Industry voice: In the digital age, is data the heart and soul of who we are?
National security and the right to privacy have not always been the most comfortable of bedfellows – and never has this been made more apparent than in the wake of the recent North Korea Sony hack and the US Central Command's Twitter feed being taken over.
The last few months have highlighted the importance of cyber-security as 'hacktivism' has become less the preserve of online geeks and is now regularly making front page news. It seems utterly feasible to us now that warfare of the future will take place on the digital battleground… and without showing my age too much it brings to mind the 80s cult film WarGames.
In the cyber-age data is king, and the recent news that David Cameron pressed Barack Obama to force US internet giants such as Facebook and Twitter to help surveillance agencies prevent acts of physical and cyber-terrorism only serves to highlight the importance of understanding data.
Data knows us better than we know ourselves
Taking a step back from national security, recent events have made it clear to the man in the street that we live in a world exploding with data. As individuals we're waking up to the fact that our online data trails say more about us than we know ourselves. In ancient Greece the question of 'who we are' would have been one for Aristotle or Socrates to answer. Today it is to be understood by data scientists.Our data profiles reveal a huge amount about ourselves as individuals, but also as groups, as societies, and ultimately, as nations. If you were to compare the typical Briton twenty years ago to today's modern Brit the difference would be staggering. Change is a gradual process, and it's commonly held that it can only be really understood with the gift of hindsight. This is wrong. Our changing personal preferences for things such as shopping, entertainment and, on a wider level, our own cultural identities are shaped, and understood, through data.
Ultimately it's increasingly important that companies understand how to analyse, and truly understand, the mass of data created each day. It is only through structured analysis that organisations can build accurate, real-time views of the world. Data is the key to unlocking true insight, and that key is about to be turned.
- Richard Law is CEO of Chester-based GBGroup
Read More ...
Review: Asus STRIX GTX 960 OC Edition
As there are no reference versions of the new GTX 960, it's all up to the manufacturers just how far they go with their cards. Nvidia has put out its own guidelines for base and boost clocks, but that's all they are.
Because of that, the GTX 960 has spawned a glut of factory-overclocked cards being first out of the gate. But is that really where the sweet-spot lies for Nvidia's mid-range Maxwell?
As is its wont, Asus has released an owly version of the GTX 960 under its STRIX branding, replete with the always-impressive DirectCU II cooler.
The stock 1,126MHz base and 1,178MHz boost clock laid out for the GTX 960 has been torn open once more, with the STRIX sitting at 1,291MHz and 1,317MHz respectively.
Again though we didn't see the card at those frequency points once during testing. Our sample was instead intent on rock-solid gaming at 1,354MHz.
That shows just how much overclocking headroom there is in the GTX 960.
Though the fact that the EVGA GTX 960 SuperSC version is clocked even higher, yet still posts incredibly close gaming frame rates, does mean there's not really any great advantage to running at these speeds.
But there's almost no reason not to.
Temperature isn't really an issue, especially with the formidable cooling that Asus has layered on top of its GPU. The DirectCU II cooler on the STRIX kept our review sample running at its top overclock at only 58ºC, considerably cooler than the ACX 2.0+ cooler on the EVGA SuperSC version.
Likewise noise isn't a problem either.
The STRIX's fans only spin up once the GPU reaches 55ºC, which means that on your Windows desktop the card is running entirely on passive cooling. And again those fans are incredibly quiet when they do get going.
Too cool for school
So, why wouldn't Nvidia set its recommended clocks higher?Mostly for reasons of marketing and allowing its partners to charge that little bit more for overclocked iterations of its cards. After all, having huge overclocking figures on the packaging is a good sell for both Nvidia and the card makers.
Thankfully prices on Asus' GTX STRIX 960 have dropped quite considerably since launch. At the beginning the fact it was so much more expensive than the competition, and yet no faster, was a bit of an issue.
Now it costs less than EVGA's GTX 960 SuperSC card which makes the fact it's a tiny bit slower in our gaming benchmarks less of a problem too.
It's not able to match the EVGA card's heady overclocking performance - even with the excellent Asus cooling - but when the extra MHz don't translate into extra FPS we can forgive that slight mismatch.
Our card tapped out at 1,478MHz, even though it was still only whispering away at some 58ºC.
But this is the real triumph of the GTX 960. No matter how relatively underwhelmed we've been with the mid-range Maxwell's overall performance, Nvidia has made a card where 1080p performance has been utterly nailed in a relatively small form factor and where noise, power and temperatures have all been rendered complete non-issues.
When such overclocked cards as the STRIX GTX 960 had hefty price-premiums attached to them it they didn't look so appealing. The GM 206 GPU doesn't really need the might of the DirectCU II cooler to achieve cool and quiet performance.
But now the prices aren't nearly so high the super-cooled, super-quiet Asus cooling array makes for an excellent choice of GTX 960.
We liked
The biggest strength of the Asus STRIX GTX 960 OC Edition is that powerful cooling array attached to it. It stays silent until the GPU hits 55ºC and even then you'll be straining to hear it.We're also mighty impressed that prices of this premium card have dropped so much since launch, making it a much more tantalising a prospect for the mid-range upgrader.
There's also the fact the Asus card is really quite tiny. For a small form factor machine it really is worth a look.
We disliked
We're still not massively excited by the GM 206 GPU. It does essentially all it needs to do to perform at this level, but nothing more. The 2GB frame buffer isn't going to provide any sort of future proofing so it really is just a 1080p card for today.Verdict
The Asus STRIX GTX 960 is a seriously quiet, incredibly cool little mid-range graphics card. Now that the prices have dropped this card is really vying for top GM 206 honours.------------------------------
Taken from PC Format magazineSubscriptions from just £12.99!
Read More ...
Opinion: MWC 2014 was a nightmare... but I can't wait to go back
MWC 2014 was the first major press conference I went to as a phone journalist, and despite being consistently over caffeinated and under pressure every second, I couldn't get enough.
I don't know why. It could, and should, have been a disaster. I made the rookie mistake of going to the conference severely over prepared, thinking I had to trek through every square centimetre to uncover the 'true' story.
I had a full schedule of meetings with everybody you've never heard of (for a reason), knew exactly where I had to be at each moment of the day and, most importantly, had a bucket full of energy to throw all over the conference floor.
In less than half an hour after the start, every plan had gone out the window.
By 12PM on Day One I'd decided to wing the entire event, crumbling amid the cacophony of shouting journalists and desperate press conference presenters.
When the Spanish sun started to set, I worked out I had done a 16-hour stint - most of it is spent in a conference hall resembling an airport terminal - but with a far worse Wi-Fi connection - and queues for food much like that video footage of Black Friday.
The strangest thing, though? I can't wait to do it all over again.
Mobile World Con-stress
Speaking to some other technology journalists I've noticed a lot of apathy toward MWC, with most associating it with the stress of the big announcements and hating the event as a whole. I even overheard a fellow journalist recently referring to the whole event as the "airport of hell".And in a way they're right. The main elements in Barcelona during this event are stress, sweat, a little blood and even more tears. But it is also one of the great perks of working in this ever-changing industry.
Maybe it's the fact I've recently joined TechRadar and won't be covering the event all on my lonesome this year, or maybe it's the fact I have a much clearer idea of what I'm doing and what I'm covering this year, but I can't actually wait for March 1 to kick it all off.
We get to spend the best part of a week trying out the latest gadgets, seeing all the next mobile developments early and speaking to the people who've been working on them.
By the time those Fira Gran Via doors open the biggest events of Samsung and HTC will have already taken place – but that's only the beginning. The more unique, interesting takes on the world of mobile technology will be scattered about the conference hall's gigantic nine rooms.
That's where the interesting stuff is really happening, even though I'll likely be weighted down with a mass of tech and running on more caffeine than you'd find in a typical branch of Starbucks.
MWC may nearly kill every journalist trying to cover the mass of events every year – but it brings with it some of the best technology stories we get to share with you guys all year. That has to be worth it.
• Are you up to date with all the latest MWC 2015 details?
Read More ...
Industry voice: Getting Twitter right: how to perfect your business tweeting strategy
Social media is very much an evolving phenomenon. New forms of communication and ways of making connections arise frequently in the digital space. Occasionally one of them sticks – think Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. More often, one has a 'moment' but doesn't quite stick. Think Google Plus, Quora and Flickr.
In the early days of social media, sites we thought had stuck came unstuck, or were usurped by young pretenders. Friends Reunited made way for MySpace, which in turn and despite numerous attempts at revamps, acquiesced to Facebook.
Twitter is only the second social network to truly stick fast. It has evolved since its inception to house photographs and other media, and successfully monetised itself without driving loyal users away. Crucially it has remained free at the point of use. We have reached the stage whereby companies must add 'a Twitter feed' to their increasing list of things to do, on top of the phone number, website, contact email and Facebook page.
This important background explains why certain brands and businesses have opted not to have a Twitter feed. To leap on every social media bandwagon could turn out to be a waste of time. However, given Twitter's huge success relative to other platforms, it also shows prioritising Twitter is essential for brands if they are to successfully engage audiences.
Flawed thinking
Given the proliferation of social media and the increasing ways in which customers can contact businesses – phone, email, website, Facebook – some businesses might consider a Twitter feed superfluous, taking into account the wide range of alternative methods by which customers can get in touch. This thinking is flawed.If your customer or potential customer is on Twitter and can't talk to you, they won't necessarily switch to another method or channel that suits your business. They will, instead, talk to another brand or company that is on Twitter and will engage on this preferred channel.
