Mobile infrastructure must catch up with user needs and demands. Ubiquitous mobile computing is all around us, not only when we use smartphones to connect with friends and family across states and countries, but also when we use ticketing systems on buses and trains, purchase food from mobile vendors, watch videos, and listen to music on our phones. As a result, mobile computing systems must rise to the demand. The number of smart phones will exceed the number of PCs in 2014.
Some time in the next six months, the number of smartphones on earth will pass the number of PCs. This shouldn’t really surprise anyone: the mobile business is much bigger than the computer industry. There are now perhaps 3.5-4 billion mobile phones, replaced every two years (versus 1.7-1.8 billion PCs replaced every 5 years).It means that mobile industry can sell more phones in a quarter than the PC industry sells in a year. After some years we will end up with somewhere over 3bn smartphones in use on earth, almost double the number of PCs. The smartphone revolution is changing how consumers use the Internet: Mobile browsing is set to overtake traditional desktop browsing in 2015.
It seems that 4G has really become the new high speed mobile standard widely wanted during 2013. 3G will become the low-cost option for those who think 4G option is too expensive, not everyone that has 4G capable device has 4G subscription. How the situation changes depends on how operators improve their 3G coverage, what will be the price difference from 3G to 4G and how well the service is marketed.
Mobile data increased very much last year. I expect the growth to continue pretty much as projected in Mobile Data Traffic To Grow 300% Globally By 2017 Led By Video, Web Use, Says Strategy Analytics and Cisco Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update, 2012–2017 articles.
When 4G becomes mainstream, planning for next 5G communications starts. I will expect to see more and more writing on 5G as the vision what it will be destined to be clears more. Europe’s newly-minted 5GPPP Association plans to launch as many as 20 research projects in 2014, open to all comers, with a total budget of about 250 million euros. The groundwork for 5G, an ambitious vision for a next-generation network of networks that’s still being defined, and the definition will go on many years to come. No one really knows today what 5G will be because there are still several views. Europe’s new 5GPPP group published a draft proposal for 5G. 5GPPP is not the only group expected to work on standards for next-generation cellular networks, but it could become one of the most influential.
The shifting from “dumb” phones to smart phones continue. In USA and Europe smart phone penetration is already so high levels that there will not be very huge gains on the market expected. Very many consumers already have their smart phone, and the market will be more and more on updating to new model after two years or so use. At the end of 2013 Corporate-Owned Smartphones Back in Vogue, and I expect that companies continue to shop smart phones well in 2014.
The existing biggest smart phone players will continue to rule the markets. Google’s Android will continue to rule the markets. Samsung made most money in 2013 on Android phones (in 2013 in West only Samsung makes money from selling Android), and I expect that to continue. In 2013 Apple slurped down enormous profits but lost some of its bleeding-edge-tech street credit, and I expect that to continue in 2014.
The biggest stories of the year 2013 outside the Samsung/Apple duopoly were the sale of Nokia’s mobile phone business to Microsoft and the woes of BlackBerry. BlackBerry had an agonising year and suffered one of the most spectacular consumer collapses in history, and I can’t see how it would get to it’s feet during 2014. Nokia made good gains for Windows Phones during 2013, and I expect that Microsoft will put marketing effort to gain even more market share. Windows Phone became the third mobile ecosystem, and will most probably keep that position in 2014.
New players try to enter smart phone markets and some existing players that once tried that try to re-enter. There are rumors that for example HP tries to re-enter mobile market, and is probable that some other computer makers try to sell smart phones with their brands. In the Android front there will be new companies trying to push marker (for example OPPO and many smaller Chinese makers you have never heard earlier). Nokia had a number of Android projects going on in 2013, and some former Nokia people have put up company Newkia to follow on that road. To make a difference in the market there will be also push on some smaller mobile platforms as alternative to the big three (Google, Apple, Microsoft). Jolla is pushing Sailfish OS phones that can run Android applications and also pushing possibility to install that OS to Android phone. Mozilla will push on with it’s own Firefox OS phone. Canonical will try to get their Ubuntu phone released. Samsung is starting to make Tizen powered smart phones and NTT DoCoMo could be the first carrier to offer a Tizen powered device. None of those will be huge mainstream hits within one year, but could maybe could have their own working niche markets. The other OS brands combined do not amount to 1% of all smartphones sold in 2013, so even if they could have huge growth they would still be very small players on the end of 2014.
As smartphone and tablet makers desperately search for points of differentiation they will try to push the limits of performance on several fronts to extremes. Extreme inter-connectivity is one of the more useful features that is appearing in new products. More context-aware automatic wireless linking is coming: Phones will wirelessly link and sync with screens and sensors in the user’s vicinity.
You can also expect extreme sensor support to offer differentiation. Biomedical sensors have lots of potential (Apple already has fingerprint sensors). Indoor navigation will evolve. Intelligent systems and assistive devices will advance smart healthcare.
Several smartphone makers have clear strategies to take photography to extremes. 40 megapixel camera is already on the market and several manufacturers are playing with re-focus after shooting options.
In high-end models we may be moving into the overkill zone with extreme resolution that is higher than you can see on small screen: some makers have already demonstrated displays with twice the performance of 1080-progressive. Samsung is planned to release devices with 4k or UHD resolutions. As we have seen in many high tech gadget markets earlier it is a very short journey to copycat behavior.
It seems that amount of memory on high-end mobile devices is increasing this year. To be able to handle higher resolutions smart phones will also need more memory than earlier (for example Samsung lpddr 4 allows up to 4 GB or RAM on smart phone as now high-end devices now have typically 2GB). As the memory size starts to hit the limits of 32 bit processors (4GB), I will expect that there will be some push for chip makers to start to introduce more 64 bit processors for mobile devices. Apple already has 64-bit A7 microprocessor in iPhone 5s, all the other phone-makers want one too for their high-end models (which is a bit of panic to mobile chip makers).
