Mobile infrastructure must catch up with user needs and demands. Ubiquitous mobile computing is all around us, not only when we use smartphones to connect with friends and family across states and countries, but also when we use ticketing systems on buses and trains, purchase food from mobile vendors, watch videos, and listen to music on our phones. As a result, mobile computing systems must rise to the demand. The number of smart phones will exceed the number of PCs in 2014.
Some time in the next six months, the number of smartphones on earth will pass the number of PCs. This shouldn’t really surprise anyone: the mobile business is much bigger than the computer industry. There are now perhaps 3.5-4 billion mobile phones, replaced every two years (versus 1.7-1.8 billion PCs replaced every 5 years).It means that mobile industry can sell more phones in a quarter than the PC industry sells in a year. After some years we will end up with somewhere over 3bn smartphones in use on earth, almost double the number of PCs. The smartphone revolution is changing how consumers use the Internet: Mobile browsing is set to overtake traditional desktop browsing in 2015.
It seems that 4G has really become the new high speed mobile standard widely wanted during 2013. 3G will become the low-cost option for those who think 4G option is too expensive, not everyone that has 4G capable device has 4G subscription. How the situation changes depends on how operators improve their 3G coverage, what will be the price difference from 3G to 4G and how well the service is marketed.
Mobile data increased very much last year. I expect the growth to continue pretty much as projected in Mobile Data Traffic To Grow 300% Globally By 2017 Led By Video, Web Use, Says Strategy Analytics and Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2012–2017 articles.
When 4G becomes mainstream, planning for next 5G communications starts. I will expect to see more and more writing on 5G as the vision what it will be destined to be clears more. Europe’s newly-minted 5GPPP Association plans to launch as many as 20 research projects in 2014, open to all comers, with a total budget of about 250 million euros. The groundwork for 5G, an ambitious vision for a next-generation network of networks that’s still being defined, and the definition will go on many years to come. No one really knows today what 5G will be because there are still several views. Europe’s new 5GPPP group published a draft proposal for 5G. 5GPPP is not the only group expected to work on standards for next-generation cellular networks, but it could become one of the most influential.
The shifting from “dumb” phones to smart phones continue. In USA and Europe smart phone penetration is already so high levels that there will not be very huge gains on the market expected. Very many consumers already have their smart phone, and the market will be more and more on updating to new model after two years or so use. At the end of 2013 Corporate-Owned Smartphones Back in Vogue, and I expect that companies continue to shop smart phones well in 2014.
The existing biggest smart phone players will continue to rule the markets. Google’s Android will continue to rule the markets. Samsung made most money in 2013 on Android phones (in 2013 in West only Samsung makes money from selling Android), and I expect that to continue. In 2013 Apple slurped down enormous profits but lost some of its bleeding-edge-tech street credit, and I expect that to continue in 2014.
The biggest stories of the year 2013 outside the Samsung/Apple duopoly were the sale of Nokia’s mobile phone business to Microsoft and the woes of BlackBerry. BlackBerry had an agonising year and suffered one of the most spectacular consumer collapses in history, and I can’t see how it would get to it’s feet during 2014. Nokia made good gains for Windows Phones during 2013, and I expect that Microsoft will put marketing effort to gain even more market share. Windows Phone became the third mobile ecosystem, and will most probably keep that position in 2014.
New players try to enter smart phone markets and some existing players that once tried that try to re-enter. There are rumors that for example HP tries to re-enter mobile market, and is probable that some other computer makers try to sell smart phones with their brands. In the Android front there will be new companies trying to push marker (for example OPPO and many smaller Chinese makers you have never heard earlier). Nokia had a number of Android projects going on in 2013, and some former Nokia people have put up company Newkia to follow on that road. To make a difference in the market there will be also push on some smaller mobile platforms as alternative to the big three (Google, Apple, Microsoft). Jolla is pushing Sailfish OS phones that can run Android applications and also pushing possibility to install that OS to Android phone. Mozilla will push on with it’s own Firefox OS phone. Canonical will try to get their Ubuntu phone released. Samsung is starting to make Tizen powered smart phones and NTT DoCoMo could be the first carrier to offer a Tizen powered device. None of those will be huge mainstream hits within one year, but could maybe could have their own working niche markets. The other OS brands combined do not amount to 1% of all smartphones sold in 2013, so even if they could have huge growth they would still be very small players on the end of 2014.
As smartphone and tablet makers desperately search for points of differentiation they will try to push the limits of performance on several fronts to extremes. Extreme inter-connectivity is one of the more useful features that is appearing in new products. More context-aware automatic wireless linking is coming: Phones will wirelessly link and sync with screens and sensors in the user’s vicinity.
You can also expect extreme sensor support to offer differentiation. Biomedical sensors have lots of potential (Apple already has fingerprint sensors). Indoor navigation will evolve. Intelligent systems and assistive devices will advance smart healthcare.
Several smartphone makers have clear strategies to take photography to extremes. 40 megapixel camera is already on the market and several manufacturers are playing with re-focus after shooting options.
In high-end models we may be moving into the overkill zone with extreme resolution that is higher than you can see on small screen: some makers have already demonstrated displays with twice the performance of 1080-progressive. Samsung is planned to release devices with 4k or UHD resolutions. As we have seen in many high tech gadget markets earlier it is a very short journey to copycat behavior.
