Category Archives: automotive

Japanese Summer Lineups

Every season Japanese mobile providers release a set of new portable devices directed at the internal market. This year’s summer launch is aimed at a broad audience, showcasing features both for smart-phone first timers and technology-focused existing users. Not surprisingly, all of the presented devices boast 2,000 mAh plus batteries, quad core CPU, LTE compatibility and are equipped with NFC facilitating contact-less payment systems.

Included in the lineup was Fujitsu newest addition to ARROWS family, Japan exclusive NX F-06E. Launched on the 7th of June, it is packed with innovative and extra convenient solutions. Those who are always on the run will appreciate single-handed operations functionality, uncommon for handsets with 5.2-inch display. Here it was achieved via slide display, sliding launcher and hand-written input that allows users to choose their favourite keyboard. A tech savvy user will definitely make a use of Advanced Human Centric Engine customising the phone according to preferred power-saving settings, optimal screen brightness and reduced blue light emissions. Other interesting features include smart fingerprint sensor and flip to switch allowing a speedy access to unlock the phone and change to silent mode.

This high-tech Android-based handset is not only design and functionality oriented but thanks to Full HD broadcast, offers the same viewing quality as digital terrestrial TV. The addition of Dolby Digital Plus, specially designed to view next-generation multimedia content, introduces a unique audio experience. It is one of key features as thanks to Tuxera exFAT, Fujitsu ARROWS users can enjoy all of their digital content without having to worry about exceeding their phone storage. With microSD card support, the handset memory capacity can be extended up to 128 GB.

Japan is among Developed East Asian countries, which have the highest level of software innovation and mobile adoption in the world. It is home to 20 million active Android and iOS users, most of whom are early adopters. No wonder Asia is region number one for Tuxera.

Posted on June 12, 2013 by Karolina Mosiadz in Asia, embedded systems, exfat, mobile, phones | Tagged exFAT, external storage, Fujitsu NX F-06E, microSD card, NTT DoCoMo summer launch

New Direction in the Mobile World

Crowded and fragmented consumer electronics market got even more crowded recently. Two biggest players involved in the changes are companies with extensive experience in web browser technology, Google and Mozilla. Both of them are developing operating systems that are Linux-based and tightly connected to the web.

It has been already penned as “the biggest smart-phone technology event in a decade”.

Mozilla’s Firefox OS is a web-based, open-source platform that runs largely on HTML 5. In a nutshell, the whole operating system is a web browser. It uses Linux Kernel and boots into Gecko-based run-time engine, which in turn offers a unique browsing experience for apps coded in HTML 5. The company already signed contracts with LG and ZTE for a new generation of smart-phones. Huawei expects to launch a Firefox OS phone later this year.

Google on the other hand is working hard to add new products into its already existent Chrome-line. PCs and laptops running on Google’s Chrome OS go by Chromeboxes and Chromebooks. The idea here is to establish a “touch-only” operating system. Google aims to decrease this way the separation between desktop and mobile experience. At the moment, it is already rolling out finger-touch optimization both in Chrome OS and on the web. Its new smart-phones and tablets i.e Chromephones are Chromepads will launch most probably in the middle of 2014. To introduce the concept, Google prepared two events this month: Mobile Special Event on June 7th and Mobile Chrome Special Event on June 14th.

“Chrome OS represents Google’s pure vision of what an operating system should be. It’s simple, super-quick and secure. Google is 100% in control of it”.

As you know, we at Tuxera are always researching trends and looking for new directions in mobile technology. That is why, we already provide data portability support for Linux powered devices, including mentioned above Firefox OS and Chrome OS. Investing in innovation is our motto.

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Karolina Mosiadz in linux | Tagged Chrome OS, Firefox OS, Google, Mozilla, Operating Systems

Android Set-Top Boxes in Trend

The way we use TV has changed significantly in the past couple of years. According to a recent survey conducted by a management consulting firm Booz&Co, media-entertainment industry growth comes now mainly from user payments and not like it used to be, from advertising. Traditional broadcast networks slowly give a way to Pay-TV and Internet based platforms with media content that can be accessed and streamed whenever convenient for the user.

Android powered set-top box transforms your TV into an intuitive device. It lets you access digital content, play games, make a use of a robust app ecosystem, video-conference and surf the Internet. Common connectivity options include SD card reader, HDMI outputs, USB 2.0 ports, Bluetooth, integrated Ethernet port and WI-FI connection.