As a result, a Twitter strategy is essential if brands are to simply stand still, let alone engage new consumers and drive growth. It doesn't matter if your company deals in media and communications, orange juice or sanitary towels. Somebody, somewhere is going to be talking about you and they will expect you to be listening.
Customers also want to feel a connection with the brands with which they choose to interact. They want to feel their choices say something about them, that their tastes and preferences are reflected, and that their ethical and moral position is upheld or even demonstrated by the brands they choose to buy.
Twitter statement
A Twitter feed acts as a short, succinct insight into your brand and company. It tells customers about you and your brand, in a language they can understand. Customers aren't going to read lengthy mission statements and press releases written in corporate jargon. Your everyday interactions will tell customers everything they need to know.In one sense companies don't need to think a great deal about a Twitter strategy, because social media is very transparent. A successful Twitter feed is simply an authentic representation of the person or company it speaks for. What this authenticity looks and sounds like is the area in which more thought is often needed.
There is no magic formula for the perfect tweet. But there are some guidelines you can follow to ensure that the content on your Twitter feed is relevant, useful and interesting to the people who follow you.
Get the tone of voice right
A Twitter feed must reflect the 'voice' of the overall brand or business it represents, and in a way it also becomes the voice. For this reason, a successful brand or business Twitter feed is often manned by just one person.If more than one person manages the feed, companies have two options. Firstly, they can create a style and tone of voice guide and ensure everybody with access to the feed is familiar with it. While this will help to maintain a consistent tone, the disadvantage is that a company-based, as opposed to people-based, strategy can run the risk of sounding bland and colourless.
The second option is to have different staff members introduce themselves at the beginning of their stint manning the feed, and sign off at the end. Some companies even ask staff members to conclude their tweets with their initials, so customers know to whom they are talking at all times. This is a useful way of ensuring a Twitter feed can remain authentic whilst hosting multiple voices.
Be careful, however, of allowing too many individuals free rein on your Twitter feed. In 2012, the Swedish government took the unprecedented step of allowing different citizens to run its @sweden feed each week, and while some were successful, others were less so, with individuals expressing rather controversial and forthright views on Hitler, the Jewish population and even tweeting pictures of strawberries covered in "milk and urine".
For a brand interacting at a consumer level, an irreverent but non-offensive tone may suit. Stay away from disparaging brands, politics, hearsay, rumours and anything that could be considered offensive.
For a corporate feed, it is possible to strike a balance between professional and accessible. Keeping jargon to a minimum and simplifying the messaging wherever possible are two good starting points.
Get the content right
Content is a crucial area for any business on Twitter. In order to gain followers and drive engagement, you need to share content that people want to read and talk about. It's not enough just to tweet press releases; you need to be actively starting and joining in with conversations that aren't directly related to your business.Many successful feeds are dominated by content that doesn't directly relate to the brand, product or service being represented. As a general guide, aim for around 20% of the content you share to relate to the brand, including news, blogs and opinions from the company, news about campaigns, and campaign launches.
The remaining 80% can be content that has nothing to do with the day-to-day business of the brand. It could relate to the area in which the brand operates, or it could be humour, general miscellany and social media related news. It is possible to develop a feel for the type of content that people following the handle are going to like. For example, if you know that the majority of followers of the feed are female and interested in fashion and celebrity news, nonstop tweets about sport aren't likely to encourage the audience to engage.
Do share content from third parties but make sure it is always from respectable and reputable organisations. For a corporate feed, this should be reputable news sources and trade journals. For a consumer-facing feed, you can widen your net but be careful of gossip and hearsay.
Any data insight you can use will help you understand more about your audience. Use your CRM data and any other information you have to hand, to find out more about your customers.
It is useful to refer to third-party analytics like Klout, PeerIndex and Twitter's own analytics. When brands are first beginning to tweet, these services can offer particularly valuable insight into the type of content proving most successful.
Once a business has an established Twitter presence, it's likely its employees will have an instinctive feel for the sort of content that works, but analytics will remain a helpful sense-check.
Get the frequency right
Frequency of tweets is a very delicate balance. Tweet too little and you'll be overlooked – once a day isn't going to get you noticed and interacted with. But if you're constantly posting repetitive content, you run the risk of putting people off through overkill.A business should typically post between eight and 15 tweets a day, not including responses. Put time and thought into the content you are going to share – it's entirely acceptable to spend 90 minutes or more every morning finding and curating content to share throughout the day if you run a busy active feed.
It's also important to respond to as many people as possible. If somebody contacts you through the Twitter feed with a question, always respond. If they have made more of a general comment respond if time allows. It is advisable to respond to as many interactions as possible, without getting drawn into arguments, because this helps build engagement and shows followers that the feed is manned by a real human being, and isn't simply a stream of scheduled tweets.
It's important to remember that scheduled tweets, while useful, are not a substitute for genuine human interaction. On rare occasions, they can land a business in real trouble if there has been a tragic event to which the tweet could be seen to relate.
Get the measurement right
Social media experts have been arguing amongst themselves for some time about what matters more: number of followers or engagement with followers. The simple truth is that both matter. Your boss, for example, is going to like the number of followers, as that's a concrete figure that sounds impressive. Those who live and breathe social media are going to prefer engagement. Quality does trump quantity, but anybody who says they don't care about number of followers is likely to be lying.There's no one hard and fast way to measure engagement. Third-party metrics like Klout and PeerIndex are useful, as is looking at how the feed is growing. The number of retweets and interactions are also a helpful indication that you're moving in the right direction.
Get the results you want
While numbers of followers, replies and retweets can be an indication of a successful Twitter strategy, sentiment analysis is also important.There's no point generating 1,000 engagements in a day if they were all to criticise your company or one of your tweets.
If your content is reaching and being discussed positively by influencers – individuals or clients among whom you want to raise awareness of your brand – then you can consider your strategy successful. For many consumer brands the ultimate goal is to achieve endorsement by a celebrity, but there are rules and regulations surrounding this kind of activity and users are very wise to any potential agreement between celebrity and brand.
A useful way to understand the impact of a Twitter strategy is to analyse sales figures, or similar metrics such as inquiries or leads, over a given time period when your Twitter activity is high. Or compare sales figures with a previous year when your brand was less active on social media.
This won't tell the whole story and you will need to take into account other marketing activity. But it is possible to put everything together in one place and look at number of followers, engagement, sentiment, Klout score and growth-related figures.
- Jon O'Toole is Global Director Community Management at dunnhumby
Read More ...
Week in Gaming: #Hashbombs, #Dark Knights and #zombie #bikinis
Twitter is like a catchy song. At first, you hate it. Why does everyone like this? It's awful, it's full of people complaining and being aggressive and taking photos of their cats and food and themselves.
Then, you start to get drawn in by its charms. You tentatively set up an account. You tweet a couple of jokes you thought of that morning. But by then, you're in for good. You think about it all day. You hashtag things unironically. You know the difference between muting and blocking and you use both freely. It's too late for you.
#IDARB is here to save you. As you can probably guess from the hashtaggy title, #IDARB is a game that's fully integrated with Twitter. It plays like a cross between basketball, Super Smash Bros and hockey, with four-person teams, two goals, one ball and a whole lot of chaos in between. The twist (there's always a twist) is that anyone can join in with your game by using "Hashbombs", which are hashtags sent to the #IDARB Twitter account that change the circumstances of the game.
Try #oktoberfest, which fills the arena with beer, or #toasty, which makes human-toast hybrids appear on screen. Maybe you just want to make life difficult for the players, in which case you might want to turn off the #lights, or maybe you just want to turn everyone into #clowns or summon some sharks with #chum. The game is currently free on Xbox Live, and Twitter is free for everyone, but use with caution. It's addictive.
In between tweeting and checking for favourites, maybe you watch TV. It's like reading tweets, but people are saying them out loud, and shows are normally longer than 140 characters. Telltale, the game developer that specialise in making games from TV shows, are now going one step further – its planning to make "Super Shows" with Lionsgate, the studio behind Hunger Games and Orange is the New Black.
What are Super Shows, you say? Well, apparently it's going to be a bit different to Telltale's current style, which is to take pre-existing TV shows like The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones and create a sort of spin-off story that sits alongside the main one, so it doesn't spoil the show, but it gives fans enough to keep them going without knowing who dies.
Super Shows are more original though – they will be a completely new show, with more un-interactive TV bits than before. Sure, Telltale can be a bit hit-and-miss, seeing as Game of Thrones has been a bit dull so far, in comparison to the blood, sand and sex approach of the show, but Lionsgate knows its stuff too. We have high hopes.
Maybe you're bored of social media. Maybe you hate TV. Maybe you're sitting at home, with nothing but a big pile of money to keep you company, and you want some excitement in your life. Good news, fun guy: Dying Light has a £250,000 special edition that will make your dreams come true – as long as you dream of pretending you're in a parkour-lef zombie apocalypse.
For just the price of an actual house, Techland, the creators of Dying Light, will give you "Zombie Survival Lessons" (that's parkour and freerunning lessons, which probably won't include any actual zombies), some headphones, signed copies of the game, a party with "Steve the zombie consultant" at Techland HQ, a human-sized zombie figurine, night vision goggles and adult diapers and, of course, a custom-built, zombie-proof shelter.