It seems that amount of memory on high-end mobile devices is increasing this year. To be able to handle higher resolutions smart phones will also need more memory than earlier (for example Samsung lpddr 4 allows up to 4 GB or RAM on smart phone as now high-end devices now have typically 2GB). As the memory size starts to hit the limits of 32 bit processors (4GB), I will expect that there will be some push for chip makers to start to introduce more 64 bit processors for mobile devices. Apple already has 64-bit A7 microprocessor in iPhone 5s, all the other phone-makers want one too for their high-end models (which is a bit of panic to mobile chip makers).
You will be able to keep your mobile phone during some flights all the time and browser web on the plane more widely. At some planes you might also be able to make phone calls with your mobile phone during the flight. Calls on flights have been theoretically possible, and United States has recently looked at mobile phone calls allow the flights.
In year 2013 there were many releases on wearable technologies. Wearable is a trend with many big companies already in the space, and more are developing new products. It seems that on this field year 2013 was just putting on the initial flame, and I expect that the wearable market will start to heat up more during 2014. The advent of wearable technology brings new demands for components that can accommodate its small form factor, wireless requirements, and need for longer battery life.
The Internet of Things (IoT) will evolve into the Web of Things, increasing the coordination between things in the real world and their counterparts on the Web. The Internet is expanding into enterprise assets and consumer items such as cars and televisions. Gartner suggests that now through 2018, a variety of devices, user contexts, and interaction paradigms will make “everything everywhere” strategies unachievable.
Technology giants Google Inc. and Apple Inc. are about to expand their battle for digital supremacy to a new front: the automobile. The Android vs. iOS apps battle is coming to the automotive industry in 2014: car OEMs aren’t exactly known for their skills in developing apps and app developers don’t want to develop so many different versions of an app separately (for Ford, General Motors, BMW, and Toyota). I am waiting for Google’s response to Apple’s iOS in the Car. Next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Google and German auto maker Audi AG plan to announce that they are working together to develop in-car entertainment and information systems that are based on Google’s Android software. The push toward smarter cars is heating up: Right now, we are just scratching the surface.
For app development HTML5 will be on rise. Gartner predicts that through 2014, improved JavaScript performance will begin to push HTML5 and the browser as a mainstream enterprise application development environment. It will also work on many mobile applications as well.
1,857 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Everyone has things on their phones they don’t want other people to see. Everyone.
Source: http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/03/a-letter-to-jennifer-lawrence/?ncid=rss&cps=gravity
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cellphone Addiction Is ‘an Increasingly Realistic Possibility,’ Baylor Study of College Students Reveals
http://www.baylor.edu/mediacommunications/news.php?action=story&story=145864
Women college students spend an average of 10 hours a day on their cellphones and men college students spend nearly eight, with excessive use posing potential risks for academic performance, according to a Baylor University study on cellphone activity published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions.
“That’s astounding,” said researcher James Roberts, Ph.D., The Ben H. Williams Professor of Marketing in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business. “As cellphone functions increase, addictions to this seemingly indispensable piece of technology become an increasingly realistic possibility.”
The study notes that approximately 60 percent of college students admit they may be addicted to their cell phone, and some indicated they get agitated when it is not in sight, said Roberts, lead author of the article “The Invisible Addiction: Cellphone Activities and Addiction among Male and Female College Students.
Of the top activities, respondents overall reported spending the most time texting (an average of 94.6 minutes a day), followed by sending emails (48.5 minutes), checking Facebook (38.6 minutes), surfing the Internet (34.4 minutes) and listening to their iPods. (26.9 minutes).
• Men send about the same number of emails but spend less time on each.
Excessive use of cellphones poses a number of possible risks for students, he said.
“Cellphones may wind up being an escape mechanism from their classrooms. For some, cellphones in class may provide a way to cheat,”
The study noted that modern cellphone use is a paradox in that it can be “both freeing and enslaving at the same time.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
D-PHY, M-PHY & C-PHY? First Look at Testing MIPI’s Latest PHY
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1323513&
One of the significant advantages of MIPI Alliance standards is the separation of the physical or PHY layer from the protocol layer. This approach contrasts with USB, PCI Express, or SATA, where these layers are specific to a particular protocol, and provides much needed-flexibility to deal with the many sensors and peripheral devices found in a typical mobile device while preserving the core PHY objectives of power conservation with headroom for higher data throughput.
To date, MIPI has published 30 different specifications but it only has two PHY specifications: D-PHY and M-PHY. All the display, camera, RF, storage interfaces, etc. layer on top of just these two PHYs. MIPI sees M-PHY as the high-performance PHY with speeds up to 5.8 Gbps while D-PHY is more for cameras and displays and lower-speed applications.
With low-power operation, high-performance, and flexible protocol support, it would appear that the MIPI canvas is a done deal. But, as with all things in technology, especially mobile technology, it’s never that simple. Now MIPI is in the process of releasing a third PHY standard called C-PHY.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearable electronics has begun to vilahdella in the fashion world. Last week, the luxury fashion house Ralph Lauren introduced the athletes directed to the intellect t-shirt.
The chip manufacturer Intel, in turn, is presented on Thursday, starting at New York Fashion Week in Mica smart bracelet. Name Mica stands for My Intelligent Communication Accessory. The device is equipped with a 3G connection, that is, it does not need to be connected to your smartphone to function. 1.6-inch touch screen is made of sapphire crystal. Bracelet looks like text messages, and calendar notifications. Mica is decorated with either black or white snake skin and has jewelery with stones.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/uutisia/intelin+alyrannekorussa+on+3gyhteys+ja+kaarmeennahkaa/a1009096
Tomi Engdahl says:
HS: Finnish Bedditin gold mine – are growing a hundred-fold
Sleeping sensors developing Finnish Beddit has been especially American consumers excited about the quality of sleep monitoring, reported on the Helsingin Sanomat.
