Here is some aggregating of the data and then throwing out some predictions:
Mobile is eating the world also in 2017. As we pass 2.5bn smartphones on earth and head towards 5bn, and mobile moves from creation to deployment.
IHS research institute of the market next year will be 139 million a flexible screens, most of which are in smartphones. Vivo and Xiaomi have already released smart phones with flexible AMOLED screens. Progress has been slowed by the capacity of the display manufacturers, but Samsung Display and LG Display are already building new factories. It is expected that in 2020 the number of flexible screens will be 417 million.
Today’s smartphones utilize a wide array of sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes and various other). New sensors will be added in 2017. Barometric pressure sensor, which measures air pressure, is currently being integrated into premium-grade smartphones and IoT applications. Air pressure sensors in smartphones are useful in navigation and fitness tracking applications but also in weather forecasting.
Rumors surrounding the next iPhone 8 keep coming in 2017. Analysts and market researchers have also predicted a big iPhone update from Apple. Let’s wait to see if this is evolution or revolution. A brief report in The Korea Economic Daily claims that Apple is working with LG on a new dual camera module “which enables 3D photographing. I would be surprised if Apple could come up with something that really revolutionary in 2017.
Virtual Reality Will Stay Hot in 2017. VR is the heaviest heterogeneous workload we encounter in mobile—there’s a lot going on. VR requires high refresh rates with new content every frame. It also needs to calculate data from multiple sensors and respond to it with updated visuals in less than 18 ms to keep up with the viewer’s head motions. To achieve these goals, the phone needs a fast-switching AMOLED display at nearly full brightness running constantly. The skyrocketing popularity of augmented reality (Pokemon Go) and virtual reality (Google VR) may be the boost microelecromechanical systems (MEMS) projectors into the mass market. Integrating micro-lidar (3-D imaging system using invisible infrared beams) to smart phone can become feasible.
Smart phone markets will be still almost completely be in the hands of Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) also in 2017. Microsoft’s Windows phone OS is practically dead in. But that does not stop other player trying to get their spot. For example Samsung wants developers to build apps for its homegrown Tizen mobile operating system, and it is offering cash prizes to do so. Samsung will launch further Tizen-powered smartphones in 2017, but the company is unlikely to swap Android for its home-grown software on high-end devices.
Mobile Video to Grow 50% a Year also n 2017. According to Ericsson’s Mobility Report, mobile data traffic continues to grow, driven both by increased smartphone subscriptions and a continued increase in average data volume per subscription, fueled primarily by more viewing of video content. Ericsson forecasts mobile video traffic to grow by around 50% annually through 2022.
Even though smart watch market has done much worse than expected in 2016, is not forgotter in 2017. Companies need to put effort to convince consumers that wearables — smartwatches specifically — are still in demand. For this Google says it will launch two flagship OEM-branded smartwatches and Android Wear 2.0 in early 2017. The new platform brings a number of new features.
Smartphone is already widely used mobile payment, a person identifying itself and a wide range of services in place, so it is only a matter of time until the driver’s license is transferred to smart phone. In fact, the trend is already on the move, as piloted by Gemalto digital driver’s license in Colorado, Idaho, Maryland and Washington. In the early stages of the digital card functions as a conventional physical card partner.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Daniel Eran Dilger / AppleInsider:
Geekbench benchmarks: Apple’s A11 Bionic is 25% faster in single core and 80% faster in multicore than A10 Fusion, beats i5 MacBook Pro and all other phones
With iPhone 8, Apple’s Silicon Gap widens as the new A11 Bionic obliterates top chips from Qualcomm, Samsung & Huawei
http://appleinsider.com/articles/17/09/18/with-iphone-8-apples-silicon-gap-widens-as-the-new-a11-bionic-obliterates-top-chips-from-qualcomm-samsung-huawei
By Daniel Eran Dilger
Monday, September 18, 2017, 02:10 am PT (05:10 am ET)
Official benchmarks posted by Geekbench show that Apple’s A11 Bionic delivers a huge jump in performance over last year’s A10 Fusion used in iPhone 7, with scores that are not just far beyond other mobile ARM competitors’ latest chips, but higher than the base Intel Kaby Lake Core i5 processor Apple uses in its 13 inch MacBook Pro.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 is hot, but not much more than the S8+
It’s stylish, but the stylus doesn’t add a lot
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/19/galaxy_note_8_first_look_hands_on/
FIRST FONDLE Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 is everything you’d expect in a premium handset, but the stylus adds little value.
Tomi Engdahl says:
App offers to rent a person to stand in line for you, because even that’s too hard now
http://mashable.com/2017/09/18/queue-service-singapore/#Vzx5cmqMpEqd
Heads up Apple fans, we have a feeling this service could soon come in handy.
A new startup aptly named iQueue, is offering to stand in line for you, at a cost.
Founded in Singapore, the service currently has 10 professional “queuers” on its team, consisting of mostly students and homemakers, according to a report by news outlet Today.
There are various “queuing packages” available on iQueue, which calls itself a “professional queueing service.”
They range from $15 (S$20) per hour, to a bulk-rate 18 hour package, going for $185.
The company says they provide “live photo and video updates” every 15 minutes, so it’s really almost like you’re there.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smartphones: Have NFC Will Travel
IoT is NFC’s next big opportunity
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332315
Just as Apple released its iOS 11 on Tuesday, the NFC Forum rolled out on Wednesday its Near Field Communication (NFC) tag and reader certification program.
In adding the new program, the NFC Forum enables “tag/inlay, NFC reader, and handset manufacturers for the first time … to test and verify the performance and interoperability of all the key components in the NFC eco-system.”
While Apple’s iOS 11 brings big updates unique to its current iPhone and iPad, it also unlocks many new NFC-tag-based apps to be read by iOS-11-based mobile devices. This is a moment that the NFC community has long awaited.
Of course, Android phones have been doing this stuff for several years, but with little success. As Apple throws its weight into this field, many NFC chip vendors and industry observers are hopeful for the growth of NFC applications beyond payment.
For the first time, vendors of Android or iPhone devices are “putting an NFC reader in the hands of consumers,” stressed Alexander Rensink, co-chairman, NFC Forum, during an interview with EE Times. Rensink works at NXP Semiconductors as business segment manager for Smart Products.
Further, NFC advocates, including Apple, see IoT as the next stop for NFC tags and readers. NFC’s ability to connect, commission, and control will be effective in solving some thorny issues of connected homes today, they say. NFC can help develop “a unified device commissioning flow independent of the underlying communication framework,” the NFC Forum noted.
The NFC Forum is a non-profit industry association launched in 2004 by leading mobile communication companies, semiconductor, and consumer electronics vendors.
