Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

drag2share: Android climbed to 79 percent of smartphone market share in 2013, but its growth has slowed

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/29/strategy-analytics-2013-smartphone-share/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Android may have quickly reached the top of the smartphone world, but there are signs that this red-hot growth is cooling off... if only just. Strategy Analytics estimates that the platform claimed nearly 79 percent of smartphone market share in 2013. While that's both a record high and a big step up from almost 69 percent in 2012, it also represents Android's slowest annual growth rate since its birth. As the analysts note, Google is facing an increasingly saturated market; there are only so many more customers it can reach.

Not that things were rosy for other mobile operating systems last year. Apple shipped more phones in 2013, but not enough to avoid a dip to 15.5 percent market share. Windows Phone grew to 3.6 percent share, although its one-point improvement over 2012 wasn't going to make Apple or Google nervous. And for smaller platforms, 2013 was downright ugly. BlackBerry, Symb! ian and others fell from a collective 9.1 percent in 2012 to just 2 percent. The smartphone market in 2014 is effectively a three-horse race, and it's doubtful that the rankings will change any time soon.

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Sony add-on will let you graft a giant camera to your tablet

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/29/sony-add-on-will-let-you-graft-a-giant-camera-to-your-tablet/

Whether you like it or not, tablet photography is here to stay -- it's only fair that slate owners get a fair chance at taking nice pictures. Sony certainly thinks so, since it has unveiled a new mount, the SPA-TA1, that attaches its QX lens cameras to tablets. The peripheral isn't just for small devices, either; it includes six adjustable arms that accommodate larger hardware, like the Xperia Tablet Z and VAIO Tap 11. Sony ships the camera accessory to Japan this April for a suggested price of ¥3,675 ($36). There's no word of a US release, but we wouldn't rule out an eventual stateside launch.

Filed under: Cameras, Peripherals, Tablets, Sony

Via: Xperia Blog, Talk Android

Source: Sony (translated)

LG G Pro 2 pics leak out, show the G2's rear button setup mounted on a larger phone

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/29/lgs-g-pro-2-leaked-pics-indicate-it-will-steal-the-g2s-rear-bu/

LG only just announced that it's launching the G Pro 2 phone next month, and now two pictures that claim to show the device have surfaced on a Korean forum, DC Inside. Following up on last year's 5.5-inch Optimus G Pro, the pictured device features a rear-mounted button setup mirroring LG's most recent flagship phone, the G2. The pics lack accompanying details, although Android Central mentions rumors have hinted at a size bump to 6-inches, support for faster LTE-A networks, a Snapdragon 800 CPU and 1080p screen -- it's also unknown if the G Pro 2 will follow the G2's software tweaks with "knock on" and QSlide multitasking. Check after the break for one more picture -- we should have all the details confirmed by the time the Mobile World Congress 2014 event begins in Barcelona on February 24th.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LG

Via: Android Central

Source: DC Inside

drag2share: Mark One 3D printer creates carbon fiber objects, costs $5,000

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/29/mark-one-3d-printer-carbon-fiber/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

There's a new 3D printer in town, and unlike other models that use plastic, rubber or even chocolate, this one prints out objects using a far tougher material: carbon fiber. The printer, named Mark One, was designed by creator Gregory Mark as a way to reduce carbon fiber manufacturing costs. He sees Mark One as a way to make useful things like tools, replace! ment parts or even home fixtures, though nothing would stop you from printing out super-durable toys and knick-knacks, too. Of course, carbon fiber raw materials my not be so easy to come by, so Mark's creation also works with other composites, like fiberglass, nylon and PLA plastic. Those who want to make tough little trinkets (and have $5,000 to spare) will have to wait until March to pre-order the Mark One, but folks in San Diego can see it in person right now at the SolidWorks World convention.

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drag2share: Olympus launches 50x superzoom with unique 'Eagle-Eye' gun sight

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/29/olympus-50x-superzoom-stylus-sp-100/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Not only has Olympus unveiled the Stylus SP-100 with a whopping 50x optical zoom lens, it's tackled one of the biggest issues in using such cameras: losing a moving subject. The new model is equipped with what the company calls its "eagle-eye" dot-sight located just above the viewfinder, which projects a target onto a semi-transparent mirror below the flash, as shown in the photo after the break. That way, you can keep a bead on your photographic prey (the tech is also used on gun-sights) without needing to zoom out, which could make the difference between nailing or losing a shot. The rest of the specs include a 1/2.3-inch 16-megapixel CMOS sensor with a TruePic VII processor, 7fps burst speed with a small 6 frame buffer, a 24-1200 (50mm equivalent) f/2.9-6.5 lens, a 3-inch, 460K-dot LCD, 920K-dot EVF and 1080/60p Full HD video. It'll arrive in March for $400 or so and while it might not be the biggest superzoom out there, at least you may actually catch Junior's winning goal.