Last year, Bedditin net sales were EUR 60 000, but this year the sales of smartphone operating sleep sensor sales have increased by up to a hundred times this year. The company’s net sales 95 percent are from the United States.
It was only in 2013 found a recipe for success. Beddit opened a number of financial service Indiegogo a consumer sleep sensor campaign, which received almost EUR 400 000 pre-orders.
Beddit sleep sensor monitors, among other things, sleep-movements and heart rate. The smartphone microphone, in turn, listening to snoring. Data is transferred from the sensor the smart phone application that can wake the sleeping at optimal time in half-on-hour time frame.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/kaikki_uutiset/hs+suomalaisen+bedditin+kultakaivos++myynti+kasvaa+satakertaiseksi/a1009157
Tomi Engdahl says:
If your kid blew $$$s on in-app tat, Google has a slice of $19m+ for you
FTC settlement puts spotlight on Amazon’s in-app activities
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/04/google_agrees_to_refund_19m_to_customers_over_kids_inapp_purchases/
Google has promised to return at least $19m (£11.6m) to parents who were unexpectedly billed for in-app purchases made by their kids.
The web giant today agreed to the payout in a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission. According to the watchdog, children could to go on spending sprees with mummy or daddy’s credit card via the Android Play store, buying up game power-ups and other virtual gumble.
As a result, at a minimum $19m will be repaid to punters who didn’t explicitly authorize the payments.
The FTC found that when Google started allowing in-app purchasing in 2011, there was nothing to stop kids running up large bills for new software and stuff like virtual currencies.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Plans Smartwatch and Larger iPhones
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/technology/apple-smartwatch-and-bigger-iphones-to-be-introduced.html?_r=0
On Tuesday, Apple will return to the center to unveil a set of long-anticipated products: two iPhones with larger screens and a wearable computer that the media has nicknamed the iWatch.
The so-called smartwatch will be the first brand-new product unveiled under Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, who took the helm three years ago, shortly before Mr. Jobs’s death.
It is expected to come in two sizes and combine functions like health and fitness monitoring with mobile computing tasks like displaying maps. It will have a flexible screen and, like the new phones, will support technology that allows people to pay for things wirelessly.
“I believe it’s going to be historic,” said Tim Bajarin, a consumer technology analyst for Creative Strategies who attended the original Mac event in 1984.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Moto Hint is the future of the Bluetooth headset
Are we all about to start talking to our phones again?
http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/5/6107019/the-moto-hint-is-the-future-of-the-bluetooth-headset
Don’t call the Motorola Hint a Bluetooth headset. It makes everyone at Motorola wince. They’d rather you call it a wireless earbud, or, in a brilliant slip of the tongue from Motorola design chief Jim Wicks, an “earable.” The Hint is a tiny, Bluetooth-enabled earbud that is designed to keep you in immediate, voice-enabled touch with the world around you.
But it’s not for phone calls, or at least not just for phone calls. It’s for getting directions, for doing quick voice searches, for hearing the text message you just got or quickly adding something to your to-do list. The Bluetooth headset is dead; long live the wireless earbud.
Motorola makes the same case for the Hint that Jawbone does for the latest Era, saying that Google Now and voice search have revived the power of talking to your phone. Yet there’s no getting around the Bluetooth headset stigma, so Motorola did its best to make it look like you’re not wearing one.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Watch to Allow Mobile Payments
Smartwatch to Have Tap-to-Pay Features, Curved Screen; Not Expected to Ship This Year
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/apple-smartwatch-to-use-short-range-wireless-1409845551-lMyQjAxMTA0MDAwNDEwNDQyWj
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Unveils The Cartographer, Its Indoor Mapping Backpack
http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/04/google-unveils-the-cartographer-its-indoor-mapping-backpack/
If you have been following the development of Google Maps over the years, you are probably familiar with the Trekker, the backpack that includes a complete Street View camera setup for mapping anything from hikes into the Grand Canyon to walks through penguin colonies in Antarctica. Today, a new backpack is joining Google’s mapping tools: the Cartographer for indoor mapping.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Moto Hint is a Bluetooth earbud that you can use to control your smartphone
http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2014/09/05/moto-hint-bluetooth-earbud-can-use-control-phone/
Alongside the announcements of a few new gadgets this season, Motorola introduced the Moto Hint, a Bluetooth earbud that will allow you to speak voice commands to your phone and third-party apps and receive Google Now responses.
To activate the earbud, simply say the prompt, “Listen up Moto Hint” or tap the touch capacitive ear piece, then speak your query.
This feature is particularly helpful for navigation, so you can search for directions while driving without ever having to touch the phone or look at the screen.