You will be able to keep your mobile phone during some flights all the time and browser web on the plane more widely. At some planes you might also be able to make phone calls with your mobile phone during the flight. Calls on flights have been theoretically possible, and United States has recently looked at mobile phone calls allow the flights.
In year 2013 there were many releases on wearable technologies. Wearable is a trend with many big companies already in the space, and more are developing new products. It seems that on this field year 2013 was just putting on the initial flame, and I expect that the wearable market will start to heat up more during 2014. The advent of wearable technology brings new demands for components that can accommodate its small form factor, wireless requirements, and need for longer battery life.
The Internet of Things (IoT) will evolve into the Web of Things, increasing the coordination between things in the real world and their counterparts on the Web. The Internet is expanding into enterprise assets and consumer items such as cars and televisions. Gartner suggests that now through 2018, a variety of devices, user contexts, and interaction paradigms will make “everything everywhere” strategies unachievable.
Technology giants Google Inc. and Apple Inc. are about to expand their battle for digital supremacy to a new front: the automobile. The Android vs. iOS apps battle is coming to the automotive industry in 2014: car OEMs aren’t exactly known for their skills in developing apps and app developers don’t want to develop so many different versions of an app separately (for Ford, General Motors, BMW, and Toyota). I am waiting for Google’s response to Apple’s iOS in the Car. Next week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Google and German auto maker Audi AG plan to announce that they are working together to develop in-car entertainment and information systems that are based on Google’s Android software. The push toward smarter cars is heating up: Right now, we are just scratching the surface.
For app development HTML5 will be on rise. Gartner predicts that through 2014, improved JavaScript performance will begin to push HTML5 and the browser as a mainstream enterprise application development environment. It will also work on many mobile applications as well.
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Tomi Engdahl says:
The lineup is anticipated to include new iPhones with bigger screens, as well as a health-oriented watch-like device, people with knowledge of the matter have said.
The Cupertino, California-based company is expected to hold an event on September 9th to debut the new iPhones.
Source: http://www.irishtimes.com/business/sectors/technology/apple-starts-manufacturing-new-ipads-1.1894554
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mediatek releases 64-bit octa-core LTE SoC in Europe
First smartphone in Europe to feature the chip will be Vodafone’s Smart 4 Power
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2355372/mediatek-unveils-worlds-first-64-bit-octa-core-lte-soc-with-2k-support
CHIPMAKER Mediatek has announced the availability of what it claims is the “world’s first” 64-bit octa-core LTE smartphone system on chip (SoC) with 2K display support in the UK.
The first smartphone in Europe to feature MediaTek’s fresh chip will be Vodafone’s Smart 4 Power, which runs the latest Android 4.4 Kitkat operating system and has the functionality to stream videos in HD, play enhanced audio and make HD voice calls.
Named the Mediatek MT6795, the chip is designed for use by high-end device makers for upcoming Android 64-bit mobile operating systems like the recently announced Android L, with support for 2K displays up to 2560×1600 resolution.
Redl said Mediatek will make the MT6795 chip commercially available by the end of the year, for commercial devices coming in early January or February.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Programming Startup Famo.us Gets $25 Million to Make JavaScript More Famous
http://recode.net/2014/08/13/programming-startup-famo-us-gets-25-million-to-make-javascript-more-famous/
Famo.us, an unusual programming startup that allows users to make nifty mobile apps using JavaScript, has raised $25 million in additional funding and added high-profile investor Jerry Murdock to its board.
As Famo.us wonkishly describes it: “Famo.us is the only JavaScript framework that includes an open source 3-D layout engine fully integrated with a 3-D physics animation engine that can render to DOM, Canvas, or WebGL.”
Translation: Building a platform offering easy-to-use tools to make prettier and faster mobile apps that work across all devices.
Tomi Engdahl says:
After China smartphone success, Lenovo plans leap forward overseas
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/14/us-lenovo-results-idUSKBN0GE01B20140814
China’s Lenovo Group said first-quarter profit jumped 23 percent, beating estimates, as a surge in smartphone sales showed how quickly the world’s biggest personal computer maker is transforming itself into a major player in mobile technology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Microsoft builds a Snapchat competitor called WindUp
http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-builds-a-snapchat-competitor-called-windup
It’s no secret that Snapchat, the app that lets you send time-limited messages, has run into a few issues this year: From exposing nearly five million accounts, to the FTC ruling that the company was deceiving users, the app may still be popular but many people no longer trust it.
Microsoft Research is the team that built the app and they hope to fill that trust gap by releasing an app called WindUp for Windows Phone 8/8.1. Just like Snapchat, WindUp allows users to send time-limited messages and media to their friends and family.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Worldwide Smartphone Shipments Edge Past 300 Million Units in the Second Quarter; Android and iOS Devices Account for 96% of the Global Market, According to IDC
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS25037214
Tomi Engdahl says:
Report: People in emerging markets prefer big smartphones. Here’s why.
http://thenextweb.com/asia/2014/08/14/report-people-in-emerging-markets-prefer-big-smartphones-heres-why/
A new report from reputed market research firm Jana suggests that consumers in emerging markets favor smartphones with a screen that is at least five inches in size.
“While the four to five inch screen segment is not considered desirable by most of our respondents, four-inch screens are still popular,” Jana said on its blog.
Four-inch devices accounted for a decent portion of responses in all markets, but in each case it is consistently lower than others. In South Africa, for example, nearly one-third of respondents want a phone that is more than 5.5 inches
What factors motivate this lust for big phones?