Certification will help ensure that NFC tags, readers, and handsets provide a consistent, compelling, and connected user experience.
More important, the NFC Forum has implemented the principle of “reader talks first.” The new certified spec covers both ISO 14443 (for proximity cards) and ISO15693 (for vicinity cards), making sure that the NFC reader can read both ISO standards. In short, the NFC community is making NFC for the first time “globally interoperable by harmonizing the different standards,” claimed Rensink.
ISO 14443 and ISO 15693 standards, while operating on the same 13.56-MHz frequency, offer different read ranges and data transfer speeds. To complicate the matter, each ISO standard has been implemented in versions with “multiple flavors.” NFC-enabled mass transit cards used in different countries — Japan’s Suica card or the U.K.’s Oyster cards, for example — couldn’t be read by the same NFC reader, Rensink explained. The NFC Forum Certification Program will effectively end these interoperability issues.
NFC tag applications listed by the ABI Research analyst Seal include social connectivity, targeted marketing, loyalty, smart posters, anti-counterfeiting, and brand protection. He predicts that NFC could become “the next-generation platform” for brands to connect with consumers outside the traditional retail environment.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Financial Times:
Sources: Amazon working on Alexa-powered smartglasses with bone-conduction audio and a new home security camera system that would tie into its Echo products — Amazon is working on its first wearable device: a pair of “smart glasses” that would allow its virtual assistant Alexa to be summoned any time …
Amazon working on first wearables to interact with Alexa
Company’s ‘smart glasses’ would come with in-home virtual assistant embedded
https://www.ft.com/content/d7862042-9d9a-11e7-8cd4-932067fbf946
Amazon is working on its first wearable device: a pair of “smart glasses” that would allow its virtual assistant Alexa to be summoned any time, anywhere, according to people familiar with its plans.
The device, which would tether wirelessly to a smartphone, is designed to look like a regular pair of spectacles
A bone-conduction audio system would allow the wearer to hear Alexa
The Seattle-based group is also said to be expanding its “smart home” hardware line-up with a new home security camera system.
The internet-connected camera would tie into its Echo products
Tomi Engdahl says:
Andromeda OS Likely To Replace Windows 10 Mobile, A Modular Windows OS Is Coming
https://fossbytes.com/microsoft-andromeda-os-windows-10/
It was earlier this year when we heard about Microsoft working on new project. We called it ‘Windows Andromeda‘ back then, but now it seems the project has an internal name, Andromeda OS, as reported by Windows Central.
The website, claiming sources, reports Microsoft might bring their ambitious project to fruition sometime in 2018, possibly with the release of the rumored hardware internally known as ‘Andromeda’.
The future of Windows
Microsoft ‘Andromeda OS’ aims to turn Windows 10 into a modular platform for the future
https://www.windowscentral.com/andromeda-os
Zac Bowden is a Senior Editor at Windows Central. Bringing you exclusive coverage into the world of Windows 10 on PCs, tablets, phones, and more. Also an avid collector of rare Microsoft prototype devices!
Microsoft is taking the next steps in its “One Windows” vision with an internal project called “Andromeda OS” that turns Windows 10 into a fully modular platform and lays foundations for the future of Windows.
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/windows-10-sta-versova-andromeda-os-on-microsoftin-unelma-yhdesta-windowsista-6677608
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Paid HTC $1.1 Billion To Turn Itself Into a Phone Maker
https://www.wired.com/story/google-htc-smartphone-agreement
After years of half-heartedly and occasionally hamfistedly building gadgets, Google’s finally all-in on the hardware game. Google will announce a number of new products on October 4, reportedly including two new phones, a smaller version of the Google Home, and a high-end laptop. And on Wednesday, the company announced an agreement with struggling manufacturer HTC that will import a team of engineers over to Google, to help close the gap between Mountain View’s hardware ambitions and its present reality.
The tie-up’s not quite the acquisition that had been rumored, but rather a “cooperation agreement.” Google is hiring a team of HTC employees—about 2,000 people in all, members of HTC’s “Powered by HTC” division—most of whom have already been working on Google’s Pixel phones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HTC will have another flagship phone, even after billion-dollar deal with Google
HTC will persist as a smartphone maker into 2018
https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/20/16342828/htc-phone-next-flagship-google-deal
HTC and Google have just made official a $1.1 billion agreement whereby a substantial proportion of HTC’s smartphone design and engineering team will move to work for Google. While the specific details of the deal have not yet been disclosed, one question has been answered preemptively by HTC’s press release: the company’s own-brand smartphone business will carry on with at least one more flagship.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Daisuke Wakabayashi / New York Times:
About 2000 HTC staffers to join Google as part of the deal; HTC to continue making its own smartphones, including a new flagship model
Google Is Buying HTC’s Smartphone Expertise for $1.1 Billion
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/20/technology/google-htc-smartphones.html
Google announced late Wednesday night that it is spending $1.1 billion to hire a team of engineers from the smartphone business of the struggling Taiwanese manufacturer HTC in a bid to bring more hardware expertise to its own mobile technology operations.
HTC said many of its estimated 2,000 employees affected by the deal were already working with the search giant on smartphones. Google leaned on HTC to manufacture its first Pixel smartphone, which was released last year, and is working with the company to produce the next version of the phone, which is expected to be announced on Oct. 4.
Bringing on the team from HTC is a sign that Google is doubling down on plans to produce its own hardware. Company executives have said it is important to tightly couple its artificial intelligence software, like the voice-controlled Google Assistant, with a range of devices.
Apple has followed a similar strategy for years, and that has provided the iPhone maker with an easier path when adding new features, such as augmented reality functions, since it designs nearly all of the internal parts of its phone.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google’s Big Hardware Bet: Is this what a sane business would do?
You’re an algorithms company, Larry!
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/21/on_googles_big_hardware_bet/
Google is placing a “Big Bet” on consumer hardware, the company screams in a new blog post. Presumably this time it really means it.
Two thousand staff from HTC’s phone division will be heading off to the Chocolate Factory, their winning Golden Tickets in hand. Google didn’t capitalise “Big Bet” but then it really didn’t have to. The $1.1bn deal is about buying some proven phone talent, which made the current Pixel and imminent Pixel phones for Google.
For its part, HTC insists it will continue to be able to make phones without those 2,000 employees.
“HTC will continue to have best-in-class engineering talent, which is currently working on the next flagship phone,” the Taiwanese company maintains.
Tomi Engdahl says:
GNOME Foundation backs ‘freedom-oriented’ smartphone
Librem 5 will run only open-source code, PureOS and feature radio kill switch
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/21/gnome_foundation_backs_librem_5_privacy_smartphone/
The GNOME Foundation has backed efforts to create a “freedom-oriented” smartphone that protects users’ privacy and runs only open-source software.
