drag2share: Forget Thermostats â IoT Adoption Will Be Driven By Companies Upgrading Factory Floors And Warehouses

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/UP8Lop6I-Cs/iot-adoption-driven-by-companies-2014-11

We may think of Internet of Things (IoT) devices as futuristic looking objects in the home that can lower energy costs and open garage door for you. 

But the IoT is actually much more important to the enterprise sector.

IoT devices and software can offer businesses huge benefits, including better security, more effective monitoring of machinery and equipment, efficiency, energy management, and more.

In a new IoT report from BI Intelligence, we size the enterprise IoT market, noting the breakdown between hardware versus software spending, and determine which industries will upgrade to the IoT first. We examine how businesses are already using IoT systems and what barriers might still stand in the way of IoT enterprise upgrades.

---
drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

Read More...

Summary only...

Google News Will Now Pick Out News Stories It Thinks You Should Read

Source: http://gizmodo.com/google-will-now-pick-out-which-news-stories-you-should-1661152079

Google just added a new Suggested Stories feature to its news search results, so you can let the search engine pull up a customized selection of stories to read about based on whatever terrifyingly dense accumulation of personal data Google has on you by now.

Read more...

Read More...

Summary only...

drag2share: Revamped Turing test expects computers to show imagination

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/20/revamped-turing-test-expects-computers-to-show-imagination/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

In June, the developers of a Russian chatbot posing as a 13-year-old boy from Ukraine claimed it had passed the Turing test. While a lot of people doubt the result's validity because the testers used a sketchy methodology and the event was organized by a man fond of making wild claims, it's clear we need a better way to determine if an AI possesses human levels of intelligence. Enter Lovelace 2.0, a test proposed by Georgia Tech associate professor Mark Riedl.

Here's how Lovelace 2.0 works:

For the test, the artificial agent passes if it develops a creative artifact from a subset of artistic genres deemed to require human-level intelligence and the artifact meets certain creative constraints given by a human evaluator. Further, the human evaluator must determine that the object is a valid representative of the creative subset and that it meets the criteria. The created artifact needs only meet these criteria but does not need to have any aesthetic value. Finally, a human referee must determine that the combination of the subset and criteria is not an impossible standard.

Okay, so that official description is pretty hard to parse. Thankfully, Riedl's recently published paper about the subject gives us an easy sample test. One could, for instance, ask a computer/software to "create a story in which a boy falls in love with a girl, aliens abduct the boy and the girl saves the world with the help of a talking cat." The story doesn't have to read like an instant classic, but it has to be able to fulfill those conditions and convince a human judge that its tale of alien abduction and female-feline heroism was written by a person in order to pass. That's just one possibility, though -- testers could also ask the computer to create other types of artwork (painting, sculpture, etc.) while fulfilling a set of conditions. These conditions need to be outrageous or unique enough to prevent the computer from finding possible results to copy through Google. In comparison, a machine merely has to convince someone that the person is talking to another human in order to pass the Turing test.

Riedl's idea stemmed from the original Lovelace exam created in 2001, which requires computers to conjure up a novel, painting or any original work of art. For a computer to pass, its creators must not be able to explain how the machine came up with its creation. History buffs might have already guessed that both were named after Ada Lovelace (above), the world's first computer programmer, who once said that "computers originate nothing; they merely do that which we order them, via programs, to do."

The associate professor decided to design the second Lovelace exam, as he believes the original one makes it hard to judge if a machine has truly passed, since it doesn't have measurable parameters. In the sample test for Lovelace 2.0, for instance, those parameters are the elements of the story the machine needs to use. Riedl will talk about Lovelace 2.0 at the Beyond the Turing Test workshop in Texas in January 2015, but you can already read his paper online if you want to know more.

---
drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

Read More...

Summary only...

Sony's new A7 II mirrorless camera stabilizes your shots with any lens

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/20/sonys-alpha-7-ii-full-frame-mirrorless/

Most camera manufacturers will milk a popular model dry, but not Sony! Just a year after releasing the first full-frame mirrorless cameras, the Alpha 7 and Alpha 7R, Sony has revealed their successor: the Alpha 7 II. Launched in Japan only, for now, the new model is Sony's first with 5-axis in-body stabilization for still photos and video, which helps reduce camera shake regardless of the lens used. Even with lenses that have no stabilization at all, the sensor itself is shifted in the pitch, roll, yaw, X and Y axis to counteract camera movement.

