Monday, January 30, 2012

WiGig: Panasonic Tablet Wirelessly Transmits A Full DVD Video In 60 Seconds (Video)


WiGig, a multi-gigabit speed wireless communications technology, was first announced back in 2009, but it’s taking companies like Panasonic quite a while to come up with applications that make use of it. Via WiGig, devices can communicate with each other at multi-gigabit speeds using the 60 GHz frequency band.

Panasonic has developed a prototype system, in which WiGig is embedded in a tablet that can wirelessly transmit data like photos or videos to displays mounted in the passenger seats of a car. That car has to be nearby: while Wi-Fi typically has a transmission range of about 30m, WiGig’s range is just 1-3m (Bluetooth: around 10m).



The tablet you can see in the video embedded below transmits a “full DVD video” in 60 seconds, according to Diginfo TV (which shot the video). WiGig, in the 1.1 specification, boasts a data transmission rate of up to 7 Gbit/s.

Panasonic is currently in the process of developing WiGig SD cards that are supposed to be commercialized in summer next year. WiGig-compatible phones are apparently on their way, too.

Here’s the video (in English):

Source-techcrunch

Apple Overtakes Samsung As World’s Largest Smartphone Vendor In Q4


According to the latest report from Strategy Analytics, Apple has now overtaken Samsung to become the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume. Apple achieved 23.9% market share during Q4 2011, narrowly beating out Samsung’s 23.5% share.

In addition, Apple shipped 37 million units in Q4, again going neck-and-neck with Samsung and its 36.5 million units shipped during the same time.

However, notes Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, “while Apple took the top spot in smartphones on a quarterly basis, Samsung became the market leader in annual terms for the first time with 20% global share during 2011.” Apple’s annual share, meanwhile, was 19%.

In other words, Apple won the quarter, not the year.

Smartphone global shipments reached nearly half a billion units in 2011 (488.5 million units), the firm found, turning the smartphone battle into a two-horse race between Apple and Samsung in terms of units shipped.

Nokia, the one-time smartphone leader, is still holding onto a top spot, in position #3, with 19.6 million units shipped during Q4 and 77.3 million shipped during 2011. But Nokia’s global share has been halved from 33% in 2010 to just 16% in 2011, indicating its ongoing decline.

Although Strategy’s numbers paint the Samsung vs. Apple battle as a tight race between mobile giants, there’s a big difference between the numbers being reported here. As MacRumors points out, Samsung no longer reports its mobile phone sales numbers, while Apple discloses its units sold each quarter. That means analysts are estimating Samsung’s numbers, but Apple’s numbers are provided by the company itself. It could be that Apple’s lead is even greater than what’s seen here.

Update: A report from the analysts at Canalys has just come in, and confirms the same thing – it’s an Apple vs. Samsung battle.

According to the firm’s latest findings, Apple’s record shipment of 37 million iPhones shipped in Q4 beat the previous record held by Nokia of 28.3 million phones shipped in Q4 2010. Another shocking figure: the huge volume of iPhones shipped exceeded the size of the entire market of 4 years ago, when 35.5 million smartphones shipped globally.

The firm also noted Nokia’s shipment of 19.6 million smartphones, calling it “a decent performance given its current transitional state.” However, Canalys stopped short of estimating Samsung’s phone shipments at this time, saying that the company doesn’t disclose these numbers publicly. They did say that Samsung’s quarterly smartphone growth was around 30% and mobile phone shipments were up 10%, though.

Says Canalys Vice President and Principal Analyst Chris Jones, “the numbers are still coming in, but our early take on the state of the smartphone market is that, while Apple and Samsung clearly saw phenomenal performances, many other vendors have struggled. The full impact of this difficult quarter on hardware and software vendors will become clearer over the next week, when final results from the likes HTC, LG, Huawei and ZTE are announced, and Canalys publishes its full Q4 2011 worldwide country-level databases.”
 Source-techcrunch

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Twitter Puts Its DMCA Takedown Requests Up For All To See


Yesterday’s announcement that Twitter would be selectively censoring tweets based on country was not well-received. But part of that announcement was the assurance that the process would at least be transparent. A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.

They also mentioned that they were working with Chilling Effects to make notices and orders sent to Twitter publicly available. At the time of the post yesterday, the site wasn’t up yet, but you can now browse it at chillingeffects.org/twitter.

It’s a good thing, certainly, though not quite a successful saving throw versus the localized-censorship piece. The database has several thousand DMCA takedown requests right now, but is not quite up to date — it isn’t clear at what rate they’re updating the database, but there aren’t many from this month so it seems to be something less than weekly.

Browsing the listings is a good way to waste 15 minutes, looking at the different ways people tend to provoke a DMCA takedown request. There’s a lot of cricket being linked to, apparently. And there are the inevitable copyrighted avatars.

What’s interesting to me is that there are a number of requests that in themselves request dozens of tweets to be taken down; this one, for example, points out a number of pirated movies being linked to, and the accounts are clearly bots. The DMCA request is only for the movies the rightsholder is concerned with — which is at once both correct and perverse. The account only exists to link to copyrighted material and has done so thousands of times, but everyone involved would rather snip out individual tweets one by one. Talk about a Sisyphean task.

Presumably this database will also house the official requests by governments who wish to restrict tweets based on content. While most won’t agree with Twitter’s decision to accede to these repressive entities’ wishes, it can at least be hoped that it will be done so with maximum transparency. The best thing Twitter users can do, perhaps, is to make sure this database is up to date and reflective of the restrictions being placed on tweets. Until a solution comes along, reducing the harm this new policy does and making sure it’s well understood should take priority.
 

Kaiser Permanente Takes Millions Of Medical Records Mobile With New Android App


We’ve recently written about some exciting new ideas and technology that will transform medicine in 2012, how mobile technology is playing a role in this transformation, and lauded investor Vinod Khosla addressed the question of whether or not algorithms (and technology) will replace doctors.

Younger, smaller companies have flexibility, and can often have a greater impact on innovation and evolution of industries than giant corporations that have been around for decades. When we talk about innovation and technology touching the health industry, it’s hard not to mention electronic medical records (EMRs). As recently as 2009, The New England Journal of Medicine found that only 1.5 percent of U.S. hospitals have a comprehensive electronic medical health system. Practice Fusion, a venture-backed startup we’ve covered recently, has become one of the biggest providers of EMRs in the country, with 25 million digitized to date.

While the free web-based system for physicians is making some great progress in this area, and is catalyzing change, it has to be tempered by the prior statistic — there’s still a long way to go. That’s why it’s such great news for the industry, when older, giant corporations — the big kahunas — jump on the bandwagon and show they’re willing to help push their industries forward.

Founded in 1945, California-based Kaiser Permanente is one of the largest not-for-profit managed care consortiums and health plan providers in the country, with 9 million members, nearly 170K employees, 15K physicians, 35 medical centers, and 430+ medical offices under its fold. Yesterday, the health care organization announced the release of a free Android app and mobile-optimized website through which its millions of members can access their own medical information on the go.