If you found yourself going "ughhhh" at any of that, then you have experienced one of two things: one, you have become a zombie. Sorry about that. Or two: you think this idea is completely stupid.
You'd be right – Techland has a terrible track record when it comes to stupid PR stunts, having released a headless, limbless zombie torso complete with unrealistic tatas and torn bikini. I guess this is one step up from ogling a corpse's cleavage, but only just. Sigh.
And finally, your dose of fun stuff for the week. Civilisation V, a turn-based strategy game in which several civilisations vie for control of the world with military prowess, religious conquest and lots and lots of threats, is a great battleground for anyone who enjoys playing out alternate history. What if... the Nazis won? What if... Canada was the most powerful country in the world? What if... the Pirates of the Caribbean were a force to be reckoned with?
Wonder no longer, because Reddit user Tpangolin has created an entirely AI-driven game of Civilisation V with 42 different civilisations all placed on a mostly-accurate map of the world. Who will win in this simulation of world politics? Only time and multiple turns will tell.
Oh yeah, and in case you missed it, a new trailer for Arkham Knight dropped this week. Apparently there's trouble in Gotham again, the city of perpetual nighttime. Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, this is not.
Read More ...
Opinion: 5 acquisitions Microsoft would be crazy not to consider
Introduction and Evernote
As a whole, the technology press has started to pick up on the idea that Microsoft is back on the right path under Satya Nadella, deciding that buying up popular mobile apps and focusing less heavily on Windows, and more on integration with outside platforms and the cloud, is a path to success.While it is almost certainly too early to tell, and many things could still go wrong during Nadella's stewardship, the company is certainly on a far straighter path than it has been in previous years, accepting its place in the technology universe and returning to its position as one of the most innovative companies in the world, rubbing shoulders with Apple, Google, Amazon and a whole host of startups.
No time to rest
But it would be foolish for Microsoft to rest upon laurels that are not quite fully formed yet. Profits, while impressive – $7.8 billion (around £5 billion, AU$10 billion) in the last quarter – are nowhere near Apple's $18 billion (around £11.7 billion, AU$23 billion), and its hardware divisions, besides Xbox, are not up to much (in Q4 2014 Microsoft shipped 10 million Lumia handsets while Apple shifted 74 million iPhones), highlighting areas that could use some major growth and are seriously lagging behind competitors.Windows Phone is also lagging behind the competition, although the solution to this seems to be to roll it into Windows 10, as Microsoft is planning later on in 2015.
The forward movement of Microsoft has been very obvious lately, as the company picks up momentum in light of positive press coverage and a renewed sense of purpose away from the failures of what can be described as 'old Microsoft', which missed mobile, tablets and (almost) wearables – although the verdict is still out on how large that market is going to be.
Of course, there are some strategies that result in guaranteed growth, one of which is acquisitions of pre-existing companies, predominantly startups, that offer a service that Microsoft either doesn't have, or can complement.
So with that in mind, we offer up the following suggested targets for Redmond's coffers…
Evernote
While Satya Nadella has made it clear that Microsoft will be taking a new strategic path going forward there will still be a focus – a large one at that – on Microsoft Office, the bread and butter of Windows and the product that keeps businesses coming back for more.For many years under Steve Ballmer, Office was the software that made customers stick to Windows, especially when the landscape shifted to mobile and Microsoft's presence was reduced to less than 5% of the mobile landscape, and so Office held maximum importance within the company.
While Microsoft was working on Office, Evernote was working on the next-generation of note taking app, building it for multi-platform work that included mobile. By using the cloud and Apple's new iOS SDK – Evernote has been around since 2008 – the team has created one of the best ways to take notes on any device and sync them up between all devices. But the functionality doesn't stop there: Nicholas Carlson wrote his book 'Marissa Mayer and the Fight to Save Yahoo!' using Evernote, collating all of his notes and audio clips into a 368 page novel.
The Evernote team's expertise at creating applications for all devices that sync well with the cloud would be a powerful asset for Microsoft's Office team, enabling the expansion of Office 365 – a service which came out in 2011, three years after Evernote – and the simplification of the office productivity market, which is already highly diverse.
Xamarin, Sonos, Netflix and Foursquare
Xamarin
In the "post-PC" era Microsoft has had an interesting relationship with developers. Before the advent of the iPhone, developing software was essentially all conducted on, and for, Microsoft platforms. Redmond essentially owned the PC market – or at least 95% of it – and it didn't make sense to waste time on any other platforms.Now, however, the story is very different: iOS and Android control 90% of the smartphone market where the renaissance in app development is occurring. The so-called "app economy" that is occurring in Silicon Valley is based around devices produced by Apple and software made by Google instead of Microsoft, and there is a feeling that this must change.
Xamarin, developed by a group of software engineers in San Francisco, enables developers to write one set of code (in C#) to be used on iOS, Android and Windows without having to laboriously work to port apps over to other platforms. Essentially, it levels the playing field for Windows as developers can easily transfer their apps from iOS and Android.
Having collectively raised $82 million (around £53 million, AU$105 million) over three rounds of funding, Xamarin isn't going to be cheap but Microsoft has deep pockets – a war chest of $50 billion (around £32 billion, AU$64 billion) or more at the last count – and raising the app game of Windows 10, especially on mobile, should be a priority. And that's something this acquisition could offer.
Sonos
While music may seems to be the domain of Apple, the Internet of Things – essentially the idea that all of our appliances will be connected to the internet and controllable via an app – is still very much up for debate, and Sonos has been pioneering wireless control of speakers since 2002.Microsoft already has a system in the living room in the shape of the Xbox and buying up Sonos could lead to many more and, most importantly, offers an easy path to expand beyond the TV and further into the home. The Microsoft HoloLens, which was shown off at the recent Windows 10 event, could also be integrated to offer a truly immersive film viewing experience, with the movie provided by the Xbox and streamed to the Lens, and the sound, provided by Sonos, filling the room.
Strategically, Microsoft will be looking to expand into many new areas – as the purchase of Mojang, the creators of Minecraft, shows – and music is an unexplored area since the failed Zune project. Over nine funding rounds, Sonos has received almost half a billion dollars but in a world where social networks such as WhatsApp are sold for $21 billion (around £13.6 billion, AU$27 billion), Microsoft could get a good deal.
Netflix
This purchase is a moonshot and would likely never be approved by either board, not to mention the fact that Netflix's market cap sits at $29 billion (around £18.8 billion, AU$37 billion). Nevertheless, Microsoft's content ambitions, highlighted by Xbox and Minecraft, could well be complemented by the addition of Netflix to its stable.Already a profitable company, Netflix is available on Xbox and Windows 10 and could work wonders for the HoloLens, projecting the film onto a wall without needing pricey projector equipment. Netflix Original series, such as 'Orange is the New Black' and 'House of Cards' have won critical acclaim, beating out rival Amazon, and the injection of this talent into Microsoft – which has primarily concerned itself with the creation of video games, such as the Halo series – would expand the company's outlook into new areas.
Foursquare
In recent years there has been much conjecture about Foursquare, the New York-based startup that allows you to tell your friends where you are by "checking in" at a location. Microsoft's Cortana personal assistant relies heavily on Foursquare integration, just as Apple's Siri does with Yelp, but there is a lack of control and ownership that could stop Cortana from progressing.Having received $160 million (around £103 million, AU$205 million) in funding, Foursquare is unlikely to be cheap but the data that it could provide to both Bing Maps and Cortana is essential, and Satya Nadella's Microsoft is far bolder than it has previously been.
Besides simply providing data, acquiring Foursquare will also give Microsoft a place on many people's iPhones or Android devices, similar to Facebook acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp. This new spot on the home screen could be leveraged in many ways, allowing Microsoft another chance at becoming relevant with consumers again.
Read More ...
Interview: Video Games Live: Tommy Tallarico on 21st century sound
The perfect meeting of the worlds
"It's the perfect meeting of the worlds. It's analog meets digital. It's nature and technology. It's tradition and future."Videogame composer and world-record holder Tommy Tallarico was talking about a new album he's working on with EDM artist and pioneer BT.
We were sitting in the middle of an empty recording studio at Skywalker Sound and talking about this new cross-genre album - it's called Electronic Opus, by the way - but to someone just walking in who knows Tallarico's resume, the conversation could've easily been mistaken for Tallarico describing himself.
After spending some time with Tallarico, who's spent the last decade of his life working on his Video Games Live (VGL) concert series, which takes world-class orchestras from all over the world and has them perform the most widely recognized videogame tunes, and BT - an icon in his own right - the two seem like the perfect pair for the project.
Two worlds collide
Electronic Opus is a complete re-imagining of BT's most well-recognized songs from the past 20 years, performed with a live orchestra. It started as a kickstarter project in November 2014, and raised $250,000 (about £162,000, AU$320,000) in just over two weeks."Typically for a Kickstarter project the average pledge is around $40-$50. BT's was $120. That was the average [pledge]," Tallarico says.
The money they collected is going to two places: the record and a live concert set to take place in Miami, Florida on March 29.
This orchestral-meets-electronic mash-up show, believe it or not, will be number 321 for Tallarico.
"I actually own two world records. One is for the person who has worked on the most videogames in their lifetime - not just the music - but the most ever. [I've done] over 300. And the second world record is for the person who has performed the most symphony shows of the same show. We've done over 320 shows of the same traveling, touring symphony show. No one's ever done that."
