Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Thursday, January 23, 2014

drag2share: Google wants you to know what you're clicking on

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/22/google-search-website-sourcing-information/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Google knows a lot, both about its users and about the internet in general. Today, the team in Mountain View has found a new way to share more of its vast knowledge of the web with us by providing background info on sites that show up in search results. You see, site information is gleaned from Google's Knowledge Graph, and for every site we've checked thus far, that means the data's coming from Wikipedia -- so don't go thinking that this new cursory background check is 100-percent accurate. Google's not providing the extra info about all sites, either, just those that are "widely recognized as notable online" according to the company's blog post announcing the new capability. Still, it's a nifty addition that should give netizens some peace of mind before clicking search-provided links, and Google's promising that as the Knowledge Graph grows, so too will the amount of information this new feature can provide.

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

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Sharp's AQUOS Serie mini phone has a Full HD IGZO display, bright colors, limited stateside availability

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/22/sharps-aquos-serie-mini-phone/

With phone specifications often reaching a terminal velocity before the next new technology or trend, giving your hardware a differentiator can be hard. Sharp's new AQUOS Serie mini SHL24, however, is having a stab at a couple. Firstly, the TV-maker is leveraging its IGZO screen tech, and spicing it up by cramming a full (1080p) HD display into the 4.5-inch panel -- that's almost 490 PPI. Secondly, in what it's calling an "EDGEST" design, the AQUOS Serie mini SHL24 seems to have some of the thinnest bezels we've seen for some time (bar the bottom one where the buttons are) making that screen really take pride of place. Thirdly? Colors of course! As for the rest of the specification, well it's not too shabby either. First up it's running Android Jellybean (4.2), sports a 13-megapixel camera, 16GB of storage (with an SD card slot) and a Snapdragon (MSM8974) quad-core processor -- clocked at around 2.2 GHz. Oh, and it's even waterproofed to IPX57 standards. That's quite a few boxes ticked. But, sadly there's one biggie that currently remains empty -- as far as we can see right now, this is a Japan-only device. Sorry.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

Via: Phone Arena

Source: KDDI, Sharp

Phablet Shipments Are Exploding, But They Won't Have A Huge Impact On The Overall Smartphone Market

Source: https://intelligence.businessinsider.com/welcome

Massive screens and large form factors are finally resonating with consumers in the smartphone market, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

Juniper forecasts that worldwide annual phablet shipments will hit 120 million in 2018.
That's up from just 20 million last year, which equates to roughly 43% compound annual growth between 2013 and 2018.
Lining those numbers up against our recent smartphone market forecast figures, though, shows that, despite rapid growth, phablets are unlikely to have a truly defining impact on the smartphone market. By 2018, they will only make up about 5% of smartphone shipments, according to our estimates.

Samsung is already at the forefront of the phablet movement and having an enormous impact on the market as a whole. In fact, the 5.7-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 3 may have accounted for over half the 2013 phablet sales reported by Juniper; Samsung sold a reported 10 million units in just two months on the market.

But Juniper defines a phablet device narrowly, as a smartphone whose screen is 5.6 inches or above. IDC, on the other hand, defines phablets as a smartphone with a screen size of between 5 inches to 6.9 inches. By this definition, demand for phablets in Asia-Pacific alone is accounting for a much bigger slice of the smartphone market. In the second quarter of 2013, IDC reported that phablet shipments in the region reached 25 million.

We consider Juniper's definition a fair benchmark for the phablet category, but it's still important to keep in mind that the overall trend in the smartphone market is to larger-sized phones, even if these bigger devices aren't quite phablets.

Consumers are embracing larger 5-inch screens and gravitating away from smaller 3.5 or 4-inch screens. For example, Samsung's Galaxy line of smartphones have taken developed markets by storm. In North America, the Galaxy S3 and S4, at 4.8 and 5 inches, respectively, make up over 55% of smartphone Web traffic, according to Chitika.

Click here to download the chart and data in Excel

< em>Click here to see a larger version of this chart

PhabletForecast

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drag2share: South Korea Is Building A $1.5 Billion 5G Service That Can Download Movies In A Second

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/lPE7OF3wC3U/south-korea-is-building-a-15-billion-5g-service-2014-1

Seoul south korea

South Korea, already one of the most wired countries on earth, Wednesday announced a 1.6 trillion won ($1.5 billion) plan to roll out a next-generation 5G wireless service quick enough to download full-length films in a second.

The science ministry said it aims to implement the technology -- about 1,000 times faster than the 4G services currently available -- within six years.

"We helped fuel national growth with 2G services in the 1990s, 3G in the 2000s and 4G around 2010. Now it is time to take preemptive action to develop 5G," the ministry said in a statement.

