Dr. Augustine Fou's Online Scrapbook

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Samsung expands the search for its next hit product with 'innovation team'

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/10/samsung-expands-its-search-for-the-next-big-thing/

Virtual reality, drones, 3D printing, robotic telepresence and self-driving cars. A nice selection for tech buzzword bingo, but also just some of the things that Samsung's new product innovation team is already tackling in a bid to come up with the next (big-selling) thing -- its next Galaxy. "Samsung's previous success was mostly due to releasing products that are competitive in pricing. This is an old business formula...": said one official, unsurprisingly not named in the Korea Times report. And while, barring an initial foray into VR, these could all be very new business avenues for Samsung.

It all sounds a little bit Google, in the good kind of way, and at least a more interesting approach than wave after wave of iterative smartphones, tablets... and wearables. The company is looking to make up for the severe dip in smartphone sales it's experienced recently -- another successful product line could pick up that slack, especially if it ties into its profitable component business. While this new innovation team will apparently have no direct links from the corporate beast that is Samsung Electronics, however it'll still be headed up by the company's head of mobile, JK Shin, so read into that what you will.

"The main purpose of the team isn't to develop single devices for any imminent results, but to develop solutions to go with Samsung's manufacturing capabilities," said another Samsung spokesperson, adding that the team would pull technicians, strategists and product managers in from the company.

Filed under: Cellphones, Displays, Transportation, Wearables, Science, Samsung

Source: Korea Times

IBM's Watson taking crash course in Japanese for SoftBank

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/10/ibm-watson-softbank/

IBM's publicity-loving supercomputer Watson has a new job in Japan for wireless carrier SoftBank doing... something? It's job description there is vague so far, but first it'll need to learn Japanese, no small feat for a machine which has remained mostly occidental so far. Watson is first and foremost a cognitive computer who's job is to parse language and find relationships between huge amounts of data. That means in order to help SoftBank -- which has divisions around the world, including Sprint Nextel in the US -- it'll need to get a better grasp of the language and culture in Japan.

IBM and Softbank will jointly build the Japanese language version of Watson, and SoftBank will resell and distribute the tech in Japan. As for what exactly it plans to do with Watson, the carrier said it will start by tapping local developers to build new features aimed at its home market. For its own purposes, it'll exploit IBM's knack for natural language learning to help consumers and use its predictive talents to make better business decisions.

More concretely, SoftBank could put Watson to use in next-gen robots that would work as teaching assistants or hospital aids, two areas where the supercomputer already has some experience. SoftBank also said Watson would operate in its local data centers. In the US, Watson has won Jeopardy, imitated Dr. House and been a financier. Despite those feats, however, it's been a commercial failure so far, forcing IBM to bolster it recently with a $100 million round of funding.

[Image Credit: Getty Images]

Filed under: Storage, Software

Via: Re/Code

Source: IBM (translated)

drag2share: Sigma makes a super wide-angle version of its super wide camera

source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/10/sigma-dp0-quattro/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Sigma dp0 Quattro

Don't think Sigma's extremely wide dp Quattro cameras are outrageous enough? Don't worry, the company has you covered. The new dp0 Quattro mates a new version of Sigma's high-detail Foveon X3 sensor (billed here as equal to a 39-megapixel conventional sensor) with a fixed 14mm f/4 ultra wide-angle lens. Yes, you read that correctly -- buy a dp0 and your only choice is to capture all-encompassing shots. While the glass corrects for the chromatic aberrations and distortions you sometimes see in wide-angle imagery, you'll need a penchant for shooting landscapes or real estate ads if this is going to make much sense. Sigma isn't talking about prices or ship dates for the dp0 just yet, but the $999 price of both the dp1 and dp2 suggests that you'll be paying a hefty sum to own a compact cam with freaky optics.

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

drag2share: New video spec clears the way for 8K laptop screens

source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/10/embedded-displayport-8k-spec/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

ASUS Zenbook NX500 with a 4K display

Think your 4K laptop or 5K iMac is hot stuff? If specification developers have their way, both will soon be old hat. The Video Electronics Standards Association has unveiled Embedded DisplayPort 1.4a, a new format that lets all-in-ones and laptops use 8K screens (7,680 x 4,320, if you want to be exact). The technology uses compression to squeeze more data into the video feed, and it can divide displays into two or four segments to help the pipeline cope with all those extra pixels.

There should be advantages to 1.4a even if you don't crave razor-sharp visuals. Since PC makers won't need as many data paths to drive lower resolutions, they can use thinner and more efficient displays. A laptop that "only" supports 4K could have longer battery life, for instance. The best part is that this is more than a theoretical exercise -- VESA expects systems to ship with the new DisplayPort by 2016. You might not see an 8K computer all that quickly given that this capability hasn't even reached shipping TVs, but the groundwork will at least be in place.