Tallarico describes Electronic Opus as being in the same vein as VGL. It's a symphony for everybody he says, "not just rich, old white people."
Combining dance, electronic, pop and trance music - what you'd find in BT's repertoire - with a live symphony and thousands of dollars of electronics and special effects, the two have created a show that takes the whole performance, not just the music, to new heights.
"The incredible thing is that the visuals we're doing, from a technology standpoint, has never, ever been done before. Especially with a symphony."
Electronic Opus is Tallarico's latest project, and certainly one of his most involved, but his roots are in games.
Twenty years and over 300 games later, his career shows no signs of slowing down. Check out the interview below for his take on the games, the music and his ideology on breaking into an always-evolving industry:
TechRadar: What was it like creating Video Games Live?
Tommy Tallarico: Everybody thought I was crazy. They told me, "Look, people that listen to music and symphonies don't play videogames. And people who play videogames don't go to the symphony, so you're like totally screwed. No one's going to show up." But I took a risk. I put everything I had into it from my whole videogame career. I believed in it. They said, "At the Hollywood Bowl you'll be lucky if 500 people show up." Eleven thousand people showed up for that first show and all of sudden I wasn't so crazy anymore.
It's been incredible. We were on the cover of Symphony Magazine last year where they were saying that Video Games Live has helped to save symphonies around the world because we're out there ushering in a new generation of people.
Bringing people together
TR: So it's all about bring people together - people who haven't ever belonged together into the same room?TT: Exactly. And to be honest with you, we have no idea if people are going to stand up and dance or watch and chill out … we won't know what they're going to do until the night of the show. I think it's going to be a little bit of both. It's the perfect meeting of the worlds. It's analog meets technology. It's nature and technology. It's tradition and future. It's both things coming together. And the music's beautiful.
TR: What's it like working on Electronic Opus in particular?
TT: You know, there are certain projects that work on where it's kind of like magic going on … a lot of times when you're mixing, it's all serious and there's people fighting over it. It's uncomfortable and awkward. You can always tell when the music is going to be amazing and the project's amazing just by the attitudes and the vibe and the atmosphere in the mixing booth. I think it translates. The love comes out right through the circuitry right into the album.
Believe it or not you can hear it in the music. You hear it in the mix and hear it in the performances. So it's different. We don't want to jinx ourselves but we think this is going to be a big one. A big record...uh, album. [laughs] You can see I'm from the '70s.
TR: Are you guys doing E3 this year?
TT: I think we're going to take a year off from E3 this year. But, and we haven't announced this yet so I might get in trouble, we're going to be doing three shows at GamesCom in Cologne, Germany this year.
Last year we did E3 and Comic-Con. We were in San Diego, right behind the convention center. In fact, we were the first people to play videogame music with the San Diego orchestra. That was seven or eight years ago.
The San Diego show was really amazing. We did it with Amazon Games, who was our partner, along with Twitch.tv. It was a free show for people at Comic-Con. This was actually before Twitch was bought by Amazon. I was actually the guy that introduced Amazon to Twitch.tv. And then it was $1 billion [deal] and I said, "Where's my commission?" One of the first projects they had worked together on was Video Games Live.
TR: You said people doubted you when you were talking about starting Video Games Live. How did you deal with those doubts - especially when you were just starting?
TT: That's a great question. Before I start something I'm all-in. It will not fail. I don't care. BT was freaking out towards the end of the project. He said, 'Man, we're not going to make it." I told him, "Don't worry about it. Trust me." That's just the way I was raised. We all have it in us.
People always ask, "Before you go on stage, do you ever get scared?" For me it's always the opposite. I'm like a tiger in a cage. I'm uncomfortable because I'm not on stage yet, and I have to wait. And that comes from my cousin, Steven Tyler from Aerosmith. His real name is Steven Tallarico.
When I would go and see an Aerosmith show when I was eight years old, and this is in the late '70s, he would always be 'Cousin Steven' to me. He wasn't a rock god, he was just my cousin. I saw him on stage in front of 30,000 people and going nuts and doing all of the crazy stuff he does. To me, it's never felt impossible or strange to do this. I remember thinking to myself, "Wow, look at him out there having so much fun. That's what I want to do when I grow up."
TR: What are you working on next?
TT: My next project that's coming out is Video Games Live: Level 4, the fourth album for Video Games Live, which is always touring. That's the immediate future, meaning like this week, and then it's Electronic Opus. We're launching that tour and album on March 29. I cannot wait for people to hear this. It's going to be something people have never heard before. It's really special.
More information on Electronic Opus can be found on its website. If you like this article, check out our interview with Pål Bråtelund, strategic partnership manager at Tidal.
Read More ...
In Depth: Pebble Time release date, news and features
Release date, price and specs
The original Pebble wasn't even really a "smartwatch" when it debuted but it revolutionized wearables and set the standard for future smartwatches to come.The Pebble Steel further cemented the company's standing as a legit smartwatch competitor by creating a sleeker model, but it didn't fully impress with usage.
Now, with Pebble Time, it seems like the public cries were heard, and most issues with the previous watches have been ironed out.
It's still a couple months away but we're excited to get our hands on the newest wearable and we're betting you are, too. In the meantime, here's everything we know about the Pebble Time.
Release date and price
The Pebble Time will start shipping in May to Kickstarter backers, which puts it a month behind the Apple Watch release date. So far it's unclear when Time will show up on retailer doorsteps but expect it to soon afterwards.Pricing starts at $199 (£149, AU$199) which is the same as the Pebble Steel. However while the Kickstarter is still running you can grab the Time for $179 (about £115, AU$227).
It's far cheaper than the $250 (£200, AU$330) Moto 360 and the LG G Watch R, which costs $270 (£200, about AU$400). The iWatch will be the priciest wearable of the bunch, and starts at $349 (likely north of £223, AU$403).
Specs and battery life
The full array of specs haven't been released but a recent Reddit AMA revealed a few gems.The Pebble Time will have 64KB of RAM on board and an ARM Cortex M4 CPU running at 100Mhz, an upgrade from the original Pebble's M3. The additional processing power is essential in supporting a new microphone feature.
Full specs will be released later on alongside the Pebble Time SDK.
Four sensors built are built into the smartwatch, including a 3 axis accelerometer, 3D compass, ambient light sensor and the aforementioned microphone.
Pebbles are known for outstanding battery life and the Time is no exception. Like the previously used e-ink displays, the new color e-paper screen helps reduce power consumption, allowing the battery to last for seven days before the next recharge.
The e-paper interface also utilizes a color palette that's limited to 64 colors, yet it looks like it will be far easier to read than the usual smartwatch displays. The company also kept the physical buttons opposed to incorporating touchscreen capabilities.
Design
Bluetooth is of course included in the Time package with range supposedly better than the other Pebbles, reaching up to 50 meters or more.It's been noted the Time is similar in design to the Steel but even better. At just 9.5mm, it's 20% thinner than the original Pebble.
Similar to the Samsung Gear S, the scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass watch body will be curved, though it will be much smaller and fit more comfortably on the wrist. The bezel is made of stainless steel and will have three different watch case colors - black, red and white - with a black bezel for the former two colors and silver for the latter.
The Time will also come with a silicone watch band in the same colors above to match the watch case, but any 22mm strap can be swapped in thanks to a quick release pin.
Compatibility and features
Compatibility
Yet another reason why Pebbles have been so enticing is their cross-platform ability. The Pebble Time is compatible with iOS 8 and Android phones but unfortunately not Windows phones.
However, that still means you're not stuck with ndroid Wear smartwatches or the Apple Watch, which isn't even out yet.
Features
Pebble Time is fully compatible with all 6,500 existing Pebble apps and watch faces. The newest feature the Time will tout is the timeline interface.You can sync notifications, alerts, messages and apps in a chronological, scrollable timeline to pop up on your wrist - similar to Google Now on Android Wear.
If you disconnect from your watch, the timeline will still be on the Pebble Time. You'll also be able to store more than eight apps, though the number you can install will depend on the app's size.
Apps are cached in the watch so recently used ones will be readily available even if you're disconnected from you phone, though some apps may still require internet to work. Pebble CEO and founder Eric Migicovsky notes, "It just caches a smaller number of apps, but still way larger than you may reasonably need."
Like the other generation of Pebbles, the Pebble Time is water resistant. You can wear it in the shower, when it's raining and even swim with it on, but exact details on these capabilities haven't been released yet. It will probably match up with the previous 5ATM rating which allowed depths up to 50 meters (165 feet) without it frying.
Voice dictation through a microphone is another exciting new feature. You'll be able to take short voice notes and send voice replies through most Android apps like SMS, Hangouts, Gmail, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and hundreds more. iOS is a little trickier and so far only Gmail notifications work with voice dictation but more should be on the way. The Pebble devs have said they're still working out the kinks with Android and iOS,
Last but not least, Pebble Time features a "smart accessory port," which the company says will allow hardware developers to build "sensors and smart straps that connect directly to the watch" in the future.
Read More ...
BlackBerry 'Rio' flaunts its figure in leaked pics
We first learned of the BlackBerry "Rio" in 2014, but the latest leak indicates that it might not be the high-end "savior" we originally thought.
Word today from N4BB is that the phone code-named Rio will actually be called the BlackBerry Leap, and that it will have mid-range specs and - hopefully - an affordable price tag.
These alleged leaked images show a fairly stylish device, too.