Well, it’s fairly simple in emerging markets where a device is an all-in-one entertainment system for many.
Whether it is watching videos, surfing the Web, looking at photos or just playing games, a larger screen makes all of these activities more enjoyable. There is certainly a trade-off when it comes to lugging a big phone around
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Gyroscopes in Your Phone Could Let Apps Eavesdrop on Conversations
http://www.wired.com/2014/08/gyroscope-listening-hack/
In the age of surveillance paranoia, most smartphone users know better than to give a random app or website permission to use their device’s microphone. But researchers have found there’s another, little-considered sensor in modern phones that can also listen in on their conversations. And it doesn’t even need to ask.
In a presentation at the Usenix security conference next week, researchers from Stanford University and Israel’s defense research group Rafael plan to present a technique for using a smartphone to surreptitiously eavesdrop on conversations in a room—not with a gadget’s microphone, but with its gyroscopes, the sensors designed measure the phone’s orientation.
“Whenever you grant anyone access to sensors on a device, you’re going to have unintended consequences,” says Dan Boneh, a computer security professor at Stanford. “In this case the unintended consequence is that they can pick up not just phone vibrations, but air vibrations.”
When the researchers tested their gyroscope snooping trick’s ability to pick up the numbers one through ten and the syllable “oh”—a simulation of what might be necessary to steal a credit card number, for instance—it could identify as many as 65 percent of digits spoken in the same room as the device by a single speaker. It could also identify the speaker’s gender with as much as 84 percent certainty. Or it could distinguish between five different speakers in a room with up to 65 percent certainty.
Google’s Android operating system allows movements from the sensors to be read at 200 hertz, or 200 times per second. Since most human voices range from 80 to 250 hertz, the sensor can pick up a significant portion of those voices. Though the result is unintelligible to the human ear, Stanford researcher Yan Michalevsky and Rafael’s Gabi Nakibly built a custom speech recognition program designed to interpret it.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Gimme a Beat: Intel, 50 Cent Pair Up on Heart-Rate Headphones
http://recode.net/2014/08/14/gimme-a-beat-intel-50-cent-pair-up-on-heart-rate-headphones/
Chipmaker Intel and SMS Audio, the consumer electronics company founded by 50 Cent, are partnering to launch a pair of heart-rate-measuring headphones.
Unlike LG’s heart-rate monitoring earphones, the Intel-SMS earphones pull power from your smartphone’s audio jack, which means there’s no additional charging required. And rather than requiring the user to go through a proprietary app, these earphones integrate directly with popular app RunKeeper. The companies say there are likely more app integrations coming.
The BioSport In-Ear headphones will launch sometime in the last quarter of the year. Pricing has not been announced.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Retailer leaks Galaxy Note 4 specs: 4GB of RAM, Snapdragon 805, 4K video and more
http://phandroid.com/2014/08/14/samsung-galaxy-note-4-specs/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This man has written a program so he can automatically like every woman on Tinder
http://www.theprovince.com/life/relationships/writes+computer+program+like+every+woman+Tinder/10119029/story.html
He always swipes right — that’s why an SFU computer science major looking for love made a program to automatically ‘like’ every woman he sees on Tinder, the popular matchmaking mobile app.
Tinder automatically suggests matches based on proximity, mutual friends and interests, but the physical attraction part is entirely up to the user.
Users swipe images of other users on their smartphone screens left to reject them or right to express interest, and Zhang said he would always swipe right to better his chances at a match.
“But I know for a fact that a ton of people do it, mostly guys. My friend … calls it shallow.”
metal roof says:
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Tomi Engdahl says:
Designing a Great Wearables Experience
http://blogs.intel.com/technology/2014/08/designing-great-wearables-experience/
Wearable device technology is predicted to grow to 284 million units by 2017. As consumers, we are increasingly looking to a range of cool, new gadgets to help keep us connected to the people we care about, and even to the world at large. These devices will keep us on time, entertained, informed and even help us stay healthy and fit.
As wearable technology begins to take off, the best experiences will be those that deliver the ideal combination of fit, style and function. We believe that addressing the user experience of these devices has only just begun, and today, we are excited to unveil a range of new software capabilities designed for our customers who are creating wearable products based on future Intel technology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Xiaomi launches MIUI 6, makes Android look more like iOS 7
http://liliputing.com/2014/08/xiaomi-launches-miui-6-makes-android-look-like-ios-7.html
Chinese device maker Xiaomi offers phones, tablets, smart TVs and other products that are known for their high quality and low prices. But Xiaomi is also known for its MIUI software which gives Google Android a fresh coat of paint, a custom user interface, and a handful of extra apps.
MIUI also happens to look a bit more iOS than Google’s stock version of Android, thanks to its square app icons with rounded corners and the lack of an app drawer: all apps are arranged on your home screen.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Internet Explorer team AMA: no plans for iOS & Android release, rebranding has been considered:
Internet Explorer on Android or iOS? Not in Microsoft’s current plans
http://www.zdnet.com/internet-explorer-on-android-or-ios-not-in-microsofts-current-plans-7000032664/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Android is already too big
In the second quarter were sold to 301 million smartphone. More than 255 million of these, or 84.7 per cent massiiviet was equipped with the Android operating system. The situation is getting bad for consumers, when the device development rests on a single platform for innovation.
Android pinched all the other bases in danger of remaining a bystander in the drive. Windows Phone phones, the sales volume shrank by 7.4 million and a market share of 2.5 per cent. BlackBerry’s sales virtually stopped.
