LG confirms third-generation L Series phones will land with KitKat at MWC 2014
LG's pre-event announcements are getting earlier and earlier with the company confirming the arrival of its new L Series III Android phones more than a week before MWC 2014 kicks off in Barcelona.
The third-generation L Series phones - the L90, L70 and L40 - come with a variety of display sizes and specs, but each have the latest version of Android 4.4 KitKat on board.
The handsets are all in the mid-range area, but the L90 has a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, a 4.7-inch 960 x 540 display, 8GB of internal storage, 1GB RAM, an 8-megapixel camera and 2540mAh battery.
The L70 is slightly smaller at 4.5-inches (800 x 400), houses a dual-core chip, 8-megapixel camera, and 1GB RAM, but on-board storage is slightly lower at 4GB, while the battery pack comes in at 2100mAh.
Dinky
Finally, the L40 is dinky at 3.5-inches, also has a 1.2GHz dual-core processor alongside a 3-megapixel camera, 4GB of storage, 1GB RAM and a 1700mAh battery.All three devices will be on show at MWC, which begins in earnest on February 24. We'll be on hand at the LG stand to take a look.
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It's password changing time again as Kickstarter admits security breach
Kickstarter is the latest online portal to suffer a hack, with the company admitting user information was compromised by the breach last Wednesday.
In an email to customers on Saturday, the company said it received word from law enforcement last week claiming customer data had been accessed.
Although the crowd-funding site says no credit card information had been obtained, the hackers did grab customer names, emails addresses, physical addresses and phone numbers.
Kickstarter said upon hearing of the security breach it quickly plugged the hole, but is still advising all customers to reset their passwords.
"Sorry, we'll do better, blah, blah"
"We're incredibly sorry that this happened. We set a very high bar for how we serve our community, and this incident is frustrating and upsetting. We have since improved our security procedures and systems in numerous ways, and we will continue to do so in the weeks and months to come," the company wrote in the email."We are working closely with law enforcement, and we are doing everything in our power to prevent this from happening again."
In a Q&A on the Kickstarter blog the company said full credit card numbers were never stored and also explained why it took until Saturday to inform customers when the breach took place three days earlier.
CEO Yancey Strickler wrote: "We immediately closed the breach and notified everyone as soon we had thoroughly investigated the situation."
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BLIP: Marty McFly's power laces are actually arriving in 2015, Nike designer says
In 2011 when Nike auctioned-off 1,500 pairs of Nike Air Mag replicas as worn by Marty McFly in Back to the Future Part II, there was one important aspect missing: Those most triumphant power laces.
Well with 2015 and the actual date Marty and the Doc visit (no matter what those internet photoshops tell you) just around the corner, the shoe's designer, Nike's Tinker Hatfield has some big news for fans.
"Are we gonna see power laces in 2015? To that, I say Yes!" said Hatfield at a recent event in New Orleans.
Whether that means there'll be another Air Mag reissue (the first one raised $6m for Parkinson's), or whether the tech will come to a new design isn't clear, but, you guys, "power laces, alright!"
More Blips!
Why don't you make like a tree and read these blips?- Xbox Studios taps rapper Nas for new original TV series
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- Windows Phone betrayed as Xbox team tweet from Android
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HTC hints it'll soon rescue your One true love in Valentine's Day teaser
HTC has served up hints that an AppleCare-like protection plan for its range of smartphones will be unveiled this coming week.
In a Twitter teaser on Valentine's Day from the HTC US account, the company posted a photo of two smashed HTC One devices in the shape of a heart.
The accompanying text read: "If only broken hearts were this easy to fix. Details 2/18."
While the optimistic smartphone fans out there will conclude this means the fix will come in the shape of a brand new HTC One 2 (aka M8) on February 18, that's unlikely to be the case.
Post MWC for One 2?
HTC isn't expected to launch the HTC One 2 until after Mobile World Congress, which gets underway in Barcelona on February 24.Earlier this week, a company official said invites for the HTC One 2 launch would be going out in a couple of weeks, which puts us post MWC 2014.
The February 18 announcement is just a couple of days away, so we'll bring you anything newsworthy, but don't get too excited ok?
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Nokia X Android phone appears in retail listing ahead of tipped MWC launch
The eagerly-anticipated Nokia X Android phone moved one step closer to officialdom when it briefly appeared in a retail listing on a shopping site in Vietnam this weekend.
The listing on the MaiNguyen site listed the handset as having a 1GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, a 5-megapixel camera and Android 4.4.2 KitKat on board.
Those specs tie in with another leak from Twitter's @evleaks on Friday, which also claimed the device would have a 4-inch WVGA display, a 1500mAh battery and would be available in six colours.
Evleaks also added that Android apps will be available from the Nokia store and third-party retailers.
The price is right
While the hardware may not please the mobile purists, the price of the experimental device may make it worth a look. The since-removed listing had the device priced at around £70/$110/AU$120.The device, which is expected to be aimed at emerging markets, remains one of the most intriguing smartphone launches of 2014.
Firstly, it'll be Nokia's first ever Android phone following years of smartphone enthusiasts and industry figures clamouring. Secondly, it comes as Nokia's transition into a Microsoft-owned company is in full swing.
It is expected we'll get the first look at the Nokia X on the show floor at MWC 2014, which kicks off in a little over a week in Barcelona. TechRadar will be out in force to get some hands-on time with the device.
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Sony Xperia G breaks cover, mid-range handset coming at MWC 2014?
Sony appears likely to unveil a new mid-range handset at Mobile World Congress later this month, with reports claiming the Xperia G is on the way.
