Hewlett-Packard kicked the first open source component to WebOS out the door today, along with a calendar for when its source code will be completely open.

The first part of WebOS to go open is Enyo, which also received a version bump to 2.0 today. Enyo is a developer's tool for writing a single app that will work across multiple mobile devices and PC browsers, including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, iOS, Android, and WebOS itself.

The company plans to release several components per month from now until September. February will get the intended project governance model, QT WebKit extensions, JavaScript core, and UI Enyo widgets. March will see the standard Linux kernel, graphics extensions EGL, LevelDB, and USB extensions. Node services, Ares 2.0, and an update to Enyo land in April, followed by a break until July, when the Luna system manager, core applications, and Enyo 2.2 will be opened. August gets a build release model and an Open WebOS beta, with version 1.0 of the source code landing in September.

HP added that all WebOS code will be released under the Apache license.

As my colleague Roger Cheng noted in December when the company announced its decision to open WebOS, with the exception of Linux, the most successful open-source projects receive great scads of cash. What HP didn't reveal was... [Read more]

Touch and drag to make as many words as you can in the 2-minute time limit.

Scramble With Friends (99 cents), a new game from Zynga, has rocketed to the top of the iTunes App Store with classic Boggle-like gameplay so you can challenge your friends.

Gaming company Zynga has enjoyed huge success with hit iOS games including Words with Friends, Hanging with Friends, and Texas hold-'em game Zynga Poker. A new word game from the company took the tried and true classic board game, Boggle, and made it into an iPhone-friendly multiplayer game that's as addictive and fun as the original.

When you finish a game, the points for each round are added up. Rumor Has It co-host Karyne Levy put me to shame in this game.

Like Boggle, the object of the game is to find as many words as you can in a jumbled grid of letters by connecting adjacent letters to form words. You can form words vertically, horizontally, and diagonally by touching a letter and swiping across more letters until you complete a word. You have 2 minutes to find as many words as possible. There's nothing new here for anyone who has played classic Boggle, but Zynga's familiar interface and easy social n... [Read more]

Apple has made a few EFI firmware updates available this week for Mac users who own a MacBook, 13-inch MacBook Pro, or Mac Mini system from mid 2010, which give these computers the capability to start up the Lion recovery routine via the Internet. In addition, the Mac Mini update fixes a problem with the setting for restarting after a power failure not being retained.

The updates are small downloads of about 3MB in size that should be available via Software Update for relevant systems, but can also be downloaded from the following Apple Support Web pages:

• Mac Mini (Mid 2010) EFI Firmware Update 1.5
• MacBook (Mid 2010) EFI Firmware Update 2.1
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2010) EFI Firmware Update 2.5

The updates require OS X 10.7.2 to install, and when downloaded and run will provide on-screen instructions for how to apply the updates. Be sure to follow the instructions exactly, and have your system plugged into a reliable power source when updating. It is not uncommon for computer systems to restart multiple times and show temporary black screens when firmware updates are being applied, so allow the system to go through its steps without interruption. An interrupted firmware update can render a system inoperable, requiring replacement of major system components.

Wh... [Read more]

The Mac SuperBundle, Winter 2012 Edition.

Interested in buying Parallels Desktop 7, the impossibly cool tool that lets you run Windows right on your Mac? That'll be $79.99, please.

Or, if you spring for the Mac SuperBundle, you can get Parallels Desktop 7 for $49--along with nine other handy Mac apps. Combined, these 10 programs are worth $471. Not a bad return on your 50 bucks!

Indeed, this is arguably one of the best Mac software bundles I've seen. It's available starting today, and for the next two weeks.

Here's the complete list of what you get:

• Chronicle 4
• CuteClips 3
• iStat Menus 3
• Fantashow
• Flux 3
• iStopmotion Home 2
• LittleSnapper
• Parallels Desktop 7
• SyncMate Expert 3
• Video Converter 2

You can find full descriptions of each app on the bundle page. Interestingly, it comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee, so it's about as no-risk a purchase as they come.

When you buy the bundle, you'll be able to download the programs immediately. However, if you want everything delivered to you on CD, you can add that option for an e... [Read more]

Symantec is urging customers to disable PCAnywhere until it issues a software update to protect them against attacks that could result from the theft of the product's source code.