If E-mount lenses are used, however, the body will correct in just three directions and let the lens do the rest. The type of stabilization used is shown in the display, and you can even manually input the focal length for a better result. All of that will help reduce blur in low-light situations, even with a vintage lens.

Sony has significantly improved its hybrid autofocus system, which uses 117 phase and 25 contrast points, making it about 30 percent faster. Subject motion detection is also 50 percent quicker, helping ensure that fast-moving subjects remain sharp. The full-frame sensor itself appears unchanged at 24.3-megapixels, and there's no word yet on a possible "R" version of the updated model with more resolution. Last year, both the Alpha 7 and 36-megapixel 7R were announced at the same time.

The body is largely similar, with a slightly better grip. Other specs are also unchanged: it still uses the same BIONZ X image processor with 14-bit RAW support, has a max 1/8000 shutter speed, a 2.4 million dot finder and a 3-inch 1.2 million dot display. If you were hoping for some of the Alpha 7S's 4K video or 409,000 ISO light sensitivity mojo to trickle down to the base model, it's not to be: max ISO remains at (a still respectable) 25,600, and video capture is 1080P/60fps using XAVC-S or AVCHD.

The price for Japan will be ¥190,000 ($1,600), but the Alpha 7 II has not been announced for North America yet. If you just purchased the original Alpha 7, there's no reason to feel bad -- the new model brings some nice features, but isn't a huge leap over the last one. Still, by releasing a new version of a lauded camera after just a year, Sony is sending a strong signal to its more lackadaisical competitors.

Filed under: Cameras, Sony

Comments

Read More...

Summary only...

Qualcomm wants to get into servers after conquering the mobile world

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/20/qualcomm-making-server-chips/

Qualcomm is sitting pretty right now. Its Snapdragon processors and cellular chips are present in most of the big-name mobile devices you can use today, whether it's the Nexus 6 or the iPhone. However, the company isn't content to stop there -- it just confirmed plans to launch its own line of server processors. CEO Steve Mollenkopf isn't offering many details just yet, but it won't surprise you to hear that these heavy duty CPUs would be ARM-based like their mobile counterparts. There's no timing yet, either, although the exec adds that his firm is already "engaged with customers."

As with existing server chips from AMD and HP, Qualcomm is trying to attack Intel where it's weakest: power consumption. While Xeon chips are typically very fast, their sheer thirst for energy limits how many you can use and thus how flexible you can be. ARM isn't as quick, but it's much more efficient. You can stuff hundreds of CPUs into a small space instead of just a few, giving you much more freedom to juggle multiple tasks at once. Mollenkopf sees his company's future parts being handy for internet giants like Facebook, which could tweak their data centers to handle very specific tasks. There's no telling whether or not Qualcomm will dominate the server world like it did your pocket, but it's definitely going to make Intel nervous.

Filed under: Cellphones, Desktops, Mobile

Comments

Source: Wall Street Journal

Read More...

Summary only...

LG Curved OLED vs Sony 4K LCD: Which TV Tech Reigns Supreme?

Source: http://gizmodo.com/lg-curved-oled-vs-sony-4k-lcd-which-tv-tech-reigns-su-1658030475

It's not an easy time to be shopping for a new TV. Do you want that crisp 4K resolution , or a gorgeous new OLED display ? Unless you've got tens of thousands of dollars burning a hole in your pocket, you can't have them both in the same screen. Which is why we decided to pit them against each other.

Read more...

Read More...

Summary only...

IBM's new email app learns your habits to help get things done

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/18/ibm-verse/

Email can be overwhelming, especially at work; it can take a while to get back to an important conversation or project. IBM clearly knows how bad that deluge can be, though, since its new Verse email client is built to eliminate as much clutter as possible. The app learns your habits and puts the highest-priority people and tasks at the top level. You'll know if a key team member emailed you during lunch, or that you have a meeting in 10 minutes. Verse also puts a much heavier emphasis on collaboration and search. It's easier to find a particular file, message or topic, and there will even be a future option to get answers from a Watson thinking supercomputer -- you may get insights without having to speak to a colleague across the hall.

It's quite clever at first glance, although you may have to wait a while to give it a spin; a Verse beta on the desktop will be available this month, but only to a handful of IBM's customers and partners. You'll have to wait until the first quarter of 2015 to get a version built for individual use. It'll be "freemium" (free with paid add-ons) when it does reach the public, however, and there are promises of apps for Android and iOS to make sure you're productive while on the road.

Filed under: Internet, Software

Comments

Source: IBM (1), (2)

Read More...

Summary only...