The Moto Hint will be available in the US later this fall and retails for $149.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Moto 360 Smartwatch Is Finally Here, Available Today For $249.99
http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/04/moto-360-smartwatch/
The Moto 360 has been unveiled previously, and is arguably the most anticipated Android Wear smartwatch, owing partly to its attractive round face. The wearable is finally landing, complete with heart rate monitor, in both black and gray metal finishes, with retail availability kicking off today at noon EST from Motorola.com, Best Buy and Google Play for $249.99.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NVIDIA Launches Patent Suits Focused on Samsung Galaxy Phones, Tablets – See more at: http://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2014/09/04/nvidia-launches-patent-suits/#sthash.1s2Pyw2l.dpuf
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel Unveils MICA ‘My Intelligent Communication Accessory’ Smart Bracelet
Read more: http://hothardware.com/News/Intel-Unveils-MICA-My-Intelligent-Communication-Accessory-Smart-Bracelet/#!bP28DY#ixzz3CQd6RP4K
Tomi Engdahl says:
Comparison Of iPhone 6 Innovative Features: Which Apple Smartphone Model Had The Most Improvements?
http://comparisons.financesonline.com/comparison-of-iphone-6-innovative-features/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Durable work phone known as Cat Phones has launched a new flagship model. S50 is the LTE network, functional phone with a lot of familiar features. Something new Cat o have developed, since the phone is brought from its own, scaled-down version of the Android Play Store.
The device is waterproof, and the screen can also be used with wet fingers. The screen is scratch resistant and will last more than a few knocks and scratches. It also has a quad-core processor (1.2 GHz), which uses the latest version of Android (KitKat).
Cat S50′s price is defined as 479 euros.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1739:iskuja-kestavaan-puhelimeen-oma-sovelluskauppa&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bloomberg breaks down what happens to faulty launch-day iPhone returns
http://9to5mac.com/2014/09/04/bloomberg-breaks-down-what-happens-to-faulty-launch-day-iphone-returns/
When Apple (or any company) launches a product, such as the upcoming iPhone 6, there’s always the chance that a critical flaw will be discovered by first adopters. How exactly the company handles the devices that are returned and tracks down the source of these issues has always been somewhat of a secret process.
Today, Bloomberg’s Businessweek published a profile on the “early field failure analysis,” which is responsible for taking these returned devices apart, analyzing any issues, putting together a fix, and getting it into new production devices before the problems become even more widespread.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple’s iPhone 6 First Responders
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-09-04/for-iphone-6-defects-apple-has-failure-analysis-team-ready
As Apple (AAPL) prepares to unveil the iPhone 6 on Sept. 9, engineers are toiling in secrecy to make sure everything works properly. Their task won’t end when the phone goes on sale.
Within hours of a new phone’s release, couriers start bringing defective returns from Apple’s retail stores to the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. In a testing room, the same engineers who built the iPhone try to figure out the problem
“They take them apart to diagnose what’s happening right then and there,”
The program, created in the late 1990s, is called early field failure analysis, or EFFA
All consumer-electronics companies try to keep an eye on complaints during their product launches to head off major problems early
Apple’s EFFA testing is most stringent during a device’s first weeks on sale, but it continues for months as problems arise, say three former employees involved.
As with the early iPhone bugs, most of the problems they’ve discovered over the years relate to components not being connected properly, Wilhelm says—an unfastened cable or too little glue or solder. “If you can find a problem in the first week or less,” he says, “that can ultimately save millions of dollars.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why Apple’s iBeacon Hasn’t Taken Off—Yet
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-28/apples-ibeacon-retail-stores-make-little-use-of-it-so-far
Hillshire Brands (HSH) sees the promise of Apple’s (AAPL) iBeacon, software that’s been embedded in iOS 7 for a year. With iBeacon, Hillshire can track a shopper wheeling through a grocery store and send his iPhone a coupon or an ad for sausages just as he approaches the right cooler. Hillshire says consumers in 10 U.S. test cities who received iBeacon messages via apps such as recipe service Epicurious have been 20 times likelier to buy its American Craft sausages. Last year, iBeacon promised Apple a new wave of consumer data and looked like a boon to retailers and advertisers trying to reverse a decline in impulse buys. Using a low-energy Bluetooth signal, the software makes an iPhone’s proximity to certain items easier to track with the help of $10 signaling devices—beacons—mounted on shelves and ceilings, each no bigger than a hockey puck.
For the most part, however, stores have yet to embrace Apple’s technology. “Retailers are just putting their toes in,”
there have been a lot of announcements by retailers that they are trying out iBeacon networks in a handful of locations, “but the reality is, very few of them have been deployed.” Less than 1 percent of the 3.6 million retail stores in the U.S. make use of iBeacon
The main obstacle for retailers is that iBeacon doesn’t quite do everything by itself. Shoppers need to have apps such as Epicurious or discount service Shopkick that have incorporated the tracking technology. Many consumers don’t consult shopping aids while they’re in the store
Another factor: Apple’s design wasn’t the first indoor location-tracking system available.
Some barriers to iBeacon adoption are falling away. Google (GOOG) has built more iBeacon functionality into the latest versions of Android. GE Lighting (GE) has formed a partnership with startup ByteLight to develop lightbulbs that can also help track shoppers via iBeacon, which would eliminate the need for retailers to buy separate hardware.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NVIDIA Sues Qualcomm and Samsung Seeking To Ban Import of Samsung Phones
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/09/04/2254245/nvidia-sues-qualcomm-and-samsung-seeking-to-ban-import-of-samsung-phones
NVIDIA has filed complaints against Samsung and Qualcomm at the ITC and in the U.S. District court in Delaware. The suit alleges that the companies are both infringing NVIDIA GPU patents
Tomi Engdahl says:
Finally, a USEFUL smart device: Intel boffins cook up gyro-magneto-’puter bike helmet
Apple, eat your heart out
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/05/smart_black_box_helmet/
Five Intel interns from Oregon State University have devised an Atom-powered bike helmet that calls home if the rider crashes.
