Nokia Malaysia was kind enough to invite us to play around with what they are claiming as their most innovative smartphone ever. Yes, ladies and gents we got some quality hands-on time with the Nokia N8 and here’s our first impression of the device.
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Nokia N8
Nokia Malaysia was kind enough to invite us to play around with what they are claiming as their most innovative smartphone ever. Yes, ladies and gents we got some quality hands-on time with the Nokia N8 and here’s our first impression of the device.
8 September iOS 4.1 update coming
iOS 4.2 features for the iPad
While the iPhones and iPod will be getting iOS 4.1 which promises numerous bug fixes and the addition of a few borderline useful features, iPad owners have been missing out on multi-tasking and folders for he longest time.
They can look forward to November when Apple will release the iOS 4.2 developed for the iPad. It brings folders and multi-tasking to the iconic table device plus a whole host of other nifty features like wireless printing and streaming.
Hit the link to go Apple’s official page giving some highlights of the features that will be coming with iOS 4.2 for the iPad.
Google Defends Android Against Malware
Google spoke out against allegations its Android OS is not secure, saying claims are fraudulent even as malware attacks against Android are predicted to increase and the company reduces platform fragmentation.
Chris DiBona, Google manager of open source programs, spoke out against Android's reported vulnerability to malware in a public post last week, saying antivirus and security firms are playing on consumer fears in an effort to sell more protection software. He called analysts predicting increasing attacks and vendors touting protection software "charlatans and scammers."
Android's openness of its app marketplace and platform is both an asset and a liability for the Mountain View, Calif.-based company. It allows developers to upload apps to its marketplace for $25 while remaining anonymous, making it a popular target for spyware. However, it also enables rapid, widespread adoption of Google's platform and a greater variety of apps to satisfy consumers.
DiBona suggests Android users may need to be better educated about the apps they download from the Android Marketplace, as well as doing their own research about a security firm's claims before they decide to purchase protection software.
Google is taking steps to defend against malware attacks, which are predicted by security experts to increase in 2012. The company's latest Android update, called "Ice Cream Sandwich," was released to developers to ensure future apps are more secure and to provide consistency across devices to combat fragmentation.
The search giant is also likely banking on its acquisition of device-maker Motorola to help solve security issues, particularly for enterprise users who are turning to Android in increasing numbers in the wake of BlackBerry's decline. Motorola began selling enterprise security software created by 3LM last month in an effort to improve the safety of Android devices and increase their appeal to business users.
Consumers also have reason for concern. Malware attacks this year have accessed and shared Android users' personal information, breaches that may become a bigger problem as consumers begin using mobile payment systems, potentially putting bank and credit card information at risk.
Currently, Android consumers often protect their smartphones with outside security programs from companies like McAfee and Lookout, but as Google dives into the mobile payment field, it may devise its own solutions, possibly avoiding interference by third-party firms.
Until then, Android's malware problems are far from over. Juniper Networks recently reported the number of malware-infected apps in the Android market increased 472 percent in the last four months, and up to a million Android devices may be infected before the year is out. Antivirus giant McAfee also called Android the "primary target for mobile malware" in its third-quarter report.
Chris DiBona, Google manager of open source programs, spoke out against Android's reported vulnerability to malware in a public post last week, saying antivirus and security firms are playing on consumer fears in an effort to sell more protection software. He called analysts predicting increasing attacks and vendors touting protection software "charlatans and scammers."
Android's openness of its app marketplace and platform is both an asset and a liability for the Mountain View, Calif.-based company. It allows developers to upload apps to its marketplace for $25 while remaining anonymous, making it a popular target for spyware. However, it also enables rapid, widespread adoption of Google's platform and a greater variety of apps to satisfy consumers.
DiBona suggests Android users may need to be better educated about the apps they download from the Android Marketplace, as well as doing their own research about a security firm's claims before they decide to purchase protection software.
Google is taking steps to defend against malware attacks, which are predicted by security experts to increase in 2012. The company's latest Android update, called "Ice Cream Sandwich," was released to developers to ensure future apps are more secure and to provide consistency across devices to combat fragmentation.
