The platform wars is over: Apple and Google both won. Microsoft wanted to be the third mobile ecosystem, and it has got clear solid third position, but quite small market share of overall smart phone market. Apple now sells around 10% of all the 1.8bn (and growing) phones sold on Earth each year and Android the next 50%, split roughly between say 2/3 Google Android outside China and 1/3 non-Google Android inside China. So Apple and Google have both won, and both got what they wanted, more or less, and that’s not going to change imminently.
Wearables and phablets will be the big device stories of 2015. I think that the wearables will be the more interesting story of them, because I expect more innovation to happen there. The smart phone side seemed to already be a little bit boring during 2014 – lack of innovation from big players – and I can’t see how somewhat bigger screen size and higher resolution would change that considerably during 2015. CES 2015 debuts the future of smartphones coming from all places – maybe not very much new and exciting.
Say good-buy to to astronomical growth in smart phone sales in developed countries, as smartphone market is nearly saturated in certain regions. There will be still growth in east (China, India etc..), but most of this growth will be taken by the cheap Android phones made by companies that you might have not heard before because many of them don’t sell their products in western countries. The sales of “dumb phones” will decrease as cheap smart phone will take over. Over time this will expand such that smartphones take almost all phone sales (perhaps 400m or 500m units a quarter), with Apple taking the high-end and Android the rest.
The current biggest smart phone players (Samsung and Apple) will face challenges. Samsung’s steep Q3 profit decline shows ongoing struggles in mobile – Customers sought out lower priced older models and bought a higher percentage of mid-range smartphones, or bought from some other company making decent quality cheap phones. Samsung has long counted on its marketing and hardware prowess to attract customers seeking an alternative to Apple’s iPhone. But the company is now facing new competition from low-cost phone vendors such as China’s Xiaomi and India’s Micromax, which offer cheap devices with high-end specs in their local markets.
Apple has a very strong end of 2014 sales in USA: 51% of new devices activated during Christmas week were Apple, 18% were Samsung, 6% Nokia — Apple and Apps Dominated Christmas 2014 — Millions of people woke up and unwrapped a shiny new device under the Christmas tree. It is expected that Apple also will see slowing sales in 2015: Tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has predicted Apple will face a grim start to 2015 with iPhone sales plummeting by up to a third.
In few years there’ll be close to 4bn smartphones on earth. Ericsson’s annual mobility report forecasts increasing mobile subscriptions and connections through 2020.(9.5B Smartphone Subs by 2020 and eight-fold traffic increase). Ericsson’s annual mobility report expects that by 2020 90% of the world’s population over six years old will have a phone. It really talks about the connected world where everyone will have a connection one way or another.
What about the phone systems in use. Now majority of the world operates on GSM and HPSA (3G). Some countries are starting to have good 4G (LTE) coverage, but on average only 20% is covered by LTE. Ericsson expects that 85% of mobile subscriptions in the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa will be 3G or 4G by 2020. 75%-80% of North America and Western Europe are expected to be using LTE by 2020. China is by far the biggest smartphone market by current users in the world, and it is rapidly moving into high-speed 4G technology.
It seems that we change our behavior when networks become better: In South Korea, one third of all people are doing this ‘place shifting’ over 4G networks. When faster networks are taken into use, the people will start to use applications that need more bandwidth, for example watch more streamed video on their smart phones.
We’re all spending more time with smartphones and tablets. So much so that the “second screen” may now be the “first screen,” depending on the data you read. Many of us use both TV and mobile simultaneously: quickly responding to email, texting with friends, or browsing Twitter and the news if I lose interest with the bigger screen. Whatever it is I’m watching, my smartphone is always close at hand. There is rapid increase of mobile device usage—especially when it comes to apps.
The use of digital ads on mobile devices is increasing. Digital ad spend is forecast to increase 15% in 2015, with research saying it will equal ad spending on television by 2019. Mobile and social media will drive 2015 spending on digital to $163 billion, with mobile ad spending expected to jump 45%. “Almost all the growth is from mobile”
Mobile virtual reality will be talked about. 3D goggles like Sony Morpheus and Facebook’s Optimus Rift will get some attention. We’ll see them refined for augmented reality apps. hopefully we see DIY virtual reality kits that use current handsets and don’t cost thousands.
Google glass consumer market interest was fading in the end of 2014, and I expect that fading to continue in 2015. It seems that developers already may be losing interest in the smart eyewear platform. Google glass is expected to be consumer sales sometime in 2015, some fear consumer demand for Glass isn’t there right now and may never materialize. “All of the consumer glass startups are either completely dead or have pivoted” Although Google continues to say it’s 100% committed to Glass and the development of the product, the market may not be.
The other big headliner of the wearables segment was Apple’s basic $350 Watch. Apple invest its time when it released the Apple Watch last quarter, going up against the likes of Google’s Android Wear and others in the burgeoning wearables area of design. Once Apple’s bitten into a market, it’s somewhat a given that there’s good growth ahead and that the market is, indeed, stable enough.
As we turn to 2015 and beyond wearables becomes an explosive hardware design opportunity — one that is closely tied to both consumer and healthcare markets. It could pick up steam in the way software did during the smartphone app explosion. It seems that the hardware becomes hot again as Wearables make hardware the new software. It’s an opportunity that is still anyone’s game. Wearables will be important end-points both for cloud and for messaging. The wearable computing market is one of the biggest growth areas in tech. BI Intelligence estimates that 148 million wearable devices like smartwatches and fitness trackers will ship in 2019.
I see that wearables will be big in 2015 mainly in the form of smart watch. According to a survey by UBS, 10% of consumers said they were very likely to buy a smartwatch in 2015, even though so far, no smartwatches have resonated with consumers. I expect the Sales of fitness wearables to plunge in 2015 owing to smartwatch takeover. In the future you need to look at exercise and fashion products as being in the same space. Samsung, Motorola, LG, and Apple debuted or announced smartwatches in 2014, so it’s no surprise that smartwatches are expected to be huge in Las Vegas at CES January’s show.
The third mobile ecosystem Windows phone has some new thing coming as Microsoft ready to show off Windows 10 mobile SKU on January 21. But it does not well motivating to me. After all, the vision of a unified Microsoft world extending across all screens is great, and it’s what Microsoft has needed all along to make Windows Phone a winner. The problem that hits me: if you fail enough times at the same thing, people stop believing you. It’s not just that Microsoft keeps failing to integrate its mobile, desktop, and console products. But Microsoft keeps claiming it will, which starts to loose credibility.
Mobile will change on-line sales in 2015: Phones have already radically altered both the way Americans shop and how retail goods move about the economy, but the transformation is just beginning — and it is far from guaranteed that Amazon will emerge victorious from the transition (this will also apply to other “traditional” players in that space).
Mobile payment technology reaching maybe finally reaching critical mass this year. Long predicted but always seeming to be “just around the corner,” mobile payments may finally have arrived. While Apple’s recent Apple Pay announcement may in retrospect be seen as launching the coming mobile payment revolution, the underlying technologies – and alternative solutions – have been emerging for some time. Maybe it isn’t going to replace the credit card but it’s going to replace the wallet — the actual physical thing crammed with cards, cash, photos and receipts. When you are out shopping, it’s the wallet, not the credit card, that is the annoyance.
Mobile money is hot also in developing countries: ordinary people in Africa using an SMS text-based currency called M-Pesa. M-Pesa was invented as a virtual currency by mobile network provider Vodafone after it was discovered that its airtime minutes were being used and traded in by people in Africa in lieu of actual money. In Kenya, a critical mass was quickly reached, and today, over 70% of the 40 million Kenyans use M-Pesa.
Mobile security will be talked about. Asian mobiles the DDOS threat of 2015, security mob says article tells that Vietnam, India and Indonesia will be the distributed denial of service volcanoes of next year due to the profieration of pwned mobiles.
Intel is heavily pushing to mobile and wearable markets. Intel is expected to expand its smartphone partnership with Lenovo: Intel will provide both its 64-bit Atom processor and LTE-Advanced modem chips for the Lenovo phones. The 4G phones follow Intel’s announcement in October of its first 4G smartphone in the US, the Asus PadFone X Mini. Now Intel remains well behind Qualcomm — which controls two-thirds of the global mobile modem market — and MediaTek as a supplier of chips for smartphones and tablets. Intel faces tough competition trying to fight its way into mobile — a market it ignored for years. Intel in early 2015 will introduce its first 4G system-on-a-chip under the new SoFIA name. Such chips include both a processor and modem together and are sought after by handset makers because they’re smaller in size than separate processor and radio chips, and use less power (matching Qualcomm’s Snapdragon).