Embedded DisplayPort 1.4a

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

Monday, February 09, 2015

DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala

Source: http://jalopnik.com/darpa-hacks-gms-onstar-to-remote-control-a-chevrolet-i-1684593523

DARPA Hacks GM's OnStar To Remote Control A Chevrolet Impala

In a broad-reaching report by 60 Minutes about DARPA and the Internet of Things, the Department of Defense has shown that it can hack General Motors' OnStar system to remote control a last-gen Chevrolet Impala.

Deep Web Search Engine Memex Fights Crime a Bit Like Minority Report

Source: http://gizmodo.com/deep-web-search-engine-memex-fights-crime-a-bit-like-mi-1684674056

Deep Web Search Engine Memex Fights Crime a Bit Like Minority Report

Exactly one year ago, DARPA announced a characteristically scifi-inspired mission: to create a search engine that could find things on the deep web that Google's crawlers would miss. The so-called Memex project is now well underway, and for the first time we're getting a look at the crime-fighting search engine in action.

LG builds its own mobile VR headset for the G3

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/09/lg-google-cardboard-vr-headset-g3/

Korea's two largest companies are Samsung and LG, and while Samsung has been making a big splash in the VR world, LG has remained conspicuously silent. That's because the company has been working with Google to build a headset for the LG G3 that'll do a similar job to the Gear VR. The charmingly-named VR for G3 is a plastic headset that'll let you slide the phone into the hardware, with special holes cut for the smartphone's rear volume keys.

Rather than building its own virtual reality platform, however, LG has cribbed the design from Google's paper-craft VR headset, Google Cardboard. Like the original, the plastic hardware comes with a neodymium ring magnet on the side that'll pair with the G3's internal gyroscope, enabling you to control your phone without having to touch the display. Of course, by leveraging Google's VR platform, LG can piggyback off the search engine's software background rather than starting yet another rival in the nascent space.

Unfortunately there's no word on how much it'll cost or where you'll be able to snag one. For now, the company is saying that it'll launch in "selected markets" and that a headset will be thrown in for free when you purchase a G3. Naturally, we've pinged the company to find out more, and will let you know what we learn.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wearables, LG

Google to speed up Chrome with the next version of HTTP

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/09/google-spdy-http2/

Google is giving up on its homegrown SPDY protocol, which aimed to deliver a faster web browsing experience in Chrome than tried and true HTTP. Instead, it's adopting HTTP/2 -- an upgraded version of the protocol that's close to being standardized -- in Chrome 40 in the next few weeks. All of that working developing SPDY wasn't for nothing, though. Google says HTTP/2 includes several features that evolved from its protocol, including multiplexing and header compression, both of which allows you to efficiently make multiple page requests at once. Don't expect your web browsing to speed up immediately with HTTP/2 -- it'll take some time for Google, other browser makers, and developers to fully take advantage of its many improvements -- but it lays the groundwork for a faster and safer web over the next few years. As for SPDY, Google says it'll dump support for that entirely in early 2016.

[Photo credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images]

Filed under: Internet, Google

Source: Google Chromium Blog

This awesome trick lets you use Google Maps even when you're offline (GOOG)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-google-maps-offline-without-wifi-2015-2

Google Maps

Since Google launched Maps ten years ago this week, the service has become completely increasingly ingrained in our lives.

One lesser-known Maps features is that you can download a part of a map to check out even when you don't have mobile data or wi-fi. It's especially handy for travelers, who often don't have cell service.

Here's how you use make it work:

First and foremost, download the Maps app. Then, either search for a location, like "New York City," or zoom into a specific area that you want to save for viewing offline, and click the location box at the bottom of the screen:

Maps4

In the top right corner, you'll see three vertical dots. Click them, and you'll see a "Save offline app" option:

Map5

Google will ask you what you want to call the new offline map:

Then, you can find all your saved maps by swiping right any time on the app and tapping "Your places":

Viola! You'll see your saved maps, and be able to find your way around even without cell service or wi-fi (you'll still be able to see your location as a blue dot):

SEE ALSO: 9 tricks that will help you get way more out of your Kindle

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Sunday, February 08, 2015

drag2share: Google buys an app that helps you privately share photos

source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/08/google-buys-odysee/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Google Photos on Android

Remember those murmurs that Google would detach its photo service from its social networking? It just took steps that could make this split a practical reality. The search firm has snapped up the creators of Odysee, a mobile app that can automatically share photos in private as well as send your phone snapshots to your PC at home. The team (Nimbuz) isn't specific about its future plans beyond promises of more "amazing products," but it's joining the Google+ group. That's an unusual move for a developer that specializes in keeping pictures out of the public eye, but it'd make sense if Google wants a photo platform that can stand on its own two feet. Whatever Google's intentions, it's acting quickly. Odysee has already vanished from app stores, and the service shuts down on February 23rd.

