MATE 1.2 Released (MATE 1.2 Review in Ubuntu 11.10)

Since included by default in Linux Mint 12 DVD, Mate Desktop Environment (MATE) has amazingly accepted by many Linux users. Even, many programmers has joined into this project and take part developing MATE. And now, there is an “official” homepage of MATE which can be found at mate-desktop.org. There are wiki, blog, installation manual and of course : repository.

Based on its Release Notes, there is already MATE 1.2 released and I've tried it in my Ubuntu 11.10. This is my conclusion about MATE 1.2 :

The Good

1. More more stable than previous releases.

2. Mate Panel looks great just exactly like Gnome 2 panel.

3. Fast enough :)

4. Sound Volume now included (very nice feature)

5. Many Modern Themes Work great

   Great theme that works very well with MATE 1.2 is Orion theme that also supports gtk3. Theme package can be found here.

The Minuses

1. Still doesn't work with Ubuntu Ambiance theme

2. Couldn't use panel background

Installation

Installation manual could be seen here. We need Ubuntu repo to install MATE 1.2 because there are some packages depend on Ubuntu packages.

For more technical information, here is Mate 1.2 official Release Notes.

Nokia N9 to come at the MWC with a 1.2 GHz CPU, 12 MP camera?

With the MWC fast approaching, rumors about the MeeGo-running Nokia N9 are starting to intensify again. If the Finnish source is to be trusted one of the most hotly anticipated smartphones of this year will make its debut at the congress in less than a month.
There will also be some serious hardware under the hood. Apparently the Nokia N9 will be the first Nokia smartphone to pack a 1.2 GHz CPU. The machine-translated source mentions something about it being an Intel Atom, but we can't imagine a way of stuffing the good old x86 Atom in a smarphone. Instead our guess is the N9 is based on the Intel Moorestown platform, which is essentially a smartphone SoC (system-on-a-chip) with an Intel Atom core as its heart.
Next, the Nokia N9 is supposed to have the same 12 megapiexel camera as the N8. Considering the qualities of the large-sensor unit inside the Nokia Symbian^3 flagship, that's just excellent news for all cameraphone lovers. Top of the line smarphones haven't been doing too great in the camera department recently, so the N9 might be the first true all in one device.
The final exciting Nokia N9 rumor is its LTE connectivity. Even the source claims that this isn't confirmed yet so you need to take this with an extra pinch of salt.
There's less than four weeks remaining until the MWC kicks off so we'll find if the rest of it is true pretty soon. Here's hoping that the whole list gets confirmed!
Source (in Suomi)

Symbian^3 family grows as Nokia C6-01 starts shipping

Today Nokia announced that another of the devices Nokia unveiled at this year’s Nokia world started shipping.C6-01 is the most affordable Symbian^3 handset to date and also the most compact one.

The most interesting part of the Nokia C6-01 however is its 3.2” AMOLED display. It’s the first publicly available unit to use the new Nokia ClearBlack technology that promises to improve the image quality significantly. Considering that the non-ClearBlack Nokia N8 and Nokia C7 were pretty good we have some high hopes for these new screens.
The display aside, Nokia C6-01 packs virtually the same feature set as the more expensive C7. You get an 8 megapixel camera (regrettably fixed-focus), capable of recording HD video, 680 MHz CPU with dedicated graphics accelerator and 256 MB of RAM.
Of course, some sacrifices were needed for the price tag to be achieved and in this case it’s the internal memory (only 340 MB and a 2GB card on the C6-01 vs 8GB on the C7) and the waistline (13.9mm vs 10.5mm).
It all sounds pretty decent actually considering the estimated retail price of 260 euro before taxes and subsidies.
Source

Nokia C6-01 starts shipping today

GLOBAL – The second of Nokia’s new Symbian devices announced at Nokia World, the C6-01, officially starts shipping today. The boxes have been filled, the vans loaded and the factory gates opened. Soon they will be with retailers and operators near you. Join us after the break for a reminder of why you might want one.