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Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Gridded "Superlens" Brings Wireless Power Transmission A Step Closer

Source: http://gizmodo.com/gridded-superlens-brings-wireless-power-transmission-1510675780

Gridded "Superlens" Brings Wireless Power Transmission A Step Closer

Above is a close-up of what developers call a "superlens," a device that can focus low-energy magnetic waves over a distance. The result? Wireless power generation over nearly one foot of air between transmitter and receiver.

To Make Glass Stronger, Etch It With Microscopic Cracks

Source: http://gizmodo.com/to-make-glass-stronger-etch-it-with-microscopic-cracks-1510973860

To Make Glass Stronger, Etch It With Microscopic Cracks

To anyone who has ever dropped a wine glass or broken a window, you might have a thing or two to learn from mollusks. A new technique inspired by natural materials such as mollusk shells or tooth enamel can make glass 200 times stronger. Weirdly enough, it works by weakening the glass with microscopic cracks.

drag2share: Chrome apps will soon arrive on Android and iOS devices

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/28/chrome-apps-android-ios/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Last month, we discovered Google was working on a tool that would port Chrome apps to both Android and iOS. Today, the folks in Mountain View released a developer preview that does just that. Like the early rumblings suggested, it's based on open-source Apache Cordova, which leverages the software's native HTML, CSS and JavaScript. This means that the software will get wrapped in the stylings of a native app and can be submitted to each app store for distribution. There's also a slew of Chrome APIs available that you'd expect to see in mobile apps, including the ability to build in payments, notifications and alarms on top of those offered by the Cordova platform. Now that the tools are in the hands of devs, we'll have to bide our time until the finished Chrome apps begin to surface.

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drag2share: Future US Soldiers Might Just Be Trained In a Star Trek Holodeck

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/oLM7KAXRK30/us-soldiers-might-be-trained-in-holodeck-2014-1

attached image The VIPE Holodeck is similar in approach to the Infantry Immersion Trainer (IIT) that was developed by Lockheed Martin to train marines, but they differ in many key ways.

IIT was designed as a mixture of mediums, including physical reconstructions that were meant to resemble Fallujah, Iraq. This scenario was complemented by a piping in of digital sounds and avatars to create a fully immersive environment.

VIPE, though, is purely digital. Aside from the individuals within the Holodeck, everything else is a projection based on simple, and inexpensive, consumer technology.

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drag2share: This 17-Year-Old Dropped Out Of High School For Peter Thiel And Built A Game-Changing New Kind Of Computer

source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/RwrGreCBvB8/cool-startup-17-year-old-thiel-fellow-2014-1

Thomas Sohmers REX Computing

On Tuesday, 17-year-old Thomas Sohmers unveiled a new super fast computer server that uses a fraction of the electricity that a normal computer does.

He's showing it off at the Open Compute Project (OCP) Summit happening this week in San Francisco.

OCP is the Facebook-led project that is changing the data center hardware industry. It's where big Internet companies like Facebook design their own hardware to be faster and cheaper than traditional options from companies like Dell, HP, IBM, or Cisco. (But Dell and HP are also involved in OCP). It gives those designs away for free, a concept called open source hardware.

This computer is the first product from Sohmers' startup, REX Computing, created with 52-year-old co-founder and CTO Kurt Keville.

The computer is a very powerful machine built with ARM processors, the kind low-power processors that run smartphones and tablets. (In geek speak: these are multi-core ARM processors designed for servers, made by a San Jose company called Xilinx.)

These servers allow more computing power to be packed into a smaller space. The server is "2,500% more power-efficient for the same performance," Sohmers told Business Insider. Think of it like a supercomputer running on the equivalent of smartphone battery.

And that has big implication! s for building green-but-powerful data centers.

"I think of myself as an entrepreneur besides just being an electrical engineer. I believe what I'm doing can have a major effective on the world," Sohmers said.

Low-power ARM servers is big trend in the server industry with companies like HP and Dell now in the market, but one that hasn't really taken off yet for a bunch of technical reasons that add up to one thing: there isn't a lot of software that runs on them, yet.