Mobile chip leader Qualcomm will be going strong in 2015. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 is not only a killer part, it has raised the bar on what a mobile SoC has to be in 2015. It can power devices that drive 4K (3840 x 2160) TV, take 4K videos, run AAA games and connect to 5-inch HD display. There are finished, branded products just waiting to be released. I am convinced Qualcomm is on track to deliver commercial devices with Snapdragon 810 in mid-2015. I expect Qualcomm to be strong leader throughout 2015.
More material worth to check out:
New questions in mobile
http://ben-evans.com/benedictevans/2014/11/20/time-for-new-questions-in-mobile
What’s Next in Wireless: My 2015 Predictions
http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/issues-insights-blog/2015-predictions.htm
1,230 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung starts sending out press invitations for March 1st, hints at curved design
http://www.sammobile.com/2015/02/02/samsung-starts-sending-out-press-invitations-for-march-1st-hints-at-curved-design/
Press invites for an event scheduled for March 1st have finally started making rounds. The date had long been rumoured to host the launch of the next-gen Samsung flagship, i.e., the Galaxy S6. Emphasis is on curved design, as seen on the invite itself.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Navigating with Haptics
http://www.edn.com/design/power-management/4438536/Navigating-with-Haptics?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150202&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150202&elq=36174b3d0b6545f3a4798dfcc271a2e6&elqCampaignId=21439
Let’s be honest, if it was not for navigation on phones or in cars, most of us would not be able to get anywhere. There seems to be such a huge dependency on navigation technology today that it is unclear how anyone got anywhere before it. Needless to say, the technology is here to stay. The constant improvement and innovation around it are making it even easier for people to locate and navigate to anything or anywhere they want.
Looking at my phone, while running, was not easy since it kept bouncing around.
On the run I began thinking that there has to be better solution to my navigation predicament.
I did not just happen to stumble upon vibration feedback as a possible solution.
Haptics is great for alerting a person when their other senses are preoccupied, or for reinforcing audio or visual feedback. Here are some of the cool things you can do with haptics:
Alert the user with a distinct vibration to turn either left or right
Alert the user when they have reached a distance milestone
Help the user keep pace or cadence by providing a vibration metronome (I could have used this one)
Alert the user of an incoming message or phone call
Even remind the user to exercise with a distinct buzz
There are a number of ways to use haptics to provide navigation cues. Think about vibration feedback in shoes while walking or running (Figure 1). When you reach a turn, either the left or right shoe will signal your next direction. This is great for runners, mountain climbers, hikers, bikers, or even tourists in a new city like me who need directions while remaining active. Haptic applications like this could also help visually impaired individuals navigate large cities with ease.
So what does a system like this look like? The system consists of two main blocks: the navigation device and the haptic user interface (Figure 3). A smart watch, smartphone, or dedicated navigation device can be used to generate the navigation commands. The commands are mapped to a specific actuator (for example, left or right handle bar), and to a specific haptic effect (such as a triple buzz for a sharp turn) and then sent over Bluetooth® to the Bluetooth microcontroller (MCU). The Bluetooth MCU interprets the received effect, and then triggers the haptic driver to generate the correct haptic vibration.
Actuator type – There are two main types of vibration actuators: eccentric rotating mass motor (ERM), and linear resonant actuator (LRA).
The ERM is a traditional motor with an offset mass. When a DC voltage is applied, the offset mass begins to spin to create force.
The LRA is a spring-mass system inside a metal housing. These are commonly used in smartphones because they create good vibration force, but also respond quickly to an applied voltage. This allows LRAs to create clicks and complex amplitude modulated effects.
Acceleration – The vibration force the actuator generates while moving is calculated by measuring acceleration. Higher acceleration is important to get the user’s attention
Mounting – Actuators come in a number of shapes and sizes, but the real trick is figuring out how to mount them in a system.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smart ring allows wearer to “air-write” messages with a fingertip
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/tech-edge/4438526/Smart-ring-allows-wearer-to–air-write–messages-with-a-fingertip?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150202&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150202&elq=36174b3d0b6545f3a4798dfcc271a2e6&elqCampaignId=21439
Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd has announced the development of what it calls a “compact and lightweight wearable ring-type device that offers handwriting-input functionality and a reader for near-field communications (NFC) tags.”
Designed to be worn on the index finger, the ring includes motion sensors (an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetic sensor) for text input, an NFC tag reader, and wireless communication functionality and is able to identify the movements users make with their fingertips as they write in the air. To begin air-writing, the wearer uses his or her thumb to press an operation button, which allows operation with just one hand.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stacey Higginbotham / Gigaom:
Cisco mobile network report: data traffic to grow tenfold to 25 exabytes/month by 2019
The whole world is sucking down mobile data like it’s water
http://gigaom.com/2015/02/03/the-whole-world-is-sucking-down-mobile-data-like-its-water/
We may be pushing more of our cellular activity over to Wi-Fi, but we’re still guzzling mobile data like it’s going out of style, according to the latest estimates from Cisco’s Mobile Visual Networking Index.
And when it comes to cellular, the entire world is going to go from consuming about 2.5 exabytes a month in 2014 to 25 exabytes a month in 2019, with a large portion of that growth coming from new device users in developing countries in Latin America, China and the Middle East. Just for comparison’s sake, an exabyte is a billion gigabytes. My cellular plan lets me have 5GB a month
That’s a lot of cellular activity and some of that will be spread among 2G, 3G and 4G connections according to the folks at Cisco. But what’s more notable is that the individual data usage will increase so much — from almost 2GB used per month in 2014 in North American to almost 11 GB — brought about in part by adding more devices to the network. Think about not only traditional tablets and laptops, but also cars and connected gadgets, such as backup connections for a home hub or a connected medical device.
It’s worth noting here that these numbers do not include Wi-Fi offload, which worldwide takes about 44 percent of the traffic off the network, according to Barnett. In the U.S., that number is about 66 percent.
The big drivers behind this growth won’t surprise many: People coming online and more devices. In developing countries, people coming online and the rise of smartphones in the hands of those people will drive much of the traffic growth in those countries.
In North America and Western Europe, the reason for traffic growth will come from more video consumption, but also more devices coming online in the form of the internet of things.
Meanwhile Cisco estimated that currently only two million wearables were connected to the cellular network in 2014 and estimated that number would only increase to about 42 million by 2019
Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI)
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/index.html
Tomi Engdahl says:
VMware bolstering mobile device management tools with Immidio buy
http://www.zdnet.com/article/vmware-bolstering-mobile-device-management-tools-with-immidio-buy/
Summary:Founded in 2008, Amsterdam-based Immidio touts its BYOD approach as one that considers and values end user and IT needs equally.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lauren Goode / Re/code:
Review of three new Fitbits: accuracy of heart-rate sensors in Charge HR and Surge disappoints
Three New Fitbits: See How They Run
http://recode.net/2015/02/02/three-new-fitbits-see-how-they-run/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Alastair Stevenson / V3.co.uk:
Samsung and Good Technology launch container and secure app ecosystem for Knox platform
Samsung secures Android apps with Good for Knox upgrade
http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2393459/samsung-secures-android-apps-with-good-for-knox-upgrade
Samsung and Good Technology have launched a joint mobile security suite for enterprise Android users nearly a year after first announcing plans for the service.
Good for Samsung Knox combines Good Technology’s app container security tool and enterprise app ecosystem with Samsung’s Knox mobile security and management platform.
The integration was announced at Mobile World Congress 2014 and creates a ‘Good-Secured’ domain within Knox.
The domain separates, protects and manages Good Technology’s apps as well as unspecified custom apps that have been checked by the Good Dynamics Secure Mobility Platform.
The Knox platform is based on the US National Security Agency’s Security Enhanced Linux technology.
It is designed to offer IT managers similar sandboxing powers to those on the BlackBerry Balance, creating separate encrypted work and personal areas on devices.
Knox also offers certificate management, VPN+ and enterprise mobility management services, which Good Technology also supports.
Samsung executive vice president Injong Rhee described the launch as a key step in the firm’s efforts to allay enterprise customers’ concerns about Android security.
“Together, Samsung and Good are addressing the growing importance of mobility management for enterprises by delivering a secure mobile productivity solution for Android that will relieve organisations of past concerns with Android adoption,” he said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ina Fried / Re/code:
ARM says next-generation A72 chip can triple the performance of today’s chips, or match performance while using 75% less power — ARM Says Next-Gen A72 Chip Paves Way for Thinner, More Power-Efficient Phones — ARM, the British company whose chip designs are at the core of nearly …
ARM Says Next-Gen A72 Chip Paves Way for Thinner, More Power-Efficient Phones
http://recode.net/2015/02/03/arm-says-next-gen-a72-chip-paves-way-for-thinner-more-power-efficient-phones/
ARM, the British company whose chip designs are at the core of nearly all mobile phone processors, on Tuesday showed off a new processor core it says can deliver three times as much performance as designs using its A15 processor.
Perhaps more importantly, ARM says the new A72 — due out in phones by next year — can use 75 percent less power while offering the same performance as those chips.