The new Nokia C6 is the smallest and most affordable of the new family of Symbian devices. The C6-01 measures 103.8 x 52.5 x 13.9mm and weighs in at just 131g. Like its siblings, it’s a fully functional communicator with support for 3G and WiFi on board. It’s got a 3.2-inch AMOLED capacitive touch-screen featuring the new ClearBlack display technology for the first time (more about that in a later post). The C6-01 is also one of Nokia’s greenest devices to date, featuring the use of bioplastics and recycled metals for much of its construction.

It doesn’t skimp on multimedia, either, with an eight-megapixel full focus camera with dual-LED flash. The camera’s also capable of shooting 720p high-definition video. The usable internal memory (340MB) is probably a tad tight for that, but can be souped-up with a microSD memory card for over 32GB of storage. There’s a 2GB card to get you started in the box. Like all the recent devices, it comes with free navigation through Ovi Maps, extra apps from Ovi Store and tunes from Ovi Music.
“The Nokia C6-01 is designed for the consumer who wants to stay on top of their social life while on the go,” said Jo Harlow, head of smartphones. “The new Symbian platform makes social networking fast and easy, while from the design point of view the Nokia C6-01 fits perfectly in your palm. Even the smallest of hands can reach every corner of the screen!”

 

The First Official Interactive Unboxing Of The Nokia N8 -- Unboxing By Brenda

Nokia N8 UI (User Interface) demo Video

Nokia N8 Hands-on

We've just received our Nokia N8 review unit and thought we'd give you guys a sneak peak before we got down and dirty to review Nokia's newest flagship phone. It comes in a flat box, matte blue and layered, like opening a present, revealing the Nokia N8 inside. Our version is graphite. The phone doesn't have a removable battery, so underneath it is a quick guide showing you how to put in your SIM card and microSD card.

The box also has a number of connector leads in it such as HDMI to mini HDMI, microUSB to USB (male), microUSB to USB (female, enabling the phone to be used as a USB stick reader), as well as a 2mm Nokia charger. There are also a pair of earbud headphones which have music controls (play/pause, back, forward) and a volume rocker on them, as well as the standard microphone and call/end button.

On top of that is a bunch of literature in a number of languages guiding you through the phone. We've had a quick play, and our first impressions are: it's very Symbian and the camera is quick. That's all you're getting out of us now, we're going to head off and live with it for a short while so we can give you a comprehensive run-down on Nokia's multimedia powerhouse, the N8.

Mencicipi Desktop LXDE

Di antara pilihan desktop environtment Linux, nama LXDE masih cukup baru, tetapi cukup menarik banyak pengguna Linux untuk mengetahui lebih dalam tentang window manager yang satu ini. Apakah mencukupi untuk kebutuhan standar komputasi desktop? Masih kurang? Atau justru dipenuhi dengan limpahan fitur seperti KDE? Mari kita simak!

Beberapa waktu yang lalu saya sempat mencoba paket LXDE yang ada dalam bundel DVD instalasi Mandriva 2009 Spring Free Edition. Kesan pertama yang saya dapat adalah window manager yang satu ini cukup elegan, dan setelah saya explore di beberapa fitur dasar, saya dapati beberapa catatan berikut ini :

MENU : Susunan menu LXDE sangat mirip dengan susunan menu XFCE. Pengaturan icon tombol start/menu sama persis dengan pengaturan icon tombol star/menu pada XFCE, kita bisa menggunakan icon start button kesukaan kita. Caranya sangat mudah, yaitu dengan klik kanan pada tombol menu, dan pilih 'Menu' Settings.

PANEL : Seting default LXDE panel adalah cukup elegan, dengan tampilan hitam metalic seperti taskbar windows vista. Menu seting panel LXDE mirip dengan seting panel GNOME, kita di ebri empat pilihan tampilan, yaitu 'Use System Theme', 'Transparancy', 'Enable Image' dan 'Custom Color'. Adanya pilihan 'Enable Image' memberi kita pilihan untuk menggunakan tema image untuk panel, seperti warna-warna metalik yang indah. Dalam hal ini, tampilan panel LXDE lebih menarik dari panel XFCE.