Consumer point of view this is not an ideal situation.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1656:android-on-jo-liian-iso&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
4K will be on a mobile phone, the content does not
With a resolution of 4K TVs are already sold at full blast. Technology is being quickly pushing the smartphones, but the dramatic impact it has come to be users. The true 4K content will be in short supply for a long time.
ABI’s analysts, the mobile phone components – processors, memory, and partly already batteries – are developing rapidly, so that the devices are capable of handling 4K-quality images. The big challenge is, however, content production and network connections that do not support 4K image. In any case, the first 4K-screen-equipped smartphones come to market as early as next year.
Still UltraViolet mobile video service sends most of its content from the old SD resolution.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1659:4k-tulee-kannykkaan-sisalto-ei&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google goes DARPA
http://fortune.com/2014/08/14/google-goes-darpa/
The famously innovative search company has taken a page from the Pentagon’s radical ideas factory. Here’s what’s brewing in Silicon Valley’s coolest skunkworks.
After making the rounds of various groups, Dugan sat down with Dennis Woodside, then the CEO of Google’s Motorola unit, who was charged with turning around a brand that was once synonymous with cellphone innovation but that had lost its way in the smartphone era. Woodside said that with a renewed focus on innovation, Motorola could leapfrog rivals like Apple and Samsung.
What, he wondered, did Dugan—whose job had been to nurture DARPA’s decades-long streak of breakthroughs—think? “It’s a great strategy for not losing and a lousy strategy for winning,” she answered. A week later the Motorola innovation gig was hers.
Today Dugan is leading a cadre of big-idea special forces—called Advanced Technology and Projects group, or ATAP for short—on an even grander mission for parent Google, where the unit is slated to remain after the sale of Motorola to Lenovo is completed later this year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Google Seeks New Customers: Kids
https://www.theinformation.com/Google-Seeks-New-Customers-Kids
Google has been working to overhaul its Web services so it can legally allow children to use them, as it becomes more willing to tolerate hairy legal requirements in exchange for growth.
The contemplated features include a dashboard for parents to oversee their kids’ activities, a child-safe version of YouTube and requiring people who sign up for a Google account on devices powered by Google’s Android software to share their age.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Generally, the Army developed the use of technology, such as GPS, cheaper, smaller, and into the consumer devices. So you can also see to happen to infrared camera.
Detecting the thermal radiation technology is already in use in many bigger devices. For example, Audi and Mercedes-Benz on the cameras to facilitate pedestrian detection and improved visibility in foggy weather. Firefighters, in turn, use a device to smoke diving.
This month, Apple is selling One Flir Thermal Imaging Camera that can be attached to your iPhone. This shows that as soon as it is no longer a technical preclude such a device can be integrated directly into the phone.
Source: http://www.tivi.fi/uutisia/armeijan+tekniikka+tuli+puhelimiin+puhelimen+infrapunakamera+tarkistaa+vaikka+kahvin+kuumuuden/a1004631
Tomi Engdahl says:
Moto 360 smartwatch priced at $249.99 according to Best Buy listing
http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/17/6027183/moto-360-smartwatch-priced-at-249-99-according-to-best-buy-listing
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Motorola is all set to unveil its Moto 360 watch at a press event in Chicago on September 4th, but it looks like Best Buy has let the cat out of the bag. A product page for the Android Wear smartwatch has mistakenly gone live on Best Buy’s mobile site, and it lists the device with a $249.99 price tag.
That price puts the Moto 360 at just a bit more than the first two Android Wear smartwatches, the LG G Watch and the Samsung Gear Live, which cost $229 and $199.99, respectively. For the extra cash, the Moto 360 appears to be quite a bit more attractive from a design standpoint — its circular display is certainly well-suited for a watch.
The Best Buy page does list some preliminary specifications: the LCD touchscreen is said to come in at a resolution of 320 x 290, and the display is protected with Gorilla Glass 3.
Tomi Engdahl says:
It’s 2014, and Android fragmentation is no longer a problem
http://gigaom.com/2014/08/17/its-2014-and-android-fragmentation-is-no-longer-a-problem/
App developers like us used to consider Android a total pain. A few things have changed that.
Let’s be honest: As app developers, we’ve always defended the beauty and polish of iOS (and have certainly been slapped with the “Apple fanboy” label more than once).
But something strange has happened the past few months. Many of our employees are starting to carry Android devices as their primary handset — shocking our significant others, families and friends. More notably, our projects are increasingly becoming Android-centric — from a number of native Android apps for our top clients to prototypes and POCs around Android Wear and Google Glass.
What the heck is happening? Isn’t Android supposed to be a total pain for developers like us (as well as our clients)?
But things have changed. Android is challenging, but we think it’s time to set the record straight (and remember, this is coming from devoted iOS fans here): Put simply, Android fragmentation in 2014 is a myth.
Since 2010 and even 2012, Google has made huge strides to solve some of the jarring fragmentation issues facing developers. And they’ve done it in some pretty impressive and “behind the scenes” ways.
Play Services is more important than OS installs when planning and designing an Android app. Play Services, introduced in 2012, is effectively a background download of core services required to run apps on Android. Putting the OS install numbers to one side for a moment, this is the stat that matters to developers – over 93 percent of all Android users are running the latest version of Google Play Services.
More importantly, Google has been slowly moving core Android features, APIs and app elements out of the OS and into Google Play Services — meaning developers can ensure their apps run smoothly (with all the new features they plan to implement) across all devices carrying the latest infrastructure.
An excellent post by iOS and Android developer Russell Ivanovic helps diffuse the usual argument about the screen size “hell” of designing for Android. Designing for Android is “not that hard,” Ivanovic writes, “and honestly causes us less headaches than most people imagine.”