According to the site, the BlackBerry Leap will rock a 720p 5-inch display, 8- and 2-megapixel cameras, a 2800mAh battery, dual-core 1.5GHz MSM 8960 chip, 2GB of memory, 16GB of storage, and microSD support.
They don't have any info on the price, but the site says it will be released in April or May.
It would make sense for BB to debut the Leap at MWC 2015, but until then these leaked images will have to do.
- 2015 is the year of cool gadgets
Read More ...
Latest Samsung Ativ Book 9 lands March 1 for a pretty penny
We were pretty impressed with the 2015 Samsung Ativ Book 9 when we went hands-on with it at CES back in January, and now the laptop is at last going on sale.
The latest Ativ Book 9 will hit shelves this Sunday, March 1, at two price points: $1,200 (about £780, AU$1,530) for 4GB of memory and 128GB of solid state storage, or $1,400 (about £900, AU$1,800) for 8GB and a 256GB SSD.
- MWC 2015 is almost upon us
But it also packs a powerful Intel Core M processor, 2560 x 1600 resolution and 12.5 hours of battery life, making it a versatile little 12.2-inch book.
Worth the money? That's for you to decide this weekend.
We've asked a Samsung spokesperson for the 2015 Ativ Book 9's international release info, and we'll update you here if we hear back.
- The Galaxy Note 4 made Samsung's big even better
Read More ...
Opinion: What wearables need to do to make me click 'buy'
Wearable technology exists to satisfy strange curiosities. We're not talking "anime body pillow" levels, but more to the extent that it's a little odd to want to a camera mounted to your eyeglasses. Wearables aim to fill technological voids where voids don't exist, by putting computers into watches and vibration motors into bangles and earrings. There's no doubt retrofitting these "dumb" gadgets with cutting-edge improvements adds new dimensions of functionality and fashion, but is any of it necessary?
Necessity may be the mother of invention, but wearables somehow exist without it. By veering from this traditional development path, many weird proofs-of-concept have rushed to market. But once smart companies begin to get behind the idea, will wearables have their chance to find solid ground?
Even if they do stick the landing, I'm still not sure that I can be convinced to buy in. That's not to say I haven't been tempted by a few wearables. My colleagues have caught me in a cold sweat before, hovering over the "buy" button for a Pebble smartwatch several times. I've somehow yet to buckle.
As someone who absolutely loves tech, I want to love wearables. But there are still a few pesky things that make resisting them all too easy.
A shot in the dark
Wearables are misguided at the moment. After all, the most alluring hook going for them isn't utility - their biggest selling point - but instead stunning design. Taking a few hints from skilled crafters of watches, fine jewelry and eyeglasses - and in the case of the Misfit Swarovski Shine, partnering with them - tech companies are pumping out some seriously attractive products.
Just rattling off a few examples, the LG Watch Urbane, Apple Watch and Google Glass are each delectably crafted and fashionable. And their efforts to break into the fashion-savvy world haven't gone unnoticed. I too enjoy stellar design as much as the next person, but it doesn't distract me from seeing these wearables for what they are: technologies that have come to market bass ackwards. Maybe I'm just strange, but I require function before form and too few wearables have just that.
Convenience confused for innovation
Wearables aim to ease modern struggles by minimizing the effort and time gap that exists between you and your information. As superficial as that seems on paper, it's easy to get sucked into the idea that wearables will make your life easier. To an extent, some of them do. A product that simplifies a pesky sequence of movements is convenient, but that doesn't necessarily make it innovative.Smartwatches like the Moto 360 and the upcoming Apple Watch each claim to bring new functionality to the table that smartphones aren't capable of providing. Aside from biometric readings, smartwatches primarily act as a vessel to push smartphone notifications straight to your wrist, eliminating the need to fish your phone out of your pocket.
Other devices like the Sony SmartEyeglass Attach look to streamline that process even further by abandoning the wrist and moving straight to your face, pushing the info straight to your eyes by integrating a camera and screen into an ordinary-looking set of glasses. The camera nixes the need to yank your phone out to snap a pic and the screen discretely displays notifications.
On a more fashionable note, Kovert Designs makes smart jewelry called Altruis. The concept of putting micro-electronics like a vibration motor inside of a gold necklace is novel, but ultimately each piece of jewelry costs more than $400 and does nothing beyond notify you of alerts on your phone.
Convenience alone is enough to sell some, but I can't be bothered to invest in these expensive devices that only shave just a couple seconds away from the process of checking my phone for notifications or taking photos.
The mad dash to find success
No wearables display a mastery of balancing function and fashion, but a few show promise. So few, that the first company to strike gold with that perfect brew may leave the competition very far behind.
However, until then, the scramble of experimentation will continue. And while I think that only good can come out of this painful but necessary iterative trial period in the evolution of wearables, it's just another reason I talk myself down from investing in wearables in the first place.
Am I suggesting that we should all stop buying wearables? Of course not. It's one of the sectors in technology that I'm most excited about for the future because it is uniquely positioned to help keep us healthy and entertained in fun, new ways. But in its current form, it needs work before I hit the "buy" button.
Read More ...
Updated: Swatch's Apple Watch rival is aimed at beach volleyball players
Update: Swatch is done teasing, having fully unveiled its new smartwatch, the Swatch Touch Zero One - and, oddly, it's aimed at volleyball players.
The STZO can track your health and do other smartwatch-y type stuff, but it has a leg up on the competition when it comes to detecting volleyball maneuvers like spikes, bumps and dives, reports A Blog to Watch.
And, just like Swatch promised, the wearable's Swatch battery will go months without needing to be replaced, no charging required.
The volleyball-focused Swatch Touch Zero One may not be what you had in mind when you first heard that Swatch was taking on wearables, but it could be a genius move - what better way to carve out a niche than by doing something so weirdly specific?
The Swatch Touch Zero One will retail for $160 (about £100, AU$200) when it launches, likely by summertime.
Original story follows…
When Tim Cook announced that the Apple Watch will ship in April, we felt the collective panic of every other smartwatch maker who realised they were suddenly up against the clock.
We'd consider Google's Android Wear to be Cupertino's biggest competitor right now, but another name has entered the arena. After decades of creating wrist timepieces, Swatch has confirmed that it will launch its first proper smartwatch.
The company told TechRadar that "Swatch will launch a new generation of its Swatch smartwatch in the next two to three months" after the company's chief executive officer Nick Hayek confirmed the same information to Bloomberg.
The Swiss company has an obvious head start when it comes to design, but its wristwear will hit the Apple Watch where it really hurts: the battery. Swatch's device will communicate with the internet "without having to be charged".
Swatch out
The watch will include "communication" (whatever that might be), mobile payments, and apps that are compatible with Windows and Android, said Swatch in a statement. No mention of iOS compatibility.It will also launch just in time for the Apple Watch, possibly just before. While Swatch calls this the "next generation" of its smartwatch, the first-gen device, the Swatch Touch, is really only as clever as its touchscreen.
In addition to the smartwatch news, Swatch also told us that it will launch a new Swatch Touch at the end of this month.
Read More ...
Apple Watch will replace your car keys, charge faster than an iPhone
We still have plenty of questions about the Apple Watch, and although we'll have to wait until March 9 for most of them to be answered Apple CEO Tim Cook has let slip some new info about the wearable slip.
It seems the Apple Watch will have the capability to replace users' car keys and key fobs, Cook told The Telegraph.
Android Wear watches are capable of the same thing, although the feature requires cooperation from car makers as well and hasn't seen wide adoption yet.
Cook didn't say exactly how it would work on Apple Watch, or whether the feature will be available when the wearable launches or some time later, but nice to hear about a new Apple Watch feature even without the details.
Elephant on your wrist
Cook also touched on the Apple Watch's much-discussed battery life, saying that it will last a full day - something we've heard before - and that it will charge more quickly than the iPhone does thanks to a new magnetic charger designed by Jony Ive.Unsurprisingly, Cook has been wearing the Apple Watch every day - and even less shocking is how much praise he had for it, telling the site that can't go back to living without health and phone notifications on his wrist.
With the Apple Watch hitting wrists in April, we'll soon find out whether consumers will agree.
- Samsung's Gear S is a standalone smartwatch
Read More ...
Windows 10 to launch with support for USB 3.0 successor
Microsoft's conference agenda hints that Windows 10 may come with support for new USB standards on laptops, tablets, and phones. The Windows 10-maker has updated its WinHEC conference website to include a session discussing how new USB Dual Role and Type-C connectors will play a role in its next generation operating system.
"Windows 10 introduces support for USB Dual Role and Type-C, which will enable new wired connectivity scenarios such a phone interacting with USB peripherals, or laptops connecting to an external display using the USB Type-C connector," Microsoft said.
The technologies could allow for even thinner devices with more wired connectivity options.
USB Dual Role
As Microsoft is positioning Windows 10 for phones to be a portable and mobile solution with the power of Windows 10 in your pocket, USB Dual Role allows users to connect peripherals on their phones for maximum productivity. The functionality of USB Dual Role will be similar to USB on-the-go (OTG) capabilities on competing phones, like the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, running the rival Android operating system from Google.With USB Dual Role, not only will users be able to charge their smartphones running Windows 10 for phones, they can also connect devices like a flash drive, keyboard, mouse, or even external hard drive to the port. This allows the phone to be used as a host.