Sounds a fun project. This oh-so-clever helmet contains:
Intel Edison wearable device Atom computer
Bluetooth radio
Magnetometer
Gyroscope
Two accelerometers to detect a sudden impact
Communications hardware to call pre-set emergency contact number
Above-the-ear speakers
Microphone
LED headlight
Power comes from a 3.7V, 2600mAh lithium-ion battery. There is an accompanying Android smartphone app that records the bike rider’s distance travelled, speed and the ride track, controls the LED light and communicates with the helmet if there is a bang.
These Intel interns have come up with a great idea. The smart helmet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia Lumia 530: A Windows Phone… for under £50
Has Nokia’s cut price cheapie cut too deep?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/05/nokia_lumia_530_windows_phone_for_under_50/
How much new smartphone will £50 buy you? Quite a bit, it turns out. The Lumia 530 is available this week from £39.95 for SIM-free upgrades, and will feature on the high street for just a little more, with no strings attached.
Lumia 530 is a very likeable and pocket-friendly Windows Phone
Many of its cut-down Android rivals in the £50 price bracket starve the phone of system resources needed to run smoothly
Nokia’s phones division – now owned by Microsoft but continuing to use the Nokia brand – had a huge hit last year with the Lumia 520, which hit the streets priced under £100 SIM-free and settled down at around £70.
It was, and remains, terrific value for money and deservedly gave Nokia a smash hit.
This year the manufacturer has followed up with two options, one slightly more expensive, and one slightly cheaper.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sony: 2K smartphone screens are not worth the battery compromise
“We have made the decision to continue with a Full HD, 1080p screen for the Xperia Z3, although we see in the marketplace some of our competitors bringing in 2K screens.”
Read more at http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/sony-2k-smartphone-screens-are-not-worth-the-battery-compromise#yV5PxwwgrCqS1Epy.99
Tomi Engdahl says:
Report: Apple inhales DRUGSTORE deals on iPhone payment system
CVS and Walgreens expected to accept mobile purchases
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/06/report_says_apple_ties_mobile_payment_deal_with_cvs_walgreens/
That leaking tap at Cupertino refuses to be jammed ahead of Apple’s 9 September launch of new products. The latest speculative report says that the fruity company has inked iPhone payment agreements with CVS and Walgreens – the two biggest pharmacies in the US.
According to Re/Code, which cites a source briefed on the plans, details will be revealed on, er, Tuesday.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple wearable to run third-party apps, big developers already seeded SDK
http://9to5mac.com/2014/09/06/apple-wearable-to-run-third-party-apps-big-developers-already-seeded-sdk/
Apple’s upcoming wearable device, based on iOS, will run third-party applications and, furthermore, may come equipped with an App Store, according to two sources with knowledge of the new device.
A small handful of high-profile social network and services companies with apps on the iPhone and iPad App Store have already been seeded with a pre-release version of the Apple SDK (Software Development Kit) for wearables under strict non-disclosure agreements.
The SDK was seeded “very recently” to these developers, and Apple likely wants to demonstrate some third-party wearable apps at Tuesday’s event, according to one source.
Apple has assembled a group of fashion, fitness, payments industry executives, and medical sensor experts over the past two years to create this device, and pre-event marketing seems to indicate that the watch could live up to the hype.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Is There Life After Touchscreens?
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1323784&
Touch panels have become such a mainstay of our everyday gadgets that many of us are already taking them for granted. At Touch Taiwan show last week, I saw display vendors mired in the battle over ever-narrowing bezels, and the never-ending pixel-per-inch war. As I examined the proliferation of display technologies, I found myself getting lost in the weeds.
AUO, alone, is spreading its resources wide and thin as it works on four different display technologies, ranging from amorphous silicon (a-Si) and low temperature Polycrystalline Silicon (LTPS) to oxide TFT and OLED.
So many panels on display at the show were breathtakingly beautiful. Does a narrow bezel matter? Absolutely. Do consumers want more PPI? You bet. Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes when the discussion kept coming back to whether a 1mm border is really that much worse than 0.7 mm for a 5-inch full HD high resolution smartphone panel.
I understand that specs are life-or-death for engineers. But all this “specmanship” is killing Taiwan’s display vendors. To make matters worse, the fierce price competition just keeps escalating. Vendors are scrambling to devise new (and possibly more simplified) manufacturing processes, while staying constantly on the lookout out for new materials.
Tomi Engdahl says:
For Sale Soon: The World’s First Google Glass Detector
http://www.wired.com/2014/09/for-sale-soon-the-worlds-first-google-glass-detector/
Earlier this summer, Berlin-based artist and coder Julian Oliver released Glasshole.sh, a simple and free piece of software designed to detect Google Glass and boot it from any local Wi-Fi network. That DIY idea, says Oliver, was so popular among Glass’s critics that he’s now offering his cyborg-foiling hack to the masses in a much more polished form: an easy-to-use commercial product selling for less than $100.
Later this month, Oliver says he’ll start taking pre-orders for Cyborg Unplug, a gadget no bigger than a laptop charger that plugs into a wall and patrols the local Wi-Fi network for connected Google Glass devices, along with other potential surveillance gadgets like Google Dropcams, Wi-Fi-enabled drone copters, and certain wireless microphones.
When it detects one of those devices, it can be programmed to flash an alert with an LED light, play a sound through connected speakers, and even ping the Cyborg Unplug owner’s smartphone through an Android app, as well as silently booting those potential spy devices from the network.
“Basically it’s a wireless defense shield for your home or place of work,” says Oliver. “The intent is to counter a growing and tangibly troubling emergence of wirelessly capable devices that are used and abused for surveillance and voyeurism.”
