Mobile data increased very much last year. I expect the growth to continue. If operators do not invest enough to their network and/or find suitable charging schemes the network can become more congested than before.
4G mobile device speeds becomes the new standard. As competition move to that end, there will be fast growth there. Shipments of ’4G’ LTE devices, that is handsets, dongles and tablets, reached almost 103 million units in 2012, according to figures published by ABI Research. It interesting that almost 95% of the devices shipped went to North America and the Asia-Pacific.
3G will become the low-cost option for those who think 4G option is too expensive. What is interesting to note is that not everyone who upgraded to an LTE-capable device last year took out an LTE subscription; in fact, only around half of LTE device owners also have an LTE subscription.
The shift to 4G can take many more than year to fully happen even in USA. ABI expects the rate at which 3G subscribers with LTE handsets upgrade to LTE connections will gather pace over the next two years. And even longer in Europe. Carriers should not be panicking. And 3G will live and expand besides 4G for quite a long time. For many of those living outside cities, 3G internet connections are still hard to come by.
Apple and Samsung will continue to make money this year as well as people rate Apple and Samsung more highly than ever. Accountant Deloitte predicts that Smartphone sales to hit 1bn a year for first time in 2013.
Samsung is currently the world’s leading seller of phones and televisions. Those leaders should be careful because competition is getting harder all the time. Samsung boss has given warning on this to employees. Remember what what happened to Nokia.
Android will dominate smart phone market even stronger than before. Digitimes Research: Android phones to account for 70% of global smartphone market in 2013.
Windows Phone 8 situation is a question mark. Digitimes predicts that Shipments of Windows Phones, including 7.x and 8.x models, will grow 150% on year to 52.5 million units in 2013 for a 6.1% share. There is one big force against Windows Phone: Google does not bother doing services for Windows Phone 8, Google’s sync changes are going to screw Gmail users on Windows Phone and there are issues with YouTube. Does Windows Phone even have a chance without Google? For active Google service users the changes are pretty that they get this phone.
Competition on smart phones gets harder. It seems that smart phone business have evolved to point where even relatively small companies can start to make their own phones. Forbes sees that Amazon, Microsoft, Google, will all introduce branded mobile phones.
Patent battles are far from over. We will see many new patent fights on smart phones and tablets.
Mobile phones still cause other devices to become redundant. Tietoviikko tells that last year mobile phone made redundant the following devices: small screen smart phones (4 inch or more now), music buying as individual tracks or discs, navigators (smart phone can do that) and a separate pocket size camera. Let’s see what becomes redundant this year.
Many things happens on Linux on mobile devices. Ubuntu now fits in your phone. Firefox OS phones from ZTE will come to some markets. ZTE plans to make Open webOS phone. Meego is not dead, it resurrects with new names: Samsung will release Tizen based phones. Jolla will release Sailfish phones.
Cars become more and more mobile communications devices. Car of the future is M2M-ready. Think a future car as a big smart phone moving on wheels.
Nokia seemed to be getting better on the end of 2012, but 2013 does not look too good for Nokia. Especially on smart phones if you believe Tomi T Ahonen analysis Picture Tells it Better – first in series of Nokia Strategy Analysis diagrams, how Nokia smartphone sales collapsed. Even if shipment of Windows Phone 8 devices increase as Digitimes predicts the year will be hard for Nokia. Tristan Louis expects in Forbes magazine that Nokia abandons the mobile business in 2013. I think that will happen this year, at least for whole mobile business. I have understood that basic phone and feature phone phone business part of Nokia is quite good condition. The problems are on smart phones. I expect that Windows Phone 8 will not sell as well as Nokia hopes.
Because Nokia is reducing number of workers in Finland, there are other companies that try to use the situation: Two new Finnish mobile startups and Samsung opens a research center in Espoo Finland.
Finnish mobile gaming industry has been doing well on 2012. Rovio has been growing for years on the success of Angry Birds that does not show slowing down. Supercell had also huge success. I expect those businesses to grow this year. Maybe some new Finnish mobiel game company finds their own recipe for success.
Late addition: Wireless charging of mobile devices is get getting some popularity. Wireless charging for Qi technology is becoming the industry standard as Nokia, HTC and some other companies use that. There is a competing AW4P wireless charging standard pushed by Samsung ja Qualcomm. Toyota’s car will get wireless mobile phone charger, and other car manufacturers might follow that if buyers start to want them. Wireless charge option has already been surprisingly common variety of devices: Nokia Lumia 920, Nexus 4, HT, etc. We have to wait for some time for situation to stabilize before we see public charging points in cafeterias.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Android Flashlight App Developer Settles FTC Charges It Deceived Consumers
‘Brightest Flashlight’ App Shared Users’ Location, Device ID Without Consumers’ Knowledge
http://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2013/12/android-flashlight-app-developer-settles-ftc-charges-it-deceived
The creator of one of the most popular apps for Android mobile devices has agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that the free app, which allows a device to be used as a flashlight, deceived consumers about how their geolocation information would be shared with advertising networks and other third parties.
Goldenshores Technologies, LLC, managed by Erik M. Geidl, is the company behind the “Brightest Flashlight Free” app, which has been downloaded tens of millions of times by users of the Android operating system. The FTC’s complaint alleges that the company’s privacy policy deceptively failed to disclose that the app transmitted users’ precise location and unique device identifier to third parties, including advertising networks. In addition, the complaint alleges that the company deceived consumers by presenting them with an option to not share their information, even though it was shared automatically rendering the option meaningless.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Motorola’s Project Ara modular smartphone is ‘almost ready’
Likely will go on sale at the Moto Maker customisation website
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2317842/motorolas-project-ara-modular-smartphone-is-almost-ready
AMERICAN PHONE MAKER Motorola has revealed that a Project Ara prototype is “almost ready” and likely will go on sale through its Moto Maker store.
Motorola announced Project Ara in October, when the firm said it joined forces with Phoneblocks to develop a modular smartphone, a device that will allow users to switch and upgrade components such as the phone’s camera, processor or battery.
Motorola said then, “Our goal is to drive a more thoughtful, expressive, and open relationship between users, developers, and their phones. To give you the power to decide what your phone does, how it looks, where and what it’s made of, how much it costs, and how long you’ll keep it.”
“There is a [Project Ara] prototype and it is pretty close,” Woodside said.
The Motorola chief also dropped a hint that the smartphone will be sold through the firm’s Moto Maker customisation websit
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smartphone Audio Quality Testing
by Chris Heinonen on December 8, 2013 5:15 PM EST
http://www.anandtech.com/show/7567/smartphone-audio-quality-testing
We spend a lot of time watching and listening to our smartphones and tablets. The younger you are the more likely you are to turn to them for watching a movie or TV show instead of an actual TV. For a lot of us it is our primary source of music with our own content or streaming services. Very rarely when new phones or tablets are announced does a company place any emphasis on the quality of the audio.
Display quality also used to receive very little attention. As more and more people reported on the display performance, more companies started to take notice. Now benefits like “Full sRGB gamut” or “dE < 3” are touted on new products. So now we are going to introduce a new set of testing for smart phones and tablets, audio performance.
To do this right we went to the same company that all the manufacturers go to: Audio Precision. Based out of Beaverton, OR, Audio Precision has been producing the best audio test equipment out there for over 25 years now. From two channel analog roots they now also test multichannel analog, HDMI, Optical, Coaxial, and even Bluetooth. Their products offer resolution that no one else can, which is why you will find them in the test and production rooms of almost any company.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple’s spamtastic iBeacon retail alerts launch with Frisco FAIL
In-store nagification system to be up and running in time for holiday spending orgy
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/07/apple_launches_spamtastic_ibeacon_retail_alerts_with_frisco_fail/
Apple on Friday fired up its iBeacon push-notification service, which it describes as a “location and proximity detection technology,” in its 254 US retail stores – minus at least one, but more on that in a moment – adding a new dimension to fanbois’ shopping experiences just in time for the holiday spending spree.
iBeacon sends in-store notifications to an iDevice’s Apple Store app by means of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons placed throughout an Apple retail store. Notifications are based on which beacon you’re near, and can include such info as deals and discounts, news on what’s happening in the store that day, info about your iPhone’s upgradability, and the like.