A designer doesn’t have to “re–lay out” the app design for every possible screen size. Instead, through thoughtful use of higher resolution graphics and accounting for minor variations in width and height, almost every screen size can easily be catered to.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Siri developers to bring artificial intelligence to all applications
Apple’s iPhone 4S model will soon be two years old. Raised a stir in the mobile phone voice user interface, which was given the name of Siri. Now Siri is about to get a lot smarter successor.
Siri’s developers are working on a new type of artificial intelligence groundwater interface Viv name. According to analysts, Viv can be completed to get Siri to show “really stupid.”
Viv’s goal is to create a voice user interface, which could be linked to any application.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1654:sirin-kehittajat-tuovat-tekoalyn-kaikkiin-sovelluksiin&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Samsung has introduced a new version of the smartphone-Exynos application processor. 5430 model received a note at the same time the circuit is the company’s first produced with 20-nanometer process.
Exynos 5430 processor of the Galaxy phones, the iron will be more effective. The circuit has four Cirtex-A15 cores, which operate at 1.8 GHz clock.
Graphics on the device rotates the ARM’s Mali graphics processor T628MP6. It is capable of painting an image always WQHD – (2560 × 1440) and Resolution WQXGA (2560 × 1600). Exynos 5430 will therefore use the following Samsung’s tablets.
Shift from 28 nanometers to 20 nanometers means that the power consumed will be 25 percent less. This means longer battery life or ability to run more demanding applications.
Source: http://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1666:samsung-20-nanometriin-kannykkasirussaan&catid=13&Itemid=101
Tomi Engdahl says:
Home> Technology
Want to Be the Most Unpopular Parent? There’s an App for That
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/unpopular-parent-app/story?id=24981430
A Texas mom has created an app that helps parents keep their kids on a virtual leash — and will likely have many teens saying: “But, mom!”
The “Ignore No More” app gives parents the ability to take control of their children’s smartphones when they believe their calls and texts are being ignored.
When she wants to lock her son’s phone, Standifird opens the app and taps his name. She then enters an unlock code twice and then presses “Lock Bradley’s Phone.”
The activation of the app will take away a child’s ability to play games, call friends and surf the Internet. The ability to call 911 will always remain intact on the phone
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ignore No More
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wwc.inmp
$1.99 PER PHONE – Ignore No More is an easy to install app that gives you control over your children’s phones. If your children ignore your repeated calls and text messages to reach them, you simply lock their phones until they call you back. Visit http://www.ignorenomoreapp.com for detailed information and set-up instructions.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Meego / Meltemi not dead, may metamorphose into a cloud-based Nokia OS in future
http://www.nokiapoweruser.com/2014/08/17/meego-meltemi-not-dead-may-metamorphose-into-a-cloud-based-nokia-os-in-future/
All Nokia fans do remember Meego, the beautiful and promising Nokia’s homegrown OS, that was first and last seen on Nokia N9 before it was considered dead.
Now, if our trusted sources have to believed, it seems Meego or its successor Meltemi which was also scrapped may not be dead after all. Though they may not come back in the form already seen but metamorphose into a “Cloud-based OS solution”. Our sources tell us,
Meego / Meltemi is not dead. CTO ( The central team behind special projects like emerging devics and tech at Nokia ) kept it alive as a special project. 100+ people kept working on this cloud enabled solution built from meego scraps. This team is active since 2011 in US and Finland.
This does make sense as Nokia is planning to venture back into “consumer products and applications”.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Forget Passwords. Now Banks Can Track Your Typing Behavior On Phones
http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2014/08/18/forget-passwords-now-banks-can-track-your-typing-behavior-on-phones/
Password theft is an ongoing problem. Finger print and voice recognition is still years away. What’s a bank to do if it wants to verify the thousands of customers using its mobile app? One way is their behavior — or at least their typing behavior.
Banks in Europe’s Nordic region have begun rolling out a new kind of security technology for their mobile apps that tracks the pressure and speed of how customers type a pin number into their smartphones. This way even if a friend knows someone’s pin, they wouldn’t be able to get in thanks to all the automatic nuances in the way people type, such as rhythm and pressure on the keys.
“We’re monitoring the small stuff,”
“It’s constantly learning,”
Nordic banks including Danske Bank have trialled Behaviosec’s tracking technology and found it worked so well that by the end of the year, every Internet bank user in Sweden, Norway and Denmark will be doubly verified by their typing behavior, not just their pin number, Costigan claims.
The startup claims a high success rate on verification: it reached 99.7% session accuracy when it trialled its behavior-tracking technology in conjunction with a pin number for Danske Bank.
If the technology takes off, it could add a whole new layer of security for apps and phones that would be much harder for fraudsters to rip off. Hackers can put millions of user accounts at risk by raiding a database of passwords, but it’s far harder to spoof someone’s typing behavior remotely, especially on smart phones.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearables for Video Capture Smart Glasses Debate
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1323539&
While Google Glass explorers have been harassed, threatened, and even assaulted for wearing the smart glasses and allegedly recording everything, one company is putting its wearable camera upfront. Pivothead’s HD video glasses are more honest about intent, a company executive says.
People are partially “up in arms” about Google Glass privacy because of the long duration users wear the smart glasses. “I think people are uncomfortable with not knowing if you’re recording or not recording because now it’s a part of the face. It’s almost replacing the cellphone,”
The sport glasses feature an 8 megapixel camera on the bridge, capable of shooting in full HD with a customizable memory card and Bluetooth to pair with a handset or computer. Like GoPro, the glasses are based on an Ambarella chipset with A-11 ARM processor
Pivothead envisions a two-way communications model on its more specialized glasses that operate at a 5 Ghz frequency, allowing wearers to live stream video and voice to a second source. Cox says a security guard could patrol an area and feed back to monitors in a control room, which could also direct the guard where to go using a 4G/LTE cellular connection.