This means that Kaiser Permanente patients can get full access to the company’s health record system and all that comes with it, which they already could do through kp.org, from their mobile devices. In 2011, Kaiser more than 68 million lab test results available online to their patients, and through the Android app and mobile web app, patients can now get 24/7 access to lab results, diagnostic information, direct and secure email access to doctors, schedule appointments, and order prescription refills.

The company plans to release an app for iOS in the next few months, but in the meantime, non-Android users can get access to the same set of secure tools through its new mobile-optimized website through their devices’ browsers. What’s more, the apps also make it possible for family members and other care providers to get access on behalf of patients and accomplish the same tasks that they could at kp.org. This is great for people who are traveling and need to receive care from non-Kaiser Permanente providers.

The company’s data on how people are accessing its site is very telling, too, as it validates the notion that mobile technology has become an essential part of healthcare, as Kaiser told us that 14 percent of visits to its website now derive from mobile devices, a 46 percent growth since January 2011.

The health plan provider has previously released mobile apps for the iPhone, one that helps patients locate KP facilities and another app that encourages people to walk and pursue healthy activities, and while both are great tools, neither have the implications that giving broad access to EMRs does through Android, and soon iOS. Kaiser Permanente has made some great strides in HealthIT, and is set on pushing forward in mobile technology as well. If the other big health plan and healthcare providers follow suit, this can have an enormous effect on the health industry and patient care. It’s already further validation of the importance of EMRs.

You can find the Android app here.

Additional note: Those looking for more info on the security and privacy policies of KP in regard to personal health info on the Web, check these links out here and here.

As to security for its mobile website and apps, Kaiser Permanente says that it aims to protect the privacy and security of personal health information and has “implemented effective programs for information security and compliance … supported by multiple layers of security involving technology, policies, physical security, awareness and identity authentication.”

Members will be required to log on to mobile.kp.org, just as they do on kp.org today. “Security for mobile access includes (but is not limited to) user authentication, automatic log-out of ‘My Health Manager’ after a period of inactivity, and secure internet connections. Personal health information will remain on Kaiser Permanente’s secure servers, and no personal health information will be stored on a mobile device.”

At Kaiser Permanente, we think of the quest to maintain a secure environment as a journey, rather than a destination. As new technologies and threats emerge, Kaiser Permanente will continue to expand our security solutions, while enhancing care delivery through timely access to information.
Source-techcrunch

Friday, January 27, 2012

The HP TouchPad Rides Back Into Town On Woot’s Back


Somewhere, someone out there is curled in a corner, sobbing because they missed out on the last HP TouchPad sale. Ebay messed up, he says. It wasn’t his fault. He clicked the button but Ebay’s servers crashed. So now he’s alone. Left to sulk in his missed opportunities.

But fear not, friend! I bring you great news from the land of the Internet! Woot finagled another batch of TouchPad tablets! They’re refurbs and priced higher than before, but they’re TouchPads! But you better act quick! Don’t let another chance to own a failed tablet slip between your fingers!

As of this post’s writing Woot has both models listed but the 16GB is already sold out. That leaves just the 32GB available. And at $219 it’s still a fine deal for a 9.7-inch dual-core 32GB tablet that can run Android. Of course only fanboys should apply. A general consumer would likely get more enjoyment out of a Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet. But perhaps you’re a starving coder, betting your future on webOS now that its going open-source — by all means, buy the TouchPad and lets never talk about it again.
Source-techcrunch

Developer Is Building An App Store For Banned Android Apps


An Android developer by the name of Koushik Dutta is building an alternative Android app store which will house the apps that have been banned from Google’s official Android Market. These will include the custom ROMs (customized versions of the Android OS), classic gaming emulators pulled due to copyright complaints, unofficial tethering apps removed at the behest of mobile operators, Visual Voicemail apps, one-click rooting apps, and more.

The developer, who also goes by the name “Koush” online, suggested the idea earlier this month and received hundreds of positive responses in return. Today, he has posted a progress update, showing an early version of the store being built. (See below).

Dutta is well-known in Android hacking circles as member of the CyanogenMod team and the creator of ClockworkMod, a custom recovery console for Android devices. For the uninitiated, these terms refer to customized versions of Android software which users can install on their devices after rooting their phone, a process which gives them complete administrative control over their handset.

Rooting, similar to its iPhone counterpart jailbreaking, has been popularized among the Android community, and today there are many software applications which less technical users (i.e., those without programming knowledge) can use to root their device. It’s still a risky task, however, so proceed with caution – you could turn your phone into a nice paperweight if you screw up.

After rooting, users are able install replacement firmware like CyanogenMod, created by Steve Kondik, which offers a customized version of the Android OS, free from carriers’ control and customizations. There are now over 1 million active users of CyanogenMod. It’s a sizable community.

These users will have access to the new alternative app store when complete, assuming the project stays on track. The screenshot posted today shows a very basic page for app submissions – nothing that looks like a finished product. But it’s promising.

Although modding has always been a popular activity among the geekier Android crowd, it’s interesting that they’re now facing many of the same restrictions as their iPhone-toting counterparts when it comes to apps. Android may offer a more open app publishing process – there are no review boards or wait times involved – but there are still rules. Certain apps are not allowed, especially if they violate copyright or a mobile operator’s need to generate revenue from value-added services, like tethering.

This should be an interesting project to keep an eye on.
 Source-techcrunch

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Google, Look Out Behind You!



    The next 10 years are going to be wonderfully interesting. And the thanks goes to . . . Apple and Steve Jobs. Think different is no longer a choice.

Earnings hit and miss!

Google missed the streets numbers for its Q1 earnings last week and has seen its stock decline from $670.25 to yesterday’s close of $569.49. Apple, by comparison, has just beaten, no annihilated, the Street’s predictions and its stock has gone from a low of $363 to yesterday’s close of $446.66 in the same period.

It’s all about mobile!

The cause of Google’s relative failure (and it is only relative) is that it failed to hit the “Cost Per Click (CPC)” target expected by analysts. The reason for this seems to be connected to the rapid growth of mobile traffic and the subsequent decline in paid clicks on Google searches.

The same trend – the growth of mobile – that is driving Google to despair is responsible for Apples staggering growth. Rising iPhone, iPad and associated revenues such as the App Store, drove Apple’s profits for the quarter above $13 billion, a number larger than Google’s revenues for the quarter.

The growth of mobile is the key driver of almost everything happening in the software ecosystem today. Consumers and enterprises are turning their backs on the desktop and the laptop at an accelerating rate as they embrace tablets and smart phones. This trend is exponential and global.

Google’s reliance on search revenues derived from web searches in a browser, its former strength, is now not sufficient to guarantee growth.

Google’s focus on Android is a necessary but not sufficient part of confronting these trends. It gives the company a platform into mobile, but it does not do enough to offset the impact of the relative shift in traffic. This is compounded by Android’s essential nature. Originally conceived as a client distribution strategy, making Google apps and services available on a best in class mobile operating system, it lacks the app-store like ecosystem that Apple has created and the consumer-friendly experience that Apple’s approach embodies. A mobile web client to a cloud service just isn’t as fast, or as friendly, as a native app. And whilst third parties are producing native apps, Google is heavily invested in making its cloud based apps and services available on the Android and iOS devices and is paying the price for that.