The Librem 5 promises to run privacy-centric Debian derivative PureOS by default and to support “most GNU+Linux distributions”.
Purism, a maker of laptops running PureOS for the privacy-conscious, also promises the phone will be IP-native and allow communication across the Matrix network.
The phone’s currently on both the drawing board and the crowdfunding trail. The GNOME Foundation has weighed into the latter, saying the Librem 5 is “a hardware platform the Foundation is interested in advancing as a GNOME/GTK phone device”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Bose headphones with Google Assistant are official now
Push for Google
https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/21/16341742/bose-headphones-qc-35-ii-google-assistant-announced
Google and Bose are today officially announcing a new version of the headphone maker’s great noise cancelling headphones, the QC 35s. The big new addition is Google Assistant — or rather, a dedicated button on the headphones that triggers the Google Assistant.
The new branding is simply QC 35 II, and according to Google you set them up as usual via Bluetooth and then follow some instructions built into the Google Assistant app on either an Android phone (running Marshmallow or above) or an iPhone.
Once that’s done, you’ll hold down the new button that’s on the right ear cup to trigger the Google Assistant. Google says that it can do most things the Assistant can do on your phone — read messages, play music or news, and of course call people. But the Assistant has slightly different capabilities in every place it appears, so it may be that you can’t do everything with these headphones that you can do with, say, a Google Home.
Tomi Engdahl says:
iPhone 8: Apple has CPU cycles to burn
A referee would have stopped this fight
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/25/apple_has_cpu_cycles_to_burn/
While the iPhone 8 retains the same unremarkable design for the fourth year running, the internals are a different story.
The six-core CPU A11 is now complemented, for the first time, by an Apple-designed GPU.
Apple can now support 4K at 60 frames per second (fps) and 1080p video at 240fps.
On Geekbench 4, tests conducted by Tom’s Guide show the iPhone 8 is 54 per cent faster than the Galaxy Note 8 (which uses Samsung’s own silicon), and the OnePlus 5 (which uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835, the choice of many Android flagships). The new iPhone 8 also comfortably outperforms laptops: a MacBook Pro 13-inch A5 and a Dell XPS 13.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Bill Gates is an Android User
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lvvb4MHXfsk
Bill Gates on Fox News admits he is an Android User
Tomi Engdahl says:
Superaccurate GPS Chips Coming to Smartphones in 2018
https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/semiconductors/design/superaccurate-gps-chips-coming-to-smartphones-in-2018
We’ve all been there. You’re driving down the highway, just as Google Maps instructed, when Siri tells you to “proceed east for one-half mile, then merge onto the highway.” But you’re already on the highway. After a moment of confusion and perhaps some rude words about Siri and her extended AI family, you realize the problem: Your GPS isn’t accurate enough for your navigation app to tell if you’re on the highway or on the road beside it.
Those days are nearly at an end. At the ION GNSS+ conference in Portland, Ore., today Broadcom announced that it is sampling the first mass-market chip that can take advantage of a new breed of global navigation satellite signals and will give the next generation of smartphones 30-centimeter accuracy instead of today’s 5 meters. Even better, the chip works in a city’s concrete canyons, and it consumes half the power of today’s generation of chips. The chip, the BCM47755, has been included in the design of some smartphones slated for release in 2018, but Broadcom would not reveal which.
GPS and other global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs), such as Europe’s Galileo, Japan’s QZSS, and Russia’s Glonass, allow a receiver to determine its position by calculating its distance from three or more satellites. All GNSS satellites—even the oldest generation still in use—broadcast a message called the L1 signal, which includes the satellite’s location, the time, and an identifying signature pattern. A newer generation broadcasts a more complex signal called L5 at a different frequency in addition to the legacy L1 signal. The receiver essentially uses these signals to fix its distance from each satellite based on how long it takes the signal to go from satellite to receiver.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Genesis / Android Police:
Verizon discontinues its LTE-enabled Wear24 Android Wear smartwatch after just 4 months
http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/09/25/verizon-discontinues-wear24-smartwatch-just-4-months/
Verizon announced its very own Android Wear smartwatch earlier this year, powered by its LTE network. It started selling the Wear24 in May for $300 on contract and $350 without one. That seemed like an interesting proposition when consumers have shown little interest even in cheap smartwatches. Verizon didn’t let this product languish too long, though. We’ve confirmed with the carrier that Wear24 is dead.
The device was on sale for a little over four months before Verizon killed it.
The mounting negative reviews on Verizon’s site might have had something to do with the decision.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Yes, You Really Can Use a Nokia Phone as a Vibrator
https://gizmodo.com/yes-you-really-can-use-a-nokia-phone-as-a-vibrator-1809951517
There are three things in life that I love: Sex toys, technology, and repurposing stuff in my home so that I can someday achieve my goal of breaking Etsy and/or Pinterest with my doubtlessly charming Brooklyn-based craft projects.
That, my friends, is exactly why I decided to throw caution to the wind and stick my old Nokia 3310 into my vagina. In the interest of full disclosure, it wasn’t actually “my” old Nokia 3310, but one the fine folks at Gizmodo were kind enough to provide me when I came to them with a story in need of investigation: Women all over the globe swear by the Nokia 3310 as a vibrator.
Back in 2003, one software developer even made an app for the Nokia
For foreplay, I unpackaged the phone
The phone isn’t waterproof
“If my mom is going to get a phone call about my sex-toy induced death, let me live my life to its fullest,” I muttered
README
It doesn’t look like a vibrator.
Because it is not a vibrator. It is a phone.
Buzzes nicely, but hard to charge.
Also it is a phone.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Essentially invisible: Android big-daddy Andy Rubin’s hypetastic mobe ‘flops in first month’
Just 5,000 handsets have been shifted since release – pundits
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/28/essentially_invisible_rubins_hypephone_flops/
Android co-inventor Andy Rubin’s much-hyped Essential Phone has thus far been a flop with consumers in its first weeks on the market, it is estimated.
According to numbers provided to El Reg by analyst firm BayStreet Research, since it began shipping pre-orders in late August, and in stores since mid-September, with the backing of Sprint, the Essential handset has only managed to move about 5,000 units.
By comparison, Apple in its latest quarter – ie, prior to the launch of the iPhone 8 – managed to flog more than 450,000 iPhones per day. That’s more than 5,000 handsets every 20 minutes or so. Android, meanwhile, has two billion handsets in use around the world, so go figure.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ikea is roasting Apple for overpriced charging mats
http://mashable.com/2017/09/26/ikea-apple-roast/#iSwf7z9A6sqU
Ikea started a new ad campaign for their wireless charging devices in response to Apple’s launch of the iPhone X and iPhone 8 and their “new” wireless charging pads.