Vizileaks claims to have gotten up close and personal with the handset prior to its launch, posting a pair of pictures on Twitter.
Alongside the snaps, the leaksters list the handset as packing a 4.8-inch screen, an 8-megapixel camera, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of onboard storage and a 4G LTE radio.
It also added the handset would have no IP rating, meaning there's none of Sony's waterproof tech on board.
Pumping out the handsets
News of the Xperia G comes just a month after Sony unveiled its impressive Xperia Z1 Compact, a full-specced handset, but without the often prohibitive display size of the flagship model.Earlier this week, another device showed up in benchmarking tests with scarily similar specs to the Moto G, suggesting Sony may attempt to sneak into the decent-specs-excellent-price market at some point in 2014.
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Qualcomm's awesome-sounding 4K chip for Smart TVs is no more
Qualcomm has ditched plans to release a new processor, specifically designed for use in 4K Smart TVs and set-top boxes, the company has confirmed.
Initially announced to great acclaim at CES 2014, the quad-core Snapdragon 802 processor, was designed to handle the demands of sending 4K media content through Smart TV apps with greater aplomb.
It also promised support for multi-tasking support in the form of "advanced, concurrent use cases, such as playing an online game while video conferencing; browsing the web while streaming a movie; simultaneously playing back up to four HD videos on the same TV; or sharing with your friends and family by sending wirelessly to other connected mobile devices."
However, as good as an idea as that seemed to all concerned, the company says it has decided against commercialising the tech due to lower than anticipated demand from manufacturers.
Smaller demand
In a statement, the company wrote: "Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. has decided not to commercialise the recently announced Snapdragon 802 processor as the overall demand for processors uniquely designed for smart TVs has proven to be smaller than anticipated."This decision is specific to the Snapdragon 802 processor and does not affect other products we are currently shipping in this segment."
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Week in Gaming: Titanfall crashes down, The Last of Us continues, and the world's biggest Pokemon game begins
2014 may be remembered as being the best year to be single on Valentine's Day. For February 14 romanced us with both the Titanfall beta and the first bit of DLC for The Last of Us, leaving little time for anything else.
And for those still wreaking havoc on the streets of Los Santos, Rockstar rolled out its GTA 5 Valentine's Day Massacre Special update with new jobs, guns and outfits to play with.
Mechs, zombies and gangsters. Now that's real love.
Half man, half machine, what does it mean?
Titanfall beta is operational - and it's kicking ass and taking names. The game's beta was opened up on February 14 to a limited number of players on Xbox One and PC, and will continue to run until February 18.How do you become one of the "limited" few? Unfortunately you'll need to get yourself a beta key for that. Respawn opened up registration earlier in the week, but even that didn't necessarily guarantee access.
However, for those of you who missed out, the good news is that you have less than a month to wait for the game's full release on March 11. Here's something to whet your appetite until then...
Gotta spam 'em all
While some gamers will spend the next few days smashing their friends' faces with next-gen mechs, others are taking part in a twisted reinterpretation of Pokemon history.An anonymous Australian programmer is currently streaming Pokemon Red from an emulator to Twitch, which is being slowly played by thousands of spectators.
The input system works by translating viewer comments into game commands (up, down, A, B, etc), and by some miracle, they're actually making progress.
We sat and watched in awe as the community beat the game's third gym leader less than four days after the stream began.
Less impressive was the amount of time it took the same to successfully open the menu and hit save afterwards. But hey, they got there in the end. Infinite monkeys, infinite typewriters.
The democratic input system lends itself to the RPG genre but we have our doubts that it would be as effective on anything that demands any sort of precision. Go see it for yourself.
Left for dead
The first DLC for 2013's phenomenal The Last of Us also arrived this week, further prying open the story of protagonist Ellie. Though short in duration (and perhaps high in price considering), Left Behind is much more than a tacked-on extra.CVG said: "Naughty Dog's next chapter may feel a little too basic and brief for its price tag, but its story still stirs the emotions."
Meanwhile GamesRadar reckons, "Too many inconsequential downloads have given DLC episodes like Left Behind a bad reputation, but this one fulfils the promise of a meaningful addition to an already complete experience."
So… how long until the PS4 gets The Last of Us: Definitive Edition, eh Naughty Dog?
CVG
The first story DLC for 2013's game of the year, but is it poignant or paltry? Find out in our Last of Us Left Behind ReviewIs this the Xbox One's killer app? We bring you the lowdown in our Titanfall beta preview and gameplay videos
Games Radar
What's the status of the PS4 vs. Xbox One console war. We're 3 months in and we revisit the battle.Sony's big exclusive is hitting next month, but we have the latest information on Infamous: Second Son right now.
Official Nintendo Magazine
Missed Nintendo Direct? Come and see our guide to every announcement and release date revealed last night.The release of a Yoshi-themed XL brings the number of 3DS designs to 58 - come and see every single one.
Xbox The Official Magazine
Titanfall Xbox One beta guide - tips and tactics you must tryWorld of Tanks Xbox 360 tips - best tactics, upgrade guide, earn credits fast
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Industry voice: High-Performance Computing – getting ready for the future
According to IDC, the global high-performance computing (HPC) market has recovered from the recession and is poised to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.8 to 7.8 percent through 2016.
Historically, the market has been dominated by academic institutions with the necessary funding to take on big supercomputer projects.
This is changing. Fuelled by an understanding of HPC's potential to reduce 'time to insight' and accelerate time-to-market, commercial organisations from engineering firms to geoscience companies are expressing interest in HPC.