The search giant is also likely banking on its acquisition of device-maker Motorola to help solve security issues, particularly for enterprise users who are turning to Android in increasing numbers in the wake of BlackBerry's decline. Motorola began selling enterprise security software created by 3LM last month in an effort to improve the safety of Android devices and increase their appeal to business users.
Consumers also have reason for concern. Malware attacks this year have accessed and shared Android users' personal information, breaches that may become a bigger problem as consumers begin using mobile payment systems, potentially putting bank and credit card information at risk.
Currently, Android consumers often protect their smartphones with outside security programs from companies like McAfee and Lookout, but as Google dives into the mobile payment field, it may devise its own solutions, possibly avoiding interference by third-party firms.
Until then, Android's malware problems are far from over. Juniper Networks recently reported the number of malware-infected apps in the Android market increased 472 percent in the last four months, and up to a million Android devices may be infected before the year is out. Antivirus giant McAfee also called Android the "primary target for mobile malware" in its third-quarter report.
Google Brings Dead Sea Scrolls Online
The Mountain View, Calif.-based tech giant helped the Israel Museum use ultra high-resolution imaging technology to make digital copies of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and then load them to the museum's enhanced site. It also optimized the content so that users searching for text from the Scrolls will be directed to the museum site.
The Scrolls, roughly 2,400 years old but only re-discovered in 1947, include the oldest known biblical manuscripts in existence. They offer insights into life and religion in ancient Jerusalem.
In the first four days of being online, the digital Scrolls were viewed by a million visitors, or approximately the same number of visitors the physical museum records in a whole year.
"This is taking the material to an amazing range of audiences," said James S. Snyder, the museum's director, to the New York Times. "There's no way we would have had the technical capability to do this on our own."
Bringing the Scrolls online was the first of two pilot projects that launched the Google Cultural Institute, with another effort bringing online the photos and documents of Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. The Paris-based institute incorporates the Google Art Project, which uses Google Street View technology to allow digital views of the art and layouts of 17 leading museums around the world, including New York's Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery in London and the Gemaeldegalerie in Berlin.
It also follows efforts by various museums to make better use of mobile technologies, and especially social media, by creating sophisticated apps that serve as guides through their collections.
Other forthcoming Google Cultural Institute projects include developing online galleries for France's Palace of Versailles and South Africa's Nelson Mandela Foundation. The institute also plans to create a standard set of tools that any cultural institution could use to digitize its collection on its own.
Apple Fires Employee Over Facebook Rants
Apple can legally fire an employee who ranted about his job on Facebook, a U.K. tribunal ruled, the latest in a growing number of worker terminations prompted by social network postings.
Employee Samuel Crisp, a "Genius" at the Norwich Apple Store, posted various angry updates about his iPhone, apps and other aspects of Apple, expressing his displeasure on the social network.
Crisp's profile was set to private, but the comments reached Apple management from a friend who passed them on. Apple terminated Crisp, saying his remarks breached the company's social media policy against negative comments, and the tribunal upheld the company's decision.
The case is the latest illustration of the conflicts between employees, employers, and the use of social media to discuss work-related issues.
The American Medical Response of Connecticut's company fired employee Dawnmarie Souza after she posted complaints from her home computer on the social networking site over a work-related incident and called her boss a "scumbag."
Souza filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations board, the agency's first ever involving a firing related to social media, claiming her employer fired her after she made the negative Facebook postings in response to her boss' alleged denial of union representation during an investigation of a customer complaint. Many of Souza's co-workers responded and supported her posts.
The complaint was settled in February, with the company agreeing to rework its rules so workers' rights are protected.
The NLRB ruled Souza's firing in fall 2010 was illegal because they said posting comments on Facebook counted as "protected concerted activity" -- speech protected under the National Labor Relations Act. The 1935 legislation, also called the Wagner Act, doesn't deal with Internet behavior, but includes provisions giving private-sector employees the right to freely discuss wages, safety and other working conditions without fear of discipline or losing their jobs.