According to a store employee with whom this reporter spoke, each Apple retail establishment needs to load its own in-store beacon data, and the Stockton Street store hadn’t yet done so.
However, even without iBeacon up and running, the Apple Store app can be used to scan some items for their prices and pay for them using your Apple account, reserve products, read customer reviews, make reservations at the in-store Genius Bar, and a few other retail niceties.
When the AP was briefed on iBeacon earlier this week in New York’s Fifth Avenue store – which, by the way, is open “24/7, 365 days a year” – the notification service was apparently fully loaded and up and running.
AP reports that about 20 iBeacon transmitters were in operation, some being discrete beacons and others being iPads and iPhones doing their retail duty.
AP reports that Apple says it doesn’t collect information about shoppers in its stores – iBeacon is a push-notification system that’s triggered when the Apple Store app senses a beacon, and the beacon doesn’t need to know who you are or your iDevice’s UID.
Comfortable with that? If so and you want to give iBeacon a try, know that your iDevice needs to have Bluetooth 4.0 – turned on, obviously – and be running iOS 7. Compatible devices include the iPhone 4s or later, 3rd-gen iPad or later, any iPad mini, or a 5th-gen iPod touch or later.
Tomi Engdahl says:
App Store Distribution
https://developer.apple.com/support/appstore/
74% of devices are using iOS 7.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dashboards
http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html
This page provides information about the relative number of devices that share a certain characteristic, such as Android version or screen size. This information may help you prioritize efforts for supporting different devices by revealing which devices are active in the Android and Google Play ecosystem.
Tomi Engdahl says:
One standard to sync them all: AllSeen Alliance forms to accelerate Internet of Things adoption
http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/10/5194342/one-standard-to-sync-them-all-allseen-alliance-forms-to-accelerate
Eighteen months ago, Qualcomm SVP Rob Chandhok succinctly explained why the internet of things was failing. Instead of working together, manufacturers designed their smart televisions and appliances to only communicate with their own proprietary applications. Instead of building an ecosystem of devices that could talk to one another, they only built for themselves. Is a smart light bulb really “smart” if you need a special switch, too?
Now, Qualcomm believes it can tackle that problem — with a little help. Today, the Linux Foundation has announced the formation of the AllSeen Alliance, a new consortium dedicated to building and maintaining an open-source framework that lets devices of all shapes and sizes seamlessly communicate with each other. Qualcomm, LG, Panasonic, Haier, Silicon Image and TP-LINK are headlining the initiative, which also includes names as diverse as Cisco, Sears, and Wilocity.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Out of many, one: how Qualcomm is trying to unite the mobile industry
http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/29/3122035/out-of-many-one-how-qualcomm-is-trying-to-unite-the-mobile-industry
Rob Chandok told a room of developers and press an all-too-familiar story. The Qualcomm SVP was at Computex in Taiwan a few weeks ago, and recalled seeing a handful of TV manufacturers announce new products with the same flagship feature: the ability to send a photo wirelessly from your phone to your TV. It’s a nice feature, but there was a catch, said Chandok: each manufacturer executed the feature differently. “Manufacturer A has their Android app, Manufacturer B has theirs, Manufacturer C has theirs. If I have three TVs, I need three different apps, three different experiences, all to do essentially the same thing.”
This is the landscape in 2012. More companies are creating more products in more categories, but each ecosystem is increasingly cordoned off from the others. Samsung’s TVs work only with Samsung tablets (or at least only Samsung apps); Android apps have to be entirely re-made and re-thought to come to Windows.
As the internet was coming into vogue, it was HTTP and HTML that turned it into the worldwide web. “HTTP and HTML made it so that websites could build differentiation, but I could use the same browser to get around to all of them,” Chandok told me. “It made the ecosystem better.”
As the internet was coming into vogue, it was HTTP and HTML that turned it into the worldwide web. “HTTP and HTML made it so that websites could build differentiation, but I could use the same browser to get around to all of them,” Chandok told me. “It made the ecosystem better.”
Native apps may be what’s common now, but the company also spent time at Uplinq pitching developers on reconsidering HTML 5 as a platform.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Brilliant Hack That Brought Foursquare Back From the Dead
http://www.wired.com/business/2013/12/the-brilliant-foursquare-hack/
Dennis Crowley thought his 13-year dream might never come true.
Crowley is the founder of Foursquare, the seminal social networking service that broadcasts your location across the net and serves you tips and deals based on where you are. This past February, the New-York-based startup boasted 40 million registered users, but it was facing competition from countless others — including the mighty Facebook — and as far as Crowley was concerned, his service had never worked as it should. Rather than automatically sending users tips as they moved from place to place, the Foursquare smartphone app required them to “check in” every time they wanted information about their location — a time-consuming process that rewarded sitting still rather than exploring and discovering new experiences.
Finally, after 13 years of trying, Crowley has cracked the problem, thanks to a wonderfully clever data hack from two big thinkers on the payroll: lead engineer Anoop Ranganath1 and data scientist Blake Shaw. A new version of Foursquare began to roll out this fall, offering the kind of “passive notifications” Crowley had always dreamed of, and last week, with the release of a new app for iPhone and iPad, it reached out to an even wider audience. According to the company, users interact with the new app 60 percent more frequently than they did on previous versions, and they spend 30 percent more time with the thing. Of the more than 1 million “pings” sent in the first two months of the new service, about 40 percent were at least opened by the Foursquare faithful.
The trouble is that, over the intervening years, other companies have begun to have the same dream as Crowley. App stores are crawling with similar services. Silicon Valley venture capitalists have pumped tons of money into location apps. And then there’s Facebook, whose social networking service is a mainstay for hundreds of millions of people across the globe. But now that his app is working as he first envisioned 13 years ago, Crowley is unbowed.
“It’s one thing for us to match one point to another point, but we have a lot more options when we can match a cloud of points to another cloud of points,” Ranganath says. “It was very much an ah-ha moment for everybody.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Qualcomm Introduces Its First 64-Bit Chip, Though This One Takes Aim at the Low End
http://allthingsd.com/20131209/qualcomm-introduces-its-first-64-bit-chip-though-this-one-takes-aim-at-the-low-end/
Qualcomm is detailing on Monday a new entry-level mobile processor that packs a number of high-end features.
The Snapdragon 410 is designed for phones that sell for $150 or less but includes, among other features, support for high-speed LTE networks and improved graphics. It is also the company’s first 64-bit-capable mobile chip.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Step aside iBeacon, Qualcomm has low-cost Gimbal Proximity Beacons
http://gigaom.com/2013/12/09/step-aside-ibeacon-qualcomm-has-low-cost-gimbal-proximity-beacons/
Summary:
Apple’s iBeacon isn’t the only game in town when it comes to Bluetooth Smart proximity devices for retailers. Qualcomm’s Gimbal Proximity Sensor is now available, supporting iOS today and Android in the future. Get ready for a hyper-personal in-store shopping experience.
Apple’s iBeacon is already tracking where you are in Apple Stores in order to present a more personalized experience. It’s not the only game in town though. Qualcomm’s Gimbal Proxmity Beacons are now available for as low as $5 in quantity, the company announced on Monday. Currently a favorite vendor for chips in smartphones, Qualcomm’s Gimbal represents another product to keep the company powering mobile devices, smartwatches and just about any other Internet of Things connected gadget.