In the UK, the Government is playing its part too, with the recent announcement that it will invest £270 million into research into quantum computing, highlighting the seriousness of its intent.
But for the commercial potential of HPC to be fulfilled, organisations need to address two perennial issues: the continuing engineering and computing skills shortage and the high cost and inflexible nature of many systems in use today. At Bull, we believe a combination of talent and technology holds the key.
Addressing the Skills Gap
Skills shortages still represent an obstacle to HPC's long-term success. The decline in numbers enrolling in computing and engineering courses remains a concern.According to entrepreneur Sir James Dyson, Britain "produced 12,000 engineering graduates a year – and there are currently 54,000 vacancies. It's predicted that in two years' time there will be 200,000 vacancies."
That said, many universities in the UK are developing courses that respond to industry's needs. Also, there remains a rich source of people, even among non-technology graduates with the potential to become excellent HPC consultants. The question is how can industry attract and then develop this talent?
Some technology businesses are doing this themselves and building networks of HPC specialists to identify and develop people. Others are working with universities to provide post-grad and pre-grad education to introduce valuable skills to the market. Bull does this in the UK with Warwick University for example.
When they engage with recruiters, technology companies should look to deal with specialists that can spend time identifying what each is looking for. That means they may only deliver up two or three candidates for each available HPC spot but those candidates are more likely to fit the bill.
Finding a Simpler Solution
Technology can also play a key role. To accelerate adoption and help to bridge the skills gap, vendors need to make HPC systems easy-to-understand and use.By doing so, they will help drive their customers to adopt flexible architectures and make technology more accessible. Second, providers need to work with commercial customers to ensure that software and applications are modified to leverage the scale of computing systems that HPC typically supports.
Running alongside these developments is the emergence of a new HPC delivery model, HPC-on-Demand. This involves the solutions provider investing in infrastructure that gives prospective users the opportunity to access that computing resource rather than investing in complex IT hardware upfront.
HPC-on-Demand addresses the major difficulty that many engineering companies have in managing their requirement for IT systems: their inability to accurately anticipate their future workload. In most cases there will be no predictable pattern of need.
If a company implements HPC in a traditional way they typically run the risk of either having to overprovision or being limited in the design work they can do because they do not have sufficient equipment in place.
The best way to overcome this is to meet peak requirements automatically on-demand. By using this approach, companies no longer need worry about the complexities of running their own environment or the need for highly-skilled specialised teams. Instead they can tap into the available computing capability across the web as and when needed.
The emergence of HPC-on-Demand is opening out the technology to a wider range of companies including many in the manufacturing and engineering spaces who have basic computing resources and a lack of specialist IT skills.
Freed from the shackles of complex technology, such organisations now have freedom to innovate. With HPC-on-Demand, they have no need for physical infrastructures and no more maintenance requirements, while still having access to high-performance tools for innovation.
The HPC market has the potential for an exciting future. Now all that remains is for businesses to create the right blend of talent and technology to turn that prospect into a commercial reality.
- Andrew Carr is chief executive officer (CEO), Bull UK & Ireland. In this post, he is concentrating on spearheading the company's drive to become a high-performance organisation, a transition he helped to kick-start in his previous role as sales and marketing director
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Industry voice: Beware the data centre behind your cloud
Clouds of the digital variety are great for increasing competitive edge, making cost savings and reducing the strain on Capex, but they don't offer much in the way of silver linings when your vital applications and emails suddenly stop working.
Out of nowhere, chaos reigns all around. While a few minutes of unplanned downtime may be okay, several hours or days will be catastrophic.
Looking at the statistics it's a case of when, not if, your cloud fails. Even the big name providers such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft aren't immune as recent events have shown.
Consider too the havoc caused by Hurricane Sandy with floods and power outages leading to IT systems knocked out not just locally but globally.
Is everything covered?
You may believe you have everything covered. No doubt you will have pinned your cloud providers down to tight service level agreements and they will have impressed with all the remote 24/7 systems monitoring they can do so that any IT problems can be quickly nipped in the bud.Fair enough, but there are still the fundamental risks associated with cloud computing to consider.
Ultimately your cloud resides in data centres which may be located literally anywhere – just down the road, on the other side of the country, in another country altogether. Unfortunately some of these aren't particularly secure or efficient and even the most diligent cloud provider cannot predict or prevent the consequences of data centre downtime caused by power outages, storm damage or security breaches.
On top of this, the majority of cloud providers are often reliant on third party data centres they don't actually own. But at the end of the day it will still be your company's reputation and profitability on the line following a 'cloud burst'.
Healthcheck
To mitigate these risks, you need to know what's behind your cloud - not just who's providing it: who owns the data centres, where they are located, which of your applications they are hosting.Ask your cloud provider for a data centre healthcheck including the following areas:
1. Resilience and Disaster Recovery
Ensure sufficient back-up systems and fail-safe measures in place? 'Tier 3' category data centres should be used as a minimum
2. Security
For mitigating risks of downtime from natural disasters or terrorism, see they are located well away from flood plains, large urban areas, flight paths
3. Power
There needs to be plenty available, and ideally, supply should come directly from the grid which ensures reliable delivery and dramatically reduces outages caused by spikes and surges
4. Connectivity
A choice of carrier networks will ensure continuity in the event of failure. These must offer sufficient bandwidth for your provider to efficiently deliver the applications concerned
5. Location
Data centre location will impact the cloud provider's price to you and is influenced by cost of real estate, labour, power supply. Compare prices against similar providers using other data centre locations
6. Access to data
Check there's a legal agreement in place should your cloud provider or their data centre partner go into administration. An escrow agreement will ensure you have legal access to retrieving your data.