In addition to a default state called “Territory Mode” designed to defend the user’s own network, Oliver says Cyborg Unplug will also offer an “All Out Mode.”
Cutting the Wi-Fi uplink of Google Glass or most other surveillance gadgets doesn’t necessarily do much to prevent that sort of snooping, as long as it’s stored locally on the device. In fact, Cyborg Unplug wouldn’t even detect any Glass user who doesn’t attempt to connect to Wi-Fi. But Oliver argues that it would at least make it more difficult to surreptitiously stream video or images to a remote location without leaving evidence on the snoop’s local device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple to Use NFC, Tokenization in Payments, Sources Say
http://bankinnovation.net/2014/09/apple-to-use-nfc-tokenization-in-payments-system/
Apple will be utilizing near field communication (NFC) technology and tokenization technology in the new iPhone 6 and iWatch as a part of its payments initiative, according to sources close to Apple and with knowledge of Apple’s plans for its new smartphone.
In addition, Bank Innovation has uncovered Apple patents dating back to 2009 related to the tokenization process, confirming the company’s long-standing interest in tokenization.
Apple stores already support NFC.
Greene said that financial institutions wanted Visa to handle the tokenization process on their behalf. There is no word yet on how Apple will handle tokenization — under current terms, the issuing banks deal with the tokens, according to financial industry expert Tom Noyes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple and Disney Stores upgrading iBeacons and NFC scanners ahead of iPhone 6 launch
http://9to5mac.com/2014/09/07/apple-and-disney-stores-upgrading-ibeacons-and-nfc-scanners-ahead-of-iphone-6-launch/
Apple and longtime partner Disney this week are bolstering their stores with upgraded versions of iBeacon sensors and NFC readers, according to sources. Apple Stores have had iBeacons stationed throughout showroom floors for several months as a way to pinpoint exactly where a customer is within the store. This allows Apple to better serve customers by providing relevant sales information to their iPhones and iPads while in the store. The upgrades happening this week within Apple Stores place several new Gimbal Series 20 Proximity Beacons across stores to make location tracking within the store even more accurate.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple wearable to run third-party apps, big developers already seeded SDK
http://9to5mac.com/2014/09/06/apple-wearable-to-run-third-party-apps-big-developers-already-seeded-sdk/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple courts fashionistas as smartwatch expectations mount
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/06/us-apple-fashion-idUSKBN0H10AR20140906
Apple Inc has invited top fashion editors and bloggers in unprecedented numbers to its Tuesday launch gala, further evidence that the iPhone maker is preparing to take the wraps off a smartwatch.
Apple is forging closer ties to the fashion world as it plots its foray into the fertile field of wearable technology, trying to win over a critical crowd that may prove crucial to the success of consumer gadgets worn around the body.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Q&A: Carmack reveals the challenges of mobile VR game development
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/224894/QA_Carmack_reveals_the_challenges_of_mobile_VR_game_development.php
Yesterday Samsung formally revealed its Gear VR headset, which was developed in close partnership with the folks at Oculus VR. When it debuts later this year, it will be the first of the new crop of VR headsets sold explicitly to consumers — and the first opportunity for developers to sell their VR games on a mobile app store.
The headset is powered by Oculus VR’s Mobile SDK, a variant version of the company’s toolset that plays nice with Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Note 4 smartphone, which slots into the Gear VR headset to drive it. The phone is itself powered by Android 4.4.4 (“Kit Kat”), and Oculus CTO John Carmack told me today during a brief phone interview that his experience building a VR toolset for Android — his first Android project — has been frustrating and full of surprises.
“Brace yourself: Android setup and development really does suck. It’s no fun at all.”
“This will be the first place where VR enters a market, with a store and an ecosystem where you can go out and target customers. Much will be learned from that.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Netflix may add short-form content to increase mobile usage
http://gigaom.com/2014/09/05/netflix-short-clips/
Most people don’t spend 90 minutes watching whole movies on their phones, which is why Netflix may soon serve them two-minute clips of the best scenes.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Only 5 percent of Android users will switch to iPhone 6, says survey
http://www.cnet.com/news/only-5-percent-of-android-users-will-switch-to-iphone-6-says-survey/#ftag=CAD590a51e
A survey insists that only a small proportion of Android users will switch to Apple’s new phone. But could that change when they actually see the iPhone 6?
Tomi Engdahl says:
IFA: Sony Smartwatch 3 hands-on review
Sony’s third smartwatch offers a sleeker design and a better display
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/review/2363520/ifa-sony-smartwatch-3-hands-on-review
Running Google’s Android Wear operating system (OS) for wearables, the Smartwatch 3 offers significant steps up from the Smartwatch 2, including a higher resolution screen and a sleeker, more streamedlined design.
Sony has given the Smartwatch 3 a minimalist design with a simple square clock face set within a stainless steel back panel.
Boasting a 1.6in 320×320 TFT LCD “Transflective” display, the Smartwatch 3 is a step up from Sony’s last wearable by having what the firm says is a brighter screen, which means it is more viewable in bright sunlight.
The watch is powered by an ARM A7 1.2Ghz processor with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of eMMC storage onboard, making it a rather impressively powerful smartwatch compared to the Smartwatch 2, and it shows. Running Android Wear we found that all operations were very fluid with no lag, which was much less frustrating than we have found rival Samsung wearable devices.