There are actually two Gimbal sensors now available: The small Series 10, measuring 28 x 40 x 5.6 millimeter and the larger Series 20 that takes up a 95 x 102 x 24 millimeter footprint. Both use low-energy Bluetooth Smart technology for detailed micro-location data; accurate within a foot. The idea is that retailers can add the Gimbal sensors throughout a brick-and-mortar store to see where customers are. That data provides the opportunity for a hyper-personal shopping experinece, says Qualcomm
The concept is exactly what Apple is trying to do in its stores — as is Macy’s, which has installed Apple’s iBeacon in some locations. With accurate in-store location data of customers, retailers know what section of the store potential buyers are in. It can then tailor ads, product information, even limited in-store product specials, to the most likely buyers of such products.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Lumia phones doubled its share in major European countries
Windows phones have more than doubled their share of the five largest European smartphone sales in the country, says Kantar World Panel.
According to the company’s Windows Phone share of phone sales in Germany, England, France, Italy and Spain (EU5) increased from last August to October to 10.2 per cent. A year earlier, the proportion was 4.7 per cent.
The vast majority of WP phones of the Nokia Lumia 520 low-cost models.
Most Lumia sales grew in England, where it increased by 7.4 percentage points to 12 per cent at the end of October.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/uutisia/nokian+lumiat+tuplasivat+osuutensa+isoissa+euroopan+maissa/a952735
Tomi Engdahl says:
CyanogenMod to have built in text message encryption system
http://www.muktware.com/2013/12/cyanogenmod-built-text-message-encryption-system/17305
People are now more concerned regarding their privacy after discovering about efforts made by governments to spy on their communications. The most practical solution to keep messages, emails and calls secure is to use a cryptographic encryption mechanism. However, just like the name of the method, the installation process is complex for most users. To solve this, CyanogenMod will come equipped with built in encryption system for text messages.
Cyanogen Inc, the company behind the very popular custom Android ROM CyanogenMod, announced that its users will soon be able to communicate securely with the integrated encryption system for messages.
This is a joint effort from Open Whisper System and Cyanogen team. Open Whisper System makes open source apps for secure texting and phone calls.
Tomi Engdahl says:
CIOs Say Cost, Complexity Impede True Mobile Gains in Enterprise
http://www.cio.com/article/744246/CIOs_Say_Cost_Complexity_Impede_True_Mobile_Gains_in_Enterprise
A new survey of 300 CIOs found that while the majority of IT executives see real value in mobilizing existing enterprise apps or rolling out brand new mobile innovations, they also see the costs and complexity of these initiatives as real challenges.
Mobile Development Usually Siloed, Slowing Growth
“Part of the problem with mobile is that it is treated as a silo that, by nature, has to be different than existing IT investment. Therefore, there tends to be a raft of tactical mobile solutions deployed,” says Mobile Helix President Matt Bancroft. “Taking an overview that employees use applications in a range of different contexts to do the job from the desktop to the laptop to the tablet and to the smartphone can lead to better thought-through applications. The goal is to enable employees to work and be productive irrespective of location and device they are using.”
CIOs can further embrace mobile by taking a simpler approach, according to Bancroft.
“On the delivery side, IT must move away from delivering tactical solutions that are both mobile-specific and app-specific and therefore address very limited needs,” says Bancroft. “This is one big ingredient in the current cost/complexity recipe.”
Enterprise Apps Poised to Go Mobile
In the future, Bancroft says CIOs should expect to see more and more key mobile device features integrated with enterprise apps.
“For example, integrating location information into common enterprise application like CRM systems and contacts directories will allow employees to instantly find customers close to their current locations&or find colleagues that are physically close while in transit in order to schedule impromptu meetings to facilitate important discussion that need to take place on short notice,” Bancroft says.
Tomi Engdahl says:
10 things iBeacons could transform that have nothing to do with retail
http://www.citeworld.com/mobile/22759/ibeacon-transform-more-than-retail
On Friday, Apple switched on iBeacons across all 254 of its U.S. retail stores. iBeacon support, which is built into iOS 7, uses Bluetooth LE — which limits the technology to the iPhone 4S and newer devices — along with Wi-Fi and push notifications to deliver information to a user’s iOS device when they are within range of an iBeacon device. That device can be a dedicated piece of hardware or it can be an iOS device running an iBeacon app; Apple is reportedly using a combination of the two in its stores.
The move appears to serve two purposes for Apple: To provide context-sensitive marketing and messaging to shoppers, and to demonstrate the technology in the hopes of getting other retailers and developers onboard with iBeacons.
The company certainly achieved part of that second goal as iBeacons became powerful news item over the weekend
Although Apple is using its stores as a powerful demonstration of iBeacons, the technology actually has a lot of potential outside the confines of retail. Here’s a handful of other possible uses.
Museums and exhibits — Museums, zoos, aquariums, exhibitions, and even gallery showings provide a basic amount of information about items that you’re seeing.
Hospitals — A few months ago I wrote about the types of mobile apps (or mobile sites) that hospitals really should provide patients and their families. Maps and navigation was one of the top items on that list. iBeacons could offer an effective option here. Simply station them in each hospital unit and provide a map of that unit (or more sophisticated navigation) so users can see how to navigate it. Pair that with more general maps and guides of each floor near elevators and entrances.
Conferences — Go to almost any conference and you receive a map and schedule of events and sessions and often a mobile app with that information and other features like event-specific social media tools.
Conference rooms — Thinking slightly smaller, a company could install an iBeacon in each conference or training room that broadcasts the room’s schedule, resources, meetings in progress, and a link to a tool or email account to book the room
Restaurants, cafeterias, coffee shops, and bars — The obvious advantage here is to offer a virtual menu with more details about specific items — calorie counts, local farms where produce was sourced from, and suggested food and wine pairings.
Hotels and resorts — The hospitality industry, like retail or museums, is a perfect fit with technologies like iBeacons and could provide a virtual concierge accessible from anywhere
Renting and sharing
Helping those with visual impairments
Schools and colleges — iBeacons could provide navigation aids on large campuses, deliver policies and information to visitors and family members, display the cafeteria menu each day, and allow teachers and guidance counselors to broadcast information related to their classes or services.
Configuring almost anything away from home — There are many times that we need to configure something at a public venue — a connection to a wireless presentation system in a training center or conference venue, access to a wireless printer in a hotel’s business center, or almost anything else when we’re on the road. An iBeacon could provide the information in a more robust way than on a sheet of paper while saving us the time and effort of tracking down someone to get that information.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook Videos Now Auto-Play On Mobile, Expect Video Ads Soon
http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/06/video-is-facebooks-next-big-opportunity/
FB could look a lot more like TV soon. While Vine and Instagram Video are booming, you don’t see many people natively uploading videos to Facebook. But now Facebook is bringing auto-play for native videos to all users after testing the feature in September. And it’s just the beginning of a huge push to put Facebook in motion.
Previously, any video uploaded to Facebook directly or shared to the News Feed from Instagram would appear the same as YouTube videos — locked behind a play button.
But after spotting an auto-play video in my feed yesterday and asking Facebook, the company confirms the new format is now internationally rolled out to most iOS and Android users and will reach all of them soon.
To respect users who don’t want to burn data, Facebook has added a setting that lets you only auto-play videos if you’re on WiFi and not on cellular data. It’s found in your phone’s Facebook settings on iOS and the Facebook app’s settings on Android.
The secret to making people swallow video ads might be getting them to shoot mini-movies themselves. If there were more user generated videos on the site, the ads would blend in.
The problem is, right now Facebook’s video creation tool is painfully outdated.
It’s time for Facebook to modernize its video creation tool.
As it turns 10 years old in 2014, we’ll see if video can give it a second wind.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Google Retooled Android With Help From Your Brain
http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/02/android-neural-network/
When Google built the latest version of its Android mobile operating system, the web giant made some big changes to the way the OS interprets your voice commands. It installed a voice recognition system based on what’s called a neural network — a computerized learning system that behaves much like the human brain.