Some of the power and performance gains come from changes to ARM’s chip design, while others bank on the fact that the new chip is expected to be manufactured in plants using a thinner 16-nanometer generation of transistors.
In addition to the new processor core, ARM also updated its Mali graphics technology and the layer that connects the different parts of the processor together.
ARM doesn’t make chips itself, but rather licenses its chip designs to nearly all mobile processor makers, including Qualcomm, Samsung, Apple and Nvidia. ARM says it has 10 licensees already for the new chip design, including mobile chipmakers Rockchip and Mediatek.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft quietly launches a free lock screen replacement app for Android
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2015/02/03/microsoft-quietly-launches-free-lock-screen-replacement-app-android/
Things are busy at Microsoft Garage, where the company’s employees share experimental projects they’ve been working on. The most recent release is Picturesque Lock Screen, a free Android app that adds useful functions, handy shortcuts and beautiful images to your lock screen.
Picturesque Lock Screen feels almost like a second home screen. It features multiple screens that you scroll through and adds a Bing search bar, a customizable news feed, weather reports, device notifications, shortcuts to frequently used apps and settings toggles. It also pulls in the daily Bing homepage image to use as a background and lets you swipe through images from the past week to use.
I generally like my lock screens to offer a layer of security and to load quickly. And when I’m at home, I’ve got Smart Unlock activated to skip the pattern lock I’ve set so I can quickly start using my phone as soon as I pick it up.
With Picturesque, you don’t have the option of really locking your phone down
Tomi Engdahl says:
ARM Cores Take on PC Processors
2016 handsets to run 4K video, console games
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325546&
ARM announced a new processor core, GPU core, and interconnect targeted for mobile SoCs. The 64-bit Cortex-A72 processor core, Mali-T880 graphics core, and CoreLink CCI-500 aim to power a new class of mobile devices that “serve as your primary and only compute platform.”
While slim on specs, ARM promises that its Cortex-A72 processor will deliver 3.5 times the performance of its Cortex-A15 devices while consuming 75% less power. ARM says its Mali-T880 graphics cores are similarly impressive in generation-over-generation improvements supporting resolutions up to 4K pixels at 120 frames/second.
Phones using the cores are expected in 2016 that deliver video with the quality of a set-top box, console-class gaming and virtual reality experiences while staying in a smartphone power budget, said Nandan Nayampally, an ARM vice president of marketing. ARM officials are banking on its wide ecosystem of partners to redirect content from PCs and TVs to the new handsets.
“I think ARM is throwing down a bit of a gauntlet saying they are going to be able to do all the content creation and the virtual reality and the other things that everybody thought they needed a midrange or high-end PC to do,” said Nathan Brookwood, principal of market watcher Insight64.
Several ARM partners in the film, communications, and gaming industries at an event here said they were encouraged by the ways the compute improvements and a power consumption decreases could affect their industries.
An engineer from headset maker Oculus said the high level performance of Mali cores and their competitors allow for real time scheduling and other immersive experiences. Oculus uses a Cortex-M3 microcontroller from ST Micro in its Rift virtual-reality goggles. Samsung’s version of the headset, co-developed with Oculus, runs on a Cortex A-15 and A7 and Mali cores in the Samsung Galaxy S4.
“We found some surprising things about mobile SoCs and GPUs that were very helpful in making virtual reality happen,”
More than ten partners, including HiSilicon, MediaTek, and Rockchip, have licensed the Cortex-A72, which is based on the ARMv8-A architecture and is backward compatible with existing 32-bit software.
With the new cores, ARM continues its practice of providing so-called POP IP, this time for TSMC’s 16nm FinFET+ process, to help chip makers rapidly migrate from 32nm or 28nm process nodes with predictable performance and power results. In the 16nm TSMC process the new Cortex-A72 can run at a sustained 2.5 GHz data rate, ARM said.
playing catch up when it comes to GPUs
“Now, if you have the highest [graphics] performance you’re either Qualcomm, Nvidia, or using an Imagination GPU,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Who Gains the Most from ARM’s New IP?
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1325545&
Introducing new IP, ARM also forecasts tablet’s demise.
A suite of new IP — ranging from ARM Cortex A72 processor to cache coherent interconnect and new Mali T880 GPU — announced by ARM Tuesday (Feb. 3) has exposed some of the leading processing-core company’s hopes and dreams for mobile phones in 2016.
Next year’s mobiles, as envisioned by ARM, will go beyond mere phones to become “primary computing platforms,” said Ian Ferguson, vice president, segment marketing at ARM.
The 2016 mobile phones will be able to see, hear and understand users much better, through a new set of interfaces (going beyond voice, including gestures).
The growing CPU and GPU processing power enabled by ARM’s new IP cores also suggests that the next-generation phone will be up to the task of “creating content,” instead of just consuming it, Ferguson added.
Sensor data will be captured, processed and analyzed more locally, instead of being sent to the cloud, according to ARM. Phones will cease to be just a “conduit,” said Ferguson.
But really, who will gain most from ARM’s new IP?
The answer is China. Most striking in ARM’s announcement is the undeniable rising power of Asian fablesses, foundries and consumers that ARM is poised to serve.
I’m sure Apple, Samsung and Qualcomm all have plans to leverage ARM’s new IP, but their primary focus is more on developing their own custom CPU architecture.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) also comes out as a big winner. ARM’s new physical IP suite is optimized for the TSMC 16nm FinFET+ process. Announcements on support for other foundries will probably come later
Chip companies interested in enabling “All-Day Compute Devices” using ARM’s new cores in 2016 mobile phones are likely to resort to TSMC’s 16nm FinFET process, but not others.
Asian consumers are also playing an important role in deciding the desired features and functions in 2016 mobile phones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Re/code:
Apple Taps Samsung to Manufacture Next iPhone Chip — Apple is discovering it’s harder to split from Samsung than it would like. — The company has used Samsung for all manner of components, though it has been working to reduce reliance on its chief rival.
http://recode.net/2015/02/04/apple-taps-samsung-to-manufacture-next-iphone-chip/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Android Police:
The Next Android Revision Is Indeed ‘Android 5.1 Lollipop’, Shipping On Android One Phones, Coming To Nexus Devices
http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/02/04/the-next-android-revision-is-indeed-android-5-1-lollipop-already-shipping-on-android-one-phones-coming-soon-to-nexus-devices/
Chance Miller / 9to5Google:
Android 5.0 Lollipop to begin rolling out to Sprint’s Galaxy S5 tomorrow
http://9to5google.com/2015/02/04/galaxy-s5-sprint-lollipop/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Christina Farr / Reuters:
Fourteen of 23 top US hospitals have rolled out a pilot program of Apple’s HealthKit service — Exclusive: Apple’s health tech takes early lead among top hospitals — (Reuters) – Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) healthcare technology is spreading quickly among major U.S. hospitals …
Exclusive: Apple’s health tech takes early lead among top hospitals
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/05/us-apple-hospitals-exclusive-idUSKBN0L90G920150205
Apple Inc’s (AAPL.O) healthcare technology is spreading quickly among major U.S. hospitals, showing early promise as a way for doctors to monitor patients remotely and lower costs.
Fourteen of 23 top hospitals contacted by Reuters said they have rolled out a pilot program of Apple’s HealthKit service – which acts as a repository for patient-generated health information like blood pressure, weight or heart rate – or are in talks to do so.
The pilots aim to help physicians monitor patients with such chronic conditions as diabetes and hypertension. Apple rivals Google Inc (GOOGL.O) and Samsung Electronics (005930.KS), which have released similar services, are only just starting to reach out to hospitals and other medical partners.
Apple’s HealthKit works by gathering data from sources such as glucose measurement tools, food and exercise-tracking apps and Wi-fi connected scales. The company’s Apple Watch, due for release in April, promises to add to the range of possible data
“If we had more data, like daily weights, we could give the patient a call before they need to be hospitalized,” said Chief Clinical Transformation Officer Dr. Richard Milani.
Sumit Rana, chief technology officer at Epic Systems, said the timing was right for mobile health tech to take off.
“We didn’t have smartphones ten years ago; or an explosion of new sensors and devices,” Rana said.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Here’s how souped-up your smartphone will be in 2016
http://www.cnet.com/news/arm-unveils-processor-and-graphics-chip-designs-of-2016/
British chip designer ARM introduces two new processors that will lead to slimmed-down phones that can run faster and longer.
The British chip-design firm, whose technology is used in nearly every smartphone, unveiled Tuesday more-powerful technologies — the Cortex-A72 processor and Mali-T880 graphics chip — that should be coming to smartphones in 2016.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google acquires maker of Toontastic storytelling app
http://www.cnet.com/news/google-acquires-toontastic-for-tike-friendly-tinkering/
The search giant scoops up Launchpad Toys and its popular make-your-own cartoon app for kids, which is now free to all users.