MIT's nanotech has a future in monitoring tumors and diagnosing illnesses

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/19/mit-polymer-medicine-nanotech/

A team of MIT researchers have developed nanoparticle sensors that could eventually be used to monitor tumors or other diseases, as well as act as a tool to diagnose illnesses. These nanoparticles are made of polymer chains that can bind to the sensors a doctor needs. For instance, in the scientists' tests, they used an MRI contrast agent called nitroxide along with Cy5.5, which glows when it encounters vitamin C, as sensors. These individual strands then merge to form the structure you see above, which the researchers call "branched bottlebrush polymer." As you can guess, the bottlebrush polymer the team developed for the study can perform MRI and detect vitamin C, as detailed in their paper recently published in Nature. Since nitroxide grabs electrons from the vitamin and remains inactive in its presence, the scientists don't get confused by the two different signals.

At the moment, the researchers are still working to refine the nanotechnology, developing another version that can carry three different drugs along with the vitamin C detector. As they can mix and match the sensors, though, they believe that in the future, the polymers could be used to evaluate oxygen radicals in a tumor to determine how aggressive it is. Also, the microscopic bottlebrushes could be used to collect real-time biochemical info on affected and healthy tissues, serving as a quick and accurate diagnostic tool.

Filed under: Science

Comments

Source: Nature, MIT

Read More...

Summary only...

drag2share: Upp comes to the UK with the promise of hydrogen-fuelled device charging

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/19/upp-hydrogen-charger-uk/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

If your smartphone dips into the red while you're out of the house, why scrabble for a portable battery when you can recharge with hydrogen? That's the sales pitch being made for the Upp, anyway. Intelligent Energy's first fuel cell charger is now available in Apple Stores across the UK, as well as on the Upp website. It gives power-hungry gadget fans a cleaner way to keep their devices topped up, but inevitably, there are some caveats. For one, the Upp charger will set you back a whopping £149, an amount that far exceeds the asking price for a handful of portable batteries. For another, the device is a little large and cumbersome; this isn't something you can just slide into a handbag or jacket pocket.

So what's the advantage? Well, unlike regular portable batteries, you don't need to remember to recharge the Upp. Instead, the fuel cell relies on swappable cartridges that can be picked up for £5.95 a pop from one of Apple's stores. The hope is that, should the idea take off, you'll be able to duck into any supermarket or convenience store and pick one up at a moment's notice. The charger supports most USB-enabled devices and individual cartridges will, the company claims, keep a smartphone juiced for a week. There's even an app for checking usage, optimizing cartridges and finding stores that sell refills. Right now though, the Upp feels like a niche product with low availability and a high price of admission. Only the most avid hydrogen fans and charging connoisseurs need apply.

---
drag2share - drag and drop RSS news items on your email contacts to share (click SEE DEMO)

Read More...

Summary only...

Report: A Bunch Of Illegal Websites Seized By The FBI Were Fakes

Source: http://gizmodo.com/report-a-bunch-of-illegal-websites-seized-by-the-fbi-w-1659935037

The dark web owes the FBI a thank-you. It turns out that during its recent mass seizure operation against a number of Tor sites (including Silk Road 2.0 ), a little more than half of the sites taken down were either clones or scams — and, in a number of cases, the real, functional websites are still active.

Read more...

Read More...

Summary only...

Artificial intelligence is now creating its own magic tricks

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/17/artificial-intelligence-magic-tricks/

You might not have to be a professional magician to come up with clever tricks in the near future. Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have developed artificial intelligence that can create magic tricks (specifically, those based on math) all on its own. Once their program learns the basics of creating magic jigsaws and "mind reading" stunts, it can generate many variants of these tricks by itself. This could be particularly handy if you like to impress your friends on a regular basis -- you could show them a new card trick every time without having to do much work.

The best part? You can try some of these computer-generated tricks yourself. The 12 Magicians of Osiris magic jigsaw is available as a web pack, and you can download the Android component for one card trick, Phoney, from Google Play. Neither will give you as much satisfaction as developing tricks from scratch, but they're proof that computers can do more with math than solve equations.

Filed under: Science

Comments

Via: Phys.org

Source: QMUL, Frontiers

Read More...

Summary only...

Intel Has A New Wearable Gadget Women Will Actually Want On Their Wrists, And It's Coming Next Month

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/mica-bracelet-release-date-price-photos-2014-11

Intel and Opening Ceremony have just announced their new luxury smart bracelet will be launching in early December for $495.

The MICA bracelet is designed to look like a fashion accessory more than a gadget, as the companies emphasized when the device was initially unveiled in September.