The Wagner Act, which kick-started the U.S. labor movement, is the main precedent applied to cases of employees venting on social media, which, since the Souza case at the beginning of the year, are quickly increasing.
More than 100 employers, including a saloon, a car dealership and Wal-Mart, have been accused by workers of improper social media practices or policies since the Souza decision, according to the Wall Street Journal. NLRB lawyers in Washington said about half the complaints reviewed to date do have merit for agency intervention.
Most of the cases involve nonunion employees, and are being reviewed to determine if work-related to postings made during an online discussion among employees about supervisory action, mirror the "protected concerted activity" under the law. The protection doesn't apply to mere complaining, and kicks in when there is group activity instigating the discussion or resulting from it.
The law is clear that workers have the right to talk with each other about aspects of their employment, but the means they are doing it with -- social media like Twitter and Facebook -- are complicating its real-life application.
The widespread use of social-media may be perplexing businesses as they attempt to apply the decades-old principles to online activities in company policy manuals. The NLRB, which is considering these cases, hasn't been as active in offering guidelines to keep pace with the burgeoning technology.
As a result, both employers and employees have few clear guidelines to determine if, for example, postings made from workplace computers are covered, or if a post directed to a group but gets no response still enjoys the "concerted" protection.
Employee Samuel Crisp, a "Genius" at the Norwich Apple Store, posted various angry updates about his iPhone, apps and other aspects of Apple, expressing his displeasure on the social network.
Crisp's profile was set to private, but the comments reached Apple management from a friend who passed them on. Apple terminated Crisp, saying his remarks breached the company's social media policy against negative comments, and the tribunal upheld the company's decision.
The case is the latest illustration of the conflicts between employees, employers, and the use of social media to discuss work-related issues.
The American Medical Response of Connecticut's company fired employee Dawnmarie Souza after she posted complaints from her home computer on the social networking site over a work-related incident and called her boss a "scumbag."
Souza filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations board, the agency's first ever involving a firing related to social media, claiming her employer fired her after she made the negative Facebook postings in response to her boss' alleged denial of union representation during an investigation of a customer complaint. Many of Souza's co-workers responded and supported her posts.
The complaint was settled in February, with the company agreeing to rework its rules so workers' rights are protected.
The NLRB ruled Souza's firing in fall 2010 was illegal because they said posting comments on Facebook counted as "protected concerted activity" -- speech protected under the National Labor Relations Act. The 1935 legislation, also called the Wagner Act, doesn't deal with Internet behavior, but includes provisions giving private-sector employees the right to freely discuss wages, safety and other working conditions without fear of discipline or losing their jobs.
The Wagner Act, which kick-started the U.S. labor movement, is the main precedent applied to cases of employees venting on social media, which, since the Souza case at the beginning of the year, are quickly increasing.
More than 100 employers, including a saloon, a car dealership and Wal-Mart, have been accused by workers of improper social media practices or policies since the Souza decision, according to the Wall Street Journal. NLRB lawyers in Washington said about half the complaints reviewed to date do have merit for agency intervention.
Most of the cases involve nonunion employees, and are being reviewed to determine if work-related to postings made during an online discussion among employees about supervisory action, mirror the "protected concerted activity" under the law. The protection doesn't apply to mere complaining, and kicks in when there is group activity instigating the discussion or resulting from it.
The law is clear that workers have the right to talk with each other about aspects of their employment, but the means they are doing it with -- social media like Twitter and Facebook -- are complicating its real-life application.
The widespread use of social-media may be perplexing businesses as they attempt to apply the decades-old principles to online activities in company policy manuals. The NLRB, which is considering these cases, hasn't been as active in offering guidelines to keep pace with the burgeoning technology.
As a result, both employers and employees have few clear guidelines to determine if, for example, postings made from workplace computers are covered, or if a post directed to a group but gets no response still enjoys the "concerted" protection.