Launchpad Toys offers a few kid-friendly mobile apps, including augmented reality app TeleStory, but Toontastic has proven to be its most popular child-focused mobile program. Toontastic is a storytelling app that allows kids to create their own cartoons and tell a story. The app is designed for Apple’s iPad, and as the company puts it, is essentially a modern-day puppet show.
Once those shows are put on, they can be recorded and shared with others.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Makers Of “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood” Will Release A Katy Perry Game
http://www.buzzfeed.com/sapna/glu-katy-perry-game#.kaew5l3v
Glu Mobile, the company behind “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood,” says it’s repeating its formula with Katy Perry. (You know, the singer who was the backup act for Left Shark at the Super Bowl.)
Tomi Engdahl says:
Topics:
Smartphones and Devices
Sony confirms it will axe another 1,100 employees in mobile unit
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sony-confirms-it-will-axe-another-1100-employees-mobile-unit/2015-02-04
Sony confirmed it will cut another 1,100 employees from its Mobile Communications business, on top of the 1,000 job cuts it had already announced in that unit. The company, which disclosed the job cuts in conjunction with its quarterly earnings report, will prune the mobile division down to 5,000 employees by March 2016, a 28 percent cut to a unit that Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai said in the past would be a key element of the company’s electronics business.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Corinne Gretler / Bloomberg Business:
Swatch to sell smartwatch within 3 months that will allow mobile payments, work with Windows and Android, use the internet “without having to be charged” —
Swatch Plans Smartwatch to Compete With Apple Watch’s Debut
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-05/swatch-plans-smartwatch-to-compete-with-apple-watch-s-debut
(Bloomberg) — Swatch Group AG plans to start selling a smartwatch within the next three months, potentially pitting the Swiss maker of colorful plastic timepieces against the debut of the Apple Watch.
The device will communicate via a form of technology known as NFC and won’t have to be charged, Chief Executive Officer Nick Hayek said in an interview. The Swatch smartwatch will also let consumers make mobile payments and work with Windows and Android software, he said.
Hayek is ready to go head-to-head with Apple Inc., which has scheduled its smartwatch introduction for April. The market for such timepieces, which enable phone or data communication, will probably reach about $10 billion in 2018, Citigroup Inc. analysts forecast last year, with half of the market coming from traditional watch wearers switching to the devices.
Skeptic’s U-turn
Hayek has been skeptical about the smartwatch’s potential. Two years ago, he said that he didn’t think the smartwatch would be a “revolution” for the industry.
Last year, he said Swatch won’t participate in a race to be first in developing the products because of consumer resistance. He once said Swatch’s luxury brands such as Blancpain are smartwatches because “they make you look smart.”
“Entrepreneurs are practical people, and they care more about being successful than being consistent,”
A few high-end Swiss watch brands, owned by luxury-goods makers LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA and Richemont, have been dipping a toe into the market. LVMH’s TAG Heuer plans to release a smartwatch this year, featuring GPS functions and health monitoring. Richemont’s Montblanc has unveiled an “e-Strap,” an interchangeable watch band that can track the wearer’s activities and can help find the user’s mobile phone via Bluetooth technology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ben Popper / The Verge:
Bill Gates says mobile banking solutions like M-PESA will revolutionize the lives of the poor within 15 years
Guest editor Bill Gates
Can mobile banking revolutionize the lives of the poor?
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/4/7966043/bill-gates-future-of-banking-and-mobile-money
As detailed in a 2012 study from the SIT Graduate Institute, residents of Sori traditionally kept their money at home. Theft was a constant concern, and many of the women interviewed reported their husbands misappropriating their savings. For many, traditional banks were either too far away, or demanded minimum deposits the villagers could not afford.
All that changed in 2007 with the introduction of M-PESA, a mobile service that allows Kenyans to store and transfer their money using only a cell phone. Funds can be exchanged over the network using SMS messages, meaning it works on almost any mobile phone. M-PESA agents spread throughout the country allow users to convert their credit to cash and deposit or withdraw from their accounts. The majority of Sori women interviewed for the study now keep their savings in M-PESA accounts, safe from criminals and wasteful purchases.
M-PESA also revolutionized how the women sold their goods. Prior to M-PESA, the women worked only in cash.
Of the 2.5 billion people in the world who have no access to a traditional bank, approximately 1 billion have a mobile phone. The widespread adoption of mobile phones has enabled some of the poorest economies on earth to leapfrog ahead of developed nations when it comes to tech-driven financial solutions.
A report in The Atlantic noted that adults in Sub-Saharan Africa are three times more likely to use mobile money as their counterparts in Europe and the Americas. In fact, another recent report found nine African nations now have more mobile pay accounts than traditional bank accounts.
Kenya is frequently cited as a successful example of how mobile money can dramatically transform a country’s economy. In 2006, less than 30 percent of adults in the country had access to formal financial services. Thanks to M-PESA, today that figure stands above 65 percent. Developed by telecom giants Vodafone and Safaricom with the blessing of the Central Bank of Kenya, by 2010 M-PESA was considered the most successful mobile money service in the developing world. In 2014, the service processed over $20 billion in transactions, a figure equal to more than 40 percent of the nation’s GDP.
Widespread adoption has bolstered Kenya’s economy
But as banks, governments, and telecommunication companies have learned, replicating the success of M-PESA in other developing nations is not so simple.
Between 2010 and 2013, mobile money services began a push to expand in countries like India, Nigeria, and Brazil, but onlookers were dismayed by the pace of adoption. “There have been about 200 of these experiments around the world, and maybe only four or five have been successful,” Michael Joseph, director of mobile commerce at Vodafone, told Financial Times.
“People thought it was this magic service that would pull us all out of poverty, but it wasn’t working like it did in Kenya anywhere else in the world. Do you know the hype cycle? Well the last few years have been our trough of disillusionment.”
“The government and the financial institutions [in Kenya] were comfortable with a lot more risk.”
That risk included the use of M-PESA by criminals to move illicit proceeds. Laundering dirty money was now as simple as sending a text message. “Most countries would hesitate to help a massive channel for illegal transfers like that to develop,” says Abhishek Chauhan, a mobile banking analyst with Frost & Sullivan. “People were aware that this was being used by drug lords and smugglers.”
in countries like India, where a robust banking sector already exists, mobile payments have been less successful.
There are now well-established markets with multiple competitors across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
But whether or not mobile payments can significantly address global poverty is up for debate. “I think there is some evidence that the basic deposit, withdraw, and send functions help poor people to have more choices, more convenience, more privacy, and more security in their financial lives,” says CGAP’s McKay. “But people thought it was a magic service that would pull us all out of poverty. I would not say that mobile money in and of itself is going to pull people out of poverty. That would be going too far.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gregory Ferenstein / VentureBeat:
Wearable World incubator acquires tech blog ReadWrite
Wearable World incubator acquires tech blog ReadWrite
http://venturebeat.com/2015/02/05/wearable-world-incubator-acquires-tech-blog-readwrite/
VentureBeat has learned that Say Media has sold the technology blog ReadWrite to Silicon Valley-based incubator Wearable World for an undisclosed amount.
ReadWriteWeb, as it was originally called, is a developer-focused tech blog, and has been a staple of the tech blogosphere since its launch in 2003. But parent company Say Media has run into trouble lately
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadWrite
Tomi Engdahl says:
An insider’s guide to designing near-eye displays
http://www.edn.com/design/led/4438562/Design-tips-for-near-eye-displays—?_mc=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150205&cid=NL_EDN_EDT_EDN_today_20150205&elq=85156694d4bf41f896e62d171c512dc1&elqCampaignId=21506
There are a variety of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) near-eye display (NED) solutions currently in development, and the viability of a visual experience that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world continues to grow. Let’s take an in-depth look at some of the top challenges for designing a compelling see-through near eye display solution that “seamlessly” blends the digital world with the physical world.
Display Latency – The key to creating a real-time experience
First considering system latency, there are many system-level components which contribute to the latency experienced by the user. For our purposes, we will focus on the portion associated with the display engine, which can be divided into two components:
Display (Pixel) Latency = Pixel Data Update Time + Pixel Switching Time
Texas Instruments DLP® Pico chips have some of the fastest pixel speeds available and can flip each digital micromirror (pixel) thousands of times per second, thereby reducing the display latency, and thus supporting display frame rates up to 120Hz while maintaining high image quality.
Contrast – The key to visually blending digital content with the real world
In addition to delivering a low-latency, real-time experience, the ideal NED solution should deliver transparent content with high clarity so as to not obstruct the end user’s view of the real world.