Set-top box popularity spiked recently due to an influx of reasonably priced, feature – rich and innovative products from Roku, Xiaomi, EXOON, Plex and SKnet among others. SKnet newest home media accessories bring support for multichannel, high-definition recording and playback, thanks to integrated Tuxera file system solutions. Forecasts say that the emergence of video gateways and media players will further drive the value of set-top box market up to $26 billion by 2017.

Let’s not forget about the arrival of content-on demand, custom programing and live TV streaming platforms. Services such as Netflix and Aereo offer people an option to stream favourite programs & movies, whenever they want, for a flat price. The number of available outlets is constantly growing. Depending on a set-top box provider, the offer includes a variety of channels like Hulu, Vudu, HBO Go, Amazon Instant Video and more.

Set-top boxes make up a part of networked home, a concept where all the devices communicate with each other and where the media content can be shared & accessed at any time. Increasing connectivity requires a high level of interoperability and that is what we focus on here at Tuxera.

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Karolina Mosiadz in android, file system suite, interoperability, set top boxes, tuxera | Tagged connected home, Netflix, SKnet

Open Source Development Goes Strong

As many of you probably know, Tuxera comes from the open source development. Apart from the commercial file systems it is mainly recognized for its open software: NTFS – 3G.

NTFS-3G is the original, free-software, read and write NTFS driver for Linux, Android, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenSolaris, QNX and other operating systems. It is widely used in GNU/Linux distributions, including Fedora and Ubuntu among others. The software allows users to mount Windows partitions and edit or delete Windows files. It comes with a full support for all Windows versions from Windows XP to Windows 8, added in the recent update.

In April 2011 Tuxera merged NTFS-3G together with Ntfsprogs, a collection of free Unix utilities for managing NTFS file systems, creating Tuxera NTFS Community Edition.

Open source community continues to be a big part of our business and we aim to contribute to it as much as we can. The software is regularly updated and maintained by our developers. This January we have released latest stable version ntfs-3G ntfsprogs 2013.1.13 with following specifications:

ntfs-3g: fixed returned files types in readdir()
ntfs-3g: force option ‘ro’ when mounting a read-only device
ntfs-3g: keep the name of a deleted file in place for easier undeletion
ntfs-3g: accept multiple read-only mounts
ntfs-3g: improved Windows-type ACL inheritance, as needed by Windows 8
ntfs-3g: avoid unnecessary runlist update when appending data to a file
ntfs-3g: added inheritance of the set-group-id flag
ntfs-3g: deny mounting when fast restart mode of Windows 8 is detected
ntfs-3g: reject getting/setting DOS names on hard linked files
ntfsclone: fixed wiping user data when creating metadata images
ntfsclone: implemented a new option to set a new serial number
ntfsfix: implemented fixing the backup boot sector
ntfsfix: fixed clearing the bad cluster list
ntfsinfo: added allocation data to the volume parameters summary
ntfsinfo: output the numbers of runs and fragments for the selected file
ntfslabel: implemented a new option to set a new serial number
ntfswipe: added optional wiping of file tails and undelete data
mkntfs: insert an $Info stream in $UpCase to comply with Windows 8
openindianas: merged OpenIndiana requirements into the driver and fuse-lite

On the top of the stable release, there are always further add-ons, which are aimed at developing, maturing and releasing features that might be integrated in the future upgrades depending on user feedback.

Our commercial high-performance alternative, Tuxera NTFS for Mac OS X and embedded devices is currently one of the most widely deployed solutions on the market.

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Karolina Mosiadz in file systems, interoperability, linux, mac, ntfs, open source, storage, tuxera | Tagged NTFS-3G, ntfsprogs, software update

Tuxera NTFS for Mac – Everything You Wanted to Know and More

As most of you know, Mac OS X provides limited support for Microsoft Windows NTFS formatted volumes. Out of the box, the files will be in read-only mode so you won’t be able to copy, edit or delete them. However, a lot of us use many different devices at work and at home. It can quickly become very annoying to handle huge amount of digital data that is produced every day. According to a recent survey made by Deloitte, there was a 150% increase in the so-called digital omnivores, people who own at least 3 portable devices (a smart-phone, tablet and a laptop).

Tuxera focuses on development of file system solutions that help to overcome these obstacles. Our Tuxera NTFS for Mac software is widely used by Mac users to transfer, access, edit and store media content from a variety of devices. It is crucial for us to have all updates in place so the solution is fully compatible with the newest Mac OS X versions released by Apple.

Just last week we published our Tuxera NTFS for Mac 2012.3.6 in response to a new Mac OS X 10.8.3 update. The new package includes 2 new exotic languages, Polish and Brazilian Portuguese. Our customers come from around the globe and to cater to all of them we also added multiple currencies to our online store.

