A bit more information from Novell regarding iPhone integration with GW.

List: ngw
Subject: [ngw] Novell GroupWise and the Apple iPhone
From: "Alex Evans"
Date: 2008-06-13 15:23:21
Message-ID: 48523C89.4E3C.0093.1 () novell ! com
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Novell GroupWise and the Apple iPhone
Apple recently announced iPhone support for Microsoft Exchange, based on the \
ActiveSync technology that Apple paid Microsoft for. This has prompted GroupWise \
customers to ask what Novell's plans are for iPhone support. Novell is committed to \
providing a solution that allows users access to their email, calendar and contacts \
on the iPhone, and is pursuing multiple avenues to address this goal.

NotifyLink and Toffa both plan to offer iPhone support to GroupWise customers.

There are a number of options that we have been considering:
1. Nokia enhance GMS to provide iPhone support. This had to be postponed due to the \
Apple SDK limitations. And I do mean postponed, not rejected. 2. Jailbreak the \
iPhone and use unauthorized APIs. That is not something that we feel we can \
recommend to corporate customers as an enterprise solution. 3. Create a web \
browser solution like IBM has. Not ideal as it does not sync any data to the device, \
allowing offline access. Much of the value of these kinds of solutions is having all \
the data to hand. 4. Rely on the SDK and create something in house. The SDK is very \
limited and does not allow enough access to the native apps and for services to run \
in the background 5. Do something around ActiveSync - a possibility that we are \
looking closely at, but it is a longer term strategy.

We are currently assessing other options and yes, we are also talking directly to \
Apple.

As Jay Parker mentioned in a previous post, IMAP and iTunes will work to allow cradle \
sync to the device

Thanks
Alex





Alex Evans
GroupWise Product Manager
aevans@novell.com
T: +1 801 861 7288
M: +1 801 368 8930
Blog: http://www.novell.com/communities/user/565

Tags: technology, apple, Iphone, groupwise

We’d all like to know what Novell is doing in the iPhone integration space. (So I use the term “ALL” loosely)

Toy or not, companies will be looking to integrate the iPhone purchased by those “execs” that must be seen to have the latest shiny-shiny, to make up for their I-have-no-idea-what-this-is-or-what-it-does-but-everyone-has-one-so-I’d-better-have-one-too.

What is Novell doing? Here is an excerpt from Dean Lythgoe’s blog on GroupWise integration.

“iPhone - Apple. As you know, this is a very hot topic right now and many are looking to Novell to provide a solution in this space. We have been very hesitant to discuss publicly what our plans and discussions have been. As I said, this is a sensitive topic. I will say a few things. Novell is working with Apple. Apple's integration with Exchange was done by Apple using internal proprietary Apple interfaces and by licensing ActiveSync. The integration was NOT done by Microsoft. There are at least two GroupWise partners, NotifyLink and Toffa, who have announced solutions in this space. Novell is continuing to evaluate and work on solutions. See a post by Alex Evans in the NGWList for other information.”
His full blog entry can be found here.

Keep up the good work Dean.

Tags: Iphone, groupwise, technology

At least for the rest of the world.

Admittedly it does appear on the surface to be a very cool device. There are others that do the whole mobile phone connectivity-entertainment thing better but that’s all by-the-by for some.

I’m sorry but I can’t help rolling my eyes and shaking my head at the people lining up for one of these gadgets on release day.

I’m not sure that these people would meet the criteria for Chappo’s “Earthlings on the right track”.

Has the world gone mad? I keep asking myself this question. I’m finding it more and more difficult to convince myself that there is time yet for people of this planet to wake up. I suppose there is always time. While there is at least one person who realises, there is hope. But the tide one has to walk against keeps getting stronger as more people get caught up in the maelstrom.

I have an idea that some people MUST have these types of devices because they’ve become disillusioned with their lives or perhaps have a lesser self-worth than others. So buying the latest *bling* makes them feel alive or worth something if only until the next *bling* comes along... retail therapy? I’m sure there is some modicum of thruth here, you tell me.

I may yet be surprised, it will be interesting to hear of the numbers who stayed out in the cold, lining up to hand over their cash (more likely credit card...spend someone elses money) for one of these shiny baubles.