USB Type-C
The USB Type-C connector allows for reversible USB cables, similar to Apple's new Lightning cable for the iPhone. The primary convenience, if you're charging a smartphone, is that you can blindly plug in the cable to your phone without having to worry about which end of the connector tip should face up like you need to today with micro USB.Running on the USB 3.1 specifications, USB Type-C will also support faster data transfer speeds. Consumers and enterprise users will be able to copy and move files quicker using USB Type-C flash drives, for example. According to the specs, USB 3.1 will support up to 10GBps transfer speeds, double the 5Gbps maximum from USB 3.0.
Additionally, users can use USB Type-C and USB 3.1 as a video output port. The current limitation with smaller tablets, like the 8-inch Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 that we recently reviewed, is that devices come with just a micro USB port to keep the tablet slim and light. To connect a flash drive, you'll need a USB OTG adapter and there is no wired way to mirror your display.
With USB 3.1, a Type-C port could allow slim, small tablets like the Yoga Tablet 2 to come with one do-it-all connection for charging, connecting peripherals, and outputting video to a larger screen.
Apple is also rumored to be working on a new ultra-slim MacBook Air with a single USB Type-C port. If the Apple rumor mill is accurate, Apple may be leveraging the power of USB 3.1 to replace the standard USB 3.0 port, MagSafe charging port, and video-out via Thunderbolt.
Read More ...
HTC One M9 Plus specs may have leaked in full
Word is HTC will release an HTC One M9 Plus alongside the standard HTC One M9, and today the (possibly) larger phone's specs appear to have leaked in full.
The specs, revealed by upleaks, include the fingerprint scanner that's rumored to be coming on the M9 Plus and the 5.2-inch display size we learned of previously.
- The PS4 keeps getting better
Other than the processor both versions will apparently feature the same specs: 3GB of memory, 32GB of storage, voice over LTE support, Android 5.0.2 Lollipop (not the rumored Android 5.1), BoomSound front speakers, a 2840mAh battery, dual main cameras with 20.7 and 2.1 megapixels and a front camera with either 4 or 13 megapixels.
Finally the M9 Plus will also reportedly come in three color variations: one with dark gunmetal on both sides, one with gold, and one with a gold face and a silver back.
Based on the many leaks and teases we've seen recently, the HTC One M9 and HTC One M9 Plus appear to be good and ready for their March 1 debut at MWC 2015.
- The Xbox One keeps getting better too
Read More ...
10 Best Pebble Apps 2015
Best Pebble Apps: 1-5
Having recently sold its millionth smartwatch, original Kickstarter darling Pebble is doing all it can to battle off the Android Wear invasion and hopefully sway those on the fence about the Apple Watch.But, to take pride of place on our wrists it needs to impress in the app department. Now, we're not talking about games or overly intricate apps here, the Pebble only has a small monochromatic display, what we want is useful tools and add-ons that extend app functionality from our phones.
Whether it's tracking our steps and ditching the fitness band or changing tracks in Spotify, all these apps do just that, and they have become part of our daily routine.
Misfit
Our wrists simply aren't big enough for both a smartwatch and a fitness band, but thanks to Misfit's Pebble App we no-longer have to decide whether it's our steps or the time that we track. Due to the built-in sensors on the watch and phone, the accuracy here is pretty impressive – definitely on-par with Misfit's dedicated Shine wearable – and there's sleep tracking too, so you can keep an eye on your slumber. You can scroll through your stats for the week, or beam the data back to the app for more in-depth perusal. It currently only supports iOS, but we're told Android compatibility is on the horizon.
iOS | Free | Misfit app for Pebble
Cards for Pebble
One of the major annoyances we have with the current Pebble hardware is that it can only store eight apps at once, leaving us with the unenviable task of choosing which one to delete when we download something new. Cards for Pebble is worth it, then, because it bundles in several different functions. Alongside an information-laden watch face, you can use it to view your synced calendars, check on the weather and even delve into the latest stock prices. We especially like the travel time updates, which gives you an overview of how long it'll take you to get to your next appointment.
iOS and Android | Free | Cards app for Pebble
Pebble Nav
Navigating around busy streets with just a tiny monochromatic display for support when our 5-inch smartphone is sitting in our pocket may seem like a borderline stupid idea on the face of it, but there's something about Pebble Nav that sees us constantly fire it up. It only shows your next action, turn left in 30-yards for example, so the screen isn't bogged down with information and the maps have all been specially built for the black and white display. You don't even need to keep an eye on the watch, as it'll buzz your wrist just before you need to turn - handy. It's especially useful when you're on a bike. Just strap your Pebble to the handlebars and it'll make sure you're on the right route.
iOS | £1.49 | Pebble Nav
PayPal
If you've been dreaming about paying for your dinner just by having the waiter scan your watch for as long as we have, you'll need to download PayPal's new app. Striking a blow at the Apple Watch and Apple Pay, before they've even launched, the Pebble and PayPal combo doesn't even need a smartphone connection, as it dives directly into your account. Anywhere you can pay with PayPal – GBK or Pizza Express for example both accept it – you can use this app. It generates a QR code which, when scanned, deducts the money from your PayPal account. The app will also search for local spots where this payment method is accepted.
iOS and Android | Free | PayPal app for Pebble
Music Boss
We've been disappointed with the way the Pebble handles music track switching. Basically, you can only set one app that the watch will recognise, so if you use a combination of Spotify and PocketCasts you need to manually change it in the settings app before you can use the remote function. But fear not, forMusic Boss corrects this, automatically switching to the app it can see you're using. You have a full set of media controls, the ability to rate songs on the go, if that's your bag, and it works great as a Chromecast remote, too.
Android | £1.21 | Music Boss
Best Pebble Apps: 6-10
Huebble
Our homes are all getting a bit smarter, but there are still barriers from stopping this whole 'Internet of Things' movement becoming truly a thing. Take the Philips Hue lights for example - yep, it's great having a rainbow of colours options at our fingertips, but always having to have your phone to hand to turn them on and off is far from ideal. That's where Huebble comes in, packing all the best features of the Hue mobile app into Pebble form. letting you switch on/off your bulbs, quickly jumping to your favourite presets and cycling through all the available colours and brightness options.
iOS and Android | Free | Huebble app for Pebble
Kronos
We've stuck with the Pebble on our wrists for over a year now, and that's down to apps like this. It might not be the prettiest – Pebble apps in general are quite challenged, aesthetically – but it's functional and useful. Our music comes pretty much solely from a Sonos system and Kronos acts as a remote. You can change tracks, alter the volume and queue up the next tune, while there's access to your all your available zones. The only downside we can find is that you have to switch over to the Kronos mobile app too, it is available for both iOS and Android, as this is what starts the connection between your watch and the system.
iOS and Android | £2.29 | Kronos app for Pebble
Aerotracker Pro
We did mention Misfit's app earlier on in this round-up as a way of doing all sorts of fitness-band-type activity tracking on your Pebble, but it's not our only go-to app when we hit the gym. AeroTracker uses the GPS on your phone to accurately track run time, distance and speed, amongst others, while unlike Misfit, it's not restricted to a single app for beaming back data. So whether you use Strava, RunKeeper or Dailymite, all your data will be backed up. There's also support for Android, a feature Misfit is lacking, and a mode that turns the Pebble into a heart rate monitor, though the accuracy is nowhere near that of a dedicated unit.
Android | £1.19 | Aerotracker Pro for Pebble
PebbleAuth
Two-Step authentication is becoming more and more popular, especially with growing fears about privacy and just how secure our accounts actually are. But, it does that add an extra bit of time to log-in to your email account or cloud service. Pebble Auth cuts the time down, creating a two-factor authentication code right on the watch, ditching the need to pull out your smartphone. It works with multiple services and we had success using it for all the confirmed ones, including Google, Facebook, Dropbox and Amazon.
iOS and Android | Free | PebbleAuth for Pebble
Dashboard
Easily one of the most useful apps installed on our Pebble, Dashboard is a bit like the quick settings panel on Android devices, giving you direct access to functions like WiFi, Bluetooth and volume. We use it to quickly mute our phone in a meeting or glance at the remaining battery life, without taking it out of our pocket. A particularly handy feature for the clumsy folk amongst us is the 'Find Phone' sound, which pings your device with shrill beep when you're not sure where you left it. Some of the deeper features do require you to root your Android device, but the simpler ones are open to all.
Android | Free | Dashboard
Read More ...
Fujitsu's radically different data processing engine brings massive speed boost
Fujitsu has unveiled a new column-oriented data-processing engine that brings up to a 50-fold increase in data processing speeds across database systems.
The new engine, which runs on a PostgreSQL open-source database, to eliminate the problems that come from trying to reflect the updates or changes to row-oriented data in column-oriented data.
Without being dependent on memory capacity, the engine updates column-oriented data in response to changes in row-oriented data whilst still being able to process column-oriented data at a high speed. It does this by quickly analysing the indexes provided by most database systems and also allows developers determine easily whether a storage method is column-oriented or row-oriented.
Implementation in 2015
The uplift in speed comes from a parallel-processing engine specifically suited to processing column-oriented data that allows analyses to run on a single CPU core to be conducted at four times the speed. For a server equipped with 15 CPU cores this translates to analyses that can be run at least 50 times faster.Fujitsu is currently aiming for commercial implementation of the new technology during fiscal 2015 as part of its Symfoware Server database product.
Via: Fujitsu
Read More ...
Lenovo responds to Superfish with anti-bloatware promise
Lenovo has made a long-term commitment to change the way its PCs are configured after the Superfish adware debacle revealed last week, one that dented consumer confidence in the firm.
