8 myths about the smartwatch revolution
By the time Apple ships its rumored "iWatch" smartwatch, the company will be entering a crowded market.
A smartwatch is a wristwatch device that connects to the Internet (directly or via a smartphone) and runs apps.
The Financial Times this week reported that Google's Android group (not the company's X Lab) is developing a smartwatch. That suggests Google plans to ship a smartwatch soon, possibly this year, and could even announce it at the Google I/O developers conference on May 15.
A Samsung executive this week not only announced that his company is working on a smartwatch, but that they've been working on it for a long time.
A Chinese company called Gouke plans to sell both an Android version of its Bambook Smart Watch by this summer as well as another version running the Firefox OS. Read more...
The ultimate Android tethering guide
Tethering: It's one of the most convenient features your smartphone has, yet carriers insist on restricting it.
Tethering most often refers to using your smartphone as a mobile hotspot. In other words, it lets you connect to the Internet on your laptop, tablet, or Wi-Fi enabled device, using your phone's data connection. Tethering is very useful if you happen to be in an area that has no free Wi-Fi and you need to do your computing on a device other than your phone.
Carriers don't really want you to use this oh-so-convenient option, because users who tether are more likely to use a lot of data. After all, it's much easier to use data when you're browsing on a laptop or a tablet, than when you're limited to your smartphone's tiny screen. You might argue that, since most mobile plans feature limited data anyway, it shouldn't matter how you happen to use that data. But some carriers disagree, and will typically charge an extra $20 to $50 per month for tethering plans. Read more...
IllumiShare project connects physical desktops
Attendees at the Conference on Human Factors in Computer Systems (CHI) this week saw a device that looks something like a lamp shade and houses a projector and camera, designed to let a worker share a physical desktop with another, allowing the two to collaborate on a project in ways not otherwise possible.
In one example at the show, two attendees were able to draw a picture of a house, with a pen and paper, simultaneously with each person adding different components. On one side, IllumiShare, a project from Microsoft Research, used a camera to capture the desktop and a projector to display the other side's. That means that each person received real time video of what the other side was doing. Read more...
Kickstarter: Turn Your iPad Into An Etch-A-Sketch
Looking to relive your childhood or turn your iPad into a hackneyed political pun? You’d best get over to Ari Krupnik’s Kickstarter project. For $60 you get a red or blue case that simulates the actual Etch-A-Sketch knobs, allowing you to perform all of the deft maneuvers to which you’re accustomed. Stair steps? Easy. Long curve? Go for it. Horrible script writing? Bingo. Read more...
What’s In A Name? Australia Wants Apple To ‘Change The Name’ Of The iPad Over 4G Incompatibility
Looks like we may see another development today in Apple’s ongoing iPad/4G controversy in Australia. The country’s Competition and Consumer Commission is meeting with Apple in court again today to try to get Apple to officially change the name of the device when it is sold in Australia.
Although many people know the tablet as “the new iPad” since launching the product in March, Apple has also been marketing the product as the new iPad with ‘Wi-Fi +4G’ in Australia and elsewhere. Apple quickly ran into trouble in Australia when the ACCC said Apple was misleading consumers: in fact, the tablet is not actually compatible with the country’s 4G networks. Read more...
How to prevent thumb drive security disasters
For such a small device, the plastic, handheld USB flash drive can cause big security headaches. Even if you have robust end-point security and establish rigid policies about employee use of these drives, employees still find a way to copy financial reports and business plans for use at home. While other security breaches are more traceable, a flash drive is more difficult to monitor, especially after the employee leaves work.
Some security professionals suggest a radical approach to locking down USB flash drives. Sean Greene, a security consultant at Evidence Solutions, advises his clients to use a clear silicone caulk and fill every USB port on every PC to prevent USB attachments. He says the only way employees can transmit sensitive business documents is by email, a method that his clients can easily monitor.
Chris Harget, a spokesperson for security vendor ActivIdentity, adds that many military organizations don't allow the drives at all, and they have resorted to gluing USB ports closed to prevent breaches.
Yet, in the modern IT climate, CIOs know they have to provide the services employees need to do their jobs, and that can include using a USB drive. For example, in a sales organization, employees often need to load PowerPoint slides, which may contain company financials, onto a USB flash drive. Read more...
Charge 16 gadgets at once with the PowerPad 16
How many portable gadgets do you own that need charging on a regular basis? A typical user may have a smartphone, a tablet, an e-reader, and a digital media player. Most will have fewer than those four core types of device.
I doubt anyone has 16 devices to charge, but if you do, there’s now a solution for charging them all over USB at the same time. It’s called the PowerPad 16, which has been created by Datamation Systems Inc