- Simon Taylor is co-founder and Chairman Next Generation Data, owner and operator of Europe's largest data centre, NGD Europe. Previously he was with Toshiba, Cable & Wireless and Interoute Products, which he founded in 1995.
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In Depth: 13 awesome iPhone apps that would supercharge Android
We know. We know. You went for Android because it offered superior customisation, because it didn't patronise you, because it delivered more bang for your buck.
And that's great, but let's be honest: sometimes you'll see an iOS app and the word WANT flashes through your brain in 50-foot letters of fire.
These are the iOS apps we'd really like to see on Android. Is there anything great we haven't included, or do you use excellent alternatives? We'd love to know your thoughts.
iA Writer
The iOS App Store is packed with writing apps, and one of the most popular is the simple and superb iA Writer: it's designed to help you concentrate on what you're writing and nothing else, and as a result it's deliberately stripped down so that you can't procrastinate by messing around with fonts or formatting. You can sync via iCloud or Dropbox, and on iPads there's a nifty focus mode that only displays three lines at a time.
Fantastical
Android isn't short of calendar apps either, but - wait for it - Fantastical is different. It looks good and its natural language input means you can enter things such as "London Grammar 7pm tuesday calendar gigs" or "todo buy dog food at 5pm". It's good with repeating events too.Tweetbot 3
Tweetbot is the Twitter power user's app of choice: it's fast, friendly and it boasts lots of features for taming the Twitter firehose. There are mute filters that enable you to block users without unfollowing them - brilliant for sporting, news or entertainment events you don't give a toss about - and support for multiple services including Instapaper and Pocket, and it's as happy handing multiple accounts and lists as it is running a single account while you swear at Question Time.
Facebook Paper
Android users aren't the only ones excluded from the Facebook Paper party: for now it's US-only too, although both international and Android versions are incoming. Paper may well be the future of Facebook: it delivers a much more beautiful version of your News Feed with an emphasis on video and photography.IFTTT
Amazingly, the excellent If This Then That trigger-action service hasn't made its way to Android yet: the best you can hope for is third-party apps such as LIFTTT. The app is coming, but in the meantime Android users can only drool over the iOS app's ability to automate services such as Facebook, Gmail and Twitter, and devices such as Belkin's WeMo switches and Philips' Hue bulbs.Nike+ Fuelband
This is an odd one: you'd think a firm with the global reach and deep pockets of Nike would ensure its Fuelband fitness kit worked as well with Android as it does with iOS. Nope. Nike says that the problem is reliability: it can't guarantee that any Fuelband app would work consistently well across several hundred handsets. "We have nothing against Android," Nike VP Stefan Olander told The Next Web in late 2013. "We just want to make sure that when we do it, it works well."
Mailbox
Email can be pretty horrendous sometimes, but Mailbox makes it much more pleasant: it's designed to clear your inbox quickly, archiving stuff you don't need to bother with and scheduling stuff you do. It's currently iOS-only with support for just Gmail and iCloud email, but its recent purchase by cross-platform sharing kings Dropbox suggests a brighter future.Reeder 2
Silvio Rizzi's RSS reader is an absolute joy for news fiends: Reeder connects to the major RSS and sharing services (Feedbin, Feedly, Feed Wrangler, Fever and Readability plus the usual Send To services), it's lovely to look at and it's very fast. Where apps such as Flipboard try to make the news look pretty, Reeder concentrates on delivering the information you need as quickly as possible.Clear
When the developer's called Realmac Software the likelihood of an Android version is pretty remote - and the lack of an official Android version might explain why there's an almost identically named Android app with an almost identical interface and an almost identical icon in the Play store; no, we're not linking to it. It's a shame the real one hasn't made it across, though. Clear's clever, intuitive interface couldn't be simpler, and that makes it a very fast and useful way to record anything you need to remember: notes, to-do lists, shopping lists…
Nosy Crow apps
Nosy Crow's interactive picture books have won shelves full of awards, and with good reason: they're absolutely delightful apps for younger children. The firm did dip its toes into the Android market back in 2012 with some releases for the Barnes & Noble Nook, but since then it appears to have retreated again and its latest apps are iOS-only. Shame.
Infinity Blade 3
Android gamers can usually count on the big names releasing games for their platform - *cough* Flappy Bird! *cough* - but Epic's famous hack-and-slash epics remain iOS-exclusive. While Epic Citadel delivers the same world, exploring streets isn't quite as entertaining as getting all stabby.
iWork
No, we're not being funny. Apple's iWork suite is great, and while both Google and Microsoft offer perfectly good mobile office suites in the form of Office 365 and Google Docs they aren't as nice as Apple's apps. Keynote in particular is fantastic.
Garageband
Apple's iLife apps - iMovie, iPhoto - are pretty good, but Garageband is stunning: it's a really useful music creation app, and its synchronisation with the desktop version (whose files can in turn be read by the pro music app Logic Pro) means it's a great mobile tool for dabblers and professional musicians alike.
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Jeremy Laird: If the PC is dead, what's all this innovation about?
For a device that's supposed to be dead, the PC sure does seem to be extremely innovative, beating every other digital device around.
According to most media outlets, the PC is on a deathmarch to redundancy. Smarpthones, tablets, wearables, 4K displays, consoles – anything that's not a PC – that's what all the cool kids want.
Well, have a great big bag of meh. Because I'm going to explain why what innovation we've seen in those areas is either over, an illusions or actually happening on the PC. Meanwhile, the PC itself is the platform where the really exciting stuff is happening.
