Angry Birds, the popular iOS game, now available for free in the Android Market.

Angry Birds is one of the most popular games for iOS, and it was bought by over 6.5 million people running Apple's devices (without counting those who downloaded it via Installous).  A few days ago it has also been launched for Android, in the Android Market, and is now available for download, yes, for free. Of course that it includes ads, but they appear only when you are restarting a "mission" and only for a few seconds (2-3 maximum).

Just as I was expecting, it is a very addicting game, and I started liking it as soon as opened it. On my Nexus One (1GHz processor with 512 MB of RAM) the game runs smoothly, without any lag. I've first seen this game on someone's iPod Touch (3rd gen) and it really had lag. The high graphics the developers included in this game make it a must have one for any Android device.

As someone said, "Once played can't stop". Maybe only when your battery discharges completely. It has already over 250 000 downloads, and about 10 500 ratings. A paid, ad-free version is expected to become available later this year.

To download it, just search for "Angry Birds" in the Market, it should be available on Android Markets from all over the world. If you can't find it there, just request me a download link for it and you'll be able to download it directly on you Android device.

Ubuntu 10.10 is live, there aren't any huge changes.

Ubuntu, the most popular Linux distribution, got today to a new version, 10.10 Maverick Meerkat. This new version brings some changes, but they are small so the experience is pretty close to Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx. The themes (Radiance and Ambiances) were slightly polished, making Ubuntu a quite good-looking alternative for Windows or Mac.

One of the most notable difference is represented by the fonts. They look now much prettier than before. Below is an example:

The Ubuntu Software Center has also been changed, bringing you new features, such as "What's new", "Where is it", the ability of handling .deb files or paid applications. Actually, there's only one paid application now, but it is just for testing purposes, more are expected to come with Ubuntu 11.04. 

The installation process has been completely redesigned. Andrew (from webupd8) shot a video of it:

Ouch, I was about to forget about it. There's also a new wallpaper into Ubuntu 10.10 by default. The old one, which has been a little redesigned compared to the one present in 10.04, created a real scandal and was changed after some users reported even a bug into it. So, it now looks something like this:

Other changes are represented only by under the hood improvements and updates to most applications, changes that are seen rarely or aren't at all for the end user. 

Ubuntu is available for download from here.

Android 3.0 test build already done?

Yesterday, Kevin Krause, an editor from Phandroid presented a photo on the website with a device which seems to be running the Android 3.0. From the photo, we can see that it's a Nexus One (this is what's written in "About"), but it is not known why the upper part of the device has been covered with a sheet of paper.

As some users said, it is a high probability for this photo to be a fake one, as it's easy to modify what's written in "About". However, I think that there's a change for the Android 3.0 to be already released for a small group of Android engineers, for testing/developing purposes.

Anyway, I have to warn you. If you see on the following period a build which claims to be the Android 3.0, don't install it until a confirmation from reliable website in the domain is received. Just be patient, and don't make something you'll regret later. I don't think you want a bricked phone...

More on Phandroid.

What do you think about this photo?

Windows 7 SP1, coming on July.

Service Pack (SP) represents usually the most important update that a version of an OS can receive. Windows 7 SP1 has been tested by developers for more months, and it is coming for the end-users by the end of the next month. What this update will include are all bug-fixes and updates which were already delivered to the users through Windows Update, plus support for USB 3.0.

It seems that this new pack fixes about 150 vulnerabilities and has about 150MB. The installation process is probably going to be really easy, and even if it isn't necessary now, Microsoft probably wants to make a step forward and detach from what was a total fail, Windows Vista. There are lots of torrents which pretend to be the SP1 Windows 7, but as it is not yet released officially for end-users it is hard for me to believe that they are the real SP1 which will be released by MS.

If you think Windows 7 is boring, just be patient until the SP1 of Windows 7 arrives (I'll let you know when Microsoft launches it officially).

Ubuntu: the change is coming - April 29th.

The new version of Ubuntu, 10.04, is almost near the corner. On April 22nd the last step before the final release in coming, the Release Candidate. This represents usually about 90-95% of the final release, and soon after, on 29th, the final release is going to be available.

This is a LTS update, or Long Term Support. This means that this version will be supported for 3 years on Desktop version, and it is launched every two years (while normal releases are supported for 18 months and are launched every 6 months). Thousands of updates are coming daily for those who are using Beta 2 at this moment, so this is an evidence that the community is seriously working for 10.04 LTS.

This is a list of the most important updates that Ubuntu 10.04 has so far and what is supposed to come in the final release:

• Much better hardware support
• Improved speed
• 2 new default themes
• By default, Ubuntu has windows buttons on the left
• Splash and login screens are now modified
• Gwibber is installed by default (social client - Twitter is included)
• Boot time under 10 seconds (for the final release)

Regarding the themes, an article can be found by clicking here. However, articles about Ubuntu can be found on the entire blog. You must only find them by typing "Ubuntu" in the search box.

Ubuntu is still under full development, so the many applications and even the system can get serious errors, so if you need a stable system it is not recommended to update yet.

The stable version (9.10) and 10.04 beta 2 are both available from the official site: http://www.ubuntu.com/ .

Testing Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) Alpha 3.

