Computer vision: Cheat Sheet
Computer vision? Are we talking about computers with eyes? Or do you mean seeing double as a result of staring at a computer screen all day?
You're on the right track with your first guess - computer vision has nothing to do with 'computer vision syndrome' so hold off on buying a new pair of glasses.
What exactly is computer vision then?
Computer vision is a research field working to equip computers with the ability to process and understand visual data, as sighted humans can.
Human brains process the gigabytes of data passing through our eyes every second and translate that data into sight - that is, into discrete objects and entities we can recognise or understand. Similarly, computer vision aims to give computers the ability to understand what they are seeing, and act intelligently on that knowledge.
Imagine a car equipped with a camera which is pointing at the road ahead and with an onboard computer perceiving a 2D array of variously shaded pixels. It's one thing for that computer to 'see' an image of the environment around the car, it's quite another for it to be able to identify where the edges of the road are, or understand that a person has just run out in front of the car. Read more...
Code-probing, not Angry Birds, will define cloud’s success
The cloud promises a new era of cost reduction and agility for IT, and enterprises are diving in (warning: PDF) to secure these benefits.
But the process for moving applications to the cloud can be messy, particularly for those companies that haven't battle-tested their applications to ensure they can run in the cloud at scale.
So, while it's easier to get excited about running Netflix in the cloud than to get excited about load-testing tools, it's the latter that may well be the killer app for a growing army of developers.
After all, who cares if you've developed the next Angry Birds if your app can't handle the load imposed by more than you and a few of your friends using it? Read more...
IT outsourcing to China increases despite drawbacks
When it comes to information technology and business process outsourcing, China has been on a tear. Global services exports from China nearly tripled, from $1.2 billion in 2007 to $3.5 billion in 2010, with IT services accounting for 65 percent of the total, according to a report released this month by outsourcing consultancy and analyst firm Everest Group.
That, says Everest's analysts, officially makes China a mature market for offshore IT outsourcing. And the growth is expected to continue: Everest predicts that China will rake in nearly $10 billion by 2015 and remain a viable option for IT leaders seeking to cut labor costs for the next 13 years. According to Everest's offshore locations survey conducted earlier this year, China now ranks third in attractiveness to IT buyers behind India and the Philippines. Read more...
Windows 8 will be ‘largely irrelevant’ on PCs, predicts IDC
Windows 8 will be "largely irrelevant" to traditional PC users, a research firm said Monday.
Microsoft faces a tough sell with the new operating system, IDC said, because Windows 8 tries to "offer the best of both worlds" with a single OS suitable for both desktops and tablets.
"Windows 8 will be largely irrelevant to the users of traditional PCs, and we expect effectively no upgrade activity from Windows 7 to Windows 8 in that form factor," said IDC.
Al Gillen, an IDC research vice president, authored the prediction, one of 10 on a list of prognostications for 2012 that the firm released last week.
In an interview Monday, Gillen explained his dour Windows 8-on-the-desktop forecast. Read more...
Ultrabooks hit the shelves: Acer Aspire S3 vs. Asus Zenbook UX31
Being thin never seems to go out of style, and the latest notebooks take this ideal to a new extreme. Called Ultrabooks, these devices are thinner, sleeker and lighter than the typical laptop, yet they offer a long battery life and a full set of features.
Inaugurated by Intel this fall with a $300 million marketing fund, the company apparently hopes the new series of Ultrabooks will take the notebook market by storm. Intel's executive vice president Sean Maloney told attendees at this summer's Computex show in Taipei that the goal is to have Ultrabooks account for 40% of consumer notebook sales by the end of 2012.
Independent observers aren't so sure. "The Ultrabooks will be popular, but that's very optimistic," explains Bob O'Donnell, vice president for clients and displays at IDC. He forecasts that the Ultrabook market could grow from a niche this year to 12% of the consumer notebook market by the end of next year. "By 2015, Ultrabooks should account for 25%, at best," he adds. Read more...
Microsoft updates Exchange 2010
Microsoft has updated its Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, posting a service pack with a number of new features and bug fixes, the company announced Monday.
The new features in Microsoft Exchange Service Pack 2 were developed based on customer feedback, according to the company. They reflect the expanding use of enterprise e-mail, scheduling and associated functions across a wider range of devices and deployment scenarios. Read more...
India may overstep its own laws in demanding content filtering
India's reported plans to ask Internet companies to filter objectionable content may overstep the country's own laws, according to legal experts.
The government has asked Internet companies like Yahoo, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft to remove disparaging, inflammatory or defamatory content on their sites even before it goes online, according to newspaper reports on Monday. By Tuesday, the Indian government publicly accused the Internet companies of lack of seriousness in dealing with issues that hurt local sensitivities.
Executives of two of these companies confirmed on condition of anonymity that the country's ministry of communications and IT has indeed asked for such filtering of content. A spokesman at the country's ministry of communications did not return calls. Read more...
Yahoo Hub brings group messaging, free SMS conferencing to Android devices
Yahoo has entered the already saturated group-messaging market with the launch of Yahoo Hub, an app aimed at reducing the divide between traditional SMS and data-centric messaging software.
Yahoo Hub hopes to replace your existing SMS service, utilising its own platform to deliver free messages to anyone – whether they have the app or not.
Instead of requiring the recipient to install Yahoo Hub to reply and interact with the sender, the app leverages the user’s Wi-Fi and 3G connection to send free messages to friends no matter which smartphone they own (including the iPhone), allowing them to reply in the same way they would a normal text message. Read more...
iPads become child’s play
Crayola allows tots to doodle on the iPad using its iMarker just as they would a crayon on a coloring book. Tweens are able to belt out their favorite Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez tunes on a Disney microphone that turns the tablet into a karaoke machine. And technology accessories company Griffin enables teens to fly its toy helicopter by using the iPhone as a remote control.
This holiday season, toy makers have turned Apple Inc.'s pricey tablet and smartphone into playthings for kids. They figure in this weak economy, parents will be willing to splurge on toys for their children that utilize devices they already have — or want — themselves.
Tiffany Fessler of Gainsville, Ga., certainly was willing to do that even though when she initially bought her $829 iPad she never imagined she'd be sharing it with her 20-month-old son. But whenever she sat down to check emails on the iPad, he'd climb into her lap wanting to use it. Read more...
Former HP chair Dunn, 58, dies after cancer bout
Patricia Dunn, the former Hewlett-Packard Co. chairwoman who authorized a boardroom surveillance probe that ultimately sullied her remarkable rise from investment bank typist to the corporate upper class, has died after a long bout with cancer. She was 58.
Dunn died Sunday morning at her home in Orinda surrounded by her family, according to her sister, Debbie Lammers. She said Dunn's ovarian cancer had returned.
Once one of the most powerful women in corporate America, Dunn saw her career tarnished in 2006 when she was ousted from HP and brought up on criminal charges — which were ultimately dropped — for approving the company's plan to snoop into the private phone records of board members, journalists and HP employees to catch people leaking to the media. Read more...