Tomi Engdahl says:
LG is selling a phone that repels mosquitoes
http://mashable.com/2017/09/28/lg-mosquito-phone/#ZSUh8YI1pqqP
It’s getting tougher and tougher for phone makers to differentiate.
So LG’s latest bright spark appears to be a phone that integrates an ultrasound mosquito repeller in its back hump, in an effort to appeal to users in India.
The K7i’s sound emitting gadget works on a similar basis to devices we’ve had for years on the market, which emit ultrasonic waves inaudible to humans, to repel mosquitos. LG already includes this in other home appliances it makes, such as air conditioning units and even TVs.
The “Mosquito Away” K7i phone is really LG’s existing midrange K7 Android smartphone, with the speaker as a removable back case.
When you buy the K7i, LG will throw in a regular flat case that’ll help your phone fit into a pocket more easily — but that will also take away its mosquito-repelling abilities.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Corbin Davenport / Android Police:
Amazon quietly announces Fire OS 6, based on Android Nougat 7.1.2; the OS will premiere on the 4K Fire TV — Amazon’s fork of Android is known as Fire OS, and it ships on all of the company’s tablets and TV devices. The current version, Fire OS 5, is getting a bit long in the tooth …
Amazon quietly announces Fire OS 6, based on Android Nougat
http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/09/29/amazon-quietly-announces-fire-os-6-based-android-nougat/
Amazon’s fork of Android is known as Fire OS, and it ships on all of the company’s tablets and TV devices. The current version, Fire OS 5, is getting a bit long in the tooth; it’s based on either Lollipop or Marshmallow, depending on the device. Amazon revealed quite a few new products recently, but one announcement flew under the radar – Fire OS 6.0.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Joe Rossignol / MacRumors:
Apple says iPhone 7 and 8 don’t have FM radio chips, after FCC chairman Ajit Pai urges Apple to activate iPhone FM radio chips to help after natural disasters
FCC Urges Apple to Protect Safety of Americans by Activating FM Radio Chip in iPhones [Updated]
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/28/fcc-urges-apple-to-activate-fm-radio-chip/
Amidst renewed pressure from the National Association of Broadcasters, FCC chairman Ajit Pai has now issued a statement urging Apple to activate the FM radio capabilities built into the wireless modem of every iPhone.
Pai said he hopes Apple will “reconsider its position” following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, which have devastated parts of the United States, including Florida and Texas, and Caribbean islands like Barbuda, Dominica, and Puerto Rico.
Powerful storms can leave thousands or millions of people without power or cellular service for weeks or even months, and over-the-air FM radio can provide vital access to weather alerts and other life-saving information.
Pai has advocated for the activation of the FM tuner in all smartphones before, but this is the first time he has called out Apple by name.
A study by the National Association of Broadcasters last year found only 44 percent of the top-selling smartphones in the United States had FM radio capabilities enabled. 94 percent of the unactivated devices were iPhones.
Both the Qualcomm and Intel chips that enable Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity in every iPhone have a built-in FM tuner that would allow people to listen to FM radio over the air. Apple has not enabled the functionality, forcing users to use an app to stream FM radio over Wi-Fi or cellular data.
Apple hasn’t revealed why it keeps the FM radio functionality disabled.
FCC Chairman Encourages Activation of the FM Radio Receiver Built Into Your iPhone
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/02/16/fcc-chairman-fm-radio-activation-smartphones/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Product Habits:
A look at Google Glass’ failure as a consumer device, rebirth as Glass for Enterprise, and how focusing on modularization can help the product grow and expand
The Unexpected Rebirth of Google Glass
https://producthabits.com/unexpected-rebirth-google-glass/
Few products in tech have drawn as much ridicule or outright laughter as Google Glass. But that wasn’t always the case. Back in 2012, Sergey Brin showed off a prototype of Glass at Google’s I/O conference
Glass elicited an awe-inspiring response at the conference and in the press—at least initially. People were excited about it because, like the recently announced Apple Watch Series 3, it promised them a new, post-mobile way of communicating.
The tide began to turn after the Google Glass pre-release in 2013. Beyond the planned stunt, there was little that hinted at a real use case, let alone ecosystem, behind the new product. And the bad PR mounted.
Headlines like “Google Glass getting to grips with ‘geek aesthetics,’” “Google Glass will make you manly, says Sergey Brin,”
2015-2017: The Relaunch
Back in 2014, just as Glass seemed doomed, a ray of hope appeared for the project. The team noticed that small startups had been purchasing pairs of Glass via the Explorers program, and building custom software on top of it for the enterprise. They were using Glass to do work in various industries—from manufacturing to healthcare.
The corporate interest in Glass was so promising that Google created a specific Glass for Enterprise team to help develop the new ecosystem.
This decision culminated in the relaunch of Glass this July—this time, positioned clearly as an enterprise tool.
Where Glass Can Go from Here
With the relaunched enterprise edition, Glass is finally starting to realize the high hopes around the product. Instead of trying to make Glass something that people wear all day, Google has taken the opposite approach. The enterprise edition of Glass has been designed and marketed to solve concrete, practical problems. In doing so, Google is overcoming the disaster of Glass’ early launch and opening new doors for the product.
3 Key Lessons Learned From Google Glass
Building any product is a constant process of experimentation, failure, and learning. That’s even more true for a product as ambitious as Google Glass.
If you’re building a product today, these are the key lessons to take away from the story of Google Glass:
1. What’s the goal of your product?
2. Run user research and tests before, during, and immediately after initial product development.
3. Nail the value proposition
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple would like to remind the FCC that it can’t activate imaginary FM radios that iPhones don’t have
https://techcrunch.com/2017/09/28/whose-fcc-is-this/
Apple responded today to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, who issued a statement that “urged” Apple to activate the FM chips that he claimed are in iPhones in the name of public safety. The recent hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria were the hook for the reasoning. The only problem? Apple hasn’t even included FM radio chips in iPhones since the iPhone 6s.
That’s right, Pai called on Apple to activate radios that don’t even exist.
Again, the radios do not exist in iPhones and haven’t for over a year now. It’s important to note here that the FCC must test all radio devices thoroughly before they are eligible for sale in the US. It is very likely that the FCC already knew that the FM radio was not present in new iPhones. Update: This testing typically happens at accredited third-party laboratories like UL in California with guidelines which are set by the Office of Engineering and Technology within the FCC, but the point stands.