Social – a threat for sure, but not the only threat, and not the main threat.

Google is also threatened by the inexorable rise of the social internet. Its admirable roll-out of Google Plus over the recent past is almost entirely related to that threat. And at now 90 million users and growing, Google Plus is definitely off to a good start. The decision to change Google Search into a “Search plus Your World” experience this week is probably a necessary part of the response to Facebook also. The controversy that led Larry Page to reportedly suggest that employees who are hanging onto the old Google to go and work elsewhere is a misplaced loyalty to a model that can no longer be sufficient to ensure Google remains relevant. However, by focusing on the strategic threat posed by Facebook almost exclusively, Google may have waited too long, and have the wrong strategy, to beat a more serious challenger – Apple.

Indeed Facebook itself may be a victim of the growth of Mobile, and thereby a victim of Apple’s success. Yesterday, it was reported that Facebook would file its IPO before April 1st in order to comply with US Securities laws requiring companies with more than 500 shareholders to report their financials. Its shares traded for $34 on the secondary markets, implying a market capitalization of $80 billion, down from $55 per share at the peak about 12 months ago (see Sharespost.com for details).

Apple has a platform that will soon be numbered in the hundreds of millions. Every device has communications built-in, personalization built-in, media capture built-in. And with iCloud, there is now a place to store the output of each device. How relevant is the Facebook hosted social graph in that world? How relevant is the web ecosystem that Facebook connect has helped penetrate? It seems likely that Facebook will have many of the same challenges as Google as it contemplates the rise of Apple, and the rise of mobile.

Only one winner this week.

So, as the earnings calls recede into memory, the fact of Apple;s growth and the moment for Google and Facebook to think through their response is now! The results of the past few days paint a clear picture of the future. Pivot may no longer be a word reserved for young startups. The big guys, who are more than capable of understanding the trends, need to step up right away. Failure will mean that Apple – the worlds most valuable company – will be many times bigger 5 years from now. Product thinking needs to be at the center of this reflection. What does mobile mean for us? That needs to be the only question on the table.

Source-techcrunch 

Android Reaches 39% Tablet OS Market Share (Standing On Amazon’s Shoulders)




Apple’s iPad reigns supreme from whatever angle you choose to look at the tablet market (profits, apps, quality, market share, mindshare, you name it), but research firm Strategy Analytics this morning said Android did manage to capture a record 39 percent tablet OS market share in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Apple maintains the lead with 58 percent market share in Q4 2011 (down from 68 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010).

Peter King, a research director at Strategy Analytics, says global tablet shipments (the research firm explains that these refer to ‘sell-in’ and not over-the-counter sales—an important difference, those Android tabs could sit on the shelves forever at Best Buy and never be bought) reached an all-time high of 26.8 million units in Q4 2011, surging 150 percent from 10.7 million in Q4 2010. He added:

    “Apple shipped a robust 15.4 million iPads worldwide and maintained its strong market leadership with 58 percent share during the fourth quarter of 2011. Apple shrugged off the much-hyped threat from entry-level Android models this quarter.”

They did indeed, even if these aren’t really ‘threatening’ Apple at all. Android climbing to 39 percent share (up from 29 percent in Q4 2010) is, nevertheless, meaningful, but here’s the thing: Strategy Analytics includes Amazon’s Kindle Fire in the list of Android models it tracks the distribution of.

The Kindle Fire runs a heavily customized version of Android, sure, but it’s a different beast from, say, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab or Motorola’s Xoom. I would love to know how much of that 39 percent market share can be attributed to the undeniably strong sales numbers of the Kindle Fire.

Put differently, imagine if Amazon didn’t opt for Android or hadn’t yet released the Fire. Which Android tablet makers would be posing a serious threat to Apple then?

I wouldn’t go as far as to say Android tablets ‘failed’ miserably in 2011, but it’s a far cry from success if you ask me. A lot of people expected Android to be on par with iOS by now.

Worth noting: Strategy Analytics is not including Android-powered ebook readers in its latest report.

I have no doubt Android tablets will actually end up commanding a larger tablet OS market share than Apple’s iOS over time, but that will be a logical result of its distribution model and not “Android winning” (basically, Apple chooses not to focus on market share but on profit margins). That Android model also comes with a real, unquestionable fragmentation problem.

Apple shouldn’t worry about the surge of Android in terms of tablet market share, desktop PC makers and the likes of RIM, Nokia and Microsoft should. Especially with an iPad 3 coming in 2012.

Something that crossed my mind: Strategy Analytics estimates that Microsoft captured a mere 1.5 percent global tablet OS market share in Q4 2011, which is very ironic if you think about how early the software giant started thinking about tablet computers and their potential in the enterprise and getting such devices into consumers’ hands.

Says Strategy Analytics: “The upcoming release of Windows 8 this year cannot come quickly enough for Microsoft, so its hardware partners can start competing more effectively in the tablet space”.



Source-techcrunch


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

1-Month Old BuzzDoes Scores $750K For Mobile App Marketing Platform

BuzzDoes, a newly launched word-of-mouth marketing tool for mobile app developers, has secured $750,000 in seed funding from angel investors and Proxima Ventures. The tool, which operates as a drop-in SDK (software development kit), allows developers to add a viral recommendation feature to their application using a single line of code.


Once installed, app users are “incentivized” (meaning rewarded), for recommending the app in question to their friends.

Getting a mobile app noticed in the increasingly crowded mobile app market is more difficult than ever, with some 600,000 iOS applications filling up the iTunes App Store’s shelves, and around 400,000 apps on Android. Although many companies have been experimenting with different means to get their app noticed, word-of-mouth recommendations from trusted sources (e.g. friends, trusted sites, etc.) is one of the only consistently proven methods that can help boost an app’s ranking.

Essentially, BuzzDoes is trying to kickstart the typically organic viral recommendation process where users tell friends about great apps they should try. To do so, app developers using BuzzDoes can choose to reward users who share an app with friends. The rewards come in the form of BuzzDoes points that users can redeem for cash (via PayPal), or users can donate the points to a charity instead. The secret sauce for this startup, however, is not just the sharing feature – it’s that BuzzDoes is also able to detect when a new user downloads and app because of the recommendation.

At first glance, the idea for a “recommendations-for-rewards” type mechanism feels like it could get a little spammy, but the way it’s implemented sounds rather smart.  When a user enters the section of the app where they can make the recommendation, they’re also able to see which apps their friends are downloading, something that adds a social element to the app discovery process. If they’re interested in downloading one of the other apps here, they just tap the app in question and their friend gets the points. For developers, it’s a win because they get new users, but for the app customers involved, this sort of in-app discovery feature feels far less intrusive than mobile ads. In fact, it doesn’t really feel like an ad at all – it feels like a feature.