If you are interested in getting to know more about the Tuxera NTFS for Mac we invite you to subscribe to our newsletter and receive news, updates and promotions on regular basis.

Posted on March 22, 2013 by Karolina Mosiadz in file systems, interoperability, mac, ntfs, tuxera | Tagged Deloitte, digital omnivores, Mac OS X, NTFS formatted volumes, Tuxera NTFS fo Mac

Xiaomi – the Chinese Phenomenon

Recently we have been posting about Chinese rapid technological expansion and its constantly growing demand for smart devices. One of the most interesting, young companies that have emerged in China in the past couple of years is Xiaomi. This handset manufacturer managed to establish its brand in a surprisingly short time. It aced in most of the categories: innovation, distribution channel, business model and first year sales figures.

The company is mostly known for its flagship Android Mi smartphones that are sold in batches online with a pre-order system. This way several thousand phones get sold in a matter of minutes, sometimes even faster. Value added to the customer includes custom Android interface called MUI, instant messaging service – Miliao IM chat and a large assortment of accessories. It is not surprising that Xiaomi acquired a huge fan base that calls themselves “mi fen” (米粉) which literally means “rice flour”, a clever word play to Xiaomi name which translates to “little rice”. Its messaging app MiTalk has now 17 million users and last year it recorded 1 million simultaneous online users.

At the end of last year Xiaomi published its first set-top box, Xiaomi Box. Now, after signing with Chinese TV network iCNTV, it starts a trail run with a shipment of just 10 000 devices to Shanghai, Hangzhou and Changsha. Xiaomi Box that allows its users to stream, record, store and playback any media content hassle-free, ships with Tuxera file system solutions that ensure smooth working process, interoperability, high performance and ultimate data safety.

The company is planning to expand to the US and Europe in the next two years.

Last week over 20 Chinese media outlets such as China Daily or Sina.com run ads featuring our file system solutions shipping inside the Xiaomi’s set-top box.

What distinguishes this device from the others? Off the top of head I would mention ease of use, high performance, reliability and compatibility. All four of them were attributed to Tuxera file system solutions.

“In the standard version of the Android file system the performance can be drastically lessened in case of unexpected power outages, the accidental loss of data in the the user USB storage media or in case of other unforeseen situations. More often than not, the user could lose the data forever. Tuxera NTFS / FAT write fail-safe data protection features, as well as support for on-the-fly repair function, prevents the loss of data due to unexpected power failure or improper operation.”

Xiaomi first trial shipment of 10 000 devices has been snapped almost immediately by the customers. Those who did not manage to purchase it in time will have to wait until the 9th of April. It is already called one of the most desired smart-TV accessories.

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Karolina Mosiadz in android, Asia, file systems, set top boxes, tuxera | Tagged Android set-top box, China, Mi smartphones, Xiaomi, Xiaomi Box

Finnish Start-up Scene Wins Over the Press

Finland has been branded a vibrant start-up hub for a reason. Finnish sense of entrepreneurship dates back to the post dot-com period in the early 2000s when MySQL and Rovio were born. Now we boast a growing start-up community buzzing with enthusiasm and creativity. Not to mention the abundance of start-up agencies, entrepreneur-led accelerators such as TEKES, pool of high-tech know-how and entrepreneurship-friendly environment. However, up till now the Finnish tech and business press, with the single exception of ArcticStartup – an independent technology blog, has been eerily silent about the emerging start-up scene. It is nice to see it springing to life now.

Kauppalehti, the most influential business paper in Finland, just launched a special start-up section compiling all the news, public information, features and most recent capital investments. The newspaper picked out 149 promising companies, fishing for high potential and growth orientation. Interestingly, only 26 of them reported positive profits, most of which would usually not exceed €100 000 per annum. Tuxera, presented as a star among the start-ups, stands out with high potential, profitability and forecasts for the future. In the first feature of the series, apart from a brief summary, Kauppalehti article underlines how our focus markets switched from almost equal distribution between Europe, Asia and the USA to almost 80% of our business being conducted in the Far East.

Tietoviikko, Finland´s only independent ICT news magazine, also gets its say on the start-up scene. March edition of the bi-weekly publication comes out with an article on Tuxera, highlighting the international aspect of our business. As you can see, almost 100% of our sales occur abroad and it is hardly surprising that our team boasts nearly 20 different nationalities. We speak multiple languages; bring culture diversity and expertise from various parts of the world. In the commentary from Artturi Tarjanne, sought after mentor and advisor for Infocom entrepreneurs, you can read about Tuxera high growth, tech expertise and ideas for business expansion in the future.