Will Windows 7 ever get Microsoft's next browser codenamed Spartan?

Windows 7 will soon (January 2015) enter the extended support mode. It means no more new features are released for Windows 7. This will continue until 2020 and during that period only security updates are served for all Windows 7 users.

The latest rumors tell Microsoft is going to reveal a new light web browser codenamed "Spartan" (ie IE12?). The question is whether Windows 7 will ever see this new and light browser from Microsoft. At home it's not a problem. There are so many alternatives available; Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera etc. But in corporate world the situation is different. Companies are not migrating to newer Windows versions any time soon but rather stick tightly to Windows 7.

There are moments when I work at home. What if my "old" IE11 on Windows 7 is not capable of doing what it should? What if I can't access corporate servers remotely? IMHO there are so many Windows 7 users out there it's not possible to cut their wires off just like that. Microsoft must have thought this thoroughly?

Over 50 % of all Windows users have Windows 7

Blockchain Bitcoin wallet - always with your mobile phone

Bitcoin crypto currency has been around for many years. It's pretty easy to send and receive Bitcoins via web browser. In addition mobile phones are able to handle crypto currencies if suitable wallet app is installed.

A year ago I visited a kiosk in Helsinki where it's possible to exchange Euros to Bitcoins. Back then I had Nokia 920 mobile phone. Friendly kiosk staff advised me to install an app called Blockchain. In no time I had wallet of my own for my Bitcoins. (In fact Lumia 920 had no Blockchain app at that time. I used Blockchain via mobile web browser...).

I decided to activate my Bitcoin account again. There is a Blockchain app available at Google Play store. Now I'm able to send and receive Bitcoins "on-the-go". Next I need to find stores where Bitcoins are accepted in Helsinki Finland. I guess they are not that many just yet.

Blockchain Bitcoin wallet on Nexus 4

Below is my Bitcoin wallet address in two different shapes (QR and characters). If someone for some reason wants to send me money QR-code is first scanned (with a wallet app on mobile phone), the amount of money is typed in and after that money is sent. It's that easy!

18CuaiHuNDLQBVPUp6oT9oSQe47NkEa8BP

Uber mainostaa tosissaan verkossa - suomenkielinen mainos jo omassa blogissanikin

Uber näyttää yrittävän tosissaan Suomen taksimarkkinoille. Tämän voi huomata mm. näkyvästä verkkomainonnasta. Huomasin aiemmin joulukuun lopussa 2014 Googlen kautta ohjailtuja Uberin ilmoituksia. Lopulta Uberin mainos alkoi näkyä myös omassa blogissani. Jokohan kohta nähdään omaa autoa ajavia kuskeja Helsingissäkin? Katso ilmoitus alla:

Käytettyä puhelinta metsästämässä - kolme esimerkkiä

Käytetyn puhelimen ostaminen on haastava homma

Käytettyä puhelinta ostaessa pitää olla tarkkana. Kouraan voi jäädä joko erittäin hyväkuntoinen takuulla varustettu kapula tai pelkkä tiiliskivi. Tässä on kolme esimerkkiä:

Nexus 5

Tämän puhelimen valmistus on joko jo loppunut tai loppumassa ihan pian. Käytetyn hinta pyörii nettikirpputoreilla haarukassa 200-220 €. Uusi Nexus 6 on saapunut ja moni haluaa päästä eroon vanhemmasta viitosmallista.

Nexus 5 on hyvä valinta, koska puhelin tulee saamaan melko varmasti vielä yhden suuremman päivityksen (Android M). Tuki 4G:lle on iso etu. Nexus 4:ssa 4G ei ilman "vippaskonsteja" toimi. Kun Google lopettaa Nexus 5:n tukemisen, voi aina asentaa tilalle esimerkiksi CyanogenModin. Tämä toki vaatii perehtymistä, mutta CyanogenModin avulla Nexus 5:n käyttöikä pitenee vuodella tai parilla.