For many users, says Vincent Vanhoucke, a Google research scientist who helped steer the effort, the results were dramatic. “It kind of came as a surprise that we could do so much better by just changing the model,” he says.
Vanhoucke says that the voice error rate with the new version of Android — known as Jelly Bean — is about 25 percent lower than previous versions of the software, and that this is making people more comfortable with voice commands. Today, he says, users tend to use more natural language when speaking to the phone. In other words, they act less like they’re talking to a robot. “It really is changing the way that people behave.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Electronic devices can be left on a plane now, throughout the flight, decided to EU Aviation Safety Agency today, Monday.
Devices need to be in flight mode.
Commission Vice-President responsible for transport Siim Kallas has asked EASA to speed up the evaluation of the safety in the transmitting mode of electronic devices in aircraft. The new guidelines will likely be published next year.
“We all want to stay up-to-date we travel, but safety is most important.”
“Next, we want to find out how to join the network inside plane would be possible. This review will take time, and it must be evidence-based. We look forward to the next year to give the EU new instructions in the transmit mode of electronic devices in the use of European airlines’ planes.”
Electronic equipment up to now have had to be switched off during taxiing, takeoff and landing.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/sen+kuin+hiplaat+kannykkaasi+heti+lentokoneessa/a953083
Tomi Engdahl says:
New documents show how the NSA infers relationships based on mobile location data
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/12/10/new-documents-show-how-the-nsa-infers-relationships-based-on-mobile-location-data/
Everyone who carries a cellphone generates a trail of electronic breadcrumbs that records everywhere they go. Those breadcrumbs reveal a wealth of information about who we are, where we live, who our friends are and much more. And as we reported last week, the National Security Agency is collecting location information in bulk — 5 billion records per day worldwide — and using sophisticated algorithms to assist with U.S. intelligence-gathering operations.
How do they do it? And what can they learn from location data? The latest documents show the extent of the location-tracking program we first reported last week.
The NSA doesn’t just have the technical capabilities to collect location-based data in bulk. A 24-page NSA white paper shows that the agency has a powerful suite of algorithms, or data sorting tools, that allow it to learn a great deal about how people live their lives.
Those tools allow the agency to perform analytics on a global scale, examining data collected about potentially everyone’s movements in order to flag new surveillance targets.
For example, one NSA program, code-named Fast Follower, was developed to allow the NSA to identify who might have been assigned to tail American case officers at stations overseas. By correlating an officer’s cellphone signals to those of foreign nationals in the same city, the NSA is able to figure out whether anyone is moving in tandem with the U.S. officer.
Tomi Engdahl says:
AT&T chief: We can’t keep doing big subsidies on phones
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57615114-94/at-t-chief-we-cant-keep-doing-big-subsidies-on-phones/
CEO Randall Stephenson says wireless operators can no longer afford to suck up the costs of customers’ devices. The wave of the future? Drive up network use.
AT&T’s top executive says the era of big subsidies for devices is coming to an end, as wireless operators can no longer afford to fund a constant smartphone upgrade cycle.
Speaking at an investor conference in New York City on Tuesday, AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said that with smartphone penetration at over 75 percent and soon reaching 90 percent, wireless operators need to work harder to get customers to use more of the network rather than simply getting on the network.
“When you’re growing the business initially, you have to do aggressive device subsidies to get people on the network,” he said. “But as you approach 90 percent penetration, you move into maintenance mode. That means more device upgrades. And the model has to change. You can’t afford to subsidize devices like that.”
Last week, AT&T introduced a new pricing plan that offers an incentive to customers who keep their older phones, allowing them to save $15 a month on their service bill.
Tomi Engdahl says:
iBeacon Pioneers Estimote Raise $3.1M Seed Round
http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/10/ibeacon-pioneers-estimote-raise-3-1m-seed-round/
Jakub Krzych, founder of Estimote, has announced a $3.1 million seed round raise from Innovation Endeavors, Betaworks, Bessemer Venture Partners, Birchmere Ventures, Valiant Capital Partners and others. The company is already shipping its small Bluetooth products, called Beacons, to retailers and they expect a huge rush in orders as they line up large clients next year.
“In the future apps will not be designed just for smartphones. They will also be developed and installed on top of retail stores and other real world locations – like airports, museums or hospitals,” said Krzych. “We are shipping thousands of beacons per week and more than 10,000 developers around the world are already experimenting with Estimote beacons in contextual computing applications.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Viber introduces Viber Out international calling feature, touts cheaper prices than Skype
http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2013/12/10/viber-introduces-viber-international-calling-feature-touts-cheaper-prices-skype/#!pBZgA
Internet telephony company Viber has officially launched its Viber Out calling service which allows its 200 million-plus registered users to make low-cost calls to mobile and landline phones worldwide from within its mobile apps.
The service — which was first opened in the Philippines last month in the aftermath of a devastating typhoon — is available for all users of Android and iOS smartphones and the desktop app. Viber says it will roll out to Windows Phone customers soon.
There are plenty of VoIP calling services out there — Hong Kong-based Maaii being another — but, aside from messaging app features, Viber has a couple of other nice touches.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Android Action Bar overflow changes could mark beginning of the end for hardware menu button
http://pocketnow.com/2013/12/09/android-menu-button
When Android started making the move away from hardware buttons, and giving manufacturers the option to present users with fully on-screen virtual buttons, it sounded like we were moving towards a promising future where Android might feel more consistent across devices – you wouldn’t go from using one phone to being confused with another, offering a different assortment of buttons with a different layout. Sadly, that still hasn’t quite happened, and plenty of OEMs keep clinging to those hardware buttons with everything they have. Google seems to be doing what it can to nudge them away from such attachments, and news is going around this week of progress that could lead us away from reliance on a hardware menu button.
Right now, the Action Bar at the top of apps may show an overflow button – that vertical ellipsis of sorts you tap to see additional options. An app can also detect if a hardware menu button is present, and in such cases not include the on-screen overflow button.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Challenges and Future of SMS Technology
http://www.wired.com/insights/2013/12/the-challenges-and-future-of-sms-technology/
The humble text message has been enjoying a lot of attention in the mainstream press this year. The statistics have been examined from every conceivable angle – slowing growth in peer-to-peer SMS has been contrasted with explosive growth of so-called over-the-top (OTT) services like WhatsApp, leading to declining mobile operator revenues.
The growth of enterprise uses of SMS such as two-factor authentication set against the migration of traditional promotional mobile messaging to channels such as Twitter. And doubtless just as SMS officially “comes of age” and turns 21 years old this month, there will be a fresh chorus of predictions for its immediate demise. If this technology really is so long in the tooth, then why does it still command so much ink
At least part of it has to do with the fact that SMS is really the first “killer app” for mobile devices — something whose utility has far exceeded that of the voice call, and whose mix of simplicity and immediacy lets it retain a very strong foothold even as consumer behaviors trend towards more self-expressive or privacy-conscious means of real-time communication.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Quality of Your Smartphone’s Camera Is Only Half the Picture
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/12/honan-photography/
We’re living in a new golden age of photography, and it’s because of the cameras we all have in our pockets: always connected to the Internet and ready to fire. There’s a cliché that the best camera is the one you have with you, but that’s only half right; capturing a photo in itself means nothing. We take pictures to remember—to document a moment, revisit it, and share it with others. The best camera would actually be the one you have with you that takes great shots, then edits, organizes, and shares them for you.
By that standard, the iPhone is half a great camera. It takes wonderful photos, but Apple’s solution for managing those snaps is basically to dump them on a drive—on your computer or in the cloud. While it offers some rudimentary organizing principles (date, location, and face recognition among them), it makes you do all the most onerous parts of selecting and editing. It gives you incredibly limited sharing options, and good luck getting people outside of Apple’s ecosystem to see those pics.