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drag2share: Intel's smart headset understands you even when you're offline

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/28/intel-smart-headset-offline-voice-recognition/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Intel claims that its Jarvis headset's voice recognition makes it smart, but we've seen voice commands on Bluetooth earpieces before -- what's so special this time around? It's all about offline support, the company tells Quartz. Unlike many wearables, Jarvis can process complex voice requests without talking to a server. That's most helpful when there's no internet access, but it also leads to faster, more natural interaction than you typically get from the likes of Google Now or Siri. You won't necessarily have to buy Jarvis to reap its benefits, either. Intel hopes to sell its voice recognition technology to phone manufacturers, so your handset may be the only smart device you need.

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Article: Akamai's state of the internet: America gets with faster broadband, IPv6

Good news, everyone! The U.S. has shot up rapidly in its adoption of high-speed broadband, up to 20 percent in some states, according to Akamai’s latest State of the Internet report for the third quarter of 2013. Things seem to be on the up-and-up for American broadband connections, especially af...

http://gigaom.com/2014/01/28/akamais-state-of-the-internet-america-gets-with-faster-broadband-ipv6/

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drag2share: Lenovo's 10-inch Miix 2 convertible tablet goes on sale early, starting at $699

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/27/lenovo-10-inch-miix-2-goes-on-sale-early/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

You won't have to wait until March to get your hands on Lenovo's 10-inch Miix 2; much to our surprise, the budget-friendly convertible tablet is already on sale. Just be prepared to pay extra for early access. The company is offering only higher-end versions of the Windows 8.1 slate, which currently starts at $699 for a WiFi model with 128GB of storage. The promised $499 variant isn't listed on Lenovo's site as of this writing. While it's hard to complain too much about the higher price given the unexpectedly quick launch, those who want the cheapest edition of this mid-size Miix 2 will have to be patient.

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drag2share: Smartphone sales may have topped 1 billion in 2013, depending on who you ask

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/28/smartphone-sales-may-have-topped-1-billion-in-2013/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

You once had to look to the broader cellphone market to see more than a billion phones ship in one year. Well, times have changed... at least, if you ask the right analysts. IDC now estimates that smartphone shipments topped one billion for the first time in 2013. However, Strategy Analytics begs to differ -- it reckons that shipments fell just short, at 990 million. Whether or not the industry hit its symbolic milestone, the roughly 40 percent increase over 2012 data shows that the smartphone market had plenty of room to grow last year. Samsung led the pack with 31.3 percent of the the market, while Apple dipped to 15.3 percent as both Samsung and Chinese manufacturers (including Huawei and Lenovo) chipped away at its second-place position.

As for what happened in ! the fourth quarter? Both analyst groups say that Samsung was once again the top vendor, although they note that the Korean firm's share was largely flat at 29 percent. Not that Apple fared any better, as its record-setting iPhone shipments weren't enough to prevent a slide to 18 percent share. Huawei, LG and Lenovo were the real victors -- each of them typically gained a point or more of share in the past year. IDC chalks some of this up to the rise of very low-cost smartphones, which are quickly taking over developing markets like China and India. Companies which focus on more expensive handsets, such as Apple and Samsung, have the most to lose in these areas.

IDC smartphone market share for Q4 2013

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple, Samsung, LG, Lenovo

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drag2share: British government reportedly tracking YouTube and Facebook data without permission

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/28/gchq-squeaky-dolphin-youtube-facebook-snoop/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

While the NSA has been busy scouring the Angry Birds leaderboards, newly leaked documents report that its British counterpart -- the GCHQ -- has been monitoring the flow of social media in real-time. The General Communications Headquarters can apparently keep track of YouTube traffic, which links are liked on Facebook and even which Blogger or Blogspot pages are visited. This all comes via documents taken by Edward Snowden that were obtained by NBC News. NBC's sources also say that the British spies have been able to physically tap the lines carrying global web traffic to extract key data about specific users as well. This initiative, called Squeaky Dolphin, intends to put broad data trends into context with world events and give the intelligence community a heads up for future anti-government happenings -- not for spying on a person-by-person level. What's more, the GCHQ reportedly shares this information with the US.

The GCHQ has issued a statement claiming that all of its work is carried out within the limits of the law, while the NSA says that it's only interested in the communication activities of valid foreign intelligence targets. For their part, Google and Facebook say that the spying on unencrypted information was done with out their respective knowledge, and neither company had given the UK government permission to access the data -- something we've heard before.

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