's spam filters to keep those junk mail out of the inbox.
• Anti-Phishing Protection will protect users from email scams that commonly ask for one's password or personal information.
• High grade security features like digital signing, message encryption, S/MIME, etc. make up for the advanced security of Thunderbird.
• Thunderbird is customisable as one can select button controls for toolbars, install extensions or even use themes to change the look of the browser.

Aside from these things, one great feature of the Thunderbird 1.5.0.4 is its Universal Binary powers which is an advantage for Intel Mac users.

Download [Thunderbird 1.5.0.4]