"Countries in Europe, China and the US are making aggressive efforts to develop 5G technology ... and we believe there will be fierce competition in this market in a few years," it said.

Under the roadmap, a trial 5G service will be rolled out in 2017 and a fully commercial service in December 2020.

Priority will be given to developing key features for the new network, including Ultra-HD and hologram transmission as well as cutting-edge social networking services.

Related industries will be able to rack up sales of 5G-related devices and infrastructure equipment worth 331 trillion won from 2020 to 2026, the ministry estimated.

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

Google can now say if your internet connection is quick enough for YouTube

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/21/google-video-quality-report/

Many are tempted to blame stuttering YouTube streams on our internet providers, but who's really at fault? Google may shed some light on the subject now that it has launched a Video Quality Report. The tool tells surfers how well their providers typically handle YouTube in a given region, breaking reliability down by the feed quality and time of day. Services that properly load at least 90 percent of 720p videos get a "YouTube HD Verified" badge, while those that tend to choke wind up in standard definition and lower definition categories. Only Canadians have access to the report at the moment, although it should reach other countries in time. Wherever it goes, it should help viewers decide whether or not it's time to switch networks -- and it just might spur some companies into making much-needed upgrades.

Filed under: Networking, Internet, Google

Via: 9to5 Google

Source: Google Video Quality Report, Financial Post

Toshiba's ready to make better SSDs following its takeover of OCZ

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/22/toshiba-buys-ocz/

Toshiba made its first move to rescue faltering solid state drive manufacturer OCZ Technology back in November, and now that sale is final. In the deal, OCZ gets to keep its identity and independence, but will now operate as OCZ Storage Solutions. It's a slight change in nomenclature to be sure, but hopefully that won't make picking its drives out from Newegg's stock any harder. Just think: for a cool $35 million, maybe you could have bought the drive-maker for yourself.

Filed under: Storage

Source: Financial Post

Snapchat enlists its ghost mascot to thwart potential bot accounts

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/22/snapchat-ghost-mascot-captcha/

It's anyone's guess what Snapchat's done behind the scenes to patch up its data vulnerabilities, but the firm's continuing to address the issues with a new public-facing measure. For instance: the app now has a new (and surprisingly cute) security measure in place to prevent the mass creation of dummy accounts usually made to harvest users' phone numbers. When new folks sign up, they're shown nine images instead of the usual captcha, and they have to prove they're not a bot by choosing the ones with Snapchat's ghost mascot. In addition, the company now implements server-side checks to ensure that those who use the Find Friends feature are real people with verified phone numbers. In theory, this double security layer should make it hard for scammers and spammers to collect private info en masse. Those still worried about their privacy, however, can always unlink their phone numbers for their own peace of mind.

Filed under: Misc, Mobile

Source: TechCrunch

T-Mobile Will Now Give You A Free Checking Account, Complete With 42,000 No-Fee ATMs

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/t-mobile-mobile-money-2014-1

T-Mobile Score

T-Mobile isn't just content being your wireless carrier. It now wants to manage your checking account, too.

The company announced today Mobile Money, a free checking account service available to anyone with a T-Mobile phone number.

With T-Mobile's Mobile Money, your wireless carrier is your bank. T-Mobile retail stores are your banking branches. T-Mobile retail employees are your tellers. And while it sounds bizarre, it's just another example of a company trying to remove the banks from banking. (Mobile Money is very similar to Simple, another promising alternative banking service.)

Here's how it works:

You walk into a T-Mobile store and open your checking account with an initial cash deposit. T-Mobile gives you a prepaid Visa card. (You'll eventually get your own debit card with your name on it.)
You deposit cash to your account at the T-Mobile store and checks by snapping a photo of the document using the T-Mobile Mobile Money app for iPhone or Android.
To get cash, you can make withdrawals (no fees!) from a network of 42,000 ATMs that you can find using the app. There's also a network of international ATMs that you can use for free.
You can transfer money to other Mobile Money customers using the app if you have the person's T-Mobile phone number and last four digits of his or her debit card.
You pay your bills electronically using the app or T-Mobile's website. You can also have T-Mobile cut a check and send it to someone if that's your only option.

Mobile Money is totally free except for the occasional fee you might have to pay for stuff like same-day bill payments.

But it's not for everyone, of course. T-Mobile is only offering free checking, not savings accounts or any of the other premium services traditional banks offer. It's simply an option for T-Mobile customers who want to easily move money in their checking accounts around. If you need more than that, you're probably better off with your regular bank.