Pengaturan penambahan item / applet pada panel LXDE, masih sangat sederhana, jauh lebih sederhana dari pengaturan peletakan item panel GNOME, XFCE maupun KDE. Walaupun sederhana, menu penambahan item pada panel LXDE sangat mudah dipahami. Caranya adalah dengan klik kanan pada panel, dan pilih 'Add/Remove Panel Items'.

DESKTOP : Pengaturan wallpaper desktop sama seperti pada desktop XFCE, GNOME maupun KDE. Satu fitur dasar pada desktop LXDE adalah belum adanya integrasi shortcut untuk removable media, seperti USB Flashdisk, CD maupun DVD. Oleh karenanya, jika kita ingin melepas USB Flashdisk, kita harus masuk ke PCManFM dan klik kanan>Umount File System pada disk USB kita. Kekurangan ini menjadi catatan minus paling utama bagi saya, karena fungsi dasar ini menjadi hal terpenting saat ini mengingat dinamisnya mobilitas transaksi data menggunakan media pasang-copot seperti USB Flashdisk.

PREFERENCES : Pengaturan tema desktop LXDE cukup sederhana. Seperti halnya XFCE, desktop LXDE kompatibel dengan tema desktop berbasis GTK GNOME. Kita bisa menggunakan tema icon GNOME di desktop LXDE kita. Tema default LXDE sendiri cukup elegan menurut saya, dengan nouveXT2 icon theme yang mirip dengan icon windows vista, dan tema window manager yang serba hitam metalic.

FILE MANAGER : PCMan File Manager, seperti halnya Thunar File Manager, adalah file manager yang bersifat ringan, tetapi memiliki fitur yang sangat memadai, dan sangat mudah digunakan. Secara keseluruhan, saya sangat menyukai PCMan File Manager. Shortcut-shortcut PCMan File Manager sama seperti shortcut yang digunakan pada Nautilus File Manager maupun Thunar. Shortcut tersebut antara lain tombol Ctrl+H untuk menampilkan hidden files dan F9 untuk menampilkan side pane. Fitur default yang sangat membantu adalah terintegrasinya pilihan menu 'Open In Terminal' seperti pada Thunar File Manager.

LOGOUT MENU : Pilihan logout menu LXDE sangat lengkap, terdiri dari Shutdown, Reboot, Suspend, Hibernate, Switch User dan Logout. Saya tidak menemui masalah dalam proses shutdown atau Reboot pada desktop LXDE.

KESIMPULAN : LXDE adalah desktop yang ringan, seperti XFCE, tetapi tetap memiliki fungsionalitas yang memadai. Untuk pengguna Llinux menengah, LXDE adalah pilihan yang sangat menarik dan bagus, tetapi untuk pengguna baru (newbie), saya lebih cenderung untuk menyarankan XFCE, karena faktor integrasi dengan removable media.

KELEBIHAN :

• Ringan

• Tampilan indah

• Cukup mudah dimengerti.

KEKURANGAN :

• Belum ada aplikasi untuk menangkap tampilan desktop, seperti Ksnapshot pada KDE, Gnome-Screenshot pada GNOME, maupun desktop screenshot pada XFCE. Untuk mengatasi kebutuhan tersebut, saya menggunakan Gnome-Screenshot yang merupakan bagian dari paket gnome-utils.

• Belum ada integrasi removable media dengan desktop.

Begitulah sedikit preview saya mangenai desktop LXDE, semoga saja dengan makin banyaknya pilihan desktop environtment di Linux, akan membuat Linux menjadi pilihan menarik untuk berbagai kebutuhan pengguna komputer. Dan semoga, di rilis-rilis LXDE yang mendatang, akan semakin lengkap dengan berbagai fitur dasar maupun pernak-pernik fitur tambahan yang dibutuhkan pengguna komputer untuk kebutuhan sehari-hari.

Selamat ber-ekplorasi !