Let's quickly count the ways. First there's the whole tablet-convertible thing. I'm an big fan of the concept, even if it hasn't yet delivered on its promise.
There are plenty of reasons why it hasn't quite come good yet. But when it does, I know I for one want it to be a PC and not Android or iOS based. Because the PC is simply more flexible and more powerful. Yes, even than Android.
In the gaming arena, the new consoles are making headlines. But the truth is, they're feeble, cynically-specced boxes that the PC can barely be bothered to sneer at.
Meanwhile, the PC itself is in the process of reinventing itself as a gaming hub. Valve's Steam Home Streaming tech is now in beta and looks frankly fabulous.
AMD is shaking things up on the pure performance side with its new Mantle API, which could enable a complexity and realism in gaming never seen before.
Then there's the Oculus Rift VR headset, which has true potential to deliver on that greatest cliché of them all, the paradigm shift. Just remember that there's zero chance the new consoles can compete. They simply don't have the horsepower for proper VR.
And 4K?
As for 4K, well, guess what? It's only the PC that can currently give you the full benefit of 4K. There's basically no content. And 4K on portable device boils down to high-DPI willy waving. It's of little actual benefit, especially in a world where the web still doesn't scale properly for DPI.But on the PC, you can immediately benefit from 4K in both games, which look ridonculously good in 4K, and simply in terms of desktop workspace.
Meanwhile, I reckon most of the fun stuff has already happened to smartphones and tablets. Over the last couple of years, they've become epically faster and sleeker and more functional. But that perfect storm of innovation is now dying out, at least for a while.
Once you've got a a fast CPU with a high DPI screen combined with GPS, connectivity, a finger print scanner, NFC, yada, yada, you're then left refining the proposition.
Indeed, you know they've got the fear re real innovation when gimmicks like curved screens begin to pop up. Much the same applies to tablets.
Oh OK, maybe wearables...
The explosive innovation has happened and until the next step change arrives – perhaps true flexible displays or maybe holographic tech – we're in for a period of relative stagnation.One possible exception involves wearables like Google Glass. But we've got to allow the poor dears something.
Is this nothing more than a disingenous, tendentious sermon from a low-priest of all things PC? Maybe there's a whisker of truth in that. Up to a point, it's my job to evangelise the PC.
But there's also more than a whisker of truth in the notion that the PC is alive, kicking and innovating like mad. And it's just to much fun to poke smug smartphones, tablets and 4K TVs in the ribs.
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Industry voice: Cloud must prove its value
Recent research by Coleman Parkes in November indicates that 74 per cent of IT decision makers and CIOs expected to see cost savings when they embrace the cloud, however just 41 per cent believe they actually achieve these savings.
The benefits of cloud have been well-publicised, but there's clearly not enough being done to put a cost value on those benefits and to work with IT decision makers to take advantage. Cloud is a great asset to any business, but it needs to be quantifiable.
By following a systematic approach to identifying and measuring cloud's short-term and, importantly, long-term benefits, IT decision makers will be able to measure the cost benefits of cloud and keep the CFO content.
Scalability
One of the most significant advantages of the cloud is the ability to scale up and down on demand in line with businesses' requirements. For companies that cater for large seasonal demand such as retailers, cloud enables organisations to essentially pay as they use, without having large systems sat idle in-between.These cost benefits may not always be apparent. When initially budgeting for a new IT system, factor in the cost of each upgrade in system capacity that may be required in the future, for both cloud and other alternatives.
That way, as your storage needs increase, the costs can be measured against the cost that would have been incurred if upgrading physical storage in a private datacentre. Data can now be stored with Amazon Web Services (AWS), for example, for as little as $0.01 USD per GB/month.
Shelf-life
Building a data centre is like buying a new car, the minute you drive it off the forecourt it starts depreciating in value, and is quickly superseded by a newer, faster, more efficient model.By hosting data in the cloud, through providers such as AWS, users have access to the most advanced technology that's constantly updating at no cost to the user. Once again, long-term financial planning is required to compare the cost savings of cloud with the lifespan of a traditional data centre, its upgrades, and eventual renewal.
Running costs
It's not just the initial cost of buying the hardware to run a data centre, there's also the cost of the space it occupies, the powering, cooling and technical support required to run these systems.It all makes calculating the cost of running a data centre harder to factor in, but scaling this down to an equivalent monthly cost can make it easier to compare to cloud storage.
Cloud also has the advantage of freeing up the IT department from undertaking basic system administration and support tasks needed to take care of the hardware.
This allows them to instead concentrate on analysing the data to inform decision makers and help the business to innovate. This can be measured using timesheets and is a more productive and a smarter way of working.
Testing and development
Cloud has substantial advantages to companies running data centres for testing and development purposes. These centres are often required to be full size and spec, and incur large running costs despite not being fully utilised.Cloud allows for virtual testing spaces to be created that have the ability to be turned on and off and scaled up and down on demand. Again a monthly saving can be worked out by comparing both the monthly running and equipment costs with the future cost savings of mitigated system upgrades.
Looking towards the future
Cloud service providers must do more to work with businesses to help them realise the cost savings of cloud. It's important to consider both the short and long-term benefits of moving to the cloud compared to the constraining alternatives such as a private data centre, with its upgrades and eventual replacement.Cloud has many advantages beyond cost savings, including the cultural benefits of more flexible working and providing the freedom to innovate. By identifying the benefits, and creating a plan to measure these against the cost of alternatives, organisations can create a personal plan for measuring cloud financial benefits. Businesses must look to the longer-term benefits and autonomy that cloud has to offer.
