A company called KubeSail is introducing a compact network-attached storage device called the PiBox 2 mini which, as the name suggests, is powered by Raspberry Pi hardware. Up for pre-order through a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for $250 and up with an expected ship date of March, 2022, it’s designed to work with up to two […]
web apps
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Google is phasing out support for Chrome apps (Update: in 2025)
When Google launched Chrome Apps in 2013, the idea was to let web developers create apps that worked more like native desktop applications thanks to powerful APIs and the ability to run even if you’re offline, among other things. But web browsers and web standards have come a long way since then — and Google […]
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2 Comments on Lilbits: Playdate dissected, PC shipments continue to rise, and Chromebooks lose support for MS Office Android apps
Lilbits: Playdate dissected, PC shipments continue to rise, and Chromebooks lose support for MS Office Android apps
2 Comments on Lilbits: Playdate dissected, PC shipments continue to rise, and Chromebooks lose support for MS Office Android appsChromebooks are basically just laptops that ship with Google’s Chrome OS rather than another operating system. But since Chrome OS was designed to put the web browser front and center, some folks have insisted that it’s not a real operating system – after all, it loses much of its functionality if you lose your internet connection. […]
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Google and NVIDIA are bringing game streaming to iOS (via the web browser)
There are a growing number of ways to stream console-quality games to a smartphone or tablet… as long as they’re running Android. Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, and Amazon have all launched game streaming services in the past year, and Apple’s App Store policies have kept all of those companies from making iPhone or iPad apps available. […]
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Chrome 81 brings NFC to mobile web apps
Phones with support for NFC (Near Field Communication) can use the technology to quickly pair with headphones or other accessories, make mobile payments at stores, or scan employee or conference attendee badges among other things. Now you can do some of those things without installing an app — Google has announced that Chrome 81 beta […]
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Google’s GameSnacks are web games optimizes for slow internet connections
While smartphones have become a global phenomenon in recent years, speedy internet access isn’t quite as universal — many folks are still relying on relatively slow 2G or 3G wireless networks. So while many mobile app and web developers are taking advantage of the possibilities of high-speed wireless internet access, one of Google’s latest projects […]
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Microsoft makes Outlook.com a progressive web app (and PWAs will eventually act like native Windows apps)
3 Comments on Microsoft makes Outlook.com a progressive web app (and PWAs will eventually act like native Windows apps)Progressive web apps are basically websites designed to act more like desktop programs than websites. They can be used when you’re offline, deliver push notifications when you’re online, and access your computer’s hardware, among other things. And since progressive web apps, or PWAs, work with just about any standards-compliant web browser, you can visit a […]
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Google releases Chrome 57 with WebAssembly (and more)
This week Mozilla released a version of the Firefox web browser with support for WebAssembly. Now Google has released a stable version of its Chrome browser that also supports the new web standard. WebAssembly is a set of tools that lets developers create web apps that run at near-native speeds. That means they can create […]
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Firefox OS developer provides a (not so) brief history of the operating system
Firefox OS is pretty much dead at this point, but when Mozilla first unveiled plans for the operating system (initially known as Boot to Gecko), the plan was to provide an open alternative to Android and iOS designed to run web apps. Eventually Firefox OS-powered phones were shipped… and sold poorly. There was a tablet […]
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Soon some mobile web apps will act like native Android apps
Google is continuing to blur the lines between web apps that run in your smartphone browser and native Android apps that you can download from the Play Store (or sideload onto a phone or tablet). You’ve long been able to use the Chrome browser’s “add to home screen” option to save a link to any website […]