With a 420mA battery, the SmartWatch 3 can last between two to five days on a single charge, Sony claims, which seems a bit ambitious when most devices can’t go more than a day without needing to be charged again.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fraunhofer announces real-time facial detection and analysis software for Google Glass
http://www.vision-systems.com/articles/2014/08/fraunhofer-announces-real-time-facial-detection-and-analysis-software-for-google-glass.html?cmpid=EnlVSDSeptember82014
The Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS has adapted its SHORE real-time face detection and analysis software for the Google Glass. The app detects people’s faces and determines their emotions by analyzing facial expressions.
SHORE is a software platform that is the result of years of research and development. The software runs in real time and is able to detect faces down to a minimum size of 8 x 8 pixels. When the Google Glass’s 5 MPixel camera captures an image, it is paired against a database of 10,000 annotated faces and processed using structure-based features and learning algorithms. With SHORE, Fraunhofer researchers were able to train so-called models that boast extremely high recognition rates. Specifically, it features a 91.5% front facial recognition detection rate, a 94.3% gender detection rate, and a 6.85 annual mean absolute error rate for age estimation.
All calculations are performed in real-time by the CPU integrated in the eyewear and the image data is stored in the device. SHORE for Google Glass is the first emotion recognition software to function in real-time with the wearable device.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Dominating Shipping Capacity Out Of China With New iPhones
http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/05/apple-dominating-shipping-capacity-out-of-china-with-new-iphones/?ncid=rss
According to several sources, Apple has already begun flexing its supply chain muscles by shipping so many units of upcoming devices from its manufacturing facilities to sales outlets that it is causing delays for other manufacturers.
Apple shipments via major concerns like FedEx and UPS are said to be ‘incredibly high’ for the holiday quarter, pointing to a massive number of iPhones and whatever other units Apple announces for the fall season incoming. The company is apparently flooding its channels with devices, causing shipments for other ‘top tier’ device makers to be delayed to make way for Apple products.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Moto 360: Neat gadget, but only rich nerds will bother with it
All wearable tech’s a bit lame, really. Bring back tamagotchis
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/08/moto_360_smart_watches_wearables_solution_looking_for_problem/
I used to have a wearable bit of connected technology once – and it was actually very handy. You wore it around the neck on a lanyard.
You could also make calls by speaking into it, or just pressing one button. It was light enough to wear at festivals and discreet enough so nobody thought you were a show-off or a weirdo.
It was a Nokia 6230i.
Of course, phones are too bulky and too heavy to wear comfortably round the neck with a lanyard today. So the industry has created a new inconvenience to help make its current inconvenience slightly more convenient. The new inconvenience is a £200 watch that you have to charge every day. Isn’t technology brilliant?
A Wear Watch doesn’t do anything your phone doesn’t already do, while arguably adding as much inconvenience as it takes away.
I’m sure the Moto 360 will sell a few units. It’s more convenient than the current generation of fitness bands, and blessed with Google’s support, will be better integrated with its ecosystems than current smart watches. Sony recognised as much as it dumped its own smartwatch platform for Wear. But still, all I ever see people do with smartwatches today is change the face.
“I’m bored with analogue, I’ll choose a digital face.”
Ten minutes later.
“I’m bored with this digital face, I think I’ll choose hexadecimal. Hey! Last orders is at 0xB:00”
Google must have noticed too. The 360 lets you change watch face with a double tap.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Too slow with that iPhone refresh, Apple: Android is GOBBLING up US mobile market
… And everywhere else too
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/29/android_eats_into_us_market_everywhere_else_too/
Android made further inroads into the US market at the expense of Apple, according to latest market share snapshot from tech analyst Kantar. Meanwhile, Windows Phone has stalled in 2014.
Neither finding is at all surprising. Android devices are available at prices Apple won’t compete with, and months of pre-publicity for the all-new iPhone 6 mean that any rational prospective buyer will wait for the launch, expected in a week or two.
For Windows Phone, the explanation is even simpler: there has barely been any new product launched this year, as ODMs waited, and waited, and waited for Microsoft to finish Windows Phone 8.1.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Facebook’s Auto-Play Videos Chew Up Expensive Data Plans
http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/14/09/07/2045214/facebooks-auto-play-videos-chew-up-expensive-data-plans
Another good reason to be annoyed by autoplaying videos online: it eats up dataplan allowances, making for some rude surprises.
Tomi Engdahl says:
“Apple iWatch” Launching With 1.7″ and 1.3″ Variants in October 2014
http://www.zadtech.com/apple-iwatch-can-be-launching-with-1-7-1-3-variants.html?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=referral
The wearable Apple iWatch will be launched with a OLED display . The OLED display, which will have 320 x 320 pixels resolution
It is heard from source that iWatch will have a flexible display to compete with its other big brand smart watches like Motorola, Samsung, LG etc. Samsung the brand in technology is also working on flexible display smart watch and it will also launch in the couple of months. The Apple iWatch likely to be released at the end of September or in the beginning of the October 2014.
Tomi Engdahl says:
STRAIGHT to VIDEO: Facebook to add ‘view counts’ to AUTOPLAY newsfeed vids
Will mobile bills rocket?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/08/facebook_video_autoplay_to_get_view_counts/
Facebook has apparently watched video views explode since the free content ad network decided to set them to play automatically on its News Feed.
The Mark Zuckerberg-run company said on Sunday that an average of more than 1 billion vids had been watched every day since June this year.
Facebook said yesterday that video views had mushroomed 50 per cent from May through to July. It added that more than 65 per cent of all auto-play clips were watched on mobile devices.
Now the company will add a play count to video views, just as Google’s YouTube does.