Samsung Avoids Ban in U.S., Waits in Australia
Samsung's devices won't face a temporary ban in the U.S., a federal judge ruled, but its Galaxy line remains on hold in Australia as the company's worldwide battles with Apple continue.
In the U.S., federal judge Lucy Koh ruled that keeping Samsung's Galaxy S 4G, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G and Droid Charge on the market while a trial is pending wouldn't harm Apple much, but it would benefit other gadget makers at Samsung's expense.
Meanwhile, in Australia, a temporary ban set to expire on Friday, will run through December 9 so the High Court can hear Apple's appeal against a court decision to overturn a ban in place since July on the Galaxy 10.1 tablet.
Samsung had hoped to release the tablet, considered the main competition against Apple's iPad 2, before Christmas, but the continued court action may keep the devices off the market until the holiday season is over.
The U.S. win, which likely will be appealed, may be Samsung's largest victory to date. The Australian ruling is a setback, but the country's market is nowhere near as large as in U.S. The actions in the U.S. concern far more devices, and a ban would not only have hurt Samsung, but all major cellular providers as well.
The lawsuits, which have reached around the world to Germany, the Netherlands, Asia, France and Italy, were initiated by Apple, which complains Samsung's products infringe on design patents, copying the iPhone and iPad.
Meanwhile, Samsung says Apple's devices violate its patents, and have filed suits seeking bans on the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's products, creating a complex web of litigation.
Koh, in her ruling, said she did not agree with Apple's design complaints. In respect to smartphones, she noted "a size that can be handheld, a screen that encompasses a large portion of the front face of the smartphone, and a speaker on the upper portion of the front face of the product" are not really proprietary design functions owned by Apple.
Instead, she said, those are features on all mobile devices, and should be allowed on Samsung's devices.
Apple hasn't issued a statement on Koh's ruling and may still win the overall lawsuit despite the setback. It could also, like in Australia, appeal the ruling to a higher court, eventually resulting in a ban.
For now, though, the ruling is seen as a win for Samsung, and the company's stock is climbing after Apple's ban plans were blocked.
In the U.S., federal judge Lucy Koh ruled that keeping Samsung's Galaxy S 4G, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G and Droid Charge on the market while a trial is pending wouldn't harm Apple much, but it would benefit other gadget makers at Samsung's expense.
Meanwhile, in Australia, a temporary ban set to expire on Friday, will run through December 9 so the High Court can hear Apple's appeal against a court decision to overturn a ban in place since July on the Galaxy 10.1 tablet.
Samsung had hoped to release the tablet, considered the main competition against Apple's iPad 2, before Christmas, but the continued court action may keep the devices off the market until the holiday season is over.
The U.S. win, which likely will be appealed, may be Samsung's largest victory to date. The Australian ruling is a setback, but the country's market is nowhere near as large as in U.S. The actions in the U.S. concern far more devices, and a ban would not only have hurt Samsung, but all major cellular providers as well.
The lawsuits, which have reached around the world to Germany, the Netherlands, Asia, France and Italy, were initiated by Apple, which complains Samsung's products infringe on design patents, copying the iPhone and iPad.
Meanwhile, Samsung says Apple's devices violate its patents, and have filed suits seeking bans on the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's products, creating a complex web of litigation.
Koh, in her ruling, said she did not agree with Apple's design complaints. In respect to smartphones, she noted "a size that can be handheld, a screen that encompasses a large portion of the front face of the smartphone, and a speaker on the upper portion of the front face of the product" are not really proprietary design functions owned by Apple.
Instead, she said, those are features on all mobile devices, and should be allowed on Samsung's devices.
Apple hasn't issued a statement on Koh's ruling and may still win the overall lawsuit despite the setback. It could also, like in Australia, appeal the ruling to a higher court, eventually resulting in a ban.
For now, though, the ruling is seen as a win for Samsung, and the company's stock is climbing after Apple's ban plans were blocked.
Instagram Soars on IPhone 4S Growth
Instagram gained a record number of users in November due to strong sales of the iPhone 4S, as apps and games available on the device experience residual success from its dominance.