Jos olisin ostamassa Nexus 5 -puhelinta, etsisin lähietäisyydeltä hyväkuntoisen yksilön, joka on ostettu vuoden 2014 aikana ja jolle löytyy ostokuitti suomalaisesta kivijalkakaupasta. Näin takuuasioissa ei ole epäselvyyttä. Kannattaa muistaa, että takuu kestää kaksi vuotta. Ensimmäinen vuosi on varsinaista takuuta ja toinen vuosi nk. virhevastuuta.

iPhone 5

Applen puhelimet pitävät arvonsa hyvin. Ostin tyttärelle lähes uuden iPhone 5:n kesällä 2014 hintaan 300 €. Saimme ostokuitin suomalaiseen kivijalkakauppaan ja lähes kaksi vuotta takuuta. Akku oli hyvässä kunnossa eikä puhelimessa ollut kolhuja. Jouduin tarkkailemaan ilmoituksia pitkään. Lopulta sopiva yksilö löytyi. Vaikka hinta oli vähän korkea, ostin, kun osui kohdalle.

Käytetyn iPhone 5:n hinta on tällä hetkellä (vuodenvaihde 2014-2015) 220-250 €. Halvempiakin toki saattaa löytyä, mutta silloin puhelin on usein aika kolhiintunut. Apple julkaisee todennäköisesti ensi kesänä iOS 9:n. Samalla mm. iPhone 4S jäänee ilman päivitystä ja saattaa jopa muuttua tietoturvattomaksi, jos "reikiä" löytyy eikä niitä paikata. Mm. iPhone 4 on turvattoman puhelimen maineessa.

iPhone 5 on ihan hyvä valinta. On muistettava, että kapula kannattaa laittaa kiertoon ja myydä viimeistään syksyllä 2015, koska uusia päivityksiä ei iPhone 5 enää saa iOS 9:n jälkeen. Mitään Androidista tuttua CyanogenModia ei Applen puhelimille ole tarjolla. Jos haluaa olla vähän aikaa rauhassa, kannattaa ostaa iPhone 5S (joiden hinnat ovat toki korkeammat kuin iPhone 5:n).

Jolla

*Suomalaisen* puhelimen valinta on nykyään helppoa. Sehän on Jolla. Tosin ko. puhelimen tehtaita ei taida olla Härmässä vaan jossain päin Aasiaa. Siinä mielessä Jolla on ihan yhtä kelmi kuin muutkin puhelinvalmistajat (vrt. luottokorttitietokone Raspberry Pi, joka valmistetaan sentään Walesissa).

Jollan saa edullisesti. Hinnat vaihtelevat nettikirpputoreilla välillä 100-150 €. Hyväkuntoisiakin löytyy ja Suomi on paikka, jossa taitaa olla ko. puhelimia eniten maailmassa (asukaslukuun suhteutettuna).

Jollalla on tarjolla vain yksi puhelinmalli. Siinä on melko usein päivittyvä käyttöjärjestelmä Sailfish OS (Nokian MeeGo:sta kehitetty) ja 4G-tuki. Käyttöliittymää pitää kuulemma opetella jonkin verran. Ostokuitin ja takuun kanssa kannattaa olla tarkkana. Osa Jollan puhelimista kun on suoraan Jollan itsensä myymiä ja kuitti saattaa löytyä myyjältä vain digitaalisessa muodossa.

Jätä käytetty väliin, jos päätä huimaa - osta uusi?

Käytetyn puhelimen myyjiä on joka lähtöön. Mikäli emmit, kannattaa ostaa uusi puhelin. Esimerkiksi Samsung Galaxy Trend Plus maksaa uutena suomalaisessa kivijalkakaupassa alle 80 €. Myös Windows Phone -pohjaiset puhelimet ovat edullisia uusina.

CyanogenMod Nexus 4 -puhelimessani

ArnoldTheBat's special build of Chromium OS is just fabulous!

Chromium OS inside my old mini laptop - fantastic!

Chromium OS is an open source version of Google's Chrome OS. ArnoldTheBat is a developer offering a special version of Chromium OS. I decided to give it a go. Now I'm a very pleased owner of an old mini laptop with automatically updating Chromium OS on hard disk! In addition localization works out of the box! Read below the steps I took.

Edit: Auto-update is not working just yet (in the end of December 2014).