The manufacturer has become the first company affected by the scandal to develop a new strategy that will completely remove "bloatware" from its PCs going forwards in order "to become the leader in providing cleaner, safer PCs."
It will kick off this plan immediately and has promised by the time Windows 10 is released its machines will only include the OS and related software, software to make hardware work well, security software and Lenovo applications.
Free anti-virus on offer
Lenovo will also disclose information about all software it preloads onto their PCs that explicitly explains what each application does.As an extra sweetener it is offering PC users affected by Superfish a free six-month subscription to McAfee LiveSafe (or six-month extension for existing users) and it will provide more information on its site in the next seven days.
It will be worth keeping an eye on other companies that admitted to loading the bloatware into applications and seeing whether they make a similar commitment to the one that Lenovo has made.
Read More ...
Industry voice: Call for backup: why backing up data should be like brushing your teeth
When it comes to data protection, most people don't have a clue. Many do not take the time to perform regular backups and far more have never even considered doing a backup. In a world where the amount and value of information is constantly increasing, backing up data should be as natural as brushing your teeth twice a day.
We live for about 70 years, or 613,200 hours. If you subtract time spent sleeping, we have 408,800 hours left. If you take into account our first 16 years when we're not very productive, we're left with approximately 315,000 productive hours.
So wasting five or 10 hours recreating files due to data loss can take its toll. Many can empathise with losing digital photos which haven't been backed up. The only way to recover a similar image would be to organise a photographer, restage the scene and retake the photo. This could quickly add up to 15 hours, while recreating a video could take days if not months to complete. It's much faster and easier to get in the habit of backing up data instead of suffering the loss of time rebuilding and recovering lost data.
Grave spectre of data loss
Despite this, there are still businesses which don't take data protection seriously. The situation is similar to skipping regular medical check-ups or failing to visit the dentist – until a person is very sick, they don't think about it. People are reactive and with that comes serious risk. An examination can save or extend your life and backing up data can save businesses and consumers from suffering the grave consequences of data loss.Large corporations understand the importance of frequent backups. Saving and archiving their data is built into their everyday routine. Medium-sized companies tend to protect the most important portions of their data, while small companies back up almost none of it. It doesn't even cross the minds of most consumers to back up their personal data.
To put it into perspective, imagine what would happen if a bank suddenly lost all its data. It would immediately go bankrupt. The same thing would happen to insurance companies, financial institutions, and any businesses consumers depend on. Even at restaurants, a large amount of information is stored electronically, such as credit card details, credit histories, and table reservations. Losing all that data would cause immense disruptions in business. And what if the data for an aircraft were lost? It would no longer be able to fly.
Don't forget encryption and storage
Large companies understand the risks and constantly make redundant backups and archives. Photographers, artists, musicians and designers are all professionals whose work is closely dependent on storing digital information so backing up their data is automatic. The highest quality data protection techniques don't stop with backups, they also extend to encryption to ensure privacy. As companies or individuals produce more copies of their data, they are inevitably diminishing the level of security by creating more entry points.Furthermore, professionals backing up offsite may store their data on third-party services and if they rely on tools with little or no encryption, they are providing direct access to anyone on those servers. Nobody wants someone else to know everything about them, but storing private information on the internet or with a service is no different.
We leave ourselves and our information open to coercion by offering the service companies the opportunity to collect it all and (according to the service agreements) own it all. It is important to understand that data protection doesn't stop at a backup, but continues to encryption and managing storage.
It is vital our generation becomes data savvy, to develop a good sense of how to work with data and preserve our privacy through independent backups. Information is arguably our most important asset. While most of the other "valuables" in our lives depreciate and quickly become outdated – gadgets, houses, cars – critical data will never be obsolete. So as you plan for your businesses future, ensure data protection plays a key role in how you work or risk huge losses down the line.
- Serguei Beloussov is CEO of Acronis
Read More ...
Review: Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 with AnyPen
Introduction and design
Capitalizing on the stylus craze to give tablet owners more precision input, Lenovo asks users of its $299 (£195, AU$385) Yoga Tablet 2 with Windows to not only touch and poke at the screen, but to key it, stab it, and slash it with almost any metal object. Though Lenovo is merely iterating on its Yoga Tablet design, the real highlight - and really what distinguishes the tablet from others in the crowded space - is its AnyPen technology.With AnyPen, the Yoga Tablet 2 owners benefit from the finer accuracy of a digital stylus, but with the convenience of being able to use most everyday objects as a pen. Rather than carrying a specialized digital inking device that could get lost or stolen, AnyPen lets you create your own makeshift stylus.
Lenovo hopes that the convenience of AnyPen will help the Yoga Tablet 2 command a premium price. The Yoga Tablet 2 is priced higher than the $150 (£100, AU$195) 8-inch Dell Venue 8 Pro with an optional Active Stylus, but Dell's advantage is that you can add a folio and compact keyboard with physical keys to turn the slate into a netbook. Those who prefer Android and need pen-enabled support can opt for the $330 (£215, AU$425) Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
Without stylus support, pricing for Windows tablets with screens eight-inch or under drop to below $200 (£130, AU$260). Options in this spectrum include the $149 (£100, AU$190) Asus VivoTab 8, the $79 (£55, AU$100) 7-inch HP Stream 7 , and the $179 (£115, AU$230) HP Stream 8 with a built-in 4G modem. If you're happy with iOS, Apple's $399 (£260, AU$510) iPad mini 3 is a great choice.
Design
Measuring 8.27 x 5.87 x 0.28 inches or 210 x 149 x 7 mm (W X L X H), the Yoga Tablet 2 is an extension of Lenovo's Yoga vision in offering customers a single device that transforms into different form factors.
Like the first generation Yoga Tablet, the Tablet 2 with Windows sheds the 360-degree hinged keyboard from Lenovo's Yoga Ultrabook series. Cloaked in black, you're presented with the familiar slim design, barreled edge that is home to a flip-out kickstand (and the battery inside), and metal flourishings. Although the sides, barrel, and kickstand are constructed from metal, the backside is made of textured, matte plastic.
A crisp 8-inch, full HD, 1080p IPS display graces the front of the tablet. Because of the barreled edge, the tablet feels more balanced in landscape mode when used on a flat surface. In this position, the rear of the tablet is elevated while the front edge is lower, making it more comfortable to look down on the screen when you're sitting at your desk and easier to type on the touchscreen.
In portrait mode on a desk, the barrel creates an elevated spine that prevents the tablet from fully laying flat. As a result, you're left with an inclined side, which is fine for casual web surfing and reading, but makes typing awkward.
To make the tablet slim, Lenovo relies on the barrel for several functions. The barrel houses a pair of front-facing, Dolby-tuned speakers. As this is the thickest point on the tablet, it provides more space for the speakers to produce richer sound.
The battery is housed in the barrel as well to keep the overall tablet slim. Lenovo also placed the rear 8-megapixel camera on the barrel. Additionally, the barrel serves as a hinge to stow the mechanical kickstand.
The metal kickstand is activated when you apply force to push down. This opens up the kickstand and you can then pry the stand fully open. The kickstand allows the tablet to be used in four modes.
According to Lenovo, with the stand closed, you can hold it like a tablet. With the stand engaged, you can stand it up similar to the larger Microsoft Surface Pro 3. You can tilt the tablet on a desk, so it's propped up for easier viewing and more comfortable on-screen typing.
Finally, you can fully open the stand, revealing a small hole in the center of the kickstand that allows you to hang the tablet. This last mode is great if you want to to hang the tablet in a workspace so you can watch videos or multitask.
As a tablet, the barrel also serves an ergonomic purpose, making the Yoga Tablet 2 with Windows comfortable to hold for long periods of time. In use, it feels like wrapping the cover of a paperback book around the spine.
Coupled with the tablet's light 0.94-pound (0.43kg) weight, it makes for a very pleasant companion to read an e-book on the couch or in bed. However, magazines, PDFs, and larger format materials will feel cramped on an 8-inch screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
The weight of the Yoga Tablet 2 with Windows is comparable to the 0.87-pound (0.39kg) Dell Venue 8 Pro, and is about the same weight as the 0.96-pound (0.44kg) iPad Air 2, though Apple's device has a larger 9.7-inch display. The nice thing about the Lenovo slate is that it feels balanced; when holding the tablet in bed, I never felt like the tablet would fall and smack me in the face.
The Yoga Tablet 2 comes with a minimum array of buttons and ports. Neatly fit on one end of the barrel is a circular power button. The button is surrounded by an LED ring, which lights up when the tablet is plugged in for charging.
The other end of the barrel is home to a 3.5mm headphone jack. A slim Windows button sits on the tablet's bezel, along with a single micro USB port and volume rocker on its side.
Unlike many other Windows slates, the placement of the Windows Start button on the side of the tablet makes it awkward, especially when used in portrait mode. For right-handed users holding the slate in their left hand, the Start button will be on the bottom edge of the device, making it difficult to reach.