The California-based photo start-up gained two million users in November alone, doubling its previous monthly download rate. The company's top execs attributed the surge of success to iPhone 4S, released in late October, since Instagram is an iOS-based application available only in Apple's App Store.
The iPhone 4S shattered sales records on Black Friday, and routinely sells out in Apple stores across the globe. The iPhone's skyrocketing sales create new markets for app and game developers, who are using the platform to create unique apps that reach a greater variety of users.
Launched just over a year ago by its two developers, Instagram is a free app that offers 16 photo filters, allowing them to blur their photos, give them a sepia tint, and increase the size, among other features.
Instagram also boasts strong social-networking integration so users can upload and share photos instantly on sites like Twitter and Facebook, and has been used by celebrities like Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift, adding momentum to its rapid growth.
Smaller companies like Instagram, which currently has a total staff of six people, stand to acquire a huge lift if their apps become popular downloads. Apple's popular IOS provides access to a vast consumer base, and a rapidly expanding market gives consumers fun, innovative options.
Even giant companies like Twitter benefit from the iPhone's success. The social networking site saw a boost in its user base when it became integrated within iOS 5 earlier this year.
Sprint Adds Children's Safety Service to Plans
The new service, Sprint Mobile Control, is free for a 30-day trial on Sprint's Android phones and $5 a month after that. The carrier plans to offer it on BlackBerry devices in the future, but hasn't yet announced plans to offer it on the iPhone.
Sprint claims that more than 75 percent of children between the ages of 12-17 have a smartphone, leading it to offer protective services.
The service gives parents a dashboard including voice and text messages, a list of recent calls and texts, and the ability to set phone limits, establish allowed phone numbers, and view a list of contacts with a photo. In addition, parents can see downloaded apps as well as set special alerts.
The new subscription may help Sprint work around mounting concerns by the federal government about children's online privacy, while reassuring parents of their children's safety as well.
The new service is similar to several apps on the market that protect cell phone use, in particular, "PhoneSheriff," developed by Retina-X Studio, which lets parents monitor kids' texts, calls, applications and websites by either logging into a webpage or accessing a hidden interface on the phone itself.
Parents can then restrict any app or website they deem unfit, set time limits for certain activities, as well as block calls and texts to and from certain numbers.
The Sprint program is only available on Sprint's phones, though, which could lead security-conscious parents to switch services while signing their younger children up for the smartphone plans they are increasingly demanding. On the other hand, the program's success may be limited since it is not available through iPhone, the carrier's best-selling device.
Still, the move by the carrier is a step in acknowledging the growing use of phones by younger children and offers one way to protect them from dangers that can be only a touch screen away.
Smaller, Thinner and Maybe Bendable Phones Coming Soon
Scientists at the Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures have created a chip prototype made from molybdenum disulphide, or molybdenite. This naturally occurring material can be worked within layers only three atoms thick, meaning it may be used to make chips three times smaller than the current standard.
Molybdenite may go head-to-head against silicon for use in the next generation of smaller, more efficient mobile devices. The material is promising, especially for making the thinner chips device-makers are demanding as they search for ways to pack more mobile features into a smaller package.
Lack of a compact LTE chip was reportedly one reason Apple did not release an iPhone 5 this year, preferring to wait until chip technology caught up with its desire for a sleek design.
Recent technology has cut the thickness of memory chips by 20 percent, but molybdenite is expected to take future mobile devices far beyond today's standards of thinness.
Advances in chip technology are about more than device size, however. Mobile processors are called upon to do more functions, such as handling heavy app use, streaming media and enabling augmented reality, and the chip technology that drives them must advance as well.
Chip maker Qualcomm has introduced mobile processors allowing devices to smoothly stream movies and television shows, and also is working on chips that would enable gesture control. An innovative new chip material like molybdenite, allowing for high-powered processors that take up less space, may soon take mobile processors to the next level, allowing for more data-intensive activities.