It is important to note that within a see-through NED optical system, the image is not being displayed on a semi-transparent surface (i.e., eyeglass lenses). Displaying on a semi-transparent surface would not be effective since such a surface would, by definition, be very close to the user’s eye, and the eye cannot comfortably focus on something so close. Rather than creating an image on a surface, the optical system forms an optical pupil and the human eye acts as the last element in the optical chain – thereby creating the final image on the eye’s retina.
A common see-through NED optical system will include a waveguide optical element which collects the light at the input and relays it towards the user’s eye. Such an arrangement not only forms the necessary optical pupil, but it also allows the micro-display, optics and illumination to be positioned so as to not obstruct the user’s view.
Numerous elements in the NED design can impact the contrast ratio
A higher F-number enables a higher contrast ratio – as well as reduced optical complexity and smaller optics size.
The human eye has an almost 180-degree horizontal FOV. Augmented reality headsets typically have a 20 to 60 degree FOV, which is sufficient to result in a natural viewing experience. In comparison, typical smart glasses solutions tend to have a smaller FOV that the user must unnaturally glance at periodically. The trend in most see-through NED applications is toward a wider FOV. A wider FOV will also allow the display to overlay more content across the user’s natural view of the real world, thereby providing a higher quality viewing experience.
The design challenges require trade-offs that directly impact the end-user experience.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nick Summers / Engadget:
First Ubuntu phone, a repurposed mid-range BQ Android phone, goes on flash sale in EU next week for $195
The first Ubuntu phone arrives next week, but there’s a catch
http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/06/ubuntu-phone-launch/
It’s been a long time coming, but finally Canonical is ready to release its first Ubuntu phone. After teaming up with Meizu and BQ almost a year ago, we’re getting a (sort of) new handset from the latter; it’s actually a repurposed version of its Aquaris E4.5, a mid-range smartphone that normally ships with Android. The new “Ubuntu Edition” keeps all of the same hardware, which is nothing to write home about.
Where Canonical and BQ are hoping to break the mould is with their software and sales strategy. Taking a page from the playbook of Chinese firms such as Xiaomi, the first Ubuntu handset will be sold, at least to begin with, through a series of online flash sales.
The first of these is next week and a handful of European carriers will be offering special SIM bundles to early adopters.
The software experience is certainly unique, and the company’s work around Scopes — categorised home screens that aggregate content from multiple sources — sets it apart from iOS and Android. “We are going for the mass market,”
Tomi Engdahl says:
James Vincent / The Verge:
HTC reports profits of $15.9M from revenue of $1.5B for Q4, its third consecutive profitable quarter
HTC reports slim profit for third consecutive quarter
http://www.theverge.com/2015/2/6/7991355/htc-earnings-report-slim-profit
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Sleep-Tracking Wearables Help Solve Real Medical Problems
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/sleep-tracking-wearables/
Every year, nearly a million exhausted people with sleep apnea—a breathing disorder caused when throat muscles relax and block the airway during sleep—get into car accidents, causing over a thousand deaths. Apnea is linked to obesity, heart disease, diabetes, an additional $3.4 billion in medical costs, and $16 billion in auto collision costs. Even though apnea has telltale signs (loud snoring, daytime fatigue), it goes undiagnosed 75 percent of the time.
Why? It’s damned expensive and horrendously inconvenient to diagnose sleep apnea. Polysomnography, the standard medical sleep study, requires a medical technician to attach 22 wires to a person’s body and monitor them all night long. The average cost is nearly $3,000. In the world of high-deductible health plans, that payment comes right out of the patient’s pocket. Follow-up testing to measure the effectiveness of treatment is financially unthinkable. The idea of doing clinical sleep studies once a month to monitor progress is a diagnostic crack-pipe fantasy.
Enter wearables, specifically the “pro-sumer” variety with FDA clearance and clinical backing. Unlike first-generation activity trackers that measure movement and sometimes heartbeat, clinical consumer wearables like the recently released SleepImage can measure heart rhythm (ECG), breathing volume, and snoring (through tissue vibration). They can also keep tabs on body movement as well as position—whether a person is sleeping on their back, side, or belly. Algorithms calculate the second-to-second relationship between heart rate variability and breathing variability. This relationship between heart and breathing rhythms, known as cardio-pulmonary coupling, maps to the sleep stages and breathing disruptions that previously only a polysomnogram could measure.
Pro-sumer wearables—consumer devices that generate clinically relevant biometric data—are not (yet) cheap. The SleepImage is $249. Its consumer-level data service is $99 a year, and its prescription-level data service is $149 per year. But it’s an order of magnitude cheaper than polysomnography, and it’s two orders of magnitude cheaper if used four nights in a row, or once a month for half a year, to see whether measures to address the problem
Tomi Engdahl says:
Paul Carsten / Reuters:
China’s Alibaba to invest $590 million in smartphone maker Meizu
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/09/us-alibaba-group-meizu-idUSKBN0LD03H20150209
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica:
The first Tizen smartphone isn’t an “Android killer”—it’s a bad Android clone
The first Tizen smartphone isn’t an “Android killer”—it’s a bad Android clone
Review: Samsung’s Android alternative arrives, but it’s no match for the real thing.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/02/samsung-z1-review-the-first-tizen-smartphone-still-feels-like-plan-b/
This is the Samsung Z1—the world’s first Tizen phone. After one of the bumpiest pre-launch situations in recent memory, Samsung’s home-grown OS has finally hit smartphones.
Tizen, if you’ll recall, is Samsung’s “Android Killer.” While Samsung rose to power on a wave of Android devices, it was also quietly developing its own OS in the background.
Samsung and Android rocketed up the market share charts together, but was Android successful because of Samsung, or was Samsung successful because of Android? Tizen was supposed to answer that question.
If Tizen feels late to the party, that’s because it is. The OS was originally scheduled to debut in 2012, but it ended up being delayed,
When we last saw Tizen on a smartphone, it looked rather promising.
Sometime in the last six months, though, Tizen’s smartphone strategy was rebooted. A blog post this month from the company claimed “Tizen is ‘lighter’ than other operating systems,” positioning the OS as a good choice for low-end devices and a key to Samsung’s “Internet of Things” strategy.
Which brings us to our vessel for Tizen: the Samsung Z1—a low-end $92 device debuting in India.
The Z1 will have to do battle with the likes of Google’s $105 Android One smartphones and Xiaomi, which set up shop in India a few months ago.
The Z1 is undoubtedly a Samsung device. In fact, the device looks nearly identical to 2011′s Galaxy SII.
With Tizen, Samsung finally has a smartphone OS to call its own, which puts it in a position of nearly Apple-esque control over everything from the design to the internals to the software: the OS, the SoC, the screen, and the phone body. For the Z1, though, Samsung skipped its Exynos division and went with someone else’s SoC: a 1.2GHz dual-core Spreadtrum SC7727S SoC.
Tizen is the Highlander of the mobile world. The Linux-based OS is an amalgamation of every other failed or aborted Linux smartphone platform.
Make no mistake though, this OS is Samsung’s baby, and it’s Samsung that controls it. While the footer at Tizen.org says it is “a Linux Foundation Project,” Samsung is the only company making Tizen products, a Samsung executive VP is co-chair of the Tizen Technical Steering Group, and the first paragraph of the Tizen SDK EULA states that it is “a legal agreement between you and Samsung.”
The company in second place for control of Tizen is Intel, though ironically the company’s chips have nothing to do with the ARM-powered Z1.
The core OS is open source, but some applications that sit on top of the OS are developed by Samsung, and a patent license for these components is only available for the “Tizen Certified Platform.” It’s basically the “Google Play” strategy
There are two types of Tizen apps: HTML5 apps and native Tizen apps (written in C or C++).
Our Samsung Z1 is running Tizen 2.3, the latest stable version of the OS.
While there are other HTML5-based platforms out there, right now Tizen doesn’t seem to care about interoperability.
Most of the Tizen basics are similar to Android.
Things get a little weird on the home screen, though.
Tizen comes with a suite of apps that covers most of the basics.
Tizen relies heavily on a Samsung Account, just as Android does with a Google account.
Tizen has an app store
The problem comes when you look at what’s in the app store—or, in this case, what isn’t in there. Tizen has about 1,000 apps. Compare that to Android or iOS, which estimate about 1.3 million apps each.
Running an Android app on Tizen on this third-party middleware is very strange. ACL brings over the ancient Gingerbread Android keyboard and all the little UI pieces from Android’s framework.
Samsung has slowly built up a massive Android ecosystem.
None of these are on Tizen.
Tizen has actually gotten worse over the last year…
We got to try a Tizen phone about a year ago at Mobile World Congress 2014, and there’s something we don’t understand: Tizen has gotten worse over the last year. In 2014 we called Tizen “impressive,” but literally every feature we liked in our hands-on has been removed. Not all of the changes can be attributed to the Z1′s distribution region or its low-end hardware either.
Why would anyone pick this over Android?