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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

MIT's new transparent screen may lead to cheap heads-up displays

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/21/mit-transparent-display/

Transparent screens just aren't very practical these days -- bigger models are frequently expensive and bulky, while smaller heads-up displays tend to have very narrow viewing angles. However, MIT may have solved all those problems at once with its prototype nanoparticle display. The device creates color images on a glass surface simply by 'tuning' a silver nanoparticle coating until it lets only certain light wavelengths pass through. The technique is both cheap and compact, since it requires little more than the coating and some off-the-shelf projector technology. There's also no need for beam splitters or mirrors, so you can see the picture from just about any angle. While there's a lot of work left before there's a finished product, researchers note that their display would be as easy to implement as window tinting; don't be surprised if MIT's screen shows up on a car windshield or storefront near you.

Filed under: Displays

Via: GigaOM

Source: MIT

8K (Yes, 8K) Broadcasts Just Took a Major Step Forward

Source: http://gizmodo.com/8k-yes-8k-broadcasts-just-took-a-major-step-forward-1505680131

8K (Yes, 8K) Broadcasts Just Took a Major Step Forward

Back in May of 2012 the NHK's science & Technology Research Lab in Japan successfully broadcasted an 8K, 7680x4320 signal over a distance of 2.7 miles using UHF frequencies. As a proof of concept it showed that 8K TV could be successfully delivered to televisions over the air, but it lacked the distance of traditional TV broadcasts.

Hackers Swiped 70,000 Records from Healthcare.gov in Four Minutes

Source: http://gizmodo.com/hackers-swiped-70-000-records-from-healthcare-gov-in-fo-1505786371

Hackers Swiped 70,000 Records from Healthcare.gov in Four Minutes

After the bevy of problems Healthcare.gov encountered in its first few months of life, dumping one more onto the pile shouldn't phase you all that much, right? Well, not if that hiccup is actually a gaping vulnerability—and one that can grant hackers access to over 70,0000 private records in just four minutes, at that.

Veho's new K-series action cameras have pro features, amateur-friendly price

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/21/vehos-new-k-series-action-cameras-have-pro-features-amateur-fr/

Veho is perhaps mostly known for its range of accessories -- so when we tested its entry into the (already busy) action cam market, we were pleasantly surprised by how good it was. Fast-forward to today, and it appears it's looking to build on that success with a trio of new models. The Muvi K-2 NPNG edition is the show-stealer, and offers 1080p video up to 60 fps (or 120 fps at 720p), 32 Mbps bit rate video (double the previous model), WiFi, a pre-record function, built-in 2-inch LCD and a case that's waterproof to 100 meters all for £280 (about £100 less than a top-spec GoPro or £40 short of a Drift). The two other models -- the K-2 and K-1 -- come in at £240 and £190, respectively, with the former simply coming with fewer accessories, and the latter featuring a drop in shooting options (no 60 fps at 1080p, etc.) and a dip in bit rate (16 Mbps, not 32). US pricing is still to be confirmed, but will start in the region of $199 for the base model. The K! -series launches in February, which leaves just enough time to work on that 900.

Adidas Smart Run users can now export GPS data, while firmware update improves battery life and media player

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/21/adidas-smart-run-update/

When we reviewed Adidas' Smart Run training watch, we were very fond of it. That said, it had three major niggles: the poor battery life, the low volume of the media player and the inability to export your map/run data from either the watch itself, or the companion miCoach website. Today, we can strike all three off our gripe list. Exporting of GPS data from miCoach went live today (you can now import a GPX file to your training log of choice), while the latest firmware update improves the Smart Run's battery life considerably, activates the previously inaccessible Marathon Mode and jacks up the volume limit to personal best-inducing levels. What's more, Simon Drabble, Adidas' director for miCoach told Engadget there's even more to come:

Today, we allow for the simple export of a .gpx file where a workout is recorded with GPS. The next step will be to allow platform to platform connectivity for data to be ported from miCoach to other existing communities and vice versa. Ultimately, it is no secret that we are targeting an open API in the not too distant future.

So, if you were stuck to the couch with purchasing indecision, perhaps these tweaks will be enough to get you up on the starting blocks?

Filed under: Wearables

Article: How Google's Fitness API Will Buff You Up

Google may be working on an application programming interface for fitness tracking in Android smartphones. This new API could help Android smartphones automatically detect its users' daily motion and exercise routines to provide contextual information for users, but it could also help third-party...

http://readwrite.com/2014/01/17/how-google-fitness-api-contextual-sensor-data-android-users

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Article: Google bans Chrome extensions purchased to deliver adware | The Verge

Google has removed two Chrome extensions from its store due to the way they were serving ads to users. The extensions in question, Add to Feedly and Tweet This Page, both started life as useful additions to Google's web browser, but were soon serving users pop-ups and other intrusive ads. The rea...

http://mobile.theverge.com/2014/1/20/5326582/google-bans-chrome-extensions-purchased-to-deliver-adware

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