MK802 Mini Android PC for $35.21 offers an affordable Android computer

Jake Smith

Screen Shot 2013-01-02 at 12.43.37 AM

From 9to5toys:

Perfect to hook-up to a television, Amazon is offering the MK802 Mini Android PC for $35.21 — lower than the regular list price of $59. For those unfamiliar, this little gadget offers a full Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich experience in the size of a USB flash drive. A mini HDMI port is on the device for connecting it to an external display, making it a compelling device for the living room.

Additionally, the Mini Android PC features a full-sized USB port to connect to another computer or add peripherals. It ships with an HDMI, USB, and power cable and supports 802.1b/g/n Wi-Fi. Of course you’ll need a keyboard and mouse, so something like the Logitech diNovo Mini Keyboard plus a Bluetooth Micro Adapter may be the perfect solution. [Amazon] Read more

‘Pepper’-based Flash Player coming to Chrome later this year, Adobe dropping standalone plug-in download on Linux

9to5 Staff

Google’s Chrome browser has long released with a built-in Flash Player plug-in—the result of a technology partnership between the Internet giant and Flash maker Adobe. Though Adobe still allows customers to download a standalone Flash Player plug-in for Windows, OS X or Linux, the company announced today that the Flash Player plug-in for Linux after version 11.2 would only be available with Chrome browser distribution. The Linux plug-in will no longer be available as a direct download from Adobe. While one could suspect this news foreshadows broader policy changes on Windows and OS X, Adobe insisted that is not the case.

Flash Player will continue to support browsers using non-”Pepper” plugin APIs on platforms other than Linux.

Additionally, it will continue supporting Flash Player 11.2 on Linux for years to come. “Adobe will continue to provide security updates to non-Pepper distributions of Flash Player 11.2 on Linux for five years from its release,” wrote the company in a blog post…

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Google Cloud Print rolls out to more users with new features

Jordan Kahn

Google rolled out a nice little update for Google Cloud Print support today. While mentioning a number of new features added to the service such as the ability to control printer access, save to Google Docs, and a new tablet-friendly UI for the management page, they also announced site owners can now add the print button element for smartphones and tablets to their sites.

Other new additions to Google Cloud Print– those using the latest release of Chrome on Mac, Windows, or Linux can print any webpage, and Chromebook users will now have access to print preview. Google also notes they look forward to rolling out the service across products and platforms.

These features continue the rollout of GCP, which has connected more than 6 million printers since launch, and added a number of new supported products from companies like HP, Epson, and Kodak. You can get a full list of supported products here, and check out Chrome extensions and apps that currently have access to the service.
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iEmu wants to emulate iOS apps on Android, Windows, and Linux

Jordan Kahn

Ever wished you could run your favorite iOS app on your Mac? What about your Windows machine or Android device? If creators of new Kickstarter project iEmu reach their funding goals, it may be possible sooner than you think.

iEmu is a new project based on the open-source QEMU emulator, currently accepting donations through Kickstarter, that aims to emulate the S5L8930 chipset used in iPhone 4 and first-gen iPads. It will support a number of platforms including “Linux, Windows, Mac, mobile platforms such as Android, and even on iOS itself”.

The goals of iEmu? Well the end goal is an emulator capable of running “most iPad/iPhone apps” that even supports  peripherals like the compass, accelerometer, and GPS. It would also “be extended with plugins for custom iOS exploration” and able to be reflashed in iTunes.
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Has Qualcomm ported Android to the HP TouchPad?

Jake Smith

Qualcomm is reportedly behind the first known port of Android to the HP TouchPad. As seen in the video above, the user boots his TouchPad into Linux, which then boots into Android. While its booting, Qualcomm’s Quic logo appears. But the question to ask is how did this make it out of the Qualcomm offices and into the hands of a consumer?

It only makes sense for Qualcomm to be the first to jump on the port, seeing as they did design the processor in this device. The port seems relatively snappy — leaving me almost salivating..no wait. We’re not sure if Wi-Fi, the camera, audio, or multi-touch is working quite yet.

There is always the chance this could be fake, but it looks relatively real to us. At any rate, we can’t wait for the port to be released. Luckily, the developer community is already hard at work, thanks to a little incentive. (NotebookItalia via AndroidCentral) Read more

Chrome 13 is now stable, ready for upgrade

Seth Weintraub

If you are a mainstream Chrome user like I imagine most of you are, the first stable version of Chrome 13 is now available for auto upgrade.  Why upgrade?

Google Instant Pages prefetches links so that page load times increse dramatically.  Linux and Windows users will now also get a print preview (Linux before Mac?! oh ChromeOS :P )

To manually upgrade, go to about Chrome and hit the upgrade button (below): Read more