It’s also worth noting that there is no regulation that says any phone manufacturer must do this
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rob Price / Business Insider:
Google.org-backed Wayfindr’s open standard to help blind people navigate using audio instructions and Bluetooth beacons gets ITU approval
A Google-backed project to help blind people navigate with smartphones got a boost from the UN
http://nordic.businessinsider.com/wayfindr-google-backed-blind-navigation-approved-un-trials-2017-9?op=1&r=US&IR=T
In 2014, members of a youth forum at the Royal London Society for Blind People wrote a manifesto on the change they wanted in the world to help young blind people like themselves.
Subjects ranged from dating to employment – as well as getting around without having to rely on other people.
Their attitude was, Wayfindr director Florence Orban said, “we just want an app to navigate a tube in London, we don’t want someone who’s picking us up at the ticket barriers, taking us down … we want to be like everyone else.”
With the help of London development studio Ustwo and $1 million funding from Google’s philanthropic arm Google.org, that idea became a reality – and it has now received a major boost from a United Nations-affiliated body as it conducts trials around the world.
It’s not an app – it’s bigger than that
The project is called Wayfindr, and provides audio instructions to help blind people navigate. But it doesn’t have an app. Instead, it has produced an “open standard” – a set of guidelines any developer can use to build accessibility tools that work consistently. (The first version of it was released in 2016.)
Wayfindr’s vision is a city covered in beacons – low-power gadgets that emit a Bluetooth signal. These signals then communicate with specialised apps used by people with impaired vision, which tell them where they are and how to get around.
After an initial trial at Pimlico underground station in London, “we realised developing an app wasn’t going to be the answer,” Orban said in an interview with Business Insider. “They would be incredibly localised, and if we wanted to transform the world we would need to have an international standard.”
The Open Standard has now been approved by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an UN-affiliated industry body, as an official ITU standard – significantly boosting its visibility.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Horace Dediu / Asymco:
Analysis: Apple has sold about 15M Watch units in last 12 months and about 33M since launch, generating about $12B in sales
A small-screen iPod, an Internet Communicator and a Phone
http://www.asymco.com/2017/09/25/a-small-screen-ipod/
Apple is now the biggest watchmaker in the world, overtaking Rolex during the last quarter. This achievement happened less than two and a half years after Apple entered the watch market. Rolex, on the other hand, was founded in 1905, 112 years ago at a time when watches were the avant-garde of technology
We know that Rolex produces about 1 million watches a year and we also know that Rolex had sales of $4.7 billion in 2016. The average revenue per watch[1] was therefore about $4,700.
My estimate has been that Apple sold about 15 million Watches in the last 12 months at an average price of about $330. This puts the Apple Watch revenue run rate at $4.9 billion, indeed above Rolex.
Overall, about 33 million Apple Watch units have been sold since launch and they generated about $12 billion in sales. Coupled with a 95% customer satisfaction score, altogether, this has been a great success story. But only 2.5 years in, it’s still act one.
The Watch, even with LTE, is an accessory to the iPhone. It still cannot be activated without it. Even the coverage plan is an extension to an iPhone plan. The company is careful to address it as a companion product.
But how long will that last?
It used to be necessary to first attach an iPhone to a computer to activate it. That used to be cited as a reason for the iPhone not being a “proper computer”, diverting attention from what it would inevitably become.
The iPhone and the iPad now stand alone of any PC or Mac. Will the Watch cut these familial links and stand alone some day?
I think this too is inevitable. The technology trajectories are easy enough to plot.
It’s fitting therefore to remember how the iPhone was launched; as a tentpole troika: A wide-screen iPod, an Internet Communicator and a Phone. Today the new Watch is a small-screen iPod, an Internet Communicator and a Phone.
So not only is the Series 3 Watch more powerful than the original iPhone but it is also poetically capable of the same tentpole jobs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Stop the Endless Scroll. Delete Social Media From Your Phone
https://www.wired.com/story/rants-and-raves-desktop-social-media
Most of the time, I navigate to my social media apps reflexively, as though my finger and the icons are magnets. I don’t even realize I’m doing it until my thumb taps the Instagram icon on my screen. Again. And again. And again.
It’s a dirty digital habit, and it doesn’t make me happy. Maybe you can relate. Studies have repeatedly found that while social media connects us to one another, it also makes us feel bad. And yet, we do it anyway. We do it because we can’t stop.
So last month, I tried something new. I logged out of my social media accounts on my phone, and logged into them on my desktop. I set myself a goal to only engage with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram on my laptop or work computer, hopefully offloading my biggest time suck to devices that I’m only around for part of the day.
And you know what? It’s actually sort of working. Slowly, and with some lapses, I’ve felt my compulsory need to look at social media fade.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A Google-backed project to help blind people navigate with smartphones got a boost from the UN
http://nordic.businessinsider.com/wayfindr-google-backed-blind-navigation-approved-un-trials-2017-9?op=1&r=US&IR=T
The project is called Wayfindr, and provides audio instructions to help blind people navigate. But it doesn’t have an app. Instead, it has produced an “open standard” – a set of guidelines any developer can use to build accessibility tools that work consistently. (The first version of it was released in 2016.)
Wayfindr’s vision is a city covered in beacons – low-power gadgets that emit a Bluetooth signal. These signals then communicate with specialised apps used by people with impaired vision, which tell them where they are and how to get around.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dating app uses AR to make your search for love even weirder
http://mashable.com/2017/10/02/flirtar-ar-dating-app/#X8PlMroI4kqY
Augmented reality is changing the way we buy furniture at IKEA, but can it change the way we find love?
That’s what one new dating app is betting on. FlirtAR, pronounced “flirter,” launches Monday for iOS. (It’ll be available for Android at the end of this month.) It uses AR to help you find potential matches who are nearby.
It works in real time, using geolocation to find people close by who meet your designated criteria. As you move your phone around, little bubbles with people’s pictures pop up based on where you’re looking.
The geotargeting isn’t ultra precise, so they sort of hover over the general area where someone is. It’s not like right on top of a person’s face, which might be a bit much. But it’s enough to make your search for love seem a little more immediate, and it’s an interesting twist on the more static interfaces the big apps like Bumble and Tinder give you.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Is Latest Company To Ditch Headphone Jack In Its Newest Smartphones
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/17/10/03/2336240/google-is-latest-company-to-ditch-headphone-jack-in-its-newest-smartphones
When launching its original Pixel smartphone, Google mocked the iPhone 7′s missing headphone jack in its marketing material. According to Cult of Mac, Google won’t be doing the same for the Pixel 2. “The company has decided to remove the aging port from its latest handsets,” reports Cult of Mac. “A new leak reveals that the lineup will rely solely on USB-C for wired connectivity.”
After mocking Apple, Google is also ditching headphone jack
https://www.cultofmac.com/506353/mocking-iphone-7-google-follows-suit/
Google mocked the iPhone 7’s missing headphone jack in its marketing material for the original Pixel smartphone — but it won’t be doing the same for the Pixel 2.