Because of this, photos have become just as ephemeral as the moments we’re trying to capture. We need a search engine for our own photography, capable of handling as much data as we can throw at it. We need a Google for our pictures. Turns out, there is one.
Google’s supernerds managed to turn algorithms into photo editors. Set the Google+ app to auto-upload pictures from your phone and it will store them online and automatically correct the color and lighting. It will organize them by date and location. Did you take a bunch of shots in succession? It will turn them into an animated GIF. Most amazingly, the service flags your best shots—where everyone is grinning and the light is just right—as highlights. Magic in the Arthur C. Clarke sense of the word.
Finding stuff is also incredibly easy. The app uses face recognition to pinpoint your friends—and your friends’ pictures of you. That’s nothing new, but you can search your pictures for, say, “bikes” and it will find all the images with bicycles in them, even if you’ve never labeled them. When you’re ready to show off, Google+ lets you share your snaps with a few clicks.
But here’s where I reveal a tragic flaw. While Google gets the back half right—organizing, storing, and sharing—taking the pictures continues to be a problem. Even Google’s best phones aren’t very good cameras.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The 18 Best Startups That Launched In 2013
http://www.businessinsider.com/best-startups-of-year-2013-12#jolla-spun-out-of-nokia-to-win-over-the-hearts-of-finnish-smartphone-users-3
Jolla spun out of Nokia to win over the hearts of Finnish smartphone users.
Megan Rose Dickey/Business Insider
Jolla, the new Finnish-based smartphone company that spun out of Nokia, started selling its flagship phone in Helsinki late last month.
Back in June, Jolla secured its first mobile phone carrier. Finland’s third largest smartphone carrier, DNA, will be the first to sell Jolla’s (pronounced Yo-Lah) flagship phone.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wacky idea is tomorrow’s gold egg
You know this one Finnish smartphone manufacturer? I mean the one who put all their eggs in one basket. And even elected body that is not collected years of age, despite the critical mass of consumers or the application ecosystem.
It is a domestic smartphone manufacturer, which does not make a profit on smart phones, even if the public praise sateleekin.
Jolla.
But a new kind of operating system – it was the Dream catch.
Android 1.0 was the green fruit. HTC and Google’s aim was not to challenge the iPhone right away, but to invest in the future. Particular, with the number one goal is to create a Sailfish ecosystem.
Five years after the birth of the Android operating system is the world’s by far the most common.
Android’s success is not a gold mine for telephone companies – not only to Samsung.
Samsung sells more smart phones than the next four largest markets, namely Apple, Huawei, LG and Lenovo in total. The strong sales volumes and a wide range of events from the beginning of Samsung’s devices have not been the most innovative: the smart phone is a smart phone, a laptop is a laptop. Samsung has tried its own Linux-based operating system, Bada and Windows Phone.
Apple was an innovative iPhone and iPad releases, at the time, but the latest generations of the device have been simply a repetition of: little bit out of the rumen, more megahertz, a new color to the surface, the screen size again. Nothing really new.
Leading laziness may change the market share and the result will bring a good feeling too. Competitors hit.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/uutisia/kahjo+idea+on+huomisen+kultamuna/a953096
Tomi Engdahl says:
NO XMAS PRESENTS FOR Google Now and Siri: Chirpy scamps get a C+
Analyst’s test shows Cupertino dumping Google’s results, both must try HARDER
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/11/google_now_catching_siri_in_voiceactivated_search_both_need_to_try_harder/
A series of tests on the effectiveness of iOS and Android’s voice-controlled search apps shows that Google Now is catching up on Apple’s Siri software, but still has some way to go in beating its Cupertinian competitor.
In both environments both Google Now and Siri understood the question correctly 94 per cent of the time; Google answered with 81 per cent accuracy, compared to Siri’s 83 per cent. Overall, Munster gave both utilities a C+.
Unsurprisingly Google Now was strongest on navigation questions, but also did well on pulling up local services and information. Siri scored very well for allowing fuller voice control of the operating system, with Google Now not understanding how to stop and pause music, for example.
“We believe that our test suggests that Google Now and Siri are comparable in terms of understanding the spoken queries and returning the correct result,” wrote Munster in a research note to investors.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Drooping smartphone sales mean hard times ahead for Brit chipmaker
Imagination Tech says Big Two mobemakers shipping fewer units in Q2
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/11/imagination_tech_results/
British chip firm Imagination Technologies has said that a slowdown in the top end of the smartphone market, where Apple and Samsung dominate, will hit the number of chips it ships in the second half of the year.
The company warned that it now expected its partners, including the fruity firm, to need between 580 million and 630 million chips in Q2, down from its previous forecast of around 650 million.
“There will continue to be fluctuations and changes in the markets in which we operate”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Qualcomm Toq
Tick Toq
http://www.wired.com/reviews/2013/12/qualcomm-toq/
Wearables are supposed to be the next frontier for mobile. But as far as smartwatches go, that future is definitely not here yet.
And that’s OK. At least Qualcomm, the latest entrant to the space, isn’t deluded enough to think its latest offering, the Toq, is a mass-market device. In fact, the company seems keenly aware that only a select group of early adopters are going to be interested in wearing a smartwatch at this point. As such, the Toq is really meant to serve more as a reference design.
The Kickstarter-backed Pebble was the first major “smartwatch” to hit the market, making its major retail debut in July, while Samsung’s Galaxy Gear watch hit store shelves this fall. Sony is also dabbling in the smartwatch space. Qualcomm’s Toq comes in at top of this list. But that’s not necessarily a noteworthy feat at the moment.
The smartwatch is slightly less hefty than the Galaxy Gear, weighing about .2 ounces less than the Gear’s 2.6 ounces. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it makes a difference.
Tomi says:
Spotify Goes Freemium On Tablets, Launches Free Shuffle Product On Smartphones
http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/11/spotify-launches-spotify-free-for-tablets/
For the first time since launching, Spotify now offers free access to the its streaming music catalog on iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.
The service will be different for the two: tablets will have access to the same freemium experience users are used to on the desktop. Meanwhile, Spotify will offer a Shuffle service for Android and iOS smartphones.
Spotify Shuffle is a lot like Pandora, iTunes Radio, or other station-based streaming services, but Spotify’s Shuffle product gives you more control over the playlist.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Finland became an Android-March – “will no longer be dragged back home”
Android has become one of Finland’s most popular smartphone platform. Case survives Market research firm Vision new report.
In Finland, Android has reached 39 per cent stake in the new smartphone market. Finland, however, continue to maintain the special status to be strong Lumia country, as the Windows Phone market share is still 36 per cent.
Android’s position in the world is even stronger, with a market share of more than 80 per cent.
“Maybe the Nokia-Microsoft stores to start to work on the Finnish market of the global trend in the direction of the Android platform of Samsung’s strong brand management is completely dominant from the beginning. It is no longer pulled back home, “Market Vision a leading analyst Toni Nygrén says the release.
On Windows Phone Company position is stronger. It has taken corporate leadership in smart phones, nearly 60 percent market share.
Apple’s iOS and Android share the corporate market, the rest of the relatively equally.
Telecommunications markets are falling
The Finnish telecommunications market will continue to decline overall, a gentle positive period. This year’s total is projected to show a decline of 3.4 per cent, as the mobile services development has been steeper than expected.
Size of the market will end up at the end of the current year forecast by about four billion. Over the 2014-2016 period the market is forecast to fall less sharply.
Despite the overall decline in the market over the next three years of the mobile services market, however, are emerging from the mobile broadband going strong. Fixed-line services continue to fall, even though the entertainment services tend to smooth out the current rate of decline.
Smart phones are expected to be in the market for about 60 percent of the entire mobile phone portfolio.