Samsung hasn’t provided a good answer to this question, which makes its outlook especially bleak in the hyper-competitive smartphone OS market. New OSes always have problems, usually with app selection and hardware availability, but they’re supposed to make up for their ecosystem problems by bringing something new to the table.
Tizen is just a less mature version of Android with no apps and no major ecosystem player supporting it. The OS feels like it’s straight out of that Dilbert comic where the Pointy-Haired Boss suggests “If we work day and night, we can match our competitors’ features within twelve months.” Tizen seems to have done a good job copying an OS from several years ago, but it never evolved while its competitors did. For now, the conclusion of any Tizen-based smartphone review will always say “this would have been a better product if it ran Android.”
Even with Samsung’s full support, Tizen would be a tough sell. But when even the creator of the OS isn’t supporting it, why would anyone invest in this ecosystem?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dan Frommer / Quartz:
Microsoft now has over 100 active apps on iOS and Android, excluding Skype and Yammer apps, as it expands its presence on multiple platforms
http://qz.com/338329/dont-look-now-but-microsoft-has-more-than-100-ios-and-android-apps/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Corning fires up new super scratch-resistant glass
http://www.cnet.com/news/corning-working-on-super-scratch-resistant-glass/
The glassmaker reveals Project Phire, a new Gorilla Glass-like material that’s both extremely sturdy and hard to scratch.
Corning, whose Gorilla Glass display covers front Apple’s iPhones and Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones, is developing a new material that combines the toughness of Gorilla with a scratch-resistance that comes close to sapphire.
The developmental Gorilla Glass-like composite, currently dubbed Project Phire, was announced Friday at a New York investor meeting
Corning makes most of its money from glass for TV displays and fiber-optics, but Gorilla Glass has been an important growth area for the company. The material is now the dominant player in hardened glass for mobile devices, fronting about 3 billion electronics, including Apple’s new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung’s Galaxy Note Edge and Galaxy Note 4.
But the Gorilla Glass business was under pressure for much of last year amid concerns that Apple — its most important customer — would flip from using Gorilla to synthetic sapphire, an extremely hard material that is incredibly difficult to scratch. In the end, after Apple poured hundreds of millions of dollars into a sapphire maker, that supplier — GT Advanced Technologies — unexpectedly filed for bankruptcy protection late last year and severed ties with Apple in a public disagreement.
While Corning avoided what could have become a big hit to Gorilla’s reputation, the episode exposed a weakness in the material — although it may not break, it scratches much more easily. So Corning secretly worked on a display cover that’s both highly damage-resistant and scratch-resistant, potentially bringing together the strengths of both products.
Also, Project Phire could help Corning snag more of the smartwatch market, where Gorilla is already used in several Samsung products and the Motorola Moto 360.
Corning in November unveiled Gorilla Glass 4, which offers about twice the toughness as its predecessor, Gorilla Glass 3.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sorry, But Google Glass Isn’t Anywhere Close to Dead
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/sorry-google-glass-isnt-anywhere-close-dead/
Ned Sahin is betting the future of his company on Google Glass.
Sahin is a cognitive neuroscientist with a PhD from Harvard and a masters from MIT, and he recently launched an ambitious startup called Brain Power, building Glass software to help autistic children learn some of the skills they need to interact with those around them. With its “heads-up display,” Glass can provide instruction while kids are engaging with other people, and its accelerometer can track how well they’re responding. That, says Sahin, makes Glass an ideal means of tackling autism, which now affects about one in 68 children, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
“Google is leading the charge here. They have built a device that has been two-years debugged by thousands of people,”
Yes, Glass is the tech world’s favorite punching bag—particularly in the popular press.
But for Sahin and many others running companies developing Glass software for medical, industrial, and other sectors, Google’s eyewear is far from dead. On the contrary, Google is selling these companies as many devices as they need, and by all appearances, it’s ramping up the number of Google employees working to turn Glass into something more than a consumer gadget that looks funny on your face.
“We have unimpeded access to Google Glass units and support,”
‘It’s all a plus for us—except for the fact that we constantly have to field questions from people and customers asking what’s going on with Google.’
Death Greatly Exaggerated
As a consumer device, Google Glass is indeed dead—but only temporarily. In late January, the company shut down the Glass Explorer program, which offered the device to consumers and individual developers interested in, well, exploring Google Glass. But as the Times notes, Google is moving Glass out of its Google X research lab and into a separate corporate group overseen by Tony Fadell, the father of the Nest smart thermostat, where it intends to develop a new version of the eyewear.
Hardware in Transition
Astro Teller oversaw the development of Glass as the head of Google X, and when the device arrived in 2013, he didn’t wear it much. He needs prescription lenses and couldn’t bear to wear Glass on top of them. “A year ago,” he recently told us, “it was just frustrating.”
Since then, Google has developed a version of Glass that can snap onto your glasses, and now he does wear Glass—or at least he did when we met him at Google X in December. The lesson here is that, when it reached the public domain, Google Glass was far from a finished product. And it continues to evolve.
Yes, Google released it too soon
But as Sahin, and Arshya Vahabzadeh, who is helping with the clinical trial at Mass General, will tell you, Glass can be a remarkably useful thing when it comes to treating autism. And others in Google’s Glass at Work program, and in hospitals across the country, see similar promise for surgeons and other workers who can benefit from “hands free” online data, images, and cameras as they perform other tasks.
Today, other companies, including Epson and Meta, offer computerized headsets that can serve similar markets. They too have found their way into American businesses. And their press isn’t as, well, negative. But as Sahin points out, they aren’t as mature as Glass.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Acquires Odysee, An App For Private Photo/Video Backup And Sharing, Team Joins Google+
http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/08/google-odysee/
Google may be soon adding more offline and private sharing features to its Google+ Photos service. It has acquired Odysee, an iOS and Android app that let users automatically back up photos and videos taken on their cameras or tablets to their home computers. It also let users set up private, automatic sharing with other people, and it had an API for integrating the service with other apps (read our longer article about it here). The app will be shut down effective February 23, with the team behind it joining Google+ to “continue to focus on building amazing products that people love.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
The first Ubuntu smartphone goes on sale in Europe next week for just under €170
http://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2015/02/06/first-ubuntu-smartphone-goes-sale-europe-next-week-just-e170/
It’s been a long road since the project was announced, but the first Ubuntu-based smartphone will go on sale for just under €170 (around $195) in a flash sale across Europe.
While its launch will likely be welcomed, the handset itself isn’t exactly new hardware – it repurposes BQ’s existing Aquaris E4.5 handset and pairs it with Ubuntu’s OS. Not the Snappy Core version announced earlier in 2015 though.
apps built specifically for the OS will be required for the best experience, but the Ubuntu mobile platform does also support HTML5 apps as standard.
Some of the big names on board and ready for launch include Twitter, eBay, Amazon and Yelp, a spokesperson said. There’s also support for Spotify and Dropbox via third-party apps, the company added.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google shares its plan to nab 80% of Microsoft’s Office business
http://uk.businessinsider.com/google-plan-to-beat-microsoft-office-2015-2?r=US?r=US
Step 1: Make sure that the apps Google offers have “85-90% of the functionality” of Office.
“And in some cases new functionality ahead of the curve. I mean realtime collaboration in Docs”
Step 2: Don’t worry about the remaining 10-15% of the features required by power users, particularly Excel.
Step 3: Support Office documents as a “first-class citizen.”
Step 4 (and this is the brilliant part): Don’t try and convince enterprises to convert from Microsoft Office to Google Apps.
Instead, Google wants them to buy Apps in addition to the Office licenses they already have.
Step 5: Teach them to become power users.
Unlike regular software, which you pay for up front, with cloud software, a software vendor has to continuously keep its customers happy or they’ll end the subscription.
Step 6: Get new customers hooked on products other than Apps.
Step 7: Show them how Google’s cloud helps mobile workers.
“Consumers are mostly on their phones now. I think that will come to work,” he predicts, which is why his team is making sure that Android is “a first-class citizen, secure, manageable, etc.” for companies.
Although Microsoft offers plans for its cloud competitor, Office 365, that start at $8/user/month, the Google Apps fees are far lower than what an enterprise pays for traditional Office, when factoring the costs for computer servers, storage, Windows licenses, and so on.
This is pretty much what PriceWaterhouseCoopers did when it signed a landmark deal with Google to use Apps for 45,000 of its 180,000 people worldwide, and to sell it to their clients.
“I hope it’s more like 80%. And the other way to think about it: People already own their Office licenses. You don’t have to give them up. Let the users choose. Using Google products for sharing or storage, they are just easier,”
More than 5 million businesses use Google Apps, including regulated industries like finance (BBVA), healthcare (Roche), and aerospace/defense (Rockwell Collins), which means Google had to meet their stringent security and reliability standards.