Just like Apple, the company has decided to remove the aging port from its latest handsets. A new leak reveals that the lineup will rely solely on USB-C for wired connectivity.
Most iPhone fans quickly adapted to life without wired headphones, and soon, rival smartphone manufacturers started following Apple’s lead. Now, it seems even those who mocked the decision are beginning to accept the headphone jack is dying.
Incredibly reliable leaker Evan Blass has published pictures and details of Google’s upcoming Pixel 2 smartphones on VentureBeat. He has also confirmed that neither device will feature a headphone jack, which means users will have to rely on a USB-C adapter or Bluetooth.
It also means Google will no longer be able to put out Pixel ads that take sly swipes at the iPhone’s missing port.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Frederic Lardinois / TechCrunch:
Google says Lens, its Google Assistant-connected image recognition app announced at I/O, will debut as preview on Pixel phones later this year
Google Lens will finally make its debut on Pixel phones later this year
https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/04/google-lens-will-finally-make-its-debut-on-pixel-phones-later-this-year/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Xiaomi’s new Mi Max 2 smartphone claims a two-day battery
https://techcrunch.com/2017/05/25/mi-max-2/
Fresh from announcing the Mi 6, its latest flagship smartphone, last month, Xiaomi gone and unveiled another new phone. The Mi Max 2, announced today at an event in Beijing, will be available in China from June 1 priced upwards from RMB 1699, that’s around $247.
Xiaomi claims it sold over three million of the original Mi Max, which is headlined by its big screen. The main selling point of the second version is a gigantic 5300mAh battery which the company claims will last for two days per charge. It claims that the device can charge to 68 percent in an hour and that its full capacity will give a user up to 18 hours of watching video, or 57 hours of call time.
The Mi Max 2 packs a unibody metal design and comes it at the same 6.44-inch size. It is available with 4GB RAM with the option of 64GB or 128GB storage
Tomi Engdahl says:
Nokia and the rocket launcher Xiaomi agree on close cooperation
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi and Nokia have agreed on patent and business cooperation.
The companies agree to share their core patents and Xiaomi will buy a number of patents from Nokia. The parties will not disclose the value of the contract.
In addition, Nokia will provide Xiaom with certain network infrastructure products and companies will cooperate strategically. There are projects about the Internet (IRT), virtual reality and artificial intelligence.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/Kaikki_uutiset/yllatyskaanne-nokia-ja-raketin-lailla-kohoava-xiaomi-sopivat-tiiviista-yhteistyosta-6661719
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft Edge shock: Browser opts for Apple WebKit, Google Blink
On iOS and Android, cough
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/10/05/microsoft_edge_ios_android_beta/
Microsoft has released a beta version of its Edge web browser for Apple iOS and Google Android devices.
The Redmond windows fitter said it created the ports as a way to let iPhones and ‘droids better communicate with Windows 10 devices. Neither will look to directly compete with Chrome or Safari, but rather will be a custom option for those who want to better integrate their phones with Windows 10.
In addition to the Edge user interface – but not the guts, more on that later – the Edge mobile browsers will have the ability to share pages to a user’s Microsoft account and have them show up on their PCs.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google quietly removed all Android Wear watches from the Google Store
https://www.androidcentral.com/google-quietly-removed-all-android-wear-watches-google-store
All Android Wear watches have been removed from the Google Store without any sort of explanation. What’s going on here?
Google made just a couple of small announcements at its October 4 event, including the likes of the Pixel 2, Pixelbook, Home Mini, and more. However, amidst all of this excitement and drooling over new toys, something interesting was spotted. Take a quick glance through the updated Google Store, and you won’t find a single listing for any Android Wear device.
The LG Watch Style and Watch Sport are still listed within the Android Wear page, but neither of the watches are in stock or available to purchase. If you click on “shop now” next to either one, you’ll see a message saying “no longer available” for both.
Google added a ton of new features and refinements to Android Wear with the big 2.0 release this February, but neither the Watch Style or Watch Sport that pioneered this new software release were able to captivate an audience the same way devices like the original Huawei Watch or Moto 360 were able to the year before. There have been other Android Wear products outside of Google’s two flagships earlier this year, but they’ve either been from luxury fashion brands, adopted bulky designs that not everyone is asking for, or have been discontinued after just 4 months.
The disappearance of the Android Wear page from the Google Store doesn’t necessarily mean that the platform is dead, but it is a sign that it’s not a main area of focus for Google at the moment.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Dieter Bohn / The Verge:
Interview with Google SVP of hardware Rick Osterloh on HTC acquisition, Google’s smartphone plans, and integrating software and hardware
Google hardware is no longer a hobby
Rick Osterloh talks about what’s next for Google hardware
https://www.theverge.com/2017/10/4/16405184/rick-osterloh-interview-new-google-hardware-vision-htc-deal
Rick Osterloh has been on the job as the senior vice president of hardware at Google for just over 17 months now. In that time, he’s had to repeatedly answer the same questions from reporters like me: just how serious is Google about making its own hardware? Is it a hobby or is it going to genuinely affect Google’s financial bottom line? Is the company sure it won’t repeat the same mistakes it made with its ill-fated Motorola acquisition and subsequent sale years ago?
Last October, Google wanted to show it was serious about hardware with a wave of hardware announcements. But Osterloh had just started a few months earlier, so he acted as more of a master of ceremonies for products than the original architect of them.
This year, everything Google is announcing was created under his watch. It’s our first real look at Osterloh’s vision for what Google hardware should be. His vision includes no fewer than eight products, two of which are in completely new product categories for the company.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Paul Lewis / The Guardian:
Former Facebook, Google, Twitter employees on how they fear the unintended and negative consequences of the attention economy-driven tech they helped develop
‘Our minds can be hijacked’: the tech insiders who fear a smartphone dystopia
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/oct/05/smartphone-addiction-silicon-valley-dystopia
Google, Twitter and Facebook workers who helped make technology so addictive are disconnecting themselves from the internet. Paul Lewis reports on the Silicon Valley refuseniks alarmed by a race for human attention
Justin Rosenstein had tweaked his laptop’s operating system to block Reddit, banned himself from Snapchat, which he compares to heroin, and imposed limits on his use of Facebook. But even that wasn’t enough. In August, the 34-year-old tech executive took a more radical step to restrict his use of social media and other addictive technologies.
Rosenstein purchased a new iPhone and instructed his assistant to set up a parental-control feature to prevent him from downloading any apps.