The cost savings of cloud aren't all about the quick win, rather they're about finding the most effective and efficient solutions that will enable companies to realise their long-term ambitions.
- Pontus Noren is co-founder and director of Cloudreach. He has worked for blue chip companies including Cisco, Nokia and Ericsson, and has over 18 years international experience in IT Sales, business development and product management.
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As it promises Android updates for 2 years, HTC outs Windows Phone 8.1
HTC has been able to build attractive smartphones like our editor's choice HTC One, but its support of post-launch Android updates hasn't been as solid. That's about to change.
The company has promised to support "all new flagship devices going forward with all major Android updates for two years," according to the HTC US product team in a Reddit thread.
So far, this ambitious goal only applies to its North American phones and we put in an inquiry to HTC to see whether it'll make a similar global commitment.
Steady Android updates certainly haven't been the case with the HTC One X and HTC One X+.
They're stuck with Android 4.2.2, unable to be upgraded to Android 4.4 KitKat, even though X+ came out 14 months ago.
Select upgrades possible for HTC One X
HTC blames the lack of HTC One X and X+ updates on chip maker Nvidia. It no longer supports the Tegra 3 and is instead focusing on its newer Tegra 4 and Tegra K1 processors.However, the Taiwanese phone manufacturer does have one possible contingency plan for its US customers: it's actively "exploring" an update to Android KitKat 4.4 for the HTC One X since it has a Qualcomm processor instead.
HTC also mentioned that US customers will continue to receive Android 4.4 upgrades on its newer flagship smartphone, the HTC One. Next up is T-Mobile, which should have the new firmware in a matter of days.
Windows Phone Blue update too?
HTC refuted a question as to whether or not it's "done with Windows Phone," calling itself a strong partner of Microsoft.In fact, the company confirmed that it's working with Microsoft to bring the forthcoming Windows Phone Blue (better known as Windows Phone 8.1) update to its existing Windows Phone 8X smartphone.
Windows Phone 8X is almost a year and a half old, so it may be getting the same prolonged updates treatment as Android.
HTC also refused to talk about the possibility of a new Windows Phone in its future, but said it will continue to take new products into consideration. The Blue update is a good start.
- Speaking of updates, the Xbox One firmware is ready to download.
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Samsung may be working on a K Sport device, world asks 'What's a K Sport?'
Is Samsung preparing to enter the wellness tracker arena? Judging by a cryptic tweet from one notorious gadget leaker, the Korean giant might just be.
@evleaks reckons, "Samsung is working on a device codenamed K Sport."
Now that doesn't require a huge leap of faith to join the dots and suggest the company is working on a health-centric wearable akin to the Nike FuelBand SE, Adidas Smart Run or Jawbone Up.
Unfortunately, the web's most prolific information hound did not reveal any specific details regarding what the device may entail, so we're left to use our imaginations.
Fitness focused?
Samsung's only previous venture into wearables was the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which arrived amid huge expectations but has so far proved to be massive critical and commercial flop for the company.Should a more focused device be in the works for Samsung it's entirely possibly it may see the light of day at the company's Unpacked event during Mobile World Congress 2014, scheduled for February 24.
There the company is widely expected to unleash the flagship Samsung Galaxy S5, so the introduction of a new fitness tracker as an accoutrement certainly wouldn't be out of place.
What would you hope to see from a Samsung wellness tracker? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
- Got giant hands? Check out or Samsung Galaxy Note 3 review.
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First big Xbox One update of 2014 is ready to be downloaded
Going along with our freshly updated Xbox One review, Microsoft has begun to roll out the first major patch of 2014 for its new console.
The February firmware update offers a better way to manage its storage space and download queue. This digital content-driven, multimedia console conveniently reorganizes My Games and My Apps into separate lists.
Marathon gamers will also appreciate the return of the battery power indicator on the home screen and ability to use a USB keyboard, two problems that didn't exist on Xbox 360.
Today's Xbox One update is actually three days later than Microsoft initially promised, but our Valentine's Day hearts are content with these changes.
It can even be downloaded automatically if you enabled its "Instant On" feature, which checks for updates even when the system is off. Just in case you have plans for tonight.
- PS4 turns up the heat in our PS4 vs Xbox One comparison.
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Office for iPad lives and may arrive before Windows tablet version
The long and winding road to Office for iPad may still be leading towards a launch in early 2014, despite reports suggesting Microsoft had abandoned plans to bring the productivity suite to the Apple tablet.
According to ZDNet's well-connected Microsoft blogger Mary Jo Foley, not only is Office for iPad alive and well, it could even arrive before Microsoft launches a touch-friendly version for Windows 8.1 tablets.
The software, codenamed Gemini internally, is apparently ready for launch with outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer reportedly agreeing to a pre-July release, even though it left the company's own devices behind.
"As you might expect, Microsoft officials are declining to comment on anything having to do with Office on iPad," Foley wrote. "But don't believe the naysayers: Office for iPad is coming. And sooner than many think."
Reconsidering? Apparently not
Although Microsoft has already launched a version of Office for iPhone for Office 365 subscribers, today's update comes amid suggestions that Microsoft might reconsider extending Office's availability on other platforms, in order to safeguard the company's interests.Marketing chief Tami Reller told a technology conference this week: "As we step back and say, these core applications, these core brands that are so important to enterprise customers and consumers, how do we make sure that we're thoughtful about what we're doing on the Windows platform, as well as cognizant of the fact that there's other devices in their lives.