More than 40 million students, teachers, and administrators use Google Apps for Education
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Glass Needed Better Vision
Smart glasses will find focused uses
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1325582&
The failure of Google Glass taught lessons about connecting smart glasses to real applications where they can make a difference, says the head of the MEMS Industry Group.
So what explains the “epic fail” of Google Glass? Why the decision to drop the project within a week of Microsoft’s announcement of its virtual reality (VR) wearable glasses HoloLens? Will Microsoft’s HoloLens also fail? And what makes a successful wearable?
I know these are loaded questions and there are no definite answers.
For a wearable to be successful, the user should not be aware that he/she is wearing it, according to my friend and human-computer interaction (HCI) expert, Mark DiPerri. The wearable should be seamless, powered efficiently and effectively and should enhance the user’s quality of life. Google Glass did all these things poorly, and that is why it failed.
I wonder if designers, architects, and warehouse workers will ever use Microsoft’s HoloLens or will its appeal be limited to gamers glued to their Xboxes? I have heard the reviews of these babies are pretty solid, though I have yet to see a pair worn in public.
At the 2015 International CES, I saw some pretty awesome VR glasses from Virtuix
Yes, we can push the envelope of where and how we use smart glasses. I am sure we will.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sending emojis might cost money than you think
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2394150/sending-emojis-might-cost-money-than-you-think
SENDING EMOJIS MAY SEEM LIKE FUN AT THE TIME, but they could cost you in terms of money, hard cold money, according to the BBC, a Scottish newspaper and a money saving expert.
Some people use emojis all the time and some people communicate in nothing but them.
People have been considering emojis and the impact they may have on the mobile market. They see them as something of a positive for the industry but as a possible negative for the consumer.
The industry will benefit because messages with emojis may be classed as picture messages and could be charged accordingly. So the consumer could suffer because of this.
The advice is to turn off MMS, or check the handset’s settings to see how images are sent. Money Saving Expert said that pre-2014 handsets are the ones to watch out for.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cablevision’s WiFi-only unlimited mobile phone service is live
http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/06/cablevisions-wifi-only-unlimited-mobile-phone-service-is-live/
The all-WiFi phone service Cablevision announced in January is now available. Unlike the usual mobile carrier, the Freewheel phone (currently a $100 second generation Moto G) only operates on WiFi — to keep costs down it doesn’t look for 3G, LTE or any other kind of signal. Of course, if you’re consistently in the range of wireless hotspots then that’s not a problem, and it’s pre-programmed to log in to any of 1.1 million Optimum hotspots in the New York area or “Cable WiFi” hotspots elsewhere. As promised, it’s $10 per month for customers with Cablevision’s internet service or $30 without, all to get unlimited calling, data and text messaging with no annual contract.
For now it’s a curious alternative to traditional cellphones
Tomi Engdahl says:
Analyst: Smart glasses will see significant enterprise (not consumer) adoption in 2015
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/2015/02/abi-enterprise-smart-glasses.html?cmpid=EnlCIMFebruary92015
ABI Research expects 2015 to be a big year for smart glasses, with unit shipment growth of nearly 150% in 2015 — almost of all of which will be in the enterprise and public sector, claims the analyst. The market intelligence firm expects over 90% of smart glasses to be sold in to the enterprise or public sector in 2015 e.g. in applications for remote assistance, police and military, security, warehouse and barcode scanning, and, in the consumer space, for gaming.
“Smart glasses were much hyped in 2014 as a smartphone replacement, largely on the back Google’s Glass product announced in early 2013,” notes ABI’s research senior practice director, Nick Spencer. “However, 2014 showed the use case for smart glasses is task-specific — for example [in areas such as] remote assistance, security (facial and number plate recognition), augmented reality, and virtual reality. The Google Glass generalized use case is a primary reason for the changes announced last week.”
According to the research, smart glasses will not be the highest growth category in the wearables space, with smart watches set for significant consumer adoption and forecast at over 300% unit shipment growth in 2015. This is primarily due to the market entry of Apple dominating headlines, with that company’s sales forecast near 50% market share in 2015.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lance Whitney / CNET:
DexCom’s body sensor paired with Apple Watch app will track and display glucose levels — Apple Watch app will track glucose levels for diabetics — Already approved by the FDA, the app is slated to debut in April to help diabetics make sure their blood sugar levels don’t go too high or too low.
http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-watch-app-will-track-your-glucose-levels/
Tomi Engdahl says:
LG Dabbles In VR With Free Google Cardboard-Like Headset For G3 Buyers
http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/09/lg-vr-for-g3/
LG is signalling that it, too, is interested in virtual reality, following the example of Samsung’s Gear VR. LG isn’t quite as interested, though – its initial VR project is more of a flirtation than a commitment, using Google Cardboard’s cheap-and-easy approach, instead of seeking out an embedded partner like Oculus. LG’s strategy has a benefit for consumers: New G3 purchasers in select markets will receive the new ‘VR for G3′ headset for free with their smartphone.
The VR for G3 works with Google’s existing Cardboard software, as well as any third-party apps made for that barebones phone-holding headset, and also comes with a VR game called Robobliteration available via QR code with new G3 smartphones as a promotional offer. The plastic LG headset operates in much the same way, and contains no processors or screens of its own – offering instead lenses that work with the G3’s quad HD display, as well as a ring magnet controller like the cardboard Cardboard from Google.
Google’s Cardboard Product Manager wholly endorses LG coming on board with the platform, and it makes sense that the company would welcome support from other key ecosystem hardware partners.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Airport Using Google Glass For Security and Passenger Information
http://tech.slashdot.org/story/15/02/09/2131219/airport-using-google-glass-for-security-and-passenger-information
“One of Europe’s busiest airports, Amsterdam’s Schiphol hub in the Netherlands, is trialling Google Glass for use by airport authority officers as a hands-free way to look up gate and airplane information.”
Google Glass Is Being Trialled At European Airport
http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/09/glass-schiphol/
One of Europe’s busiest airports, Amsterdam’s Schiphol hub in the Netherlands, is trialling Google Glass for use by airport authority officers as a hands-free way to look up gate and airplane information.
It’s also testing Google’s face computer on travelers passing through the terminal in a bid to better understand the ‘customer journey’, thanks to Glass’ first person perspective.
It’s more proof, if proof were needed, that Google Glass is another Segway — i.e. a technology not destined for the mass market, but for niche industrial and service industry applications
Google has pulled back on ‘Glass for the masses’ — at least for now. It shuttered its Glass Explorer program last month.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jon Russell / TechCrunch:
Facebook Takes Internet.org And Its Free Mobile Data Services To India
http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/09/internet-org-india/
Facebook’s Internet.org project to provide basic mobile internet services for free just took its biggest step to date after it launched in India.
The service, which is run by non-profit organization Internet.org with input from a number of telecom industry partners, has thus far been available in a handful of Africa countries and Colombia, but now it is making its way to India’s billion-plus population.
The app isn’t available to the full Indian population yet, since Facebook partnered with operator Reliance to offer free access to Internet.org sites in an initial six states: Tamil Nadu, Mahararashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, and Telangana. That’s the first step on a path to “provide internet access to more than a billion people in India who aren’t yet connected,” Facebook said in a statement.
There are an initial 38 websites and services bundled into the free service in India. The selection ranges from Facebook and Facebook Messenger (of course), to news services — BBC, Reuters, ESPN and India Today — music site Hungama, news aggregator NewsHunt, Wikipedia and government relations site AP Speaks. Other general services include travel, weather, sports and parenting information.
Emerging markets are an important focus for Facebook since it has long become a mainstream service in Western markets, and the lion’s share of new internet users will come online from Africa, Asia and Latin America… via mobile phones.
Of course, the benefits of more people trying out mobile internet services is that they might find the web compelling and go out and buy a smartphone, data plan or pre-pay SIM with mobile internet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tiernan Ray / Tech Trader Daily:
Apple Has 93% of Mobile Profits; 650M Users by 2018, Says Canaccord
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2015/02/09/apple-has-93-of-mobile-profits-650m-users-by-2018-says-canaccord/
Walkley writes that his assessment of vendor data in smartphones suggests Apple, whose shares he rates a Buy, captured 93% of industry profits in Q4.
Apple may have one third of all users of smartphones by the end of 2018, he reckons
Tomi Engdahl says:
Lance Whitney / CNET:
DexCom’s body sensor paired with Apple Watch app will track and display glucose levels
Apple Watch app will track glucose levels for diabetics
http://www.cnet.com/news/apple-watch-app-will-track-your-glucose-levels/
Already approved by the FDA, the app is slated to debut in April to help diabetics make sure their blood sugar levels don’t go too high or too low.
Designed by medical products maker DexCom, the app will track and display your glucose levels on your watch in the form of a graph, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday. The goal is to help diabetics easily and quickly read their glucose, or blood sugar, levels by simply glancing at the app.