The tablet market growth continues to be strong
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/suomesta+tuli+androidmaa++quotenaa+ei+vedeta+kotiinpainquot/a953246
Tomi Engdahl says:
Qualcomm Toq review: a brief glimpse at the future of smartwatches
There’s a difference between great technology and great products
http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/11/5199886/qualcomm-toq-review
The perfect smartwatch is deceptively simple: give it a great, always-on, glanceable display. Make it last for days on a charge. And for goodness’ sake, make it look good — it’s on your wrist all day, after all. You can’t hide it in your pocket like you do a phone.
No one’s yet figured it out and delivered the total package. For now, the wearables category is effectively the Wild West of the consumer electronics world, rife with rampant experimentation, weird ideas, and even weirder form factors. It’s a place where startups (like Kickstarter darling Pebble) still have a fighting chance against giants like Samsung.
Nothing definitive has really come out of the primordial ooze: we know that wearables are a thing — and that it’s going to evolve into one of the next great multibillion-dollar product categories — but we just don’t really know what that thing is yet.
And now, that’s how we’ve ended up with the Qualcomm Toq. The California company, better known for making the guts that go inside your smartphone, is dipping its toe in the water with a consumer product in part because it has a story to tell other watchmakers: “We have an amazing display technology just sitting around collecting dust, and the next time you make a smartwatch, you might want to consider using it.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft considers free versions of Windows Phone and Windows RT to battle Android
Redmond wants to counter Mountain View
http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/11/5199446/microsoft-considers-free-versions-windows-phone-windows-rt
Microsoft is considering making Windows Phone and Windows RT available free of charge to device makers. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans have revealed to The Verge that free future versions are under serious consideration by OS chief Terry Myerson. We understand the plans aren’t fully set in stone, but they’re part of broader changes Myerson is planning for the future of Windows.
We’re told that the free versions of Windows RT and Windows Phone would likely be delivered with the Threshold range of updates. Microsoft currently licenses Windows RT and Windows Phone software to device makers, and the majority of its Windows revenue comes from OEMs who build systems based on Windows 8 and Windows RT. While Microsoft generates revenue from Windows Phone licenses, Nokia dominates shipments of Microsoft-powered handsets with over 80 percent market share. Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia’s phone business removes the largest source of potential Windows Phone license revenue.
We understand that any decision to axe the license fees for Windows Phone and Windows RT would be backed by a push for revenue from Microsoft’s apps and services. Microsoft has been experimenting with ads in Windows 8 apps, and any associated revenue from those apps and the company’s built-in Bing search results would help offset the lack of license fees. Microsoft would also push consumers to subscribe to services like SkyDrive, Office, and Skype for additional revenue.
Tomi Engdahl says:
4 Reasons Why Apple’s iBeacon Is About to Disrupt Interaction Design
http://www.wired.com/design/2013/12/4-use-cases-for-ibeacon-the-most-exciting-tech-you-havent-heard-of/
You step inside Walmart and your shopping list is transformed into a personalized map, showing you the deals that’ll appeal to you most. You pause in front of a concert poster on the street, pull out your phone, and you’re greeted with an option to buy tickets with a single tap. You go to your local watering hole, have a round of drinks, and just leave, having paid—and tipped!—with Uber-like ease. Welcome to the world of iBeacon.
It sounds absurd, but it’s true: Here we are in 2013, and one of the most exciting things going on in consumer technology is Bluetooth. Indeed, times have changed. This isn’t the maddening, battery-leeching, why-won’t-it-stay-paired protocol of yore. Today we have Bluetooth Low Energy which solves many of the technology’s perennial problems with new protocols for ambient, continuous, low-power connectivity. It’s quickly becoming big deal.
Why? Because it means we’re finally at a place where gadgets can talk to each other wirelessly without demanding that we, the users, make the arrangements at every encounter (also a place where we don’t have to sacrifice our batteries to do so). It means we’re entering a world where our phones won’t just be in continuous contact with satellites and cell towers—but also potentially with our laptops, our TVs, and the high-tech bangles on our wrists. It’s a step closer to our gear existing in a truly intelligent ecosystem.
And yet, gadgets talking to other gadgets is only part of the allure. Even more novel is the promise of letting our devices talk to the world around us, whether we’re in a bar, a bookstore, or a ballpark. That’s precisely the future Apple is quietly laying the tracks for with a little-known iOS 7 feature called iBeacon.
Where does that leave us? We’re already starting to see hints of the possibilities, and only a handful of them involve coupons.
1. Tying Digital Content to the Physical World
The most obvious application for iBeacon is tying digital information to physical places.
2. Seamless Setup for All Your Gadgets
Giving devices real world awareness doesn’t just herald new interactions. It could be used to smooth out old ones, too. Why type in a password when your person will suffice? Apple’s already using the latest version of Bluetooth to eliminate one of the most singularly frustrating experiences in consumer technology today: typing in a Wi-Fi password with the Apple TV’s finicky remote.
3. Retail 2.0
So far, the most frenzied activity surrounding iBeacon has been in the world of retail, where there’s potential for shops big and small. At one end, you have big name retailers who are eager to push retail into the future with highly tailored digital experiences.
4. A New Level of Peer-to-Peer Smarts
More exciting than turbocharged coupons, however, are the new types of applications that Bluetooth LE could engender. Apps have long had access to location data via GPS, but pinging satellites is a big drain on precious battery life. Just consider how quickly your charge evaporates when you’re using Google Maps. iBeacon gives applications a new way to orient themselves in the real world, continuously, without evaporating your charge (new geofencing APIs give apps other new, battery-friendly ways to track).
Tomi Engdahl says:
I want virtualisation on my iPhone, and I want it NOW
You’re holding the next virtual battleground in the palm of your hand
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/12/virtualisation_on_mobile_phones_is_coming/
By turning computers into software, virtualisation can increase security and free us from underlying complex hardware. Systems can be deployed in moments, and we’re offered much better efficiency and flexibility.
Which are all really good things, albeit things commonly associated with PCs and servers. But virtualisation would be just as good on smartphones. So where’s our virtual mobile? And what will it look like when it turns up?
ARM has had virtualisation extensions since ARMv7, but the ARM-powered world is nothing like the realm of x86.
Such a broad, well-documented set of standards makes it very possible for an x86 hypervisor to host any x86-compatible guest operating system or virtualised application efficiently.
Unfortunately, there’s no such common hardware underpinning for ARM systems.
SoC it to ‘em, that’s part of ARM’s charm
At the hardware level, different ARM platforms, even those running common operating systems, present wildly differing selections of chips, memory maps, and peripheral configurations. ARM defines the instruction set and a few basic bits and pieces, but the individual manufacturers of countless system-on-chips (SoCs) ultimately decide where all the magic control switches are hidden on their silicon.
There’s some consolidation going on, as industry economics push engineers into using truly all-in-one SoC designs such as Samsung’s Exynos series – and some SoC architects like keeping things the same across generations, as that reduces the amount of time needed to develop the software that runs on the things.
But that doesn’t mean you can download a virtualisation app for your phone that can easily boot a generic “ARM-compatible” OS on top of the operating system installed on the handset.
A stock x86-64 Linux, Windows or BSD will painlessly start up in your choice of x86 hypervisor, be it VirtualBox, KVM and so on. But you won’t be able to do the same on your mobile: you won’t be able to find a generic ARM version of those OSes that’ll Just Work™ in a generic ARM hypervisor app – because no one can decide on a common, generic platform*.
Which is not to say that there isn’t room for multiple kernels on today’s ARM-driven smartphones. ARM, the company, has been pushing its TrustZone concept as the preferred way it packages virtualisation. In short, it allows a secure OS to run separately from the operating system the user fiddles with.
But, as ARM told The Register, “the successful virtualization solution should be invisible to the consumer”. Indeed, the first mass-market phone to use this system was the Samsung Galaxy S3, which runs a secure microkernel called Mobicore and a handful of trustlets handling stuff like Microsoft’s PlayReady DRM (yes, your Android phone has Microsoft DRM in it). And it’s most certainly invisible to the consumer – if not to security researchers.