My Acer Aspire One ZG5 running Chromium OS!

Prepare your USB stick and boot PC from USB

• Download the 7-zipped image from Arnold the Bat's web site
• Unzip the image
• Write Chromium OS image on USB stick (8 GB), Win32DiskImager works just fine on Windows
• Boot your PC from USB stick (in my case F12 helped)
• Choose your language and network
• Sign in with your Google account

Install Chromium OS on hard disk

• Type Ctrl-Alt-T
• Type shell
• Type sudo su (password is "password" without citations)
• Type cd /usr/sbin
• Type ./chromeos-install --dst /dev/sda (sda is my hard disk)
• Wait until the installation is ready, if asked answer yes and your hard disk is wiped
• Type shutdown -h now
• Hope for the best!

Boot your PC and sign in

• Remove USB stick
• Boot your PC
• Choose your language and network
• Sign in with Google account

If you want to see the memory consumption, type Ctrl-Alt-T, type shell and type top (q for quit). In my case I only have 1 GB RAM. However Acer Aspire One ZG5 leaves me 10 MB free memory! ZG5 boots in approximately 20 seconds. Not bad!

When I was signing in Chromium OS promised all updates take action automatically. That's very nice and comfortable! I guess my laptop downloads updates from ArnoldTheBat's server, not from Google.

So far I'm very happy with Chromium OS!

Kodi (XBMC) media center software can be run on Android-based mobile phone

Kodi (formerly XBMC) media center software is often seen on big screens. However it's possible to run Kodi on mobile phone as well. Try nightly builds (at your own risk) which you can find at: http://mirrors.xbmc.org/nightlies/android/arm/ .

My phone is LG Nexus 4 with Android 5 (Lollipop). Kodi .apk file installed just fine after external sources were accepted (see Settings). In order to make Kodi play media files, read through kodi.wiki.

Nexus 4 running Kodi (XBMC)

New version of Raspbian is available - with new GUI

A new version of Raspbian with new GUI is available for downloading at http://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/ . In case you want update your old system follow these steps:

• sudo apt-get update 
• sudo apt-get dist-upgrade 
• sudo apt-get install raspberrypi-ui-mods

Here is the new GUI:

Nokia N1 tablet first, next Nokia C1 mobile phone?

Nokia unveiled N1 tablet at Slush event in Helsinki in November 2014. Next in line there might be Nokia C1 mobile phone. Keep in mind Nokia is not allowed to enter phone business just yet. However that doesn't prevent them from design new phone models.

Summa summarum; another Nokia-labeled, mid-priced, Foxconn-manufactured and Android-inside mobile phone might be seen sooner or later.

But didn't we already see Nokia C1 ;D? See picture below.

Photo: Wikipedia, J. Dncsn

Will Android M support my... bicycle?

Android M might be the name of the next Android version. It is going to concentrate on cars, providing infotainment services for vehicles. At the moment there are not many car manufacturers which offer Android inside.

If Android M is aimed at vehicles rather than us all users then why upgrade. If Google has eye on cars no big leaps are taken what comes to so called normal use of mobile phone. This is why the next Android version for my Nexus 4 will be Cyanogen Mod. (Besides Nexus 4 will never receive the next Android version... ;D)

My Nexus 4 once already had Cyanogen Mod inside

Microsoft Office Preview on Android-x86 on VirtualBox is a no-go

Microsoft Office Preview for Android became available in the beginning of December 2014. It works nicely in my Nexus 7 wifi (2012) tablet. See here.

But not all people have a suitable Android 4.4.x tablet with 7"-10" screen. I was wondering if project "Android-x86" could help.  After installing Android 4.4 from ISO-image on VirtualBox I must say it's a no-go :( . See my screenshots below. Project Android-x86 version of Android is not on the list of supported devices what comes to Microsoft Office for Android. Bummer.

Screenshot says: I am a tester

Screenshot says: my device is not compatible

DiskMaker X: Build a bootable OS X 10.10 Yosemite USB drive

Ok, so you need a USB stick with OS X 10.10 Yosemite inside (for fresh install etc...):

WARNING! AS A RESULT *A GENERIC YOSEMITE USB STICK* IS CREATED. MAKE SURE IT SUITS YOUR NEEDS!