To use with the Apple Watch, DexCom’s glucose monitor will take the form of a body sensor that you wear around your abdomen. That body sensor measures your glucose levels every five minutes and sends the data to a remote handheld device within 20 feet. That device then communicates with the iPhone, which then sends the data to be displayed on the Apple Watch. The advantage is that you can see the data on your watch without having to check either your iPhone or DexCom’s remote handheld device.
One of the major selling points behind the Apple Watch is that it will function both as a smartwatch and as a health and fitness tracker. But one of the challenges is that certain health devices and apps require regulatory approval. Previously, the Food and Drug Administration considered glucose-related software to be Class III, which meant they required the highest level of regulatory approval. But the FDA has since revised its guidelines. DexCom’s monitors will remain Class III devices since they connect directly to a person’s body. But apps that simply display data on mobile devices fall into Class II, which don’t need prior approval, though they still need to be registered with the agency and follow certain controls.
Diabetes is a condition in which the body lacks the ability to convert blood sugar into energy. The continuous tracking of glucose levels is vital for diabetics
Tomi Engdahl says:
Alibaba and Meizu Join Forces vs. Android
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1325610&
Alibaba Group Holding Limited announced Monday (Feb. 9) a $590 million investment in Meizu, one of China’s smaller smartphone vendors. The two companies declined to disclose the size of the stake.
Under the agreement, Alibaba Group and Meizu will work together to integrate “Meizu’s hardware with Alibaba Group’s mobile operating system.”
Meizu will receive online distribution channels for its smartphones and other devices.
Why smartphone now?
This is e-commerce giant Alibaba’s first direct investment in a smartphone vendor. Its motive is believed to be similar to Amazon’s entry in the smartphone market last summer with its Firephone.
In China, however, this move is viewed more as a desperate effort by Alibaba to compete more effectively against rivals such as Tencent Holdings and Baidu in the increasingly competitive Chinese Internet market – especially in the mobile space.
One Chinese industry source based in Beijing, who declined to be named, told EE Times, “Alibaba will use Meizu to fight Tencent’s Internet of Things (IoT) initiative, which is far ahead at the moment with the weChat.” WeChat is a mobile text and voice messaging service developed by Tencent, whose active users were estimated to be as many as 438 million last summer.
Others describe Alibaba’s motive more as a fight over the operating system. Alibaba is reportedly hoping to push Yun OS (or Cloud OS) deeper into mobile. Alibaba’s subsidiary AliCloud developed Yun OS a few years ago in an effort to drive users to Alibaba’s e-commerce applications and other services. So far, Yun OS has had limited success.
While Google calls Yun OS “a forked but incompatible version” of Android OS, Alibaba claims that its OS “incorporates its own virtual machine, which is different from Android’s Dalvik virtual machine.”
Meizu is one of the few Chinese manufacturers to preload YunOS in its phones.
Meizu, however, is by no means unheard-of. According to the Chinese industry source, “Meizu used to enjoy a cult following in China, but it lost the cool factor to Xiaomi two years ago.”
Even if it may not be cool any more, the quality of Meizu smartphones commands respect.
Tomi Engdahl says:
What the Apple Watch Means for the Industry
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1325628&
Is the smartphone rendering dedicated fitness trackers obsolete?
The introduction of the Apple Watch engendered a lot of industry talk. Now that some time has passed, it’s time to look at whether this new product introduction signaled the entry of wearables into the mainstream and a boon for electronics designers.
Last September, Apple created waves when it announced it would start selling a smart watch in the spring of 2015.
What does this mean for electronic engineers? For the rest of the supply chain? For the electronics industry?
Recent polls reveal a divided state of affairs for wearable technology: while nearly half of Americans claim to want more wearable devices, a third of those who have owned a wearable device stopped using it within the first six months. How can this contradiction be explained? One clue lies in the evolution and decline of one of the most popular categories of wearable technology: dedicated fitness trackers.
With their promise of making it fun to get in shape, dedicated devices from Fitbit, Jawbone, and Nike FuelBand achieved significant success over the past two years, but signs now point to a decline in future growth. A major factor is the role of smart phone convergence: what need is there for a dedicated fitness device when there’s already an app for that which will run right on your phone? Just as the inclusion of GPS in smart phones killed the market for dedicated GPS devices, the expanding feature set of contemporary smart phones is now rendering dedicated fitness trackers obsolete.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Prezi Launches Nutshell, An App To Turn Photos Into ‘Mini-Movies’
http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/10/nutshell/
Prezi’s online presentation software already offers a popular alternative to creating otherwise tedious and visually uninspiring PowerPoint presentations, but now it seems the startup wants in on the consumer ‘video’ sharing trend. Taking the same dynamic zooming tech used to spruce up Prezi presentations, the company has created a new app called Nutshell.
Simply put, the iOS app lets you take three photos in succession, overlay text and graphics, and turn the result into a short ‘movie’ sequence. Essentially, it’s a way of injecting motion into photos taken on your phone.
In fact, Prezi says the idea for Nutshell came about after the startup realised that people were using Prezi’s “zoom-able presentation canvas” for sharing events like birthdays, road trips, and even marriage proposals, apparently
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/nutshell-camera/id953435157?ls=1&mt=8
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sebastian Anthony / Ars Technica:
VESA publishes eDP 1.4a standard, supporting devices with 8K displays
VESA publishes Embedded DisplayPort 1.4a standard that supports 8K displays
Here come the 8K smartphones and laptops.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/02/vesa-publishes-edp-1-4a-standard-supporting-devices-with-8k-displays/
VESA, the standards body responsible for such luminary technologies as DisplayPort and the omnipresent VESA monitor mount, has published the specification for version 1.4a of Embedded DisplayPort (eDP). The new standard builds upon DisplayPort 1.3, which was published at the end of 2014. In short, eDP 1.4a allows for laptops, smartphones, tablets, and all-in-ones with 8K displays (7680×4320) or high-frequency (120Hz) 4K displays—but it includes a few other neat features, too.
eDP 1.4a appears to be almost entirely based on DisplayPort 1.3—which was published in September 2014—with a couple of new features thrown in for good measure. eDP 1.4a specifies four high-speed (HBR3) lanes between the graphics adapter and display, with each lane capable of 8.1Gbps; the lanes can either be used individually, in pairs (more on that later), or all together for a total theoretical bandwidth of 32.4Gbps. That’s enough bandwidth to drive a 4K display (3840×2160) at 120Hz with 10-bit color or an 8K display at 60Hz.
Beyond higher bandwidth, one of the more interesting features of eDP 1.4a is Display Stream Compression (DSC), a standard developed by VESA and MIPI that—as the name implies—compresses the output video signal.
Gamers will be happy to hear that eDP 1.4a also includes (optional) support for Adaptive Sync, which can reduce screen tearing and graphics stutter—both of which are generally caused by the display and computer falling out of synchronization (which can occur for a variety of reasons).
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Watch release date, price and specs
Updated Everything you need to know about Apple’s debut wearable device
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2351287/iwatch-price-release-date-rumours-and-features
Release date
After confirming in September that the Apple Watch would be available in “early 2015″, Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed that the wearable will arrive on the shelves in April, despite speculation that it would arrive in March.
Price
The Apple Watch will be available to buy from $349 (around £216), which will bag buyers the sports model.
Apple hasn’t revealed how much the more expensive metal and gold versions will cost.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Perfect Match: Uniting Mobile Security With Your Employees’ Use of Online Dating Apps
http://securityintelligence.com/datingapps/#.VNxmWy53B-s
IBM Report Details Potential Vulnerabilities That Could Compromise Mobile Security
New technology has completely revolutionized the dating process. Many people are using mobile dating applications to find their “special someones.” In fact, a recent Pew Research study found that 1 in 10 Americans have used a dating site or application, and the number of people who have dated someone they met online has grown to 66 percent over the past eight years. Even though many dating applications are relatively new to the market, Pew Research also found that an astonishing 5 percent of Americans who are in a marriage or committed relationship met their significant other online.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ubuntu smartphone goes on sale and promptly sells out
First batch of £125 handsets get snapped up in hours
By Carly Page
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2394743/ubuntu-smartphone-goes-on-sale-but-wont-ship-until-march
THE FIRST UBUNTU SMARTPHONE, otherwise known as BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition, has gone on sale.
The first batch of Ubuntu-powered handsets will be made available through a series of flash sales, and the first was announced via Twitter on Wednesday.
However, just a few hours after it went on sale, the Ubuntu smartphone has already sold out
The BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition was announced last week as the first phone to be powered by a mobile version of Canonical’s operating system.
As the price tag suggests, it hasn’t got too much going for it in the specs department.
The handset doesn’t run the latest ‘Snappy’ version of Ubuntu either. It does come with a UI called Scopes, however, which consists of subject-based visual home screens, rather than menus, and reflects the web-app basis of the phone.