Developers are offered the BuzzDoes SDK for free, and don’t have to pay unless they actually gain new users through the word-of-mouth recommendation network. That’s a different take than what traditional “incentivized” install companies (e.g. TapJoy, W3i, etc.) provide. In most cases, developers pay upfront for a set amount of downloads which are acquired through “marketing actions,” like offers or through downloading other 3rd-party mobile apps. According to BuzzDoes CEO Assaf Kolirin, the cost to acquire is as low as $0.20 per user, versus today’s averages of $1.50-$3.00 per user.

BuzzDoes launched a month ago at the AppsWorld conference in London, and went live just two weeks ago. It now has over 100 developers on the platform – something that speaks to today’s enormous and still unsolved challenge of user acquisition and app discovery.

The $750,000 in seed funding was raised from a few leading angels in Israel and South America, including  Avraham Gilat, as well as Proxima Ventures.
Source-techcrunch 

iPhone 4S and iPad 2 Finally Get Proper, Untethered Jailbreaks


While the once long list of legitimate reasons to jailbreak your iPhone has taken a hit with each new iOS release, that burning desire to “Free your device” and/or “Fight the power” and/or “Just do crazy stuff that other people can’t do” never really goes away.

3 months after the release of the iPhone 4S and 10 months after the release of the iPad 2, the ridiculously talented iOS hacking community has finally cracked the ultimate challenge for both devices: the untethered jailbreak.

I know these things can get a bit jargony, so a quick recap: to “jailbreak” means to modify a device to run code and applications not signed or approved by Apple, thereby allowing you to do things with your device far outside of what would normally be possible. “Untethered” means that once it’s jailbroken, it stays jailbroken (whereas a “tethered” jailbreak means the device resets to its normal, un-jailbroken state whenever it is reset)

The team behind this hack, Chronic Dev, is the same group that makes the greenpois0n tool that’s been jailbreaking iOS devices for years. Remember comex, the iOS hacker who went legit with an internship at Apple? He was a key member of this group.

While their server seems to be taking a bit of a pounding right now, you can find the new iPhone 4s/iPad 2 jailbreaking tool (dubbed “Greenpos0n Absinthe”) right over here.
Source-techcrunch

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Chart: Android Is Catching Up To iOS In Mobile Video Views


With 250 million Android devices out there, growing by more than 700,000 activations a day, a lot of mobile video is watched on Android cell phones and tablets. It is not quite as much yet as on Apple iOS devices but it is catching up fast.

A year ago in January, 2011, Apple dominated mobile video views, with iOS devices accounting for 87 percent of all mobile views, according to data from video encoding and short-url service Vid.ly. Android had a scant 5 percent. By December, 2011, Android’s share of mobile video watching grew to 32 percent, while Apple’s shrank to 52 percent.

Vid.ly is a service run by Encoding.com, which launched a year ago. The data is only from its service, but is from a large enough sample (more than 1 million video views a month for each platform) that it should be representative.

Source-techcrunch

The Nikkei: Sony Interested In Buying A 20%-30% Stake In Olympus


More news on the Sony-Olympus alliance that’s supposed to be announced soon: Japan’s biggest business daily The Nikkei is reporting today that big S is interested in purchasing a stake as large as “20%-30%” in its potential, scandal-hit partner (that would be up from the 0.03% Sony currently owns).

The capital and business alliance would be mainly aimed at bringing together Sony’s strength in imaging sensor technology with Olympus’ expertise in endoscopes and other medical equipment.

According to the Nikkei, Sony plans to expand investments in the health care field, as the company has been reporting weak financial numbers for their core consumer electronics business for quite a while now.

The paper also says it learned that Fujifilm and medical equipment maker Terumo are two other companies interested in Olympus.

On January 18, Olympus said it will hold an extraordinary shareholders meeting in April. During the announcement, the company also said it will sell a part of its shares to a strategic partner to help get it out of its crisis – it looks more and more like that partner will be Sony.

Source-techcrunch

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Stroke your car seat to pump up the volume


IMAGINE swishing a fingertip along the fabric of your car seat to control the radio volume. Or impressing guests by dimming your living room lights with a languid swipe along the arm of your sofa. These ideas could soon become reality thanks to a smart fabric that behaves like the touchscreen on your cellphone.Because you can clean it, the material will be practical for everyday use.

"In essence we are trying to reproduce the smartphone experience in textile form," says researcher Maksim Skorobogatiy of the Polytechnic School in Montreal, Canada. "We are looking for applications where we can weave in sleek, non-invasive control, avoiding blocks of push buttons."

To do this they have created a soft polymer-based fibre you can weave into a fabric, which has electrical properties that change depending on where it is touched.

The team start by rolling conducting and insulating polymer films around a copper wire to create a 2-centimetre-wide cylindrical capacitor (Smart Materials and Structures, DOI: 10.1088/0964-1726/21/1/015010). Then they heat the cylinder to 200 °C and stretch it out until it is a soft, elastic fibre just 0.9 millimetres in diameter.

"The resulting fibres are easy to use in conventional weaving processes," says Skorobogatiy. To prove it, they wove their fibres into a 10 cm by 15 cm piece of material. Finger touches or swipes modified the capacitance of the fabric (a measure of its ability to store charge) when an alternating current was passed through the fibres. That allowed the team to write software that could pinpoint exactly where the pad had been touched. This means that finger movements such as swipes and touches can be logged and used to control the air-conditioning, say, or the volume on the radio.

Crucially, the fibre is easily cleaned, a must for material used everyday in cars or homes. Most smart fabrics to date have fallen at this particular hurdle.

It might not be long before something similar is seen in our cars. BMW already has plans to install touchscreen fabric in future models.

"Touch-sensitive surfaces are a very interesting technology for controlling operations in a car," says BMW spokeswoman Melina Aulinger.

One of the displays in a recent BMW concept car that appeared in March at the Geneva Motor Show, Switzerland, is operated via a touch-sensitive surface and heating and music are controlled by the driver's gestures, she says.

When this article was first posted, Maksim Skorobogatiy's name was misspelt.
Source-newscientist

Skype for Windows Phone “coming soon”


Microsoft’s acquisition of Skype promised to be a marriage made in an integration heaven — especially for Windows Phones owners — but so far it’s been all talk and no action.

A Skype for Windows Phone application, however, will soon make its debut, Skype vice president of products Rick Osterloh asserted in a recent interview taped at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas.

“We’re … working on a Windows Phone product that will be coming out soon,” he said.

When Microsoft purchased the video-conferencing company for $8.5 billion in June 2011 (the deal closed in October), it talked up an unrivaled Windows Phone Skype offering that would include deep integration between the voice over IP service and its mobile operating system. But the merger still has Windows Phone owners waiting for platform integration, let alone a basic application on par with what’s already offered on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry.

That wait is likely to continue. The first Windows Phone product, according to The Verge, could be released as soon as the Mobile World Congress in February, but it won’t be the much-ballyhooed operating system-wide offering originally touted by the companies. Windows Phone owners may have to wait for this rich Skype integration until the Apollo software release, which, according to a leaked roadmap, won’t happen until the fourth quarter of 2012.