Virtualisation in the PC world means more freedom, not less: you want to run multiple operating systems, you want to make applications work where they weren’t intended, you want to move and multiply, backup and transfer, no matter what.
And this is coming, despite the general “look away, nothing to see” approach of much of the ARM virtualisation movement to date. It has to. With ARM and friends really very keen to see the architecture move into the data centre and cloud infrastructures – the biggest hive of virtual activity on the planet – a solid, bare-metal approach to proper full-fat virtualisation can’t come soon enough.
The big guns are already up and running. KVM and Xen have code to play with, if you’ve got the right development system or, at a push, the right Chromebook.
Things are more complicated on handsets. Both Samsung and VMware have dual persona systems, Knox and Horizon Workspace, that look a bit like virtualisation but are software-managed work and play environments that don’t rely on full-blown hypervisor control. But Samsung is also working with Red Bend, a mobile software management company with TRUE, a bare-metal hypervisor-based dual persona system, but that’s not part of Knox.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Heart part more art than state-of-the-art: Shine wearable activity sensor
I’m a lumberjack and I’m OK. I sleep all night and I work all day (it says here)
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/12/review_misfit_wearables_shine/
I’m not a fitness fan. I don’t jog and I’m more likely to be seen at the swimming baths picking up my kids after lessons than doing lanes myself.
This is why the new breed of wearable devices appeals to me. I’m not interested in pages of carefully coloured data I can use to fine tune my fitness regime: I haven’t got one, though I appreciate other folk do. I’d just like to be sure I’m sufficiently active to keep body ticking over smoothly. Many of these wearables are designed to do just that.
Unlike many a wearable device, the Shine isn’t itself wearable. It’s a metal disc about the diameter of a 2p piece, 9mm thick in the centre, falling to 4mm at the edges. It looks like a flying saucer designed by Sir Jony Ive, a similarity accentuated by the 12 LEDs arranged in a circle around its face, each barely visible until lit.
Twelve lights because the Shine doubles up as a watch. Tap it twice and sufficient lights illuminate to indicate your progress toward your day’s activity goal.
The Reg Verdict
The Shine is an attractive enough gizmo, and if you’re curious about quantifying your level of activity – or your sleep patterns, it has its appeal. It’s not a bad product, but why choose the £99.95 Shine when you can have, for instance, a Fitbit Flex for £79.95 and which is just as discreet and provides a more qualitative assessment of your activities.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearable Tech is Advancing, but Isn’t for Everyone Quite Yet (Video)
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/13/12/11/1821208/wearable-tech-is-advancing-but-isnt-for-everyone-quite-yet-video
“The overall sense we got is that wearable tech is less of a gimmick than it was a few years ago, but isn’t necessarily something all of us need quite yet.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Growth Of Video Ads On Tablets, Cell Phones And Smart TVs Is Exploding
http://www.buzzfeed.com/sapna/video-ad-market-booms-as-people-watch-shows-on-tablets-cell
As many know, people are increasingly consuming video on devices other than their televisions — and that’s making for a booming video ad market.
Total video advertising views, excluding user-generated content, rose 31% in the third quarter, Citigroup said in a note today
While computers account for 86% of video ads, tablets, cell phones, and devices such as Apple TV and Roku “are growing far faster and taking share quickly,” according to the Citi analysts.
“We believe this data is encouraging for the major players in the online video market, including in our coverage universe, Google, AOL and Yume, and potentially also Facebook, Yahoo! and RocketFuel,” the analysts wrote.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Japan Tops World In Mobile Apps Revenue
Data Tracker Says Japan Spends 10% More Than U.S. on Apps
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702303330204579251221692606100-lMyQjAxMTAzMDEwMTExNDEyWj
Japan overtook the U.S. to become the world’s No. 1 country in app store revenue, thanks to an explosion in growth of smartphone and tablet games.
Japanese consumers spent roughly 10% more than U.S. consumers did on all apps found on smartphones and tablets in October, according to app tracker App Annie.
“The adoption of smartphones is much faster than what we expected,” said Peter Warman, chief executive at Amsterdam-based game data research firm Newzoo BV. “It’s fueling further growth.”
The main driver has been mobile games. Japanese consumers spent nearly four times as much as a year ago on gaming apps, App Annie said. That has lifted spending on Android-powered devices to quadruple in the year to October, App Annie said, making Japan the first place in the world where Google GOOG +0.25% Play spending has caught up to app spending on Apple’s AAPL -0.74% iPhones and iPads, it said.
Unlike browser-based games, apps are easier to adapt for overseas markets, and Japan’s wholehearted adoption of smartphones is lowering barriers between countries and gaming cultures.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wireless carriers, FCC agree on ‘unlocking’ cellphones
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/12/us-usa-wireless-unlocking-idUSBRE9BB05320131212
(Reuters) – U.S. wireless carriers will make it easier for consumers to “unlock” their mobile phones for use on a competitor’s network, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said on Thursday.
Wheeler told members of Congress an agreement was reached between the carriers and the agency, and details will be presented at an FCC meeting later on Thursday.
Industry sources have said the agreement would ensure that providers notify customers about the eligibility of their phones for unlocking – by text message, for example – and could also cover some pre-paid phones.
The deal would also require carriers to process or deny unlocking requests within two business days, according to FCC’s earlier guidance.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ubuntu Touch OS wins its first smartphone partner
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57615107-94/ubuntu-touch-os-wins-its-first-smartphone-partner/
Canonical has inked its first deal with partner who’ll put the Linux-basd operating system on its phones, founder Mark Shuttleworth reveals.
Canonical has just signed its first deal to supply a smartphone with its mobile operating system, Canonical founder and product strategy leader Mark Shuttleworth revealed in an interview here at the LeWeb conference. He wouldn’t say which company has agreed to use the Linux-based OS, but said it will be offered on high-end phones in 2014.
“We have concluded our first set of agreements to ship Ubuntu on mobile phones,” Shuttleworth said. “We’ve shifted gears from ‘making a concept’ to ‘it’s going to ship.’ That has a big impact on the team.”
Shuttleworth knows he’s got big incumbent powers to reckon with, along with smaller mobile OS players such as Windows Phone from Microsoft, Tizen from Samsung and Intel, and Firefox OS from Mozilla and a host of carrier partners. He thinks Ubuntu Touch, with a flexible programming foundation beneath and an immersive services-first interface on top, will find a place, though.
“Volume is important. We want to do stuff that people use every day,” he said. He doesn’t want Ubuntu to occupy only a small niche of the mobile market.
So how will Ubuntu Touch make it to the big leagues? Partnerships with those who offer services — partnerships with companies like LinkedIn, Baidu, Facebook, Evernote, and Pinterest is one way. Those with online services see Android as a vehicle to drive people to Google services, and they’re looking to back an alternative that will give them top billing, Shuttleworth said.
It’s hard to imagine that Android developers will eagerly to produce a sister version of their apps, no matter how easy the developer tools make it, unless Ubuntu Touch spreads widely.
“We make no claims for Android compatibility, but we make it super easy for you to target both at the same time and super cool for you to do so,” Shuttleworth said.
Another part of the sales pitch is carrier support. He’s won Ubuntu Touch endorsements from Vodafone, 3, EE, KT, SK Telecom, Verizon, Deutsche Telecom, T-Mobile, PT, and more, he said. And the final piece: software written natively for Ubuntu Touch will also work on Ubuntu-based PCs and, someday, Ubuntu-based tablets and TVs.