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

Saturday, February 07, 2015

Even Our Balloon Animals Will Soon Be Made By Robots

Source: http://gizmodo.com/even-balloon-animal-clowns-will-soon-be-replaced-by-rob-1684302198

Even Our Balloon Animals Will Soon Be Made By Robots

DARPA's ATLAS is an impressive feat of robotics engineering, but despite representing the bleeding edge of automatons, it's slow and clumsy when it comes to doing anything on its own. A better way to make a robot as skilled as a human is to simply put a human in complete control of it, manipulating it remotely like a puppet from a safe distance. That's what RE2 Robotics thinks is the best approach, and watching the robot arms it developed make a balloon animal is pretty convincing.

Friday, February 06, 2015

How the Silk Road Trial Set a Dangerous Legal Precedent

Source: http://gizmodo.com/how-the-silk-road-trial-set-a-dangerous-legal-precedent-1684208875

How the Silk Road Trial Set a Dangerous Legal Precedent

The Silk Road trial is over. A jury found Ross Ulbricht guilty on all seven charges, including money laundering, drug trafficking, and the "kingpin" charge. That's not just bad news for Ulbricht, who faces life in prison. His trial has set a dangerous precedent, which could allow law enforcement to gather evidence illegally.

How This Tiny Colorado Startup Plans To Dethrone Gore-Tex

Source: http://gizmodo.com/how-this-tiny-colorado-startup-plans-to-dethrone-gore-t-1684266703

How This Tiny Colorado Startup Plans To Dethrone Gore-Tex

For nearly 50 years, Gore-Tex has defined rainwear. But now, thanks to an innovative new process that builds water resistance straight into any item of clothing, Voormi is aiming to end that domination. Here's why their material keeps you so dry.

The first Ubuntu phone arrives next week, but there's a catch

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/06/ubuntu-phone-launch/

It's been a long time coming, but finally Canonical is ready to release its first Ubuntu phone. After teaming up with Meizu and BQ almost a year ago, we're getting a (sort of) new handset from the latter; it's actually a repurposed version of its Aquaris E4.5, a mid-range smartphone that normally ships with Android. The new "Ubuntu Edition" keeps all of the same hardware, which is nothing to write home about. It has a 4.5-inch, 540x960 resolution display, a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek Cortex A7 processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. For shutterbugs, there's also a 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 5-megapixel snapper on the front. At €169.90 ($195), the specs are pretty unremarkable.

Where Canonical and BQ are hoping to break the mould is with their software and sales strategy. Taking a page from the playbook of Chinese firms such as Xiaomi, the first Ubuntu handset will be sold, at least to begin with, through a series of online flash sales. The first of these is next week and a handful of European carriers will be offering special SIM bundles to early adopters. But here's the bad news: BQ currently has no plans to sell the phone outside of Europe. Canonical has stressed that it's still "actively working on a US device strategy" and that its flash sales are a deliberate move to target early adopters.

You might be thinking that this all sounds a tad underwhelming. After all, the Ubuntu Phone platform was first shown off more than two years ago, and since then we've seen Canonical attempt to crowdfund its premium Ubuntu Edge smartphone. That campaign ultimately came up short though, and last year Meizu and BQ's Ubuntu phones missed their target 2014 launch window. Nevertheless, Canonical is adamant that its mobile OS can have an impact. The software experience is certainly unique, and the company's work around Scopes -- categorised home screens that aggregate content from multiple sources -- sets it apart from iOS and Android. "We are going for the mass market," Cristian Parrino, VP of Mobile at Canonical says. "But that's a gradual process and a thoughtful process. That's something we're going to be doing intelligently over time -- but we'll get there."

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

A photo of Samsung's next Galaxy phone may have leaked, and it has a crazy curved screen

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s6-leaked-photo-2015-2

GalaxyS6Leakkorea

It looks like Samsung plans to release multiple different versions of its Galaxy S6, including one with a curved screen just like the Note Edge. Photos obtained by CNET Korea reportedly show five different variations of the phone, which is scheduled to be unveiled on March 1.

Two of the phones in the image are covered with cases, so it's difficult to tell what they look like. Samsung usually releases a more durable version of its flagship phones called the Active, so it's possible that one of those devices is the Galaxy S6 Active.

The photo lines up with previous leaks we've seen so far. It looks like Samsung plans to use a smooth, polished back for the S6, unlike the dimpled rear panel and glossy plastic it's used in the past.

The curved edition looks almost identical to the Galaxy Note Edge, which has a secondary display that curves around one edge. It looks like the curved Galaxy S6 is only rounded on one side, which would contradict earlier reports that suggested it would curve on both sides.

Other than a new design, the Galaxy S6 is expected to come with a sharper 5.1-inch screen that packs 577 pixels per inch, a new mobile payments system created by Samsung, and a fresh version of Samsung's TouchWiz software that's more basic and similar to stock Android. We expect to learn more next month.

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