“We understand, from our own sources, that the initial release of Skype will not feature deep Windows Phone integration, and that Microsoft is planning this for “Apollo” and beyond,” The Verge is reporting. “Microsoft’s first Windows Phone Skype application will largely be seen as an interim release until Windows Phone ‘Apollo’ is made available.”

But Microsoft and Skype would like you to know that integrations are coming — eventually. “We’re working with a lot of different Microsoft product groups to create direct integrations,” Osterloh said. “Right now, we’re working on Windows Phone, we’ll be working on Windows 8, Xbox, Lync. So a whole range of different Microsoft users will get access to Skype and have a great experience.”

Skype, Osterloh said, now has more than 200 million monthly users.

Source-venturebeat

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Chinese hackers targeting smart cards to grab U.S. defense data


Hackers in China have found a way to infiltrate supposedly secure smart cards used by U.S. government employees, according to security company AlienVault.

The security firm said it has seen dozens of such attacks, which tap into a unique variant of a nasty bit of malware known as Sykipot.

The hackers appear intent on stealing data from the Department of Defense and other related agencies. The malware is capable of capturing the PIN numbers used by government smart cards, thereby allowing access to supposedly secure information.

"Like we have shown with previous Sykipot attacks, the attackers use a spear phishing campaign to get their targets to open a PDF attachment which then deposits the Sykipot malware onto their machine," according to AlienVault. "Then, unlike previous strains, the malware uses a keylogger to steal PINs for the cards. When a card is inserted into the reader, the malware then acts as the authenticated user and can access sensitive information. The malware is controlled by the attackers from the command & control center."

Government agencies use smart cards as an extra layer of security on top of passwords, according to the New York Times. Since passwords have been easy enough to hack, the smart cards were supposed to provide a final line of defense, at least until the new strain of Sykipot popped up.

Attacks using Sykipot have been around since 2007, says security vendor Trend Micro. The firm called the malware a "high priority threat" and pointed to several incidents over the past few years in which it has been used to exploit holes in such software as Adobe Reader, Internet Explorer 6, and Microsoft Excel.

But the latest round of attacks marks the first time that Sykipot has been used to breach smart cards, says AlienVault. The malware strain used by hackers specifically targets ActivIdentity, a smart card-based PKI (public key infrastructure) authentication method know for its compliance with certain U.S. government specifications.

With ActivIdentity as the target, the attacks are clearly aimed at U.S. defense departments, the Times added. But it's as yet unknown what information the hackers have so far been able to capture.
Source-cnet

Apple's iBooks 2 is revolutionary, but not yet


Education in America is something that is in dire need of a reboot, and Apple is looking to do just that with its new iBooks, iBook creation tools and iTunes U features, but just don't expect this to be a quick change. We are here at PhoneArena because we not only love technology, but we love writing, so it's hard not to get excited about the potential of the tools and products that Apple announced today at its education event in New York City. If you somehow missed the news (which would have been pretty difficult), Apple announced big updates to iBooks and iTunes U as well as a new creation tool called iBook Author.

To hear the Apple marketing team tell it, this move was made in an effort to revolutionize education by bringing textbooks into the present day, and it certainly has that potential. But, we wouldn't be fair if we didn't talk about the other half of the reason Apple is doing this, which is of course to sell more iPads, and it will certainly do that, but it may be a pretty long road for Apple.

Education is one of the most stubborn sectors around, especially in America. Teaching methods can be archaic and uninspired, and it can be difficult for schools to hire better staff or purchase adequate supplies because of low funding. Unfortunately, while these schools may be in the most dire need of the potential of new iBooks textbooks, they will also be the very last to benefit from this updated medium. And, when they finally do benefit, it will most likely not be with iPads.

The new iBooks textbooks are almost everything that teaching materials should be. They are interactive, multimedia, annotatable, and best of all updatable. These are the first textbooks that can teach no matter how you tend to learn best. If you are a visual learner, there are images, and interactive models. If you are an auditory learner, there are movies. These books can also never go out of date, because they can be updated with corrections, and new information. Of course, this leads to the first roadblock to adoption.

Roadblock #1: Textbook pricing

One of the most impressive announcements today was that textbooks would be priced at just $14.99 or less. As anyone who has gone to college knows, that price point is absolutely absurd. Textbooks is an incredible racket both for publishers and schools. Used book sales are huge money makers for every university and college bookstore, and updatable digital books are going to throw a huge wrench into that scheme. Textbooks are also notoriously expensive, which is good for publishers, but the cost has been offset by the relatively small market for textbooks, and that's where Apple has created a unique opportunity here, but it's unclear what market Apple is aiming for.


Textbook publishers have had a relatively perfect system, because they knew what universities were offering classes which required certain textbooks, and knew the maximum number of students potentially in the market for certain books. This meant that textbook publishers could be far more accurate with printing amounts and not be left with many extra copies of books. However, the savings from being able to avoid overprinting is often offset because the market for the books is relatively small from year to year. $14.99 is not only an insane price cut from what publishers would normally charge, but it is a one time fee, not a subscription model. One theory is that colleges usually buy one copy of a textbook every 5 years at an average of $80 per copy, so the iTextbook pricing is on par over the same time period. It's an interesting theory, but we're not sure it completely adds up. Still, the pricing could be a benefit to customers, but may alienate publishers who want to stick with the older system which allows them to charge far far more. We say this "could be" a benefit to customers because there's no guarantee that publishers are going to be creating full digital copies of those $200 college textbooks just to sell them for $15. There is a possibility that the iTextbooks may not be as comprehensive as we would normally expect from something labeled a "textbook".

It also presents a new challenge for publishers who do adopt the platform, because they will be looking to make up for the price difference through selling in volume, which may be Apple's overall strategy anyway. Apple has already been targeting a more casual education market with its iTunes U offerings, and the additional features connecting iTunes U to new iTextbooks makes it seem like that is still at least part of the plan. However, a more casual audience is relatively untapped territory. Given the current economic climate and the number of people who could use some cheap education to help in transitioning into new job fields, it is certainly a territory rife with potential, but one that has never been tested before. Not to mention, in order to reach this new territory, we hit the second roadblock:

Roadblock #2: iPad cost

The option of cheaper access to college courses and education materials definitely looks like it would lend itself to aiming at a transitioning work force, but cheaper textbooks are only one side of the coin, and the other side is not cheap. Not surprisingly since this is Apple after all, the only way to get the benefits of new iBook textbooks is to own an iPad, which is still a sizable investment for many people. As we said, the market is there for textbooks to hit a more casual market outside of the collegiate system because many people are looking to learn new skills in order to find jobs, especially when combined with the new tools available through iTunes U to be able to access college courses at your leisure. But, a market of individuals looking for jobs is probably not the best market to tap when a requirement is to buy a $500 device to use the new education system.

Really, it may not be the best option overall for schools either. Sure, iPad adoption is on the rise in school systems, especially on the collegiate level, but iPads are still just too expensive for many primary and secondary school systems where the benefits of these new educational tools would be far more impactful than at the collegiate level. The far lower cost of textbooks would offset those costs to a certain extent, but it is still a pretty big investment that will be needed by schools and students. And, as we mentioned before, given the price that publishers will be forced to charge, these new textbooks may not be comprehensive enough to be used for many classrooms, although this concern shouldn't extend to primary and secondary schools, and would likely affect the collegiate level more.