Molybdenite also has mechanical properties that may allow it to be made into flexible sheets of chips, which may be used in mobile devices or computers that roll up, fold or stick to the skin, possibly bringing futuristic phones like the bendable Nokia Kinetic prototype closer to reality.
Display Technologies
802.11n, a specification for wireless local area networks (WLANs), initially gave us pause. Although not ratified as an official standard yet, the technology is already commonplace. However, until it "goes gold" so to speak, it won't really infiltrate the mobile world. Even the ubiquitous iPhone only supports 802.11 b/g at the moment.
On the flip side, the other internet connection technology, cellular broadband, has the potential to make Wi-Fi almost unnecessary, at least for achieving high speeds. In addition to mobile phones, laptop makers will likely continue to incorporate this technology into their netbooks and notebooks using modern chipsets that provide superior performance to our current crop of add-on cards and dongles.
802.11n & Cellular Broadband
802.11n, a specification for wireless local area networks (WLANs), initially gave us pause. Although not ratified as an official standard yet, the technology is already commonplace. However, until it "goes gold" so to speak, it won't really infiltrate the mobile world. Even the ubiquitous iPhone only supports 802.11 b/g at the moment.
On the flip side, the other internet connection technology, cellular broadband, has the potential to make Wi-Fi almost unnecessary, at least for achieving high speeds. In addition to mobile phones, laptop makers will likely continue to incorporate this technology into their netbooks and notebooks using modern chipsets that provide superior performance to our current crop of add-on cards and dongles.
Near Field Communication (NFC)
NFC is a technology that provides a way for consumers to use their mobile phones for making payments, among other things. It's something that has taken off in many countries worldwide, but certainly not all, and definitely not in the United States just yet. Unfortunately, Gartner predicts that the move towards mobile payment systems will still not occur this year or the next in mature markets like the U.S. and Western Europe. Instead, NFC is more likely to take off in emerging markets. Other uses of the technology, such as the ability to transfer photos from phone to digital photo frames, will also remain elusive to more developed markets.Location Awareness
Location sensing, powered by GPS as well as Wi-Fi and triangulation, opens up new possibilities for mobile social networking and presence applications. Technology's earliest adopters are already familiar with social networks like Brightkite and Loopt which let you reveal your location to a network of friends. But we're still on the tip of this iceberg. Take for example, the iPhone IM client Palringo, they're just now adding location services to their application. This allows users to see how far away their contacts are, introducing a whole new dimension to mobile communication. Over the next year or two, this sort of technology is expected to become more commonplace, but it will also raise questions about privacy. Will you want your network of online friends and acquaintances to really know your exact location? Will turning off location awareness signal that you're up to something sneaky (so asks the suspicious wife, husband, boss, etc.)? As a society, we will have to answer these questions and more in the near future
Mobile User Interfaces + Mobile Web/Widgets
Mobile user interfaces and mobile web/widgets were listed separately, accounting for two items on the list, but we think they can be lumped together. They all point to how mobile computing is rapidly becoming a new platform for everything from consumer mobile apps to B2E (business-to-employee) and B2C (business-to-customer). (Gartner did not include B2B on their list.) Modern day smartphones like the iPhone, Android, Blackberry, the upcoming Pre, and others deliver better interfaces for browsing the web, thus making it accessible to more people. Widget-like applications, including those that replicate thin client technology, will become more common especially in B2C strategies. Yet the mobile web still has challenges ahead. For example, there are no standards for browser access to handset services like the camera or GPS, the report notes.Bluetooth 3.0
This is one of the no-brainers on the list. The Bluetooth 3.0 specification will be released this year and devices will start to hit the shelves by 2010. At this point, it's expected that the 3.0 spec will include faster speeds, reportedly transferring files at 480 megabits per second in close proximity and 100 megabits per second at 10 meters. It will also feature an ultra-low-power mode that Gartner predicts will enable new peripherals, sensors, and applications, such as health monitoring. The technology will be backwards compatible, allowing old devices to communicate with new ones, so there's no reason for it not take off in the upcoming years.
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