Specifications, value and features
Noticeably lacking on the Yoga Tablet 2 are ports. This means that tablet owners will likely need to use the Lenovo Tablet 2 primarily as a consumer tablet or rely on Bluetooth or Wi-Fi for expandability. Unless you're in the market for portability, business owners may want to shop for a larger tablet with full-sized USB ports.That said, the issue of limited ports is fairly standard across a number of smaller slates, including those from Dell, Asus, and HP. Here's the Yoga Tablet 2 with AnyPen configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
Spec Sheet
- Processor: 1.33GHz Intel Atom Z3745 (quad-core, 2MB cache)
- Display: 8-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS
- Memory: 2GB
- GPU: Intel HD Graphics 5300
- Storage: 32GB (an additional 64GB via micro SD expansion)
- Camera: 1.6MP webcam; 8MP rear BSI camera
- Ports: micro USB, 3.5mm audio jack
- Weight: 0.94 pounds (0.43kg)
- Size: 8.27 x 5.87 x 0.28 inches (210 x 149 x 7 mm)
Another feature that is missing is a video output port. The micro USB port on the Yoga Tablet 2 with Windows unfortunately does not support MHL capabilities, meaning you cannot get a dongle adapter and plug it into the HDMI port of an HDTV or monitor.
However, if you need to output your display to a larger screen, you can use wireless display (or WiDi) technology to mirror your screen. Likely Yoga Tablet 2 owners will live within the confines of their 8-inch panel.
The beauty and blemishes of an 8-inch screen
That's not necessarily a bad thing, as the 8-inch IPS display is beautiful, with wide viewing angles and a crisp 275 pixels-per-inch (ppi) resolution. The display looks fantastic indoors and under shade, but gets quickly washed out when under direct sunlight. If you're planning on using the Lenovo Tablet 2 as an e-reader on the beach, you may want to reconsider your option despite the excellent ergonomics and long battery life.Unlike the Dell Venue 8 Pro, there isn't a custom keyboard accessory to transform the Yoga Tablet 2 8 Windows into a portable netbook. You can connect a full-sized Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, but the keyboard is almost twice as big as Lenovo's footprint for the tablet, negating the portability benefit.
Using Windows on an 8-inch screen feels cramped, and this is an endemic problem with running a desktop OS on a small display. Modern UI apps that are designed for touch work fine, with large buttons for finger use, but legacy programs for the classic desktop don't fare well. Navigating small text-based menus with fat fingers was problematic, unless you're poking at it with a pen via AnyPen technology.
AnyPen, but not with 'AnyApp'
This brings us to another quirk of the tablet: Lenovo's adoption of AnyPen. The technology makes stylus use convenient, as you can use almost any everyday object as a stylus. The problem is that choosing the wrong instrument could leave your screen with scratches over time.Theoretically, you can use a knife, keys, a paper clip, scissors, or any metal object to draw with the tablet. However, if you use a knife and press too hard, you're not only making digital ink marks, but you can potentially leave analog etching on the glass screen. Similarly, choosing to write with a ballpoint pen can leave physical ink residue on the screen that's hard to wipe away.
Another issue is that some specialized inking apps, like Microsoft's popular OneNote, fail to recognize the metal object you're using as a stylus alternative. This means that you can use a paperclip to pan around or select menu items, but you can't write or draw.
I was successful in using the handwriting input panel, instead of the software keyboard, to input text that way. Though this seems slower than tapping on-screen keys, it could come in useful for inputting text in character-based languages.
On the Paint app, I didn't have any issues with sketching, but AnyPen lacked the pressure sensitivity that more advanced pens using N-Trig's or Wacom's technology offer. As such, AnyPen may not be suited as a stylus substitute for writing or drawing. You'll be fine if you're using your AnyPen stylus alternative to pan around the screen, select items, or do anything you traditionally would do with a mouse (or your fingers) for input.
The screen was too small for me to test palm rejection technology with AnyPen, but I can rest part of the side of my hand on the display while drawing on the screen with a ballpoint without issue.
Performance, benchmarks and software
Even though the benchmark numbers seem low, performance from the Yoga Tablet 2 is surprisingly snappy for general computing tasks. However, you won't want to play graphics-intensive games or do processor-stressing tasks, like Photoshop or video editing, on this tablet.Unfortunately, I ran into many issues installing 3DMark, and Fire Strike is simply incompatible with this slate's quad-core Intel Atom (Bay Trail) processor. Worse off, I wasn't able to install Maxon's Cinebench to measure CPU and GPU performance, as the tool was designed for 64-bit systems. The Yoga Tablet 2 with Windows was loaded with a 32-bit version of Windows 8, and sadly, Lenovo does not offer the tablet with a 64-bit version of the OS.
Benchmarks
- 3DMark: Cloud Gate: 1259; Sky Driver: 483; Fire Strike: N/A
- PCMark 8 Home Test: 1,020
- PCMark Battery Life: 6 hours and 1 minute
- Cinebench: N/A
If your life is in Google Apps and you play in the clouds of Netflix, Pandora, and Amazon, the Yoga Tablet 2 does a great job displaying photos and videos on its vibrant display. Audio from videos sound rich on the tablet's Dolby-tuned speakers, but don't expect the volume to fill a room.
Another issue that professional users will encounter is the limited amount of storage space on the tablet. Available in a single configuration with 32GB of space, the Yoga Tablet 2 with Windows shows only 19.4GB of free storage out of the box.
A micro SD card slot located behind the kickstand will alleviate some of your storage needs, but users who install a lot of applications will find that the available storage on the tablet will quickly disappear. Lenovo says the Yoga Tablet 2 supports up to 64GB micro SD cards, a 128GB card works fine in my test.
Battery life for the Yoga Tablet 2 is strong. Lenovo claims the 6,400mAh battery lasts up to 15 hours on a full charge. Using PCMark 8's home battery life test, the tablet recorded just over six hours. In real world use, I squeezed 12 hours and 45 minutes before the tablet powered itself off.
Bundled software
The Yoga Tablet 2 with Windows comes with minimal software installed. Aside from the standard pre-loaded Windows 8 apps from Microsoft, you'll find a one-year subscription to Microsoft Office 365. There is also a Lenovo Yoga 2 demo app with videos highlighting some of the features of the slate for new users.Aside from your Office 365 subscription, the most useful pre-loaded app on the tablet is the SHAREit app. The app allows you to share files between your tablet, a desktop PC or a smartphone.
You'll need to install the SHAREit app on your other companion devices to transfer files and share photos. Given that the tablet doesn't come with a USB port, unless you acquire a USB OTG cable, SHAREit comes in handy as you can't readily plug in a USB flash drive.
Verdict
Priced more expensively than competing 8-inch slates, the Yoga Tablet 2 commands a premium price for its unique features. Lacking a full-sized USB and display-out port, the tablet feels less productive than Dell's $429 (£280, AU$550) Atom-powered Venue 11 Pro.The Venue 11 Pro is less portable than the Lenovo, but the 11.6-inch display gives you more screen real estate. You also gain the versatility in being able to transform the tablet into a desktop by connecting a display, keyboard, and mouse, or into an Ultrabook form factor with an optional keyboard dock accessory.
The main reason to choose the Yoga Tablet 2 over Apple's iPad mini 3 at the same price is for the ability to run a full desktop OS. Given Apple's large touch-friendly catalog of apps compared to small menus designed for keyboard and mouse input on Windows, the Lenovo's advantage becomes less clear.
We liked
A gorgeous display, long battery life and ergonomically slim design helps to keep the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 with AnyPen a competitive tablet. Lenovo added some useful tweaks to differentiate its slate, but those OEM customizations make the tablet more expensive than other seven-to eight-inch Windows tablets.A unique barreled edge houses a large battery to give the Tablet 2 long battery life. Rated for 15 hours, we got close to 13 hours of real-life usage on a single charge. The built-in kickstand and crisp display make the tablet a joy to consume videos while traveling.
We disliked
The lack of a full-sized USB port and a video-out port keeps the Yoga Tablet 2 limited to its 8-inch screen, as you won't be able to output to a larger HDTV beyond Intel's WiDi solution. Users will need to rely on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to connect peripherals like keyboard, printers, and hard drives to the tablet rather than plugging in a cable.While innovative, Lenovo isn't first to market with AnyPen. Rival Sony implemented the technology in its Xperia Z Ultra phablet. The technology offers users the ad-hoc convenience of having a stylus, but the drawback is that your screen can become scratched over time if you use a sharp metal object as a stylus replacement. Furthermore, AnyPen does not offer the pressure sensitivity that digital artists need for sketching or drawing on the tablet.
And though the lack of apps is more an issue with Windows 8, Lenovo's choice of Microsoft's desktop OS makes the tablet a little cumbersome to use. Users will be able to tap into legacy apps on the desktop, but text-driven menus are small and difficult to press, making it less than ideal.
Final verdict
The Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 with Windows is a solidly-built tablet. Though the hardware design offers a lot of ergonomics, the software choice makes it clumsy. The lack of touch-centric Modern UI apps for Windows, coupled with a less than ideal experience of navigating text-driven menus in the classic desktop mode, negates the benefit of having long battery life to be more productive.With the Yoga Tablet 2, Lenovo aims to differentiate itself in the tablet market with AnyPen, but the solution feels unpolished. Unless you've got your heart set on using any metal object as a stylus replacement for input, you can find cheaper 8-inch Windows tablets elsewhere. Buyers should choose the Yoga Tablet 2 with Windows for Lenovo's excellent hardware design, ergonomics and lengthy battery life.
Read More ...
Available Tags:Asus , GTX , Twitter , Microsoft , BlackBerry , Samsung , Apple , iPhone , USB 3.0 , Windows , USB , HTC , Lenovo , Tablet ,
No comments:
Post a Comment