This reality is something we see with all technological advances and really isn't avoidable, but it's more difficult to watch when the impacts could be so positive. Any time we see a technological bump, the richest are the first to gain access to it, and the poorest (and usually the most in need of the benefits of the new technology) are the last to see the benefits. As Kevin Kelly has said, this creates a system in which "the rich early adopters 'subsidize' technology development for the less rich and poor who adopt it later." Or, at least that is the normal cycle outside of Apple's walled garden.

The problem is that no amount of early adopters are going to bring down the price of the iPad if Apple doesn't want to lower the price; and, because publishers are going to invest so much into creating these textbooks for the iBooks platform, it may mean that we see slower adoption of alternatives on cheaper platforms. Even assuming these textbooks will be complete enough for use in actual classrooms, many schools would be far more willing to buy Amazon Kindle Fire tablets with comparable ebook options for textbooks than to buy an iPad because the cost would be so much lower. Of course, this is Apple, so it goes beyond locking the software to Apple devices:

Roadblock #3: The Apple lockdown

The new iBook Author software will not only make it easier for textbook publishers to create books for Apple's platform, but it will create an interesting option for amateur authors looking to self-publish their works. So far, Amazon has dominated this market by allowing authors to bypass the traditional publisher system and create ebooks to be listed in the Kindle store. The iBook Author software gives Apple a horse in that race, but it's a horse with some dangerous tricks.

The End User License Agreement for the new iBook Author program includes a passage, section 2b, which states that work provided free of charge can be distributed wherever you'd like. However, if you want to charge for said work the EULA says, "you may only distribute the Work through Apple and such distribution is subject to the following limitations and conditions: (a) you will be required to enter into a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary) before any commercial distribution of your Work may take place; and (b) Apple may determine for any reason and in its sole discretion not to select your Work for distribution." This means if you want to charge, you will effectively be barred from selling that work anywhere but Apple's iBookstore.

It is unclear how different a work has to be in order to avoid this condition, so it may just mean that publishers could have special versions of textbooks on iPads and different, but comparable, versions on other platforms. But, that is merely a workaround for textbook publishers and not a solution to the basic problem for all other authors, which is that Apple as a publisher is a bad thing for books. Books need to have wide reaches, and limiting the reach of a book to just the Apple platform is something of a travesty in our opinion.

iMovie has been a revolutionary product not because it feeds back into the iTunes store, but more because what you create in it can be put anywhere like YouTube or Vimeo. Garage Band has certainly added a lot of content to the iTunes store, but creators are not locked in, and can put that music anywhere. Sure, iBook Author is a different beast than either of those, but that's the problem, not an excuse. iBook Author should be a way for amateur authors to create their works and then distribute that work anywhere to get the most exposure just like they can with any of Apple's other creative programs. Apple could easily add in extra features to incentivize authors to publish in the iBookstore, but to mandate it is an awful thing to do.

Conclusion

All of this adds up to exactly what you would expect from Apple: an amazing set of products that has the potential to revolutionize an industry which is desperately in need of revolution, but will be held back by the fact that it is Apple. E-textbooks with full multimedia and interactive elements is the logical progression for textbooks, and putting better authoring tools has been proven as the way forward in self-publishing to electronic devices, but Apple's need for control means that we won't be seeing the most from these great new tools until competitors catch up.

Perhaps, the other shoe just needs to drop, and Apple will announce a $300 iPad mini at some point this year, but until then this great new system will be in a relative limbo. iPads are huge sellers to be sure, but the cost is still prohibitive for those who need access to these new textbooks the most. Many high schools and elementary schools won't be able to take on the cost of buying iPads, and neither will the students' families. Additionally, while universities will see higher adoption rates for iPads and iBooks, at just $15, it's unclear if the textbooks offered will be university-grade books. And, even if you were hoping to just get your great novel off the ground by self-publishing, you have to lock yourself into the Apple world to do so.

As anyone who has published in the Kindle store will tell you, better creation tools for ebooks is definitely a great step forward. Just looking at the demos of new iTextbooks, it's easy to see the educational value there, but it's hard to see these amazing new tools creating the revolution that Apple always promises. At least, we may not see that revolution until the competitors make more accessible options.
Source-phonearena

Friday, January 20, 2012

America’s first Nokia Windows Phone already free on contract


Nokia’s first Windows Phone-powered smartphone to launch in the United States is already available for free on contract. Nokia and T-Mobile unveiled the Nokia Lumia 710 last month and confirmed that while the handset is certainly not a flagship device, it will play an important role for Nokia as it re-enters the U.S. market. The 710 can’t hold a candle to the Lumia 900 Nokia and AT&T will be launching in March, but at $50, the Lumia 710 is an excellent entry-level smartphone. And at $0 on contract, the price Walmart is currently asking from new customers, the 710 is an unbelievable value. BGR reviewed the Lumia 710 earlier this month and we thought the phone could indeed be a great tool for Nokia and T-Mobile as they tries to convert feature phone users into smartphone customers.
Source-bgr

How to Format a Hard Drive


We can use so many methods to format hard drive in our computer. but we have to make sure wen we format a hard disk in vista, it allow us to create a partition also at the same time. in this introduction i will tell you to how we can do both work at once. You first need to prepare your computer for formatting and save all your files that you would like to keep. Then you need to
delete your hard drive and then format it. follow my instructions.
First Step: Preparation
The first step in this how to format a hard drive tutorial is to prepare your hard drive for formation. Remember everything you have on this hard drive will be lost. So be very careful before you click, 'delete partition'. Make sure you check your desktop, your my documents folders, maybe export your emails and address book and save your favorites. Once you are happy that all your files have been saved move on to the next step. Save all your files onto a CD, DVD, or another hard drive or partition (that you won't be deleting).

Second Step: Delete Partition
If your using Windows vista or w7,  go start, control panel, administrative tools and then double clickformat hard drive computer management. You will need to press continue. Then select Storage, Disk Management and right click on the partition on the bottom of the page and select delete volume. The Print Screen on the right explains it easily.


Third Step: Format Hard Drivehow to format a hard drive step 3
Once you have deleted the partition simply right click on the unallocated space and select new simple volume. Follow the new simple volume wizard. When you get to the option of NTFS and FAT32 choose NTFS because its faster and more secure. Click here to view more reasons why NTFS is better.


Fill in the volume label (which is the name of the hard drive) and continue to follow the prompts. The computer will then format your hard drive. Depending on the size of your hard drive and whether you selected quick format or not, this could take a very long time or a shorter amount of time. Once it completes your hard drive is finished and ready to use.
Source-computertipssupport

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Did Samsung show off the Galaxy S III at CES?


With CES behind us, we’re now looking forward to the year’s next big mobile event – Mobile World Congress. Known as the premier big show for all things mobile related, rumors have been hinting of late that we’ll be seeing the Samsung Galaxy S III in the flesh at the event, but interestingly enough, it's possible that we might’ve seen it already.