He was particularly aware of the allure of Facebook “likes”, which he describes as “bright dings of pseudo-pleasure” that can be as hollow as they are seductive. And Rosenstein should know: he was the Facebook engineer who created the “like” button in the first place.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore says Windows 10 Mobile features and hardware are no longer a focus
https://www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-windows-10-mobile-features-and-hardware-are-not-focus-anymore
Microsoft details its reasoning behind a lack of new features and hardware for Windows 10 Mobile, and why its new focus is on Android and iOS.
Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President for Windows, Joe Belfiore, has today clarified the company’s stance with Windows 10 Mobile and what it’s currently doing in the mobile space. In a series of tweets on Twitter, Belfiore states that as an individual end-user, he has switched to Android, and that Windows 10 Mobile is no longer a focus for Microsoft.
Belfiore confirms what we have been reporting in the past; that from here on out, Microsoft will continue to service Windows 10 Mobile with bug fixes and security patches, mainly for the enterprise market who adopted Windows 10 Mobile for work. Microsoft is not planning to bring any new consumer facing features to Windows 10 Mobile, nor is it planning to release any new hardware.
As such, it’s safe to assume that Windows 10 Mobile, and Windows phone in its current form, is “dead.” Microsoft has now officially stated that it has no plans to continue developing new features for the platform
Belfiore even explains why Windows phone is no longer the focus, citing a lack of apps as the main problem. Even after offering to pay for and build apps for third parties, the apps simply never came and as such users failed to adopt the platform in any major way.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
KGI: Android vendor inquiries for camera-based 3D sensing tech nearly tripled since Apple unveiled Face ID
Apple’s Face ID Turns Android Makers Away From Under-Screen Fingerprint Recognition
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/10/07/face-id-turns-android-away-from-fingerprint-id/
With its iPhone X debut and the introduction of Face ID, Apple has now tilted interest in the mobile industry away from under-display fingerprint recognition, and instead towards camera-based 3D sensing technologies as the ideal user authentication solution. That’s according to the latest research note from respected KGI securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
According to the new note seen by MacRumors, inquiries by Android smartphone vendors into 3D-sensing technologies have at least tripled since Apple unveiled its TrueDepth camera and Face ID technology, which replaces traditional Touch ID fingerprint recognition in the iPhone X, set to launch in November.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Are smartphones really making our children sad?
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/13/are-smartphones-really-making-our-children-sad
US psychologist Jean Twenge, who has claimed that social media is having a malign affect on the young, answers critics who accuse her of crying wolf
Last week, the children’s commissioner, Anne Longfield, launched a campaign to help parents regulate internet and smartphone use at home. She suggested that the overconsumption of social media was a problem akin to that of junk-food diets. “None of us, as parents, would want our children to eat junk food all the time – double cheeseburger, chips, every day, every meal,” she said. “For those same reasons, we shouldn’t want our children to do the same with their online time.”
Irresistible: Why We Can’t Stop Checking, Scrolling, Clicking and Watching – review
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/26/irresistible-why-cant-stop-checking-scrolling-clicking-adam-alter-review-internet-addiction
A fascinating study by Adam Alter explains why many of us find our smartphones and computers so addictive
Tomi Engdahl says:
Edge in name only: Android and iOS Edge web browser
http://www.zdnet.com/article/edge-in-name-only-android-and-ios-web-browser/
Microsoft’s Edge on Android smartphones and Apple iPhones is merely a thin cover over native open-source web browsers.
So far as I know, no one’s clamoring for Microsoft Edge on Android smartphones and Apple iPhones. Indeed, according to the federal government’s Digital Analytics Program (DAP)’s most recent data, only 3.7 percent of all users use Edge. But, Microsoft is determined to make Windows 10 PCs work great with your phone as part of its Continue on PC program, and has brought new Edge apps to iOS and Android.
Of course, the real way for Microsoft to get Windows 10 PCs to work great with smartphones would be if there were Windows-based smartphones. Well, we all know what happened to Windows smartphones. Microsoft’s repeated attempts to create smartphones ended in failure.
Now, Microsoft is claiming that smartphones are dead, it’s just that people just haven’t realized it yet. They’ll be replaced by Hololens and augmented/virtual reality devices. I’m not holding my breath.
Be that as it may, Microsoft hopes the look and feel of Edge transferred to a smartphone interface will make Windows 10 users more comfortable. It won’t help Windows 10 developers.
Under the surface of the new Edge iPhone lies the open-source WebKit. This is Apple’s Safari default web engine. On iOS, Microsoft had no choice but to use WebKit. Apple insists all iPhone web browsers are built on top of it.
The Android Edge app, meanwhile. will use the Google’s open-source Chromium Blink engine. Microsoft isn’t trying to port its Microsoft EdgeHTML rendering engine to either platform.
On the Android side, Blink is a WebKit fork. Google uses Blink as the engine both for Chrome and its pure open-source Chromium web browser. Blink is also used by Opera and Amazon Silk browser.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple Watch Packs Q’comm LTE
SiP packs more components in same space
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332409
Qualcomm supplied the LTE modem in the Apple Watch Series 3 as well as a handful of other wireless chips, according to a teardown from TechInsights. The latest watch appears to continue to push the boundaries of system-in-package design, packing a dozen major chips and dozens of discretes.
The new watch uses the same size SiP as the existing device. However, the Series 3 clearly packs more components, TechInsights said.
TechInsights found the Qualcomm MDM9635M, a Snapdragon X7 LTE modem in the 42mm sport band model A1861 with GPS + cellular it opened up. The same LTE chip appeared in the iPhone 6S/6S Plus, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and other handsets. The modem was mated in a package-on-package with a Samsung K4P1G324EH DRAM in the watch.
Initial reviews found problems using LTE on the device, Apple’s first watch with cellular connectivity. However, Apple issued an update of its WatchOS said to have eliminated the problems.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple’s New iPhone X Has A Nasty Surprise
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2017/10/08/apple-iphone-x-release-date-cost-release-delay-specs-availability-stock/#6cad590537e0
Apple AAPL -0.07%’s hotly anticipated iPhone X will launch soon, right? Wrong. Thanks to a highly credible new leak, the reality is everyone who wants the most radical and expensive iPhone ever made is in for a nasty surprise…
MacRumors brings us this depressing news after it obtained a new report from Ming Chi Kuo, widely regarded as the ‘best Apple analyst on the planet’. Kuo states that iPhone X stock will be extremely limited until well into 2018 and that will cause Apple to miss its widely predicted 2017 “super cycle”.
Why? Kuo says Apple has run into significant problems mass producing the ‘TrueDepth’ camera sensor the iPhone X uses for its Face ID facial recognition system.
Consequently Kuo believes sales of Apple’s new 2017 iPhones (iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X) are unlikely to break any records with total iPhone sales for 2017 coming in at 210-220 million units.