Facebook debuted the auto-play vid feature in September 2013 and then proceeded to slowly roll it out to the company’s 1.3 billion-strong userbase.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Moto 360 review—Beautiful outside, ugly inside
Motorola creates an iconic design, but pairs it with an ancient, power-hungry SoC.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/09/moto-360-review-beautiful-outside-ugly-inside/
After what seems like an eternity, the most promising Android Wear hardware has finally hit the market. While the LG G Watch and the Samsung Gear Live were first to market, the Moto 360 has always felt like the flagship device for Android Wear.
While the software seems like it’s headed in the right direction, the hardware for smartwatches has felt like a live experiment being carried out in the marketplace. Pebble has aimed for maximum battery life with a black-and-white e-paper screen, and Samsung’s hardware machine gun has been in full effect, releasing everything from a wrist-mounted smartphone to a skinny, curved OLED device focused on fitness.
Spend a few minutes with the 360 and you’ll quickly realize that the square, plastic designs other manufacturers are pushing are dead-on-arrival. The Moto 360 design is a huge step forward for smartwatches. It’s round, it’s comfortable to wear, and it looks like a normal watch.
The sad news is that, while the company mostly nailed the exterior design, Motorola totally dropped the ball when it comes to the internal components. Somehow, it managed to dig up a batch of crusty old OMAP 3 SoCs for its flagship watch. The 2010-era processor is old, slow, inefficient, and power hungry. Couple that with a 320mAh battery and we get around half the runtime of other Android Wear devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple to Launch Pilot Program For Merchant Partnership
http://bankinnovation.net/2014/09/apple-to-launch-pilot-program-for-merchant-partnership/
Apple will be launching a pilot program to develop partnerships with merchants, including retailers, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the program. The program may be related to Apple launching a loyalty/rewards program.
Rumors about Apple making a play for a loyalty rewards company heated up after Bloomberg reported that loyalty rewards company Concur was courting suitors for a sale.
Tomi Engdahl says:
5.5″ ‘iPhone 6′ said to launch in limited quantities on Sept. 19 alongside 4.7″ model
http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/09/08/55-iphone-6-said-to-launch-in-limited-quantities-on-sept-19-alongside-47-model
Tomi Engdahl says:
The hidden structure of the Apple keynote
http://qz.com/261181/the-hidden-structure-of-the-apple-keynote/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon cuts Fire phone price to $0.99 in the US, opens Germany and UK pre-orders; will ship September 30
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/09/08/amazon-cuts-fire-phone-price-0-99-us-opens-germany-uk-pre-orders-will-ship-september-30/
Amazon today announced it is cutting the Fire phone’s price in the US to $0.99 with a two-year contract. That’s significant given that one year of Amazon Prime is still included in the package and the $199 launch price just two months ago.
The Fire phone is subsidized by carriers in both European countries.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart Shirts Take the Court at US Open
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323808&
Tennis fans attending the US Open this year in New York may have a reason to give the ball boys a second look. Several of them will be sporting the latest in wearable technology — Polo Tech smart shirts designed by Ralph Lauren.
The black nylon compression shirt, currently designed only for men, includes a stretchy band that is worn on the chest and attached with snaps to a 1.5-ounce “black box” located near the left rib cage. It detects physiological data to capture movement and direction and integrates the “ABCs” of biometrics: activity, breathing, and cardiac readings. An integrated accelerometer and gyroscope help track the number of steps taken and calories burned.
The shirt serves as the sensor; it has no added plugs or wires. Conductive, silver-yarn-based threads woven into the anti-microbial, moisture-wicking fabric contact the skin and relay data via Bluetooth to the black box, which then streams the data in real time to an iPhone app
The box needs to be recharged, via USB, after approximately 30 minutes. The shirt can go in the washing machine, after the box has been detached. It’s theoretically possible that in the future a user might own several shirts and a single box.
Ralph Lauren created the shirt using technology developed by tech firm OMsignal, which is based in Montreal, Canada.
Tomi Engdahl says:
NFC: Locking iPhone Users In
It’s all about the business model
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323801&
However, the fascinating aspect of NFC in the iPhone 6 is not so much the technology itself. We know how NFC works — both for mobile payment and its simple pairing ability. In fact, more forward-looking companies, including Korean giant Samsung, integrated NFC in their smartphones and peripherals years ago. But curiously, Apple remained a staunch holdout.
The bigger game-changer, in my mind, which the introduction of iPhone 6 is expected to bring, is a breakthrough Apple has negotiated with mobile carriers, banks, and credit card companies.
Many software and hardware companies in the high-tech industry have dreamed of mobile wallets for a long time — maybe as long as two decades.
Tomi Engdahl says:
mart phones may be used to diagnose Parkinson’s disease and other diseases erode. Analysis by means of the phone carrier movement and speech.
The smartphone sensors pooled data is used to diagnose in its early days in up to 3000-patient study. Smaller, laboratory tests have shown that the phone application usually difficult to find a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease in 99 percent increments.
The Financial Times news story, Little says that examined patient to obtain objective information when he used a smart phone for a week, and the application data stored analyzing the research unit on the computer.
Parkinson’s disease, the first changes in the brain begin to make it 10 – 15 years before symptoms begin to appear on the surface. Your smartphone can tell based on the analyzes of the disease at an earlier stage.
Source: http://www.digitoday.fi/tiede-ja-teknologia/2014/09/09/lypuhelin-paljastaa-parkinsonin-taudin-99-prosentin-tarkkuudella/201412496/66?rss=6