Tango Does The Desktop PC Dance As startups go, Tango is doing quite well, thank you. The company, which offers a free platformcrossing video and calling service via mobile device apps, reportedly registered more than 18 million users in 190 countries as of early July, roughly 10 months after the 3G/4G/Wi-Fi-supporting service launched. That number should only increase now that Tango has announced plans to release a desktop PC version of the software. In a press release touting the PC plans, Tango CEO Uri Raz stated that the launch positions the company “to reach our goal of 100 million customers by this time next year.” Registering for Tango’s service only requires supplying a mobile phone number, and the software works identically whether running on a mobile device or PC. ■
South Korea Gets Smart On Education Among the numerous trailblazing maneuvers that South Korea’s Education Ministry recently announced as part of the country’s “Smart Education” plan is a move toward hosting digital copies of required reading and lessons for school-age students on a cloud network that students could access from any Internet-connected device. In fact, by 2015, South Korea plans to spend $2.4 billion to fund measures that will enable it to completely do away with traditional print textbooks in favor of digital copies for all students to access via tablets, smartphones, and other devices. Reportedly, the cloud network-device approach will mean that students who are unable to attend school due to illness or poor weather would still have the means to participate in classroom activities and access lessons remotely. ■
Linux Jumps To Version 3.0 This is a big year for Linux, as it marks the 20th anniversary of the open-source OS. The Linux Foundation planned to commemorate the event at this year’s LinuxCon in Vancouver. The foundation is also awarding five Linux Training Scholarships this summer to invest in “today’s most promising Linux talent.” Linux.com, meanwhile, is taking submissions for an exclusive series that it is producing to present “some of the most interesting Linux stories from the last 20 years.” As for the actual operating system, Linus Torvalds announced the official release of Linux 3.0 in mid-July. The 3.0 version signifies the end of the Linux 2.6 kernel run but, despite the jump to 3.0 (made to commemorate the anniversary), it amounted to being mostly unspectacular in terms of major new features added. ■
12 September 2011
/ www.computerpoweruser.com