• First off, download OS X 10.10 Yosemite from the App Store
• You do have a Mac with Yosemite already installed, don't you? That's what is needed
• As default Yosemite is downloaded to a folder called /Applications
• Downloading takes some time
• Install Diskmaker X
• From Diskmaker X website:"As soon as you launch the application, it tries to find the OS X Install program with Spotlight. Then, it proposes to build a bootable install disk and make it look as nice as possible. It’s the easiest way to build an OS X Installer in a few clicks !"
• Find a 8 GB USB stick (not sure if 4 GB is ok)
• No need to format, Diskmaker X takes care of it
• Place USB stick in your Mac
• Start Diskmaker X
• Follow the instructions on screen
• The screenshots below are from my Desktop:
• IMPORTANT! Did Diskmaker X do the trick? Did my USB Yosemite stick work? Yes and yes. I'm very pleased!

Choose "Yosemite (10.10)"

Choose "Use this copy"

Choose "An 8 GB USB thumb drive"

Click the volume (in my case "Mac OS X install DVD"),

then choose "Choose this disk"

Choose "Erase then create the disk"

Choose "Continue"

Wait

Choose "Continue", read the FAQ at

Diskmaker X website

Choose "Make a donation" if you want

Microsoft Office for iPad and Android are free - for how long?

Microsoft has released Office Preview for Android. See it here in my blogpost. There is also version for iPad as well. All you need to do is to sign up and create Microsoft account. After that it's possible to open, edit and save Office files (Word, Excel and PowerPoint).

I wonder if Microsoft will offer Office versions for tablets for free in the future. Is'nt it sort of time consuming to release and update Office for different platforms? Doesn't it cost a lot? Where is the money coming from? Well, I'm not going to pay. Not one euro.

Office Preview for Android goes to show Microsoft has to hurry up to keep it's market share what comes to Office productivity suites. At this phase Office is given for free. However it might not go on forever.

Excel Preview for Android on my Nexus 7 (2012)

Which Android versions will Office for Android final version support?

Microsoft Office Preview for Android is here. I gave it a try and now my Nexus 7 (2012) is running Word, Excel and PowerPoint nicely.

At this moment only Android 4.4.x (KitKat) on tablets is supported. The latest Android 5.0 (Lollipop) is a no-go. In addition older tablets like my Asus ME172v with Android 4.1.x are drop-outs.

It'll be interesting to see which Android versions Microsoft will support when the final version of Office for Android is released. Ok, Android 2.x and 3.x are not on the list. So there are only Android 4.4.x and 5.0 left to support.

In my opinion Microsoft will support both Android 4.4 and 5.0. Why? Simply put they have to. There are so many tablets out there with Android 4.4 inside. Keep in mind 4.4 has Dalvik runtime while 5.0 moved to ART. This can make things complicated.

Become a beta tester and download Microsoft Office Preview for Android

So you want to install Microsoft Office Preview for Android? First off, join this Google+ -group:

• https://plus.google.com/communities/103523368857649028735 

Then wait for the answer from Google. Make sure you a tablet which is compatible (Android 4.4.x required! Android 5 Lollipop won't do!) with Office Preview for Android. You can check the requirements here:

• http://sakarinkurssit.blogspot.fi/2014/12/office-for-android-only-for-those-with.html 

When you have been accepted by Google you can become a beta tester. I guess this is the only way software which is in beta phase can be installed from Google Play Store. You can see beta tester links in the right side of the screen at Google+ -group for Microsoft Office. These are the links in case you don't find them:

• https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.microsoft.office.word 
• https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.microsoft.office.excel
• https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.microsoft.office.powerpoint

If in luck above links take you to Google Play Store and let you install Microsoft Office Preview one app at a time.