Tomi Engdahl says:
UK fuzz want PINCODES on ALL mobile phones
Met Police calls for mandatory passwords on all new mobes
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/19/uk_cops_want_to_lock_down_your_mobile_phone/
The Metropolitan Police has spent more than two years lobbying phone manufacturers and the government in a bid to introduce mandatory passwords on every new unit sold in Blighty, The Reg has learned.
Senior officers from the Met’s National Mobile Phone Crime Unit (NMPCU) have met with firms including Apple and Samsung to discuss the new measure, which police see as a key way of tackling handset and identity theft. Cops want to see each phone sold with a password already in place, so that buyers are dissuaded from leaving their mobe unlocked.
Internal research conducted by the NMPCU suggests that up to 60 per cent of phones do not have a password, offering thieves access to a treasure trove of valuable personal information.
Tomi Engdahl says:
iPhone user SHAMEGASM: ‘I beg of you’, delete sex app from my purchase list
Quick, iVibe, before mum sees
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/04/teenagers_in_shamegasms_after_downloading_iphone_sitonmyfacetime_apps/
The developer of a vibrator app has told guilty self-touching fanbois that it cannot wipe away their sinful past.
“ATTENTION! If you wish to remove this app from your purchase list, please contact apple support. We have nothing to do with your purchase list and therefore CANNOT remove anything.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Sharp’s new phone for Sprint looks like something out of a sci-fi fantasy
And it’s only $239
http://www.theverge.com/2014/8/19/6045973/sharp-aquos-crystal-sprint-hands-on
This week, Sharp, Softbank, and Sprint announced a new line of devices called Aquos Crystal, which feature full-screen designs like nothing we’ve seen before. Sprint confirmed today that it would be getting the 5-inch Aquos Crystal smartphone, a new mid-range device unlike anything else in Sprint’s or other US carrier lineups. Oh, and it’s going to sell for a measly $239 without a contract
The star of the show is the Aquos Crystal’s 5-inch, 720p edge-to-edge display. There is virtually no bezel surrounding the screen, making it the first smartphone we can truly call “edge-to-edge”
Tomi Engdahl says:
News and Ads to Debut on Snapchat
With 27 Million Users, the Mobile App Looks to Bring in News Content and Sell Ads to Go With It
http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/snapchat-discussing-new-content-service-with-advertisers-and-media-firms-1408486739-lMyQjAxMTA0MDEwOTExNDkyWj
Snapchat Inc., the mobile app for vanishing messages, could soon be a service for disappearing TV and movie clips, news articles and advertisements.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Project Tango Tablet Teardown: Everything You Need For Handheld 3D
http://gizmodo.com/project-tango-tablet-teardown-everything-you-need-for-1623776955
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hands On with the HTC One M8 for Windows: The first OS-agnostic phone
The same One M8 that ran Android now runs Windows Phone, exclusively on Verizon.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/08/hands-on-with-the-htc-one-m8-for-windows-the-first-os-agnostic-phone/
HTC has announced the HTC One M8… again. This time, though, it runs Windows Phone and is a Verizon-exclusive called the “HTC One M8 for Windows.” HTC is the first OEM to take advantage of changes in Windows Phone 8.1 that allow for OS-agnostic smartphones, allowing (Verizon) customers to pick their hardware first and software—Windows Phone or Android—second.
We aren’t glossing over any details here, either; the hardware is exactly the same as the Android version. That means you get all the good stuff from the HTC One M8: a 5-inch, 1080p LCD, a 2.36GHz Snapdragon 801, 2GB of RAM, a 2600mAh battery, and massive BoomSound speakers, all wrapped in an aluminum shell.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Noke is a Bluetooth padlock you unlock with your phone
http://venturebeat.com/2014/08/18/noke-is-a-bluetooth-padlock-you-unlock-with-your-phone/
Pronounced “No-key,” Fuz Designs (or “FŪZ” as it likes to spell itself) claims it is the “world’s first Bluetooth padlock.”
That tingled my Spidey-sense; I had the nagging feeling I’d heard about another Kickstarter Bluetooth lock project a little while back. Sure enough, there was. It was the Teo
“Well, it may very well end up being the world’s first commercially available one,”
Fuz Designs’ Noke on the other hand, is a kindred spirit to the Nest Thermostat in the sense that it distills the classic combination lock down to its simplest elements: A round body and u-shaped shackle that latches vertically and swivels side-to-side.
$59 with shipping included is easier to swallow than $79+ $15 for shipping.
To unlock the Teo, you need to approach it with your Bluetooth enabled smartphone and trigger the lock by accessing the native app. The Noke simply requires that an authorized smartphone be within 10 feet of the lock and will release with a simple click-down movement on the shackle.
“Nothing is ever going to be 100 percent bullet-proof. We’re going to make it as secure as possible. But there are much easier ways to hack a lock,” Gibbs points out as we both start to list off the many low-tech methods for compromising a small padlock.
Tomi Engdahl says:
FEAST YOUR EYES: Samsung’s Galaxy Alpha has an ‘entirely new appearance’
Wow, it looks like nothing else on the market, for sure
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/14/samsung_galaxy_alpha/
The smartphone will ship with Android 4.4.4 KitKat and Google mobile web apps including Drive, Maps and Hangouts.
“With an entirely new appearance,” Samsung Electronics CEO and head of IT and mobile communication JK Shin claims, “the Galaxy Alpha focuses on both beauty and functionality combining a stunning metal frame and slim, light weight design with the same powerful hardware and features users expect from a flagship Galaxy mobile device.”