"So you'll see us be thoughtful about how and when we bring what applications to what platforms," she said.
So, while that was interpreted by some as Microsoft backing off the iOS and Android, it may be that the company is simply taking stock before ending the longest wait for software to reach a platform in recent tech history.
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Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 signaled by its price-slashed predecessor
Right as we're hearing rumors that the Galaxy Gear 2 will premier at MWC 2014 on February 24, we're seeing the first Samsung smartwatch receive deep discounts from retailers.
Best Buy is currently selling select models of the Android-based Galaxy Gear today for $149 (about £90/AU$165) when it had previously cost $250 (about £151/AU$277).
Typically, when there's a fire sale like this, it means a manufacturer is ready to introduce a new product to take the place of the original. Retailers are left to quickly try to offload existing stock.
Curiously, today's Best Buy deal only applies to the colorful and unsurprisingly less popular Gear models with Wild Orange, Rose Gold and Oatmeal Beige bands.
Galaxy Gear in Jet Black and Mocha Gray remain at $250 (about £151/AU$277), though even that's a discount as the smartwatch originally made its debut at $300 (£299, about AU$330)
AT&T is also on the clock
American carrier AT&T is also indicating that time is running out for the first Galaxy Gear. A deal to bundle the smartwatch with its top-selling Samsung phones is under way.AT&T is chopping $100 (about £59, AU$110) off the Android watch if it's purchased alongside the Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy S4, Galaxy S4 Active or Galaxy Mega.
Conveniently, it's even offloading the discounted Galaxy Gear to people who bought one of these devices recently, and colors include black and silver in this scenario.
It's almost time for Galaxy Gear 2
It's not a stretch to think that today's Best Buy and AT&T sales are another big hint that Samsung is ready to replace the struggling wearable.It's been rumored that the Galaxy Gear 2 has a radical new flexible design, may be lighter than the first model, will sport a cheaper price and is destined to launch alongside the Galaxy S5.
MWC 2014 would be the right time and place for an unveiling. Samsung naturally wants to launch before Apple's iWatch, HTC's confirmed wearable and the rumored Google smartwatch.
With the classy looking Pebble Steel already turning heads and Sony sporting its Android smartwatch sequel via the Sony Smartwatch 2, Samsung shouldn't be far behind.
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Four more London boroughs to get free Wi-Fi
Four more boroughs in London are set to provide locals and passers-by with free Wi-Fi.
Barnet, Harrow, Haringey and Brent have teamed up with telecommunications infrastructure firm Arqiva to roll out the free service.
The catch is that users will only be able to get 30 minutes of free access per day, something that's reminiscent of the days of dial-up. After that charges will kick in at a rate of £5 per day or £30 per month.
Hotspots
Small-cell Wi-Fi hotspots will be attached to council-owned infrastructure like lamp posts to provide coverage in busy areas. A mix of 3G and 4G will be used.Arqiva is already working with Camden, Wandsworth, Hounslow, Islington, and Hammersmith and Fulham to provide free Wi-Fi access.
Local councils welcomed the deal for its potential social and economic benefits. The free Wi-Fi will be rolled out over the next year.
Wi-Fi is already available on all tube station platforms across London provided that you are on one of the big three mobile network operators (and their affiliates).
You can also get free Wi-Fi in all Starbucks and McDonald's restaurants as well as dozens of other outlets across the city.
There's also the option of using your smartphone as a hotspot or alternatively buying a cheap Android smartphone and use it as a Mi-Fi hotspot by sticking one of the many data-enabled pay-once, use-forever SIM cards on the market.
Via V3
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Crucial Chromecast update hits Android devices, barrage of apps imminent
Good news for Chromecast developers and owners. Google has finally pushed some updated Android software development kit (SDK) support to the HDMI dongle.
Google announced on its Android Developer Google+ page that it revamped the Google Play services to version 4.2. With the update comes the Chromecast API necessary to cast content from apps on Android devices to the TV along with some freshly pushed Google Drive APIs.
Regular app shoppers won't have to do a thing, as developers will already have slotted the update into mobile applications, which can be simply downloaded or updated with the new functionality
Opening up the gates
Earlier this month, the search company released the Google Cast SDK to developers for building apps with Chromecast support.However, it seems Google asked developers to hold off on releasing their new and improved Chromecasting apps. Without the now updated Google Play Services 4.2, programmers could not compile their Chromecast supported apps for submission to the Google Play Store.
Now that all the pieces have fallen into place, we all should start seeing a lot of new Chromecast compatible apps. Currently Chromecast has a dozen-plus, including Vevo, HBO Go and Pandora. Beats Music is on the way, too.
It's a short list for now, but we expect it to grow exponentially now that Google has turned its walled garden into an open lawn.
- You're going to need an Android phone for all those new Chromecast apps, so why not the Motorola Moto G?
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UK companies at the bottom of the pile for cyber security
According to research from BT, just 17 per cent of UK business leaders see cyber security as a major priority. The research was conducted to discover the attitudes modern businesses have towards cyber security.
BT interviewed 500 IT decision makers in medium to large companies across the globe, asking their opinion on what they feel is the biggest threat to their data.
55 per cent of UK respondents said that their company boards underestimate the threat that cyber attacks pose, a worrying figure given the recent rise in hacking attacks in the UK, with even the BBC having been targeted.
Across the globe, the U.S. had to highest percentage, with 74 per cent of those asked saying their companies were not taking cybercrime seriously.
Inside job
According to data from the interviews, non-malicious insider threats, such as the accidental loss of data or devices, is seen as the biggest threat to businesses.60 per cent of respondents named their own employees as the biggest risk to their companies; hacktivism and organised crime garnered a much smaller 37 and 32 per cent respectively.