Take a look at installation FAQs if in trouble:

• https://onedrive.live.com/redir?page=view&resid=79F8B1B4A459660F!20849&authkey=!AMlyfJeaywnpu7U 

Supported countries and languages can be seen here:

• https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=79F8B1B4A459660F!20847&authkey=!AKa4L-suIyNzzJ8&ithint=file%2cxlsx

My Nexus 7 (2012) seems to co-operate just fine with Office Preview. I didn't test it that much yet though. And now it's time for some screenshots from my Nexus 7 (2012):

Office for Android - only for those with Android 4.4.x and 7-10.1" tablet

In case you want to give Microsoft Office on Android a try, please read on before you start. Not all devices are supported. These are the conditions:

• Android 4.4.x
• Size of the tablet has to be 7-10.1"
• Dalvik runtime is supported, ART is not
• Android phones are not supported at this time (maybe later?)

But that's not all. Office for Android -app is invite only. Please read through this documentation from Microsoft and follow the instructions how to participate.

I'm  still standing in queue and that's why there are no screenshots available in my blog just yet. My Nexus 7 is now downgraded from Android 5 Lollipop to Android 4.4.4 KitKat. So everything is ready for Microsoft Office for Android. Let's hope Microsoft sends me the invitation soon!

Edit: Ok, Microsoft invitation received. After that I had to join Google+ -group which is especially made for Microsoft Office. Then I was able to become a beta tester. Finally, Word, Excel and PowerPoint were available for download at Google Play Store. What a drag!

Edit: go on reading! See my screenshots after the installation of Office Preview for Android!

Android 4.4.x connected with media repeater

ChromeDuino compiles code and passes it to Arduino Uno on Chromebook

Edit (year 2017): ChromeDuino might not work anymore (I haven't tested). Use it at your own risk.

With ChromeDuino (see picture below) it is possible to compile code and pass it to Arduino Uno. My old Samsung Chromebook agreed to co-operate with Arduino Uno. Not every Chromebook find the right USB-port what I've read. However mine worked fine.

First off I wrote a simple code and then clicked button called "Program" which compiled the code in a cloud service (God knows where!) and pushed it to my Arduino Uno. What's best there is even a Term-mode. I happen to own an SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor. I will be able to monitor my next test circuit via Term-window!

Windows and OS X might be the number one platforms for Arduino software. However it's not impossible to do the same tricks with Chromebook (at least to some point).

ChromeDuino on my Chromebook

See the above video which shows my Chromebook and Arduino Uno!

Microsoft unveiling Windows Phone 10 on Jan 21st 2015?

Microsoft will hold an event in Redmond on January 21st 2015. As Windows 10 for PC continues it's way to next step (Consumer Preview) we might also hear about Windows 10 for phones.

One of my questions is whether Windows Phone 10 will support old Lumia phones. For example there are many used Nokia Lumia 1520 -phones out there waiting for me to pick one. What if Microsoft says Windows Phone 10 is not available for Nokia Lumias? C'mon! There are not that many Windows phones on this planet! They don't exist! So please Microsoft! Make Windows Phone 10 available for at least those Lumias with 1 GB RAM! Check out Lumia 1520 specs here.

My first unsoldered circuit with Arduino Uno

As a child at school long time ago I hated soldering. It was so hard to make those simple circuit boards work. Now those days are over! No soldering is needed anymore!

I followed this video from YouTube and got my first Arduino Uno -based circuit up and running. Thank you so much EEEnthusiast!

Here is the code:

int LED = 12;
void setup()
{
  pinMode(LED, OUTPUT);
}
void loop()
{
  digitalWrite(LED,HIGH);
  delay(500);
  digitalWrite(LED,LOW);
  delay(500);
}

See my first unsoldered circuit 

Microsoft Sway is nice - but what is it?

So I got my Sway preview invite from Microsoft. It was very easy to create a sway of my own. See it here: https://sway.com/cGgBw5ndu5jG4Kc3 . I pasted some of my pictures taken from Facebook (they are owned by Facebook anyway!) and typed some text. When using Sway it's possible to work on any platform; PC, Mac, tablet and smart phones.

Microsoft Sway is a nice piece of software but... What is it or rather what is it for? What am I supposed to do with it? Well, preview phase is on and maybe I'll figure that out later. Meanwhile take a look at the official Sway intro video by Microsoft or 2025 Urban Study: LA, Berlin and Beijing -sway.