The words I’m hoping to see in the news reports after today are “Not as many as expected...”.

Tags: Iphone, technology

So we know that Ubuntu Hardy Heron can manage your iPod with Rythmbox, I spoke briefly about it here. But what about openSuse 11.0? Well I fired up the openSuse live CD and gave it a go.

A slightly different icon appeard on the desktop and it didn’t look like the iPod that it was to represent, but it was obviously an MP3 player.

Shortly after the icon appeared, so did Banshee. Banshee is the default music player in the Gnome version of openSuse. Different program, but from the slight look that I gave it, essentially identical.



Banshee recognised all the albums, cover art, artists etc that I had stored on the iPod from my iTunes library. Sounds ok too.

Again, if you still want a more iTunes look, check out www.songbirdnest.com.

Tags: Ipod, Linux, technology

This is not a review.

openSuse 11.0 was released about 5 days ago and from what I’ve seen and read so far, it looks very good.

I have downloaded the Live CD Gnome version but have only run the OS in Live mode. I’ve only just installed Ubuntu Hardy Heron so I’m not quite ready to go through another install and reconfigure just yet, I have a life. But to be honest, I do prefer the Suse interface to that of Ubuntu.

I’ve used Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) and reasonably familiar with the Gnome interface that comes with it, but there has been some rather nice additions to the free version.

Once such nicety is the desktop effects. This is nothing new, Ubuntu also has this feature.

What is plainly obvious is Microsoft Windows is now very last year. Both Ubuntu and now openSuse come in Live CD formats so there is no reason why you can’t try it out before clicking the install button.

Download your copy from http://software.opensuse.org/

Novell have done a sterling job encouraging this opensource project.

Tags: Linux, technology, openSUSE

So you’ve succumed to the anodised aluminium wonder and purchased the slimline Apple keyboard (wired in this case)... but you don’t own a Mac and you want to get it working on WinXP.

You could just plug it in and it would work satisfactorily as it is.

However, what about the INS (Insert key) or the NUM (Numlock key) and all those specific OS X keys? What do they do now that this brushed beauty is running on a legacy OS?

Solution: Get the Apple driver.

If you’re an OS X user you’ll know that OS X 10.5 comes with BootCamp. This allows you to run a Microsoft OS on your Apple hardware with no OS X in sight. To fascilitate this desecration Apple have provided a swag of Windows drivers to allow the hardware to function.

One of the drivers is for the Apple keyboard.

To get the driver you could try downloading it, or you could ask one of your OS X using friends to get it for you.

If you have an OS X 10.5 DVD as I have you do the following:

1. Mount the OS X DVD on a Windows PC
2. double click the “Drivers” folder
3. double click the “Apple” folder

To install the drivers double click the “applekeyboardinstaller.exe”.

You can reboot if you like, it’s Windows afterall and it’s never happy without a reboot of some type.



Now when you plug in your slimline “twiggy” of the keyboard world, WinXP will detect it and away you go!

Key equivalents:

fn = INS
clear = NUM LOCK


Hiccups that I’ve found:

1. When installing NetWare in ESX server you are required to press the F10 key to accept the licence. In this instance F10 is not translating. Could be the Apple driver, could be the keyboard mapping to ESX. Fairly obscure I know, but worth mentioning.
UPDATE:- The F10 key is working fine, along with all the function keys. Solution: press the FN key in combination with the function key of your choice. All good. So now I have no hiccups.

2. Let me know if you find more and I’ll add them to the list.

Tags: apple, technology, mac

Not using iTunes to manage your iPod?? Blasphemy!!

Well not quite. What if you’re a Ubuntu user like me and don’t have the all-singing all-dancing iTunes for your OS?

Solution: Rythmbox.

Rythmbox is the default music player in Ubuntu and it has iPod support. I was surprised when I plugged my Nano into my PC to give it a bit of juice, and up popped Rythmbox.

The interface is reasonably similar to iTunes, afterall it was inspired by it.

I haven’t had too much of a play with Rythmbox as I have a macbook that is my iTunes music database, but here is a tutorial to get started with.

So, while we wait for Apple to release a version of iTunes for linux (here’s hoping they do), give Rythmbox a try.