In response to probable threats, 75 per cent of decision makers globally said that they would like to completely overhaul their company's infrastructure and redesign them from the ground up.
Mark Hughes, CEO of BT Security, said: "As the threat landscape continues to evolve, CEOs and board level executives need to invest in cyber security and educate their people in the IT department and beyond. The stakes are too high for cyber security to be pushed to the bottom of the pile."
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Blip: Happy 10-year Halo-versary! You don't get Halo 5 till 2015 though
Those expecting Halo 5 to show its face this year are out of luck.
Steve Downes, the long-time voice actor for Halo protagonist Master Chief, told Gamezone that Halo 5 simply won't be arriving until 2015. You should take the Chief's words with a grain of salt, though. He may be the star, but he's not the developer.
The wait may be long, but to tide you over a 10-year anniversary version of Halo 2 will likely pop up for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 in 2014.
It's sad we won't see a new Halo but a revamped game with killer graphics for the next-gen console sounds cool, right?
More blips!
We'll be here all year with blips for you (and after that, and after that ...).- Xbox Studios taps rapper Nas for new original TV series
- Xbox Kinect is keeping peace on the Korean border
- Windows Phone betrayed as Xbox team tweet from Android
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Gaming spotlight: Amazon console: this could finally be a great Android gaming system
Amazon is said to be working on a console that will bring Android gaming into our living rooms at a price that undercuts the PS4 and Xbox One. Hold up – haven't we heard this all before?
The first console that attempted to bring mobile gaming to the big(ger) screen was 2013's Ouya. But even with the low, low price tag and pleasing design, a lack of worthwhile games sent it plunging into the tepid pools of mediocrity.
So what makes Amazon think it's got a better shot? We'll tell you why in this week's Gaming Spotlight, the first of a brand new series for TechRadar.
In our debut show, Patrick Goss and Hugh Langley place their bets on the success of Amazon's alleged 'Droid-powered system, as well as delving into the gossip surrounding Sony's (rumoured) Oculus Rift-rivaling headset.
To top things off, we've also got our review of the PS Vita Slim. Talk about a tech trifecta.
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LG G3 may flash eye scanning or fingerprint reading security features
Korean consumer electronics giant LG is seeking to reclaim some of its former glory worldwide, which will apparently include devices with some kind of biometric security measures on board.
ZDNet Korea was on hand in Seoul February 13 to cover the launch of the LG G Pro 2, a handset the manufacturer plans to introduce in the US and Europe soon after its Asian launch next month.
During the press conference, LG Mobile executives were asked about the possibility of biometric authentication technology being implemented into the company's future flagship phones.
Although no firm plans were unveiled, LG officials claimed to be "considering all possibilities," which could include eye or fingerprint recognition such as what's currently offered in the iPhone 5S or competing Android devices from Samsung.
Not-so-distant third?
According to Softpedia, LG's interest in biometrics could first be introduced with the LG G3. The G3 is expected to debut by early summer as the successor to the company's big-screen LG G2.That could give LG the advantage of seeing what Samsung has in store for at the upcoming Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona later this month. It's there Samsung is expected to debut its Galaxy S5 smartphone.
For now, LG executives appear unfazed by any potential threats from Samsung or Lenovo's acquisition of Motorola, instead keeping their eye on becoming third place in the global smartphone market after Samsung and Apple.
"We have a plan to reclaim third place in the global market by the end of the year and have no intention to react on each moves our competitors make," one product manager with LG Mobile told ZDNet Korea, planning to pit "product competitiveness" against all rivals.
- Put a little twist in your day with our review of the LG G Flex!
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EU Court of Justice rules hyperlinks don't infringe copyright
The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that websites linking to copyrighted material are not breaking the law.
The court said that website owners do not need to seek permission of copyright holders to link to freely accessible material on another website, even if the material looks like it is being hosted on the site providing the link.
The significant legal decision was given as part of requested advice to the Court of Appeal in Svea, Sweden, where a news aggregation website, Retriever Sverige, is under fire for linking to material by local newspapers, radio, and other media.
The Göteborgs-Posten newspaper claimed that Retriever Sverige should have asked for permission before linking to its articles and pushed for financial compensation.
Communication contention
The issue of contention was EU law on communication, and whether or not linking to articles constituted an act of communication, which would violate laws that state that authors hold exclusive rights in this area.The court found that hyperlinks do count as an act of communication, but that they do not violate the law unless they open the content up to a new audience.
If material is already freely and publicly available on the web, as is the case with the material on the Göteborgs-Posten website, a link to this website does not introduce the content to a new public, since anyone with access to the internet was already part of the audience Göteborgs-Posten was targeting.
It would be different if Retriever Sverige linked to material behind a paywall, as this would open the content up to readers, the wider non-paying public, not already targeted by the newspaper.
"The Court concludes from this that the owner of a website, such as that of Retriever Sverige, may, without the authorisation of the copyright holders, redirect internet users, via hyperlinks, to protected works available on a freely accessible basis on another site," the court said.
The Swedish court must now decide on the case, but the Court of Justice's recommendation will likely be used to dismiss the lawsuit. It will carry the same weight in similar cases throughout the European Union.
Via PCWorld
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Available Tags:LG , security , HTC , Nokia , Android , Sony , iPhone , Windows Phone , Windows Phone 8 , Windows , Samsung , Xbox , iPad , tablet , Galaxy , UK , Gaming , Amazon , gaming ,
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