During Samsung’s CES press conference, they covered a wide array of products from their portfolio, like cameras and other appliances, but at one point during the event when they were talking about the neat features of their Samsung WV850F camera, an interesting looking handset popped up. If you happen to watch the video, at around the 7:10 mark, we begin to see a handset that possibly might be the Samsung Galaxy S III.

Looking very closely at it, we find a device that seems to embody the qualities we’ve come to expect to be a part of a next-generation smartphone – like a super thin bezel and generous sized display. Aside from showing how the smartphone can control the zoom functions with the camera, we don’t get a sneak peek to anything else regarding the handset in question. Nevertheless, it surely makes your head turn knowing that this is possibly the next Galaxy S III.

No doubt there’s going to be a lot of focus surrounding the Samsung Galaxy S III between now and the official start of MWC, but of course, it’ll be an interesting few weeks leading up to the festivities. Still, the handset in the video could also be none other than some sort of mockup or concept they concocted for the show, but nonetheless, we’re sure there’s going to be a lot of excitement around it.
Source-phonearena

Samsung sets its sights on better battery life


CES saw a lot of cool new kit, but it also revealed some glimpses into companies’ product strategies. Most of the major Android phone vendors announced that they would be seeking to release fewer higher-quality devices in 2012. Another trend was the importance of battery life, with Motorola highlighting the issue with a pre-CES teaser video before releasing the Droid RAZR MAXX, with a gargantuan 3300 mAH battery and almost a day’s worth of talk time.

Samsung, hoping to expand on its record-breaking year in 2011, committed to following this trend. Speaking at CES, Samsung VP of product innovation Kevin Packingham said a major goal for this year was to create smartphones that would survive a full day of use under average to moderately-heavy usage. Given the poor life seen in many LTE smartphones, this would be a huge improvement over most 2011 offerings.

Packingham indicated that Samsung will follow Motorola’s lead in looking to increase battery size in their phones, but he also expects innovation in how future phones use resources, including which radios are turned on, and how WiFI and LTE radios search for connections.

Combined with improvements in chipsets and manufacturing processes that will become available later in the year, we may see some real gains in battery life over the next 12 months. Still, Packingham indicated that “power users” will likely always run into the issue of needing to juice up during the day. Still, he indicated that power users have generally gotten used to carrying around extra batteries and chargers, and even they will be able to go longer before they need to swap in a new power source.

Until fundamental changes occur in battery technology, this is probably as good as it will get. At this point, we’ll take whatever improvement they can offer!
Source-phonearena

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Bloomberg: iPad 3 To Have Quad-Core CPU, LTE, High-Def Screen


You’ve just got to love the timing. First, Apple announces their education-focused media event smack dab in the middle of CES. Now, just as CES is winding down, Bloomberg has “three people familiar with the product” spilling purported details on the next iPad. Whether or not Apple won CES without even being there, they’re certainly trying.

None of the leaked details are particularly new, but that it comes from Bloomberg and they’ve seemingly got full confidence in their source(s) makes them a bit more credible than rumors prior.

Here’s the gist of it:

    The next iPad (Bloomberg calls it “iPad 3″, though even that detail is of course unconfirmed) is said to have gone into production this month, with production ramping up until February, with a launch in March.
    It’ll have a quad-core CPU (as opposed to the dual-core A5 found in iPad 2)
    It’ll have a “high-def” screen
    Support for LTE (4G)

The most curious bit? The use of the phrase “high-def” instead of “Retina” with regards to the display. If Apple was throwing around the “Retina” term internally, at least one of Bloomberg’s three sources presumably would’ve thought to mention it. If the sources mentioned it, Bloomberg would have squeezed it into the article somewhere — and they didn’t. With leaks like this, what’s not said can be as important as what is. Higher-res screen? Yes. But the absurdly high-resolution that a “retina” iPad would require (something like 2560 x 1920, higher than any monitor Apple has ever made regardless of size)? Probably not.
Source-techcrunch

LightSquared and former FCC chief engineer say GPS tests were rigged


LightSquared and former FCC chief engineer Edmond Thomas on Wednesday said the GPS test devices that were used by the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee (PNT EXCOM) to test its new network were rigged by “manufacturers of GPS receivers and government end users to produce bogus results.” The company said that devices from GPS manufacturers, which have claimed LightSquared’s network interferes with GPS communications, were “cherry picked” in secret and that independent authorities were not allowed to partake or oversee the tests or test results. In addition, LightSquared said the tests focused on obsolete technology that is only used in “niche market devices” and that are “least able to withstand potential interference” from wireless networks. Read on for more.

After a list of the test devices was released to LightSquared, the company found that the only mass market device that reportedly failed the government’s tests actually “performed flawlessly during Technical Working Group” testing. The government also reportedly tested LightSquared’s network at a power level that is 32-times greater than the level at which it will actually operate.

LightSquared is relying on FCC approval to solidify a contract with Sprint to help build out the carrier’s 4G LTE network. Sprint most recently gave LightSquared an additional 30 days to gain FCC approval, but the government has said none of LightSquared’s proposed fixes will help it gain approval.

“Transparency is the only way taxpayers can be assured that the testing process is not manipulated to benefit one particular set of self interests,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday. “LightSquared is confident that a fair process will allow the company to move forward with its plan to deliver wireless broadband to hundreds of millions of consumers.” LightSquared’s full press release follows below.

    Former FCC Chief Engineer and LightSquared Question Validity of Test Results Rigged by GPS Industry Insiders

    After learning that some devices tested have been out of production for over a decade, the parties call on NTIA to objectively audit testing and apply proposed mitigation standards

    RESTON, Va., January 18, 2012 – LightSquared said today that the process used to test GPS devices by Air Force Space Command on behalf of the Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Executive Committee (PNT EXCOM) was rigged by manufacturers of GPS receivers and government end users to produce bogus results, and revealed details of the testing to document its accusations.

    PNT EXCOM advises and coordinates among U.S. government agencies on GPS matters and is comprised of representatives from those agencies with GPS expertise. LightSquared has called on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to objectively re-evaluate this initial round of testing and also to evaluate mitigation proposals the company has proposed. Additionally, the company has called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the NTIA to conduct the second round of tests on high-precision devices at an independent laboratory to ensure objectivity and transparency.

    In a call with reporters, Jeff Carlisle, LightSquared’s Executive Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy; and Geoff Stearn, LightSquared’s Vice President for Spectrum Development; outlined how GPS industry insiders and government end users manipulated the latest round of tests to generate biased results. Also on the call was Edmond Thomas, former chief engineer at the FCC who explained how fair and accurate testing should be conducted.

    1. Testing was shrouded in secrecy, no transparency. The GPS manufacturers cherry-picked the devices in secret without any independent oversight authority in place or input from LightSquared. The GPS manufacturers and the government end users put non-disclosure agreements in place for the PNT EXCOM’s tests, preventing any input by an independent authority or from LightSquared before the tests began. This secrecy made it impossible for independent experts to properly oversee or challenge the process and results, thereby leaving taxpayers who paid for the testing no option but to take the PNT EXCOM’s word for it.