Perhaps the “entirely new appearance” Shin refers to is the white, gold, silver and blue finishes available for the Alpha. The handset has shiny metal side and back casing, and rounded corners.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Amazon takes swipe at PayPal, Square with card reader for mobes
Etailer plans to undercut rivals with low transaction fee offer
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/08/13/amazon_launches_credit_card_reading_device/
Amazon has launched its own mobile payments device and app at a starting price that undercuts existing tech from Square and PayPal.
Amazon’s “Local Register” popped up in a YouTube video and a dedicated site online before the mega etailer officially announced it.
The initial launch covers the US, but it’s likely that Amazon will want to spread the service to all of its markets. Square currently operates in the US, Canada and Japan and PayPal Here is available in the US and the UK.
Tomi Engdahl says:
To Simplify Mobile Shopping, PayPal Wants To Eliminate Filling Out Billing And Shipping Info
http://www.fastcompany.com/3034415/most-innovative-companies/to-simplify-mobile-shopping-paypal-wants-to-eliminate-filling-out-
The PayPal subsidiary is releasing a set of developer tools that reduce mobile shopping to one touch.
In the age of smartphones and tablets, it may seem odd when a company that sells its goods online isn’t optimized for mobile devices. But shopping on such gadgets remains so fraught with clumsiness and confusion that 68% of mobile carts are abandoned.
“If I have to do a bunch of typing on a tiny touch screen, that’s painful for me, and I’m less likely to complete my purchase,”
The release of OneTouch PayPal comes shortly after Visa debuted Visa Checkout, a layer that lets customers purchase products online without having to re-enter their payment information on new sites.
The authentication experience takes a few seconds and aims to reduce shopping to a single tap, but customers might be asked for more information if they are shipping to an address that isn’t on file or if the transaction is flagged for potential fraud.
Tomi Engdahl says:
HTC claims the One (M8) for Windows delivers 10 percent more talk time than Android
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2472765/htc-claims-the-one-m8-for-windows-delivers-10-percent-more-talk-time-than-android.html#tk.rss_all
The HTC One (M8) for Windows offers better battery life than its Android counterpart—at least, according to HTC’s own specifications.
HTC’s One (M8) is available running either a recent version of the Android OS, or, as of this week, Microsoft’s Windows Phone. HTC officials have said the hardware between the two is virtually identical, with the same chassis, screen, microprocessor, memory, and storage built into both phones.
HTC, however, says the Android version of the phone is rated at 20 hours of 3G talk time, and up to 496 hours of standby time, as noted by Neowin.net. HTC’s One (M8) for Windows is rated at 22 hours of 3G talk time, and up to 528 hours of standby while using 3G. That’s a 10 percent advantage for the Windows Phone version in talk time, and a 6.45 percent advantage in standby time.
The natural question is whether Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS is more efficient, from a power perspective, than the Android version 4.4.2 (KitKat) that is powering HTC’s phone.
Under the hood, though, there may be another answer: The two versions of the One (M8) may not be truly identical, after all.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wearables Market Expected to Explode by 2018
http://blog.designersofthings.com/post/95205410906/wearables-market-expected-to-explode-by-2018-some
Some promising numbers for wearables have been published recently by CCS Insight’s global forecast. Smart wearable devices are expected to grow from the 9.7 million sold in 2013 to 135 million by the time we hit 2018. And by end of the year CCS predicts we will see 129% year-over-year growth of wearables to 22 million sold, most of these sold in the upcoming holiday cycle.
Also similar to the IDC report, CCS agrees that wearables like Google Glass will have the toughest time in its growth journey, stating aesthetic and privacy concerns as the biggest barriers to adoption.
Tomi Engdahl says:
One of the most critical ingredients in creating a connected world is making sure that our technology knows who we are. Once our smart car, smart TV and even our smart toaster confirm our identity they can provide more meaningful experiences like the perfect in-car temperature, your favorite TV channel or how light or dark you like our toast. Right now we mostly use passwords and pins to help our tech tell us apart from others, but these mechanisms are frustrating, cumbersome and definitely don’t feel very futuristic. One wristband, the Nymi, is about to change all that.
The Nymi is a wristband which uses your cardiac rhythm or your unique heartbeat to identify who you are and then relays your identity to any connected thing via Bluetooth. As the Nymi is something you wear, it offers persistent identity once you are authenticated which means that you only need to confirm your identity once rather than every time you want to get access to something.
Bionym, the company behind the Nymi, is getting ready to ship its first batch of wristbands out to those that have pre-ordered in the Fall of this year.
“Identity is not just about security but also about different profiles and different behaviors that depend on a person’s preferences”
Source: http://blog.designersofthings.com/post/92144135531/technology-that-knows-who-you-are-featured
Tomi Engdahl says:
Extending the Body with Wearable Tech
http://blog.designersofthings.com/post/91455674231/extending-the-body-with-wearable-tech-featured
Technology has done a great job at augmenting our mental capabilities. We now have an infinite ability to know and remember things thanks to the internet and services like Google, IMDB, Wikipedia and the like. But when it comes to our physical skills like walking, seeing, touching and so on, technology hasn’t really played a part…until now. Integrating the tech with our body through wearable technology is starting to show us the potential of extending our physicality beyond our natural capabilities. One of these devices is the gesture control armband, Myo.
Created by Canadian startup, Thalmic Labs, the Myo armband uses the kinetic energy in your arm to identify hand gestures and is also equipped with motions sensors to detect the movement of your arms. When connected to any smart “thing” using Bluetooth, like your tablet or Smart TV, the Myo turns your hand into a controller letting users swipe through pages, or turn up the volume with just a flick of the hand.
