Geeksphone (in partnership with Telefonica) developed two model of Firefox Operating System developer preview phones. Giving developers the chance to experience on the new mobile operating system that built entirely using open web standards. Both of the phone “The Keon model” (lower-end phone) and “The Peak model” (higher spec) will be available in February 2013.

Another new project announced by few hours ago by Ubuntu, Ubuntu for phones. It is phone that come pre-loaded with Ubuntu phone OS with the availability to becomes a full PC and thin client when docked.

The first Ubuntu Phone OS handsets will be ready for smartphones at retail in Q4 2013, but you can test it out at 2013 International CES at Las Vegas, from January 8-11.

Though there are no official information whether Android user can flash the OS into their phone, since Ubuntu uses Galaxy Nexus as demo. But according to The Verge: “the company has a number of demo phones out here in London and downloadable images of the development platform will be available for the Galaxy Nexus over the next couple of weeks”.

Still remember when learning HTML, CSS, PHP and Java, i had to go through many sites such as W3C schools, PHP official site and many experience developer sites to learn and test coding. Simetimes had to open to 10 browser windows or more as references.

Now, W3C in collaboration with many tech giants announced alpha release of Web Platform Docs (docs.webplatform.org), a new community-driven site that aims to become a comprehensive and authoritative source for web developer documentation. This will help web professionals will save time and resources by consulting with confidence a single site for current, cross-browser and cross-device coding best practices.

Press release as below:

Alpha release of community resource for developers and designers who use open web standards

8 October 2012— W3C, in collaboration with Adobe, Facebook, Google, HP, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nokia, Opera, and others, announces today the alpha release of Web Platform Docs (docs.webplatform.org).This is a new community-driven site that aims to become a comprehensive and authoritative source for web developer documentation.

In the past, developers who use HTML5, CSS and other technologies of the Open Web Platform have had to consult multiple sites to understand how to use these technologies in a way that works across browsers, operating systems and devices. This was time-consuming and in many cases increased development costs.

With Web Platform Docs, web professionals will save time and resources by consulting with confidence a single site for current, cross-browser and cross-device coding best practices, including:

How to use each feature of the Open Web Platform, with syntax and examples;

The interoperability of various technologies across platforms and devices;

The standardization status of each technology specification;

The stability and implementation status of features.

Anyone can contribute content to Web Platform Docs. The organizations above – collectively known as the stewards – have launched this new site with initial documents contributed as raw material for the community to shape. The W3C will serve as the site’s convener. As the Open Web Platform evolves, the entire community, including the original stewards and new stewards, will help maintain and improve the content. All materials on the site will be freely available and licensed to foster sharing and reuse.

“People in the web community — including browser makers, authoring tool makers, and leading edge developers and designers — have tremendous experience and practical knowledge about the web,” said Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director. “Web Platform Docs is an ambitious project where all of us who are passionate about the web can share knowledge and help one another.”

The W3C and the stewards envision webplatform.org as the home of future collaboration with developers and designers. Those interested in contributing to this effort as a steward or as an editor can visit docs.webplatform.org

source: w3c press release

Ubuntu for Android is the first complete solution for office productivity on a phone. It lets Android and Ubuntu share the same Linux kernel, so they can run at the same time – Android for the phone experience and Ubuntu when docked. Which means one address book, one set of bookmarks, one place for text messages and one inbox for mail. And thanks to careful integration between the Ubuntu desktop and Android, user’s have access to the phone’s functions when it’s docked – including making and receiving calls.

Official Site: http://www.ubuntu.com/devices/android

VLC media player is one of the best open-source cross-platform video player out there. I play my videos through WiFi from a LAN Buffalo NAS Storage(LinkStation Pro) without any problems for six months.

It can play most of the media filetype out there (.mkv, .flv, .avi, .mp4, you name it), check here for full list. It is a cross-platform media player, with versions for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, BeOS, MorphOS, BSD, Solaris, iOS, and eComStation. All the must have function are included on the player, so no worry to miss out any great features while switching from other player.

According to 9to5mac.com, the VLC 2.0 “…includes enhancements such as a native full screen mode in Lion, a redesigned subtitle manager, support for multiple video files inside RAR archives and enhanced video output modes. The Mac version will also support Blu-ray media, and Windows users will get to enjoy a 64-bit version.” You can read the full changes on the changelog.

Advantages of VLC media player?
  i) Free!
  ii) Launch very fast, unlike the slow motion Windows Media Player
  iii) No advertisement like QVOD player or Real player.

Downloads:
  Stable Release: Version 1.1.11
  Latest Release: Version 2.0

Installation:
  i) Just download .exe for windows or .dmg for Mac
  ii) Install and done

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Via:
  9To5Mac: VLC 2.0 arriving with all-new UI, native full screen in Lion, Blu-ray support, more