Olisin varovainen halpojen Windows-tablettien kanssa - saavatko ikinä päivitystä Windows 10 -versioon?

Joulu tulla jolkottaa ja pukin konttiin hankitaan juuri nyt niitä kovia paketteja. Tarjolla on edullisia tabletteja, joissa käyttöjärjestelminä on joko Android tai Windows 8.1. Jälkimmäinen kiinnostaa, kun tablettien hintakin on satasen hujakoilla (katso esimerkkitabletti, Verkkokauppa.com -kuva alla).

Vaan en osta. Siksikö, että olen pihi, itara tai peräti saita? Ehkä niinkin. Mutta kertokaahan, voinko päivittää halpaan Windows-tablettiin ensi syksynä Windows 10 -käyttöjärjestelmän? Kukaan ei tiedä varmuudella oikeaa vastausta. Tällaisessa epävarmuudessa kauppoja ei synny. Palataan asiaan sitten, kun Microsoft tiedottaa asiasta. Veikkaan, että juhannuksen tienoilla tiedetään enemmän.

Linnan juhlia voi kommentoida Twitterin kautta - twiitillä pääsy myös televisioon!

Luin, että Twitteriin voi kommentoida Linnan juhlia (itsenäisyyspäivä 2014). Oman viestin perään pitää laittaa #linnanjuhlat. Lisäksi kun avaa televisiosta teksti-TV:n sivun 398 (Yle) päälle, oma twiitti näkyy töllössä. Vaan kukahan noita moderoi? Ei kai nyt kaikki twiitit pääse sinne telkkariin?

Nexus 4 won't get Android 6 in the future - CyanogenMod will come to help?

Nexus 4 is one of the phones which received Android 5 Lollipop one month ago. I must admit I was very pleased and did immediate flashing when factory image of Android 5 was released. My Nexus looks IMO very modern with new OS inside.

I wonder if next Android (6?) will ever be available for my Nexus 4. Doubt it. One solution is to get rid of Nexus 4 and buy Nexus 5 or 6. However, that's not an option. I hate the idea of ever-continuing upgrading of phone models. I'm more than happy with Nexus 4 and want to keep it that way.

So what can I do? Well, let's hope CyanogenMod will come to help. As a matter of fact there might not be any other solution available. Firefox OS and Ubuntu Touch are too much behind Android. Let's keep fingers crossed CyanogenMod will continue as a company which releases a free version of Android 6. Rumours say CM (=CyanogenMod) is for sale...

Nexus 4 is a mobile phone which is comparable with iPhone 6 what comes to tech specs. Therefore, It's not nice Google will abandon relatively new hardware (when Android 6 arrives in the future). Not everyone wants to buy a new phone over and over again. That's why we need companies like CyanogenMod.

I did a test with CM Windows Installer Beta

(in Finnish only)

Heh, myydäänkö Jolla Nokialle?

Kyllästymiseen asti on siunailtu, mitä Jolla aikoo *oikeasti* tehdä tulevaisuudessa. Nyt asia alkaa selvitä, noin niinkuin viralllisesti. Nimittäin Jolla ilmoitti, että se on "avoin ostotarjouksille". Samalla paljastui Slush-tapahtumassa julkaistun tabletin motiivi. Se on kärpäspaperi, jolla saadaan "sulhasehdokkaat" innostumaan.

Vaan se tässä mietityttää, että saiko Jolla nk. "pakit" moneltakin firmalta Slush-tapahtumassa. Edelleen tulee mieleen, voisiko joku toinen suomalainen yritys olla kiinnostunut Jollasta. Mikähän firma mahtaisi olla kysymyksessä? Jotenkin aikataulujen valossa se voisi olla Nokia, jolla on lupa niin halutessaan palata matkapuhelinvalmistajaksi parin vuoden päästä. Sitä ennen koodia voisi kypsyttää Jollan puhelimessa ja tabletissa. Nokia siis tekisi Microsoftit! Mitä isot edelle, sitä pienet perässä.

Jolla kertoi tulevasta tabletistaan Slush-tapahtumassa