    2. The testing protocol deliberately focused on obsolete and niche market devices that were least able to withstand potential interference. When LightSquared finally obtained a list of the devices tested, after all testing in this first phase of tests had been completed, it was able to determine that the testing included many discontinued or niche market devices with poor filters or no filters. The units tested represent less than one percent of the contemporary universe of GPS devices. In fact, the only mass market device alleged to “fail” during this round of testing performed flawlessly during the Technical Working Group testing, which used best practice protocols agreed to by all parties, thus raising doubts about the integrity of PNT EXCOM’s process.

    3. The testing standard does not reflect reality. To guarantee favorable results, the PNT EXCOM selected an extremely conservative definition of failure – one dB of interference. Independent experts agree that a one dB threshold can only be detected in laboratory settings and has no impact on GPS positional accuracy or user experience. In fact, GPS devices are designed with the ability to withstand eight dB or more of loss of sensitivity due to man-caused and natural interference. By setting the definition of interference at one dB, the testing was rigged to ensure that most receivers would fail. It should be noted that PNT EXCOM and others have justified the one dB threshold by citing an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) standard. However, that standard explicitly states that it does not apply to general purpose GPS receivers.

    GPS and government end users should have opened the process for transparent review, chosen a representative sample of devices that reflect the scope of general purpose GPS receivers in the marketplace today, applied best practice standards to the testing protocol, and – most importantly, the tests should have been conducted by an independent laboratory rather than by the GPS manufacturers themselves, since they had a large incentive to ensure that the tested receivers would not pass the testing.

    LightSquared recommends that reporters consider asking PNT EXCOM the following questions to ensure accountability:

    Why did the government choose to ignore LightSquared’s proposed power levels?

    Why did the government choose a power level 32 times greater than the level at which LightSquared will operate?

    Why did the test protocol select the 1dB degradation to noise as the interference standard, since it does not apply to general purpose GPS receivers and GPS units are typically designed with an 8dB level of tolerance?

    Who determined what acceptable interference is for the current round of testing?

    What is that standard?

    Why was the testing conducted using outdated/discontinued devices rather than a representative sample of what is currently in the market?

    Isn’t it a violation of conflict of interest laws for representatives of GPS manufacturers to sit on the PNT advisory board and play a central role in its consideration of LightSquared when those companies are actively lobbying on the same issue?

    Is it fair that taxpayers funded a testing regime they cannot review?

    LightSquared has agreed to meet every technical guideline requested by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), FCC and NTIA and will continue to work in collaboration with the federal government to resolve the GPS interference issues. The secretive behavior of the PNT EXCOM indicates a co-opted process. The inappropriate influence of the private sector on their decision-making has been brought to the attention of NASA’s Inspector General in a separate conflict of interest complaint filed by LightSquared.

    LightSquared is asking for fair and transparent oversight of the testing process by the FCC and NTIA, much like the agencies provided in the first round of testing that was openly agreed to by all parties. Transparency is the only way taxpayers can be assured that the testing process is not manipulated to benefit one particular set of self interests. LightSquared is confident that a fair process will allow the company to move forward with its plan to deliver wireless broadband to hundreds of millions of consumers.
Source-bgr

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Pantech Element poster spied at AT&T store, launch coming next week for $300?


We've had a pretty good inkling that the Pantech Element LTE tablet would make an appearance at CES in the coming days, and our confidence level just rose another notch. It appears that one corporate-owned AT&T store got the official marketing material for the new tablet a few days prior to the device's launch and was a little too eager to put it on display ahead of time. The tipster also spilled the beans on a few specs, lending credence to earlier rumors: it's a waterproof 8-inch tablet with a 1.5GHz CPU, 16GB of internal storage and LTE, and will go for $300 on a two-year commitment ($450 without). As for availability, we were informed that we should expect it to be available on direct fulfillment (special order) the week of January 15th, with actual units hitting store shelves in the coming weeks. We'll hopefully get the full laundry list and hands-on time on Monday. Jetstream, anyone?

Source-engadget

Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S Review

Introduction:
After redeeming its Android mojo with the sleek and capable Sony Ericsson Xperia arc, the company decided to out an upgrade as a stopgap flagship until it eventually makes it to the dual-core Nozomi rumored for next year. We say stopgap, since the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S keeps the breathtaking design of its predecessor, but ups the ante with a still-single core 1.4GHz processor, 14.4Mbps instead of 7.2Mbps radio, and teaches the 8MP Exmor R camera some new tricks.

So the phone gets faster and allows you to do cool 2D and quasi-3D panorama shots, keeping its sexy design, but still doesn’t have a front-facing camera? Is that supposed to be compensated by the “S” for a speedier processor and baseband radio? Read on our review to find out...Design:

The Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S is again just 0.34” (8.7mm) thin in the middle, which gradually becomes 0.39” (10mm) at both ends. The overarching ambition (pun intended) has been to arm the company with “one of the thinnest” punch line, and the result is beautiful.


The arched profile makes the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S a breeze to hold and handle



You can compare the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S with many other phones using our Size Visualization Tool.

Everyone we showed the handset to loved how slick it is, and even we seasoned veterans couldn't help but agree that tall, thin and narrow seems to be a good solution for big screen handsets. The size of the huge 4.2” display is barely uncomfortable at 0.34” thickness, and the arched profile makes it a breeze to hold and handle.

The 4.2” screen is of Sony's own Super LCD variety, with 480x854 pixels of resolution and LED backlighting. With the addition of the Mobile BRAVIA Engine to this screen type, borrowed from its TV lineup, Sony has come up with a new marketing title – the Reality Display. What it does in actuality is to rev up the contrast and sharpness of the picture when displaying photos or playing videos.

We can attest that there is a difference, although it is not as strikingly significant as the one between the Super LCD and the punchy colors of the Super AMOLED screen technologies, for instance. The display is bright enough for comfortably operating it in broad daylight, which is all fine and dandy, but the viewing angles, for that matter, are pretty poor. Contrast and color degradation when looking at an angle are almost akin to the older generation of LCD displays, and far from the excellent viewing angles on the IPS-LCD of the Xperia ray, for example.

The phone sports the previous Xperia line design with the thin buttons underneath the display, instead of the huge semi-circle for a home button we have in the latest Xperias. The three keys are illuminated with white LED lights, and have a nice rubbery feeling to them when pressed, instead of annoying clicks, making them fun to operate. The whole design is made of quality plastic.The back cover flexes a bit when pressed down because of the thin plastic, but the Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S clocks in at 4.12 oz (117grams), which is very good for a handset that size.


The camera sensor is placed in the only space the engineering team could fit it, considering the 0.34” thickness in the middle - near the upper edge on the back - which means you have to be careful not to place your finger over the lens when shooting. Combine that with the rather smallish and somewhat hard to press shutter key on the right near the lower edge, and you definitely need to hold the phone with two hands when taking a picture, unless you use the touchscreen.









The power/lock screen key at the top is is slightly protruding to make it easier to find, but it's still the size of confetti, so just for checking what time it is, you have to fiddle with your fingers at the top, until you find and press it.



 Source-phonearena