The Myo is currently in pre-orders and is expected to ship later this Fall after the developer units are in the hands of the developer community. I
Tomi Engdahl says:
Skype now lets you receive chat notifications only on the device you are currently using
http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2014/08/20/skype-now-lets-receive-chat-notifications-device-currently-using/
Skype today announced a new feature called active endpoint that ensures you only receive chat notifications on the device that you are currently using. The Microsoft-owned company says the new functionality is rolling out “over the next few weeks,” and all you have to do is make sure that your devices have the latest versions of Skype.
In other words, if you’ve ever used the communication app on multiple devices and been frustrated by getting multiple sounds and vibrations for every single message, you’ll be happy to learn that will soon be an annoyance of the past.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Can Smartphones Break Out of Their Rut?
http://recode.net/2014/08/18/can-smartphones-break-out-of-their-rut/
In the coming weeks Apple, Samsung, HTC, Motorola and Microsoft are all slated to launch new high-end smartphones to consumers who can be forgiven for asking, “Why bother?”
Since the introduction of the Apple iPhone in 2007, the design and function of most modern smartphones have not changed much. And that appears to be the case this upcoming season. Nearly all of the phones are expected to be sequels to existing models.
Sure, they will pack bigger and better screens, faster chips and better cameras.
What cellphone makers lack in creativity they have tried to make up for in marketing dollars. Eager to generate the level of excitement of an iPhone launch, all the big phone makers will crowd the next few weeks with splashy Apple-style events.
But the real question is whether any of these companies — Apple included — has come up with any significant new advances.
Let’s hope the companies do better with the wave of wearables and watches that are expected to flood the market this fall from the same cast of characters.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Talking On Tablets On The Rise In Asia
http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/20/im-on-the-pad-phone/
The phone-sized tablet — aka the phablet — was born in Asia, so it’s fitting that the region is now apparently driving a trend for talking on even larger slabs of glass and plastic. Aka: ‘I’m on the pad phone.’
Analyst IDC says tablets with a screen of 7 inches or larger are increasingly shipping with cellular voice capabilities — and getting increasing traction the Asia/Pacific region, excluding Japan (APeJ), pushing past the 25 per cent mark in the second quarter of this year, up from around 15 per cent in Q1.
According to its Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker report, some 13.8 million tablets were shipped in the APeJ region in Q2 2014, of which around 3.5 million units had voice calling over cellular networks as an option built-in to the device.
So, to be clear, it’s not actually tracking whether people are talking on their tablets — but more vendors are adding cellular capabilities to tablets and more of these voice enabled slates are being shipped
IDC says cellular voice enabled tablet shipments in Q2 equate to more than 60% growth, year-on-year in unit terms, for this category of slate — all of which happen to be Android-based.
What’s driving this massive phone trend? The analyst points to the desire for people in emerging markets to have one converged device for multiple use-cases as one driver — especially given the cost savings involved. So cheap Android slates are evidently cannibalizing some mobile phone sales.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Is The Worst App In The World
http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/19/this-is-the-worst-app-in-the-world/?ncid=rss&cps=gravity
The app, borne out of Zarick’s torrid fever dream, is what he described in an email as “the dumbest idea [he] could imagine.” The Shakedown is so bad, it’s almost good.
What does it do? Every new user (sucker?) is awarded 10,000 points at the start. Then, they can select a rival user from one of their social graphs such as Twitter, and shake their phone in a waving-like motion. That action deducts points from the picked rival, and adds it to the user’s score.
If the app is so abysmally terrible, why bring it to your attention? Simple: Jokes are becoming ‘things’ in the current bubble, and so I would be remiss to not bring you something so foolish and lame that it could just be the next Flappy Bird. Or TimberMan, whatever.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Smartphone Kill Switch, Consumer Boon Or Way For Government To Brick Your Phone?
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/14/08/20/224229/smartphone-kill-switch-consumer-boon-or-way-for-government-to-brick-your-phone
We’re often told that having a kill switch in our mobile devices — mostly our smartphones — is a good thing. At a basic level, that’s hard to disagree with. If every mobile device had a built-in kill switch, theft would go down
Here’s where the problem lays: It’s law enforcement that’s pushing so hard for these kill switches.
such functionality should be limited to the device’s owner, and no one else. If the owner can disable a phone with nothing but access to a computer or another mobile device, so can Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Nokia or Apple.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cycada: Native Execution of iOS Apps on Android
http://systems.cs.columbia.edu/projects/cycada/
Cycada is an operating system compatibility architecture that can run applications built for different mobile ecosystems, iOS or Android, together on the same smartphone or tablet. Cycada enhances the domestic operating system, Android, of a device with kernel-managed, per-thread personas to mimic the application binary interface of a foreign operating system, iOS, enabling it to run unmodified foreign binaries. This is accomplished using a novel combination of binary compatibility techniques
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cycada lets iOS apps run on Android natively
http://www.slashgear.com/cycada-lets-ios-apps-run-on-android-natively-20341969/
This is the type of research project that will probably have Steve Jobs turning in his grave. A team of engineers from Columbia University have developed Cycada, formerly Cider, a compatibility architecture that would let iOS apps run on Android without heavy virtual machines or convoluted compatibility layers.
When it comes to getting one OS’ software to run on another OS, virtualization is usually the answer to such situations. However, the mobile hardware and software architecture have not yet standardized the way PCs have, making such a solution difficult to implement, if not impossible.
WINE’s developers do is to practically reimplement the Windows API (application programming interface) in order to mimic a Windows system.
Cycada, on the other hand, takes a different approach. They have developed a new method called compile-time code adaptation, which lets them build code meant for other operating systems on Linux, which is Android’s base, without modification.
They also use what they call diplomatic functions to replace iOS system functions, letting an app call equivalent Android system functions instead.