Today I've fully upgraded my laptop which had Ubuntu 9.10 on it, to Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx. The whole upgrade process took some time, but the results are impressive. So, what I've observed in the following 30 mins after the installation:

• The OS moves significantly faster than before
• Notification problems from the previous Alpha release were resolved
• Possible bug with the sound (or only with its icon)
  
• Gwibber added (application, Twitter client)
• Some changes in "Disk Utility" (interface)
• Many programs have up-to-date versions
• Human theme is pretty changed (most obvious changes are related to the panel)
• 2 Completely NEW themes included; one is called "Radiance", and the other one is called "Ambiance"

About the themes. Ubuntu now has on all its themes the buttons for the windows on left (minimize, maximize and close), pretty much like Mac OS X. The new "Radiance" theme is completely inspirited from Mac OS X (wallpaper, colours, buttons, etc), and nobody can tell me that it isn't.

But they are differently placed. They are in the following order: maximize-minimize-close, order which is not present on any other OS. This seemed a little strange, but it didn't create confusion for me. Many Linux users declared that they don't agree with these new buttons, but if you want my opinion, I really like it. Update: the buttons are now placed like in the Mac OS X: close-minimize-maximize.

The other new theme called "Ambiance" is exactly the same with "Radiance", except that it has dark colours. I'm currently really tired, and I observed that "Ambiance" is really relaxing, compared to "Radiance" which has very bright colours and it's pretty unpleasant now. Below is the "Ambiance".
The OS is fully functional, like the previous version, and it is extremely stable (since it's an Alpha version, I was expecting to be pretty unstable). It offers quite a similar experience (compared to 9.10), except that is more responsive and moves faster.

Testing Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx Alpha 2.

Ubuntu launched their 10.04 Alpha 2 release on 7th January, and I've decided to test it now. So far, it has nothing new comparing to 9.10 Karmic Koala. Except probably that it boots a little faster.

The installation took a normal time, similar to 9.10. The boot-up takes about 18 seconds, which is better than 9.10, but I'm curious if the final release will attend what Ubuntu promised, less than 10 seconds to boot. That would be a real performance and a big challenge for any OS developer.

On my Dell D610 laptop everything works out-of-the-box, including wi-fi. After the first boot the touchpad stopped responding, but, using the trackpoint I gave it a reboot and now it is working. There are some problems with the notifications, which appear in a strange way. View the following image to see how
What else I can tell you is that at a first look, the OS moves pretty fast, but the applications are crashing frequently and easily. I observed several flickers of the screen, so I guess it might be a problem with the driver of something like that.

Ubuntu 10.04 (so far, Alpha 2) comes with Empathy as a default internet messenger, Firefox 3.5.7 for brwsing, and OpenOffice 3.1 suite. There's also a new application included, named Pitivi Video Editor.

The 10.04 will be a LTS (long term support) distribution, so it should be an high stable release, which will be supported for 3 years for desktop edition, and 5 years for the server one. The LTS releases are launched every two years, while normal releases are launched every 6 months.

Here's the calendar of the Ubuntu 10.04 release schedule:

• December 10th 2009 - Alpha 1
• January 14th 2010 - Alpha 2
• February 25th 2010 - Alpha 3
• March 18th 2010 - Beta 1
• April 8th 2010 - Beta 2
• April 22nd 2010 - RC (Release Candidate)
• April 29th 2010 - Final Release.

Download Ubuntu 10.04 Alpha 2 from here: http://cdimages.ubuntu.com/releases/lucid/alpha-2/

For detailed schedule, go here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LucidReleaseSchedule?action=show&redirect=LucidLynxSchedule

Please consider that this is an unstable release ! Do NOT install it as your default OS, as it has frequent crashes that might cause you to lose data ! It is recommended for testing purposes only.

Firefox 3.6 launches tomorrow, 21 January.

The new version of Firefox, the browser developed by Mozilla, will be available for download tomorrow, January 21st, at 9:30 am Pacific Standard Time, says Mozilla. Currently, release candidate is the latest version available, which is generally about 90-95% of the final release.

A new feature is "Personas", which is nothing more than many themes for Firefox. Other feature implemented in Firefox 3.6 is a mechanism which will check for newer updates for your plug-ins, in order to keep you updated and make the navigation as safe as possible. Mozilla also claims that their browser is now 25% faster than the previous version, which makes it the fastest browser (any company says that when they launch a new version). But there is nothing surprising, that could attract me in order to leave Chrome...

If you want to see more (and video): http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/comingsoon/ (I don't know what is with that video, but it runs like the hell, even on Firefox 3.5.7)

Download link: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/all-beta.html

Update: Download link for 3.6 final version: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/firefox.html

Why I recommend you Google Chrome.

Google's browser, Chrome, is getting more and more popularity every day, and it could be, in the future, a great rival for both Firefox and Internet Explorer. It offers a very simple and efficient interface, which looks nice on Windows Vista/7. I dislike it's interface on Windows XP, but this is it. The application moves very fast, which is very important for slower PC's. The webpages are displayed very fast too, faster than any other browser available in normal version (I'm telling you this because there is a pre-Alpha version of Opera 10.50 available, which seems to be quite faster; read more about Opera 10.50 pre-Alpha here).

Chrome is available for Windows, Linux and Mac. Its great extensions are available for Windows and Linux versions so far, but Google is planning to send them to Mac soon. I observed different problems for the beta versions (which you must have for extensions), like intense using of resources or unresponsive state, especially on Linux, and in generally after using it continuously for several hours.

Download Chrome (all OS's, Windows stable): http://www.google.com/chrome

Download Chrome (Windows-Beta only): http://www.google.com/intl/en/landing/chrome/beta/