open source

An open-source gallery app called, simply, "Camera Roll - Gallery" has been released for Android. I should say "has been "unreleased" because it's not quite ready for prime-time yet, but it's got so much potential, I can't wait to tell you about it. This app is super simple, was designed with Material Design principles in full effect, and it's free to download and use. Basically it's a return to the basic Gallery app for Android users who don't ONLY want to use Google Photos.

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Our mobile devices, particularly our smartphones, have practically become extensions of our persons. And yet we do not treat them with the same guarded vigilance as we do our homes. Whereas we, most often than not, scrutinize almost everything that comes or is added into our abodes, we willy-nilly install apps sometimes with wanton disregard for what they might contain. Granted, the ease of installing and sheer number of apps make it statistically impossible to scrutinize each and every one. Not to mention technically difficult if the app's source code is unavailable.

Fortunately, there is a class of apps available under an open source license that makes it not only easier to inspect what gets installed on your phone but even take the app in new directions should the need arise. Here are some of the best open source apps for Android as well as iOS.

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Google and Apple (and BlackBerry) take heed. There's a new big player in the automotive platform market and its uniting rather than dividing diverse car makers, companies, and pieces of software. More importantly, it is one that is not interested in selling user data to the highest bidders or advertisers. Hosted by the Linux Foundation, the Automotive Grade Linux or AGL is preparing to prove it has just as much bite as bark and will be making its commercial debut in the 2018 Toyota Camry coming later this year.

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Tomb Raider's Lara Croft is easily one of the most iconic females in the gaming industry. And although she started out as a rather inappropriate icon, she eventually matured into something more befitting a modern female lead. But despite the advancements in the game's series and lore, the original Tomb Raider game still holds a special place in fans' hearts. And now you can relive those experiences, or live them for the first time, right on your web browser, thanks to the open source OpenLara project.

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These days, GitHub is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of services for hosting open source software and projects, but it wasn't the first on the block with this idea. For over a decade now Microsoft has been operating its own service, CodePlex, which it originally launched in 2006. However, these days CodePlex languishes in the shadows of GitHub, and Microsoft has acknowledged this by announcing its closure later this year.

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"Put Linux on it" may often be the solution to a sluggish old laptop, but what if you want to go open-source from the outset? That's the market the KDE Slimbook is looking to address, a new 13.3-inch notebook running the Ubuntu-based KDE neon operating system. The aim is out-of-the-box usability, with none of the driver headaches or setup woes that can sometimes come with repurposing a Windows or Mac machine.

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HandBrake is celebrating a new milestone this week, as an update released over the Christmas holiday brought the transcoding program to version 1.0. That's a big enough reason for celebration and champagne all its own, but what makes this release more important for the Handbrake team is that it took 13 years to reach this point. Yes, HandBrake was initially released in August 2003.

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The Cyanogen company did not shut down, nor did the operating system CyanogenMod - it'll just change names. CyanogenMod OS will rebrand as LineageOS and will be separate from Cyanogen Inc., the company, which will operate separate from the open source OS. Those with CyanogenMod installed on phones or tablets right now should consider installing a more basic version of Android now, as no new support for the operating system will be offered.

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Every upcoming new year has been predicted, or wished rather, to be the year when the Linux operating system in its desktop form would finally explode into the mainstream. That has actually become a thorny subject among Linux advocates and sometimes even a running joke among both believers and skeptics alike. After so many tries, dating back to even before the popular Ubuntu was released, is there still hope for the Linux desktop? Or perhaps the question is whether it still matters at all.

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With Fitbit’s acquisition and strangling of Pebble, the smartwatch market has just gotten smaller and its future even more in question. But even before that, the Android Wear scene was already in a state of decline, with earlier models no longer receiving the rare Android Wear updates. If you have one such wearable device, there might be hope yet. The AsteroidOS project has just announced its first ever alpha release, bringing it closer to offering a true open source operating system for smartwatches.

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Try and try until you die, is not what most people would advice. In this case, however, startup Comma.ai is probably close to calling it quits. After being hit by questions and blocks from both the US NHTSA and the California DMV, Comma.ai decide to ax its Comma One device plans. That driver assistance system, however, could live on as the company has just made the software and robotics platform that powered its plug-in system for others to test on their own. Whether that will prove the agencies’ safety concerns to be well-founded remains to be seen.

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Things have been a little rough so far this year for Jolla, the Finnish startup behind the open-source Sailfish OS. First its tablet device was confirmed dead after a mere 540 units were shipped, and then it found itself in financial trouble before securing $12 million in funding. But now there's some good news for the future of Sailfish, which is that Russia has certified the OS for official use in both governments and corporations.

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