Shuttleworth founded Canonical in 2004, back in the day when Linux on the desktop was, if not exactly a contender, at least a more widely discussed alternative to Windows PCs than it is today. Since then, the company expanded to the server market, with a major focus on cloud-computing infrastructure such as Amazon Web Services’ EC2.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Digia announced Qt to a new version – better support for iOS for Android and
Finnish software company in Digia announced on Thursday, the software developers at Qt 5.2 version of the tool. The new version improves support for the Android and iOS operating systems.
After the update, the application developer can use the same software code of any Linux operating system, Windows, Android devices, iOS in Mac OS X, and BlackBerry devices. There is also some initial support for Windows RT.
Still Android and iOS support is missing some APIs: Qt WebKit, Qt Qt Bluetooth and NFC (expected to be added in future versions)
Digia says it will invest heavily Qt business activity and particularly on mobile development.
Digia also announced Qt cloud services.
Source: http://www.tietoviikko.fi/kaikki_uutiset/digia+julkisti+qtsta+uuden+version++parempi+tuki+ioslle+ja+androidille/a953702
Tomi Engdahl says:
Oculus VR raises $75M from web browser inventor Marc Andreessen’s VC firm to launch virtual reality goggles
http://venturebeat.com/2013/12/12/oculus-vr-raises-75m-from-andreessen-horowitz-to-create-consumer-version-of-its-virtual-reality-goggles/
Virtual reality goggle maker has raised a massive round of $75 million from Netscape founder Marc Andreessen’s Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm to create a consumer version of its product.
The investment by Andreessen shows how much currency Oculus has gained by doing something innovative in games, where Microsoft and Sony have launched new video game consoles this season. Many gamers have bemoaned the fact that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One deliver better 3D graphics but not much in the way of innovation.
“Over the past 16 months, we’ve grown from a start-up to a company whose virtual reality headset is poised to change the way we play, work and communicate,” said Iribe said in a statement.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Removes Vital Privacy Feature From Android, Claiming Its Release Was Accidental
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/12/google-removes-vital-privacy-features-android-shortly-after-adding-them
Yesterday, we published a blog post lauding an extremely important app privacy feature that was added in Android 4.3. That feature allows users to install apps while preventing the app from collecting sensitive data like the user’s location or address book.
After we published the post, several people contacted us to say that the feature had actually been removed in Android 4.4.2, which was released earlier this week. Today, we installed that update to our test device, and can confirm that the App Ops privacy feature that we were excited about yesterday is in fact now gone.
When asked for comment, Google told us that the feature had only ever been released by accident — that it was experimental, and that it could break some of the apps policed by it. We are suspicious of this explanation, and do not think that it in any way justifies removing the feature rather than improving it.
The disappearance of App Ops is alarming news for Android users. The fact that they cannot turn off app permissions is a Stygian hole in the Android security model, and a billion people’s data is being sucked through. Embarrassingly, it is also one that Apple managed to fix in iOS years ago.
Tomi says:
iOS 7.1 likely to unlock Apple’s upcoming iOS in the Car feature
http://9to5mac.com/2013/12/13/ios-7-1-likely-to-unlock-apples-upcoming-ios-in-the-car-feature/
Apple is already at work on a point update (perhaps iOS 7.1 or 7.2), and this new version will begin building in support for iOS in the Car. Apple says that iOS in the Car will formally launch in 2014 with several car makers.
iOS in the Car is a feature that allows customers to attach an iOS device to a compatible car center console via either wireless protocols or over a USB cable. An iOS interface for managing Maps, Messages, and Music appears on the car’s display…
Right on time, the latest beta of iOS 7.1 has added a toggle to enable or disable “Car Display” in the Restrictions Settings panel.
Tomi says:
How many Americans will be using an iPhone when the US smartphone market saturates?
http://www.asymco.com/2013/12/13/how-many-americans-will-be-using-an-iphone/
Tomi says:
By cracking cellphone code, NSA has capacity for decoding private conversations
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/by-cracking-cellphone-code-nsa-has-capacity-for-decoding-private-conversations/2013/12/13/e119b598-612f-11e3-bf45-61f69f54fc5f_story.html
The cellphone encryption technology used most widely across the world can be easily defeated by the National Security Agency, an internal document shows, giving the agency the means to decode most of the billions of calls and texts that travel over public airwaves every day.
While the military and law enforcement agencies long have been able to hack into individual cellphones, the NSA’s capability appears to be far more sweeping because of the agency’s global signals collection operation. The agency’s ability to crack encryption used by the majority of cellphones in the world offers it wide-ranging powers to listen in on private conversations.
U.S. law prohibits the NSA from collecting the content of conversations between Americans without a court order. But experts say that if the NSA has developed the capacity to easily decode encrypted cellphone conversations, then other nations likely can do the same through their own intelligence services, potentially to Americans’ calls, as well.
The extent of the NSA’s collection of cellphone signals and its use of tools to decode encryption are not clear from a top-secret document provided by former contractor Edward Snowden. But it states that the agency “can process encrypted A5/1” even when the agency has not acquired an encryption key, which unscrambles communications so that they are readable.
The vulnerability outlined in the NSA document concerns encryption developed in the 1980s but still used widely by cellphones that rely on technology called second-generation (2G) GSM. It is dominant in most of the world but less so in the wealthiest nations, including the United States, where newer networks such as 3G and 4G increasingly provide faster speeds and better encryption, industry officials say.
But even where such updated networks are available, they are not always used, because many phones often still rely on 2G networks to make or receive calls. More than 80 percent of cellphones worldwide use weak or no encryption for at least some of their calls, Nohl said.
The NSA has repeatedly stressed that its data collection efforts are aimed at overseas targets, whose legal protections are much lower than U.S. citizens’.
German news magazine Der Spiegel reported in October that a listening station atop the U.S. Embassy in Berlin allowed the NSA to spy on Merkel’s cellphone calls. It also reported that the NSA’s Special Collection Service runs similar operations from 80 U.S. embassies and other government facilities worldwide. These revelations — and especially reports about eavesdropping on the calls of friendly foreign leaders — have caused serious diplomatic fallouts for the Obama administration.
Matthew Blaze, a University of Pennsylvania cryptology expert, said the weakness of A5/1 encryption is “a pretty sweeping, large vulnerability” that helps the NSA listen to cellphone calls overseas and likely also allows foreign governments to listen to the calls of Americans.
“If the NSA knows how to do this, presumably other intelligence agencies, which may be more hostile to the United States, have discovered how to do this, too,” he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Leaked Windows Phone 8.1 screenshot reveals new on-screen buttons
http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/14/5209760/windows-phone-8-1-screenshot-onscreen-buttons
Microsoft is still testing its upcoming Windows Phone 8.1 update internally, but a leaked screenshot reveals how the company is moving to on-screen buttons in the future.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The everywhere arcade: How Google is turning location into a game platform
Niantic Labs’ Ingress project will expand to support new games — and ads
http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/13/5207176/the-everywhere-arcade-how-google-is-turning-location-into-a-game-platform
Every week, players of the global augmented-reality game Ingress receive an email that starts the same way. “Greetings Agent,” it begins. “The global struggle for control of XM and human Mind Units continues.”
Ingress can easily be seen as a lark for Google, which launched the game through its Niantic Labs internal incubator. But a year in, the bigger vision behind Ingress is starting to come into focus. Encouraged by the support it has seen from players — more than 1 million people have downloaded the game, and player communities have sprung up around the globe — Niantic is starting to think more deeply about how Ingress can be turned into a platform that anyone can use to build an alternate reality game of their own.
“The bigger vision behind Ingress is starting to come into focus”
An open real-world gaming platform has been Ingress’ goal from the beginning, says John Hanke, who helped create Google Earth and led the company’s location services before launching Niantic as an internal incubator within Google. “You can think of Ingress in some ways as a proof of concept,” Hanke says in an interview with The Verge. “With Ingress we’ve proven that people can have fun, that there’s a kernel of something powerful in a game that gets you out moving. And Ingress is just one example of the type of game in that genre that you could build.”