The better news is Kuo states iPhone X production issues will be “significantly addressed” during the first three months of 2018 and this will see shipments “pick up strongly”.
It is worth pointing out stock of new iPhones is often limited straight after launch, but never to this extent.
Ming-Chi Kuo Says iPhone X Supercycle Won’t Really Happen Until 2018
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/10/06/kuo-iphone-x-supercycle-2018/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Shira Ovide / Bloomberg:
In the last year, Google has paid partners, including Apple and Android device manufacturers, $7.2B to be the default search, over 3x what it paid in 2012 — Traffic acquisition costs raise concern about pressure on margins. — There’s a $19 billion black box inside Google.
Peering Inside Google’s $19 Billion Black Box
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-09/google-s-19-billion-black-box-is-worrying-investors
Traffic acquisition costs raise concern about pressure on margins.
There’s a $19 billion black box inside Google. That’s the yearly amount Google pays to companies that help generate its advertising sales, from the websites lined with Google-served ads to Apple and others that plant Google’s search box or apps in prominent spots.
Investors are obsessed with this money, called traffic acquisition costs, and they’re particularly worried about the growing slice of those payments going to Apple and Google’s Android allies. That chunk of fees now amounts to 11 percent of revenue for Google’s internet properties. The figure was 7 percent in 2012.
The worry is the traffic toll will keep climbing and squeeze the plump Google profit margins investors love. Let me add a risk that is so far theoretical but nevertheless intriguing.
These Google traffic fees are the result of contractual arrangements parent company Alphabet Inc. makes to ensure its dominance. The company pays Apple to make Google the built-in option for web searches on Apple’s Safari browsers for Mac computers, iPhones and other places. Google also pays companies that make Android smartphones and the phone companies that sell those phones to make sure its search box is front and center and to ensure its apps such as YouTube and Chrome are included in smartphones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Taiwan Hits Qualcomm With $774 Million Fine
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1332433&
Regulators in Taiwan have levied a fine of roughly $774 million against Qualcomm for anti-competitive behavior, becoming the latest in a string of jurisdictions to find fault with the mobile chip giant’s business practices.
Taiwan’s Fair Trade Commission (TFTC) detailed the findings of its investigation into Qualcomm in a statement released Wednesday (Oct. 11), saying among other things that Qualcomm’s business model harms competition and violates Taiwan’s Fair Trade Act. According to a report by the Bloomberg news service, the fine is the largest ever imposed by the TFTC.
Qualcomm said in a statement that it disagrees with the decision and plans to appeal.
“The fine bears no rational relationship to the amount of Qualcomm’s revenues or activities in Taiwan, and Qualcomm will appeal the amount of the fine and the method used to calculate it,” the company said.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission sued Qualcomm, charging the company with using anticompetitive tactics to maintain a monopoly over chips for mobile technologies including CDMA, WCDMA and LTE. The U.S. case is still pending.
Tomi Engdahl says:
High-Tech Bridge Launches Free Service for Testing Mobile Apps
http://www.securityweek.com/high-tech-bridge-launches-free-service-testing-mobile-apps
Web security company High-Tech Bridge announced on Thursday the launch of a free online service that allows mobile application developers to test their iOS and Android apps.
Mobile X-Ray can test native and hybrid applications, including security and privacy aspects, using dynamic application security testing (DAST), static application security testing (SAST), data encryption testing for communications with APIs and web services, and behavioral analysis.
The service looks for the most common types of vulnerabilities, including ones covered by the OWASP Mobile Top Ten, and provides a user-friendly report that includes remediation guidance. The test results include examples of both insecure and secure code.
In the case of Android apps, developers can upload the APK to Mobile X-Ray, but iOS apps can only be tested if they are compiled as a Simulator app in Xcode.
The assessment can take less than a minute, but it can also take up to a couple of hours, depending on application complexity and overall system workload.
“Mobile applications have become an inseparable part of everyday business and private life. In light of skyrocketing data breaches, many different research reports urge the enhancement of mobile application security and privacy,” said Ilia Kolochenko, CEO and founder of High-Tech Bridge. “Unfortunately, most developers just don’t have enough resources, time or budget to properly test their mobile app before going to production. At High-Tech Bridge, we are excited to fulfil this gap and offer a unique online service for the benefit of the cybersecurity community and independent developers.”
While the Mobile X-Ray tool can be highly useful for application developers, many critical vulnerabilities exist in backend systems, for which High-Tech Bridge recommends its ImmuniWeb Mobile product.
https://www.htbridge.com/mobile/?id=WHd2AY1j
Tomi Engdahl says:
How ARKit will make more money than ARCore or Camera Effects (for now)
https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/07/why-arkit-will-make-more-money-than-arcore-or-camera-effects-for-now/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple and GE announce deep partnership
https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/18/apple-and-ge-announce-deep-partnership/?utm_source=tcfbpage&sr_share=facebook
MenuTechCrunch
Apple and GE announce deep partnership
Posted 41 minutes ago by Ron Miller (@ron_miller)
While Apple has had its share of enterprise partners in recent years including IBM, Cisco and SAP, today’s announcement that it will be working directly with GE feels a bit different with the two companies more closely intertwined than in previous deals.
Apple and GE have committed to build a set of development tools and to develop apps together using Apple’s design sensibility and deep understanding of iOS, but the deal doesn’t stop there. Apple’s sales team will also push the GE Predix platform with its industrial customers when it makes sense, and GE has committed to standardizing on the iPhone and iPad for its 330,000 employees
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:
Google Play rolls out “Try It Now” button for Android Instant Apps, updated Editor’s Choice section, and Play Console update
Google Play adds Android Instant Apps via a ‘Try it Now’ button, among other changes
https://techcrunch.com/2017/10/19/google-play-adds-android-instant-apps-via-a-try-it-now-button-among-other-changes/
Google today is announcing a number of changes to its Google Play app store, the most notable being a new way to try apps immediately without having to first install them on your mobile device. The new feature takes advantage of “Android Instant Apps” technology – Google’s attempt at bridging the mobile web world with that of native applications.
Instant Apps were first introduced at Google’s I/O developer conference last year. Unlike native apps that have to be downloaded in full, Instant Apps launch with just a tap on a URL. To support this, developers partition their apps into small, runnable parts, so they can start within seconds. The technology had only been available to select developers until their general release this May, announced at Google I/O 2017.
Today, Instant Apps are becoming a part of the Play Store, Google says. Via a new “Try it Now” button, users can start using an app without installing it.
There’s a small collection of Instant Apps available now
https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/promotion_3002d0f_instantapps_featuredapps?e=-EnableAppDetailsPageRedesign