It'll be sold through Barney's and Opening Ceremony, both online and in-store.

The MICA, which stands for "My Intelligent Communication Accessory," comes with a screen on the inside of your wrist rather than the outside to keep your messages private.

The companies have also announced that MICA will be compatible with Facebook and Google, which means you'll be able to see notifications from Facebook, Gmail, and Google Calendar, right on your wrist. It'll also be able to show text messages and Yelp notifications.

Many smartwatches offer this same functionality at a much cheaper price point, but there are two key differentiators that make the MICA more expensive than it's competitors.

First, it's capable of connecting to the internet on its own without having to work through your smartphone. That $495 price tag includes two years of wireless data service from AT&T. So, your MICA bracelet will have its own phone number that you can give out to only those you'd want to message you on the device.

It's meant to sort of provide a quick, convenient way to talk to people you contact most frequently rather than replacing your phone. 

Second, the MICA is being marketed as a luxury accessory, which means it's made of high-end materials such as watersnake skin leather, pearls from China, tiger's eye stones from Africa, and other gems.

The MICA is expected to last two days on a single charge, but that will vary with usage.

This is what the white version of the MICA looks like, as shown on personal trainer Nicole Winhoffer's w! rist.

The screen is curved so that it fits in naturally with the bracelet.

Here's a look at what notifications will look like on the MICA. Here you can see upcoming events from Facebook.

And here's what a text message would look like. 

This is the standard home screen you would see when looking at the 1.6-inch curved screen. 

The MICA is one of the few tech devices that is targeted towards women. Most smartwatches are big and bulky, which don't make them ideal for smaller wrist sizes. Apple seems to be trying to address this problem with its upcoming watch, which will be available in two sizes when it launches next year.

SEE ALSO: FORGET THE APPLE WATCH: Here's The Wearable Gadget You Should Buy If You Really Care About Fitness

Join the conversation about this story »

Read More...

Summary only...

New York City green-lights the use of Chromebooks in public schools

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/17/chromebooks-nyc-schools/

It's no secret that Chromebooks have been on the rise, especially in grade schools, and now Google has just scored another pretty big win. New York City officials just formally approved the use of Chromebooks in public schools. In a blog post, Hal Friedlander, Chief Information Office at the New York City Department of Education, said that he chose to give Chromebooks the OK in part because some schools were already using Google Drive and other Apps for Education. In addition, Friedlander cited all the reasons Google has been pushing Chromebooks to schools in the first place: They're easy to integrate into existing IT systems, they don't require any additional training for staff and it's easy for the IT department to manage. So no surprises there.

Developing...

Filed under: Laptops, Google

Comments

Source: Google

Read More...

Summary only...

Times Square's new digital billboard is almost the length of a football field

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/17/times-square-digital-billboard-really-really-big/

New Yorkers passing through Times Square will see (whether they want to or not) the biggest, most expensive digital billboard (at least in the US) when it turns on this Tuesday night. The screen is big enough to run a whole block, from 45th to 46th Street along Broadway, and is made up of 24 million pixels. (To contrast, 4K TVs weigh in with around 8 million pixel, although the scale here is massively different.) Oh yeah, it's also eight stories high. According to the New York Times, the cost of this prime advertising real estate comes in at over $2.5 million for four weeks. Google, a company that has the means, will take over the big screen as the debut advertiser until 2015. But we can go bigger: LG's already using the world's biggest billboard in Saudi Arabia, which is 820 feet long.

[Image credit: Richard Perry/The New York Times]

Filed under: Displays

Comments

Source: NYT

Read More...

Summary only...

Amazonâs New Kindle Fire HDX Tablet Is Light And Gorgeous â But It Has Some Serious Limitations (AMZN)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-kindle-fire-hdx-89-tablet-review-2014-2014-11

Amazon has expanded its line of Kindle tablets yet again with this year’s version of the $379 Fire HDX 8.9. The device, which is the same size as Google’s recent Nexus 9 and a bit smaller than the iPad Air, is one of the slimmest tablets you can buy.

As is the case with its previous HDX tablets, the online retail giant is pushing its new addition as an entertainment-focused device.  And with it’s gorgeous high-res display, it certainly has the hardware to pull it off.

After spending a week using Amazon’s new tablet, here's what I came away with.

The Basics

The 2014 edition of Amazon’s new tablet comes with a 2560x1600 resolution display just like its predecessor and the Nexus 9.  There’s an 8-megapixel camera on the back and 2GB of RAM, which the company claims will ensure graphics run smoothly.