If Rythmbox is not iTunes looking enough for you, you can try out www.songbirdnest.com

Tags: Ipod, Linux, ubuntu, technology

I had a bit of a problem today. It’s been raining so I was mucking around with desktop effects in my new Hardy Heron install.

I miss-clicked something.

The result was I lost all windows, menu’s and task bars. They were hidden so I think I was playing around with window opacity.

I could ALT+TAB between windows but nothing would show on the screen.

Seeing as all configuration in Linux is in text files I went hunting.

I did a CTRL+ALT+F5 to bring up a terminal window, logged in and I found the following in my home directory:

.gnome2
.gnome2_private
.gconf

A quick look told me these were the gnome display settings for my GUI interface so I deleted them with:

rm -rf .gnome2 .gnome2_private .gconf

followed by a CTRL+ALT+DEL

All back to normal. I reapplied the basic effects I had before I tinkered, and I’m happily working again.

Phew! I was thinking for a moment (just a small moment) that I would need to re-install.

Tags: Linux, technology, ubuntu

It is a long weekend so I decided to upgrade my Gutsy Gibbon install to Hardy Heron. This was more of a complete install rather than an upgrade. My pc needed a clean out.

I have a slim aluminium Apple keyboard on my PC which is great and everything was fine.

Fine until I hit the Num Lock equivalent (the “Clear”) key on the numeric keypad.

This promptly screwed up my keyboard mapping. Nothing I did would return it to normal, including rebooting the machine. Although I didn’t try powering off the computer, just a soft reset.

Anyhow, I managed to fix this problem by plugging in a standard pc usb keyboard and pressing the Num Lock key thereby resetting the OS. I then plugged the Apple keyboard back in and all was well. I confirmed the problem again by pressing the “Clear” key. Problem returned, numeric keyboard not working but neither were the alpha keys.

Fix by repeating the above.

After some googling this seems to be a kernel bug in Ubuntu 8.04. Hope they fix it soon.

Tags: apple, technology, ubuntu

RapidWeaver 4.0 has arrived. Usually this would be a paid upgrade however, as I found out today, owners of version 3.6 get a free upgrade to 4.0. That includes me...woohoo!

RapidWeaver 4.0 is built using Cocoa, OS X Leopard’s native language and takes advantage of Core Animation and Quick Look(available in 4.0.1).

The interface has also had quite an overhaul and looks very fresh and, well ... Leopardy!

The good news is, if you’re wanting to try it, RealMacSoftware are offering RapidWeaver for $59. That’s a $20 saving.

Tags: rapidweaver, technology, mac

Ubuntu 8.04 LTS ~ Hardy Heron has been released.

The reviews of this release are glowing and all said and done, a worthy upgrade to Gutsy Gibbon.
Lots of new stuff including (copied from the Ubuntu site):

Productivity tools: Ubuntu supports all of your favourite web-based mail programs like Yahoo(TM) or Gmail (TM). But for the office, Evolution provides all the calendering, contacts and full function office email you need. Pidgin IM also puts you in instant touch with colleagues and integrates with your personal IM services simply and easily.

Browsing: Including Mozilla Firefox (Beta 5) - tested and stabilised for a platform. Faster, safer and themed for Ubuntu.

Photos: Upload from your camera or phone to F-Spot and manage, tag, share and sort your photos and upload easily to you favourite social networking sites.

Music and video: Plug in your PSP, iPod, MP3 player; share playlists with your friends; buy in the creative commons online music stores, stream more live radio and plug in more devices with UPnP.

Office applications: Word processing, spreadsheets and presentations can all be delivered through Open Office 2.4. And, they completely integrate with the proprietary office applications out there. The big difference is that they are free.

Accessibility: At the core of the Ubuntu philosophy is the belief that computing is for everyone and access should be free and complete whatever your economic or physical circumstances. Ubuntu is one of the most accessible desktop operating systems around.

This is a long term support version, so updates should be coming thick and fast for about 18 months to 2 years.

I've been running Gutsy Gibbon on my PC at home and was considering changing to Suse Enterprise Desktop from Novell. I think I'll upgrade Gutsy to Hardy and stick with Ubuntu for a while longer.

Remember two things:

1. Ubuntu runs also as a Live CD so you can try before installing and,

2. Ubuntu is completely FREE

Tags: technology, Linux, ubuntu