Someone broke into Symantec's network in 2006 and stole source code for PCAnywhere, which allows customers to remotely connect to other computers, as well as Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition, Norton Internet Security and Norton SystemWorks, the company said last week. Earlier this month, hackers in India affiliated with the Anonymous online activist group said they had gotten the code off servers run by Indian military intelligence.

Hackers have threatened to use the pilfered code to attack companies using it and then release the code publicly. The affected products have been updated since 2007 so there is no risk to customers, except for PCAnywhere, Symantec said.

"Malicious users with access to the source code have an increased ability to identify vulnerabilities and build new exploits," the company said in a white paper (... [Read more]

Diane Gilbert, a South Carolina teacher, shows off a Chromebook and says students like to customize them with skins.

Google has won over three school districts with its Chromebook vision, bringing more than 27,000 of the browser-based laptops to Iowa, Illinois, and South Carolina.

Rajen Sheth, Google's leader of Chromebook work for business and education, announced the deals in a speech today to the Florida Educational Technology Conference.

Including those three districts, Sheth said in a Webcast speech, "we now have hundreds of schools across 41 states that have outfitted at least one classroom with Chromebooks."

The support is a nice feather in the Chromebook cap, especially since today's impressionable, fast-learning students are tomorrow's technology buyers. But Google should also be paying attention to what one of its new Chromebook advocates had to say about what the students really want.

"Students love the tablet. I am not going to hide that from you. They will bow down and kiss your feet," said Diane Gilbert, an English teacher at Kelly Mill Middle School in Blythewood, S.C., who's taught with tablets in her classroom. She said that Chromebooks, though, are better when it comes to ty... [Read more]

A new version of Firefox for Android uses the operating system's own user interface technology.

Mozilla could soon release a beta version of its dramatically overhauled Android browser, a crucial step in the organization's attempt to stay relevant in the tech industry's mobile transformation.

Or it might have to wait six weeks. And, given Mozilla's continuing absence from the explosively growing mobile market, every moment counts.

After the first versions of Firefox for Android browser suffered from slow startup, Mozilla chose to create an Android-only version that employed the native user interface of Google's mobile operating system. That meant forsaking add-ons that historically have been built with Mozilla's own XUL interface, but fixing the slow app launch was critical.

"Native UI is closing in on beta quality," Mozilla said in meeting notes this week. Added developer Mark Finkle in a blog post, "Start-up time is many times faster than the XUL version. Launching via the icon is almost instantaneo... [Read more]

Security company Intego has offered an overview of the OS X security scene (PDF) in the past year.

The overview summarizes the various malware attempts we've seen on OS X in 2011, but also covers a number of other security vulnerabilities both in OS X and common applications, as well as on social media sites and even e-mail phishing scams.

The article covers a number of details about Mac security, but overall touches on the following key points:

• 2011 offered the most malware for the Mac since the introduction of OS X.
• None of the malware was viral in nature (self-replicating, or self-moving).
• The majority of malware was social-engineering Trojan horses that attempted to trick users.
• There were no major security vulnerabilities or breaches in the OS X system software.
• Potential vulnerabilities in OS X and third-party software were tackled in a timely manner.

This report follows a similar analysis recently released by F-secure, which summarized the malware threats that Mac users would contend with. When just looking at malware variants and new releases, F-secure noted two distinct time frames in which malware was released last year, which it describes as "bubbles." On the other hand, Intego's ... [Read more]

With the spotlight turned on education after Apple's latest media event, iTunes U has gotten a facelift as well as some important resource pages on Apple's Web site.

(Credit: Screenshot by Joe Aimonetti)

iTunes U is a source for hundreds of thousands of lectures, videos, books, and other resources originating from many of the world's leading educational institutions. There are thousands of subjects to choose from for those wishing to supplement their education using an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or PC.

To get better acquainted with iTunes U, Apple has put up a help guide for new users on its Web site. It gives a general introduction to iTunes U and covers, among other things, how to download the iTunes U iOS app and set up an iTunes account, what support options are available, and how to adjust iTunes U settings on a Mac or PC.

You can also learn about iTunes U Course Manager, a Web-based tool that instructors can use to create and distribute iTunes U content for their students. If your school has an iTunes U site, you can gain access to the Course Manager tools through your site administrator. Apple's iTunes U support site offers articles on general subjects such as how to access Course Manager and create your instructor profile, and more specific topics like how to create a podcast with GarageBand.

The iTunes U support site also includes several art... [Read more]