In all honesty, there isn’t too much that’s different from last year’s model. The new tablet comes with Amazon’s new Firefly feature and runs on a new processor, but those are the only key differences.

How It Looks And Feels

Amazon’s Kindle Fire HDX is undoubtedly one of the lightest tablets you can buy. In fact, it might be the lightest tablet at just 375 grams. By comparison, the Nexus 9 weighs 425 grams, the iPad Air 2 weighs 469 grams, and Sony’s Xperia Z2 tablet weighs 439 grams. Granted, both Apple and Sony’s tablets come with a larger screen than Amazon’s Fire HDX, but it’s still impressively slim. This makes it incredibly easy to use with one hand.

The back of Amazon’s new tablet is made of a soft, slick material that’s resistant to fingerprints, which is a plus. Both Google and Sony’s table! t were q uick to pick up smudges, so the tablets would look a little dirty after just a few minutes of use.

There’s one design quirk that has always confused me when picking up an Amazon tablet. Both the power and volume buttons are located on the back, rather than along the side. I understand it probably wouldn’t be possible to make the tablet super slim and light otherwise, but it always throws me off.

Using It

Like Amazon’s other devices, the new Fire HDX runs on its Fire OS — a modified version of Android. Although it’s technically based on Android, it doesn’t look very much like the software you’d see on a Google or Samsung tablet.

The home screen consists of a carousel of app icons with a menu that sits across the top of the screen. The menu lets you browse different categories such as games, apps stored on your device, photos stored on the tablet, and more. Below the main carousel are a few icons for other options in the OS, such as Amazon’s Silk Browser, the stock email app, the tablet’s camera, calendar, and a few other choices.

The carousel layout is a refreshing — it's not the tired app grid layout you’ll find on most other mobile devices.

The Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 is a gorgeous, lightweight tablet, but it has its limitations. Although its an Android tablet, don’t plan on using Gmail, Google Maps, or any other Google-made application on it. There’s no access to the Google Play Store, which means if the app you’re looking for isn’t in Amazon’s AppStore, you won’t be able to use it. So, that means no YouTube, no Google Drive, and no Google Maps.

Remember, the Fire HDX 8.9 is built for entertainment. So if you frequently use Amazon Prime and love downloading movies, you’ll probably enjoy Fire OS.!

Like its predecessor, the new tablet comes with Amazon’s Mayday feature, which is a service that connects you to a member of Amazon’s support team.

Firefly is a newer Amazon feature that debuted on the Fire Phone last spring. Firefly allows you to use the device’s camera to scan barcodes on objects, business cards, and email addresses. Once the tablet recognizes the object, it’ll either provide a link to save that person’s contact information or show a listing for that item in Amazon’s online store.

Firefly works quickly and it’s incredibly accurate. Within seconds of holding a business card in front of the tablet’s camera, it pulled up that person’s phone number. The software reacted equally as fast when I held up the box for an iPhone case in front of the Fire HDX’s camera.

Still, Firefly seems better-suited for a phone than a tablet. Whipping out a large handheld to scan a business card feels awkward.

The new Fire HDX’s screen is gorgeous, too. Whether you’re doing some reading or watching Netflix, images and text really pop off the screen. It also seemed to be a bit brighter than the screen on the Nexus 9.

The Kindle Fire HDX's battery lasts quite long on a single charge. I was able to get two full days of usage out of the tablet before its battery completely drained. This included streaming a lot of Netflix, playing games like "Dead Trigger" often, and browsing the web.

Should You Buy It?

Amazon’s recently released Kindle Fire HDX is an excellent tablet for reading and entertainment, especially if you use Amazon Prime a lot. It’s super light — in fact it’s o! ne of th e lightest tablets you can buy — and the screen is gorgeous too.

But, you’ll have to be okay with giving up access to Google’s gigantic app store. Amazon has it’s own app store with more than 240,000 apps, although that’s a relative small number compared to both Apple and Google’s stores which offer about one million apps.

And, if you’re used to using an Android tablet or an iPad, the software will seem a bit different on Amazon’s Fire HDX.

If you don’t really care about apps and just want a tablet for streaming Netflix, reading, checking email, and browsing the web, you’ll be perfectly satisfied with the Fire HDX. Amazon has it’s own app store with more than 240,000 apps, although that’s a relative small number compared to both Apple and Google’s stores which offer about one million apps.

SEE ALSO: 15 Apps That Will Make Your Android Phone A Whole Lot Better

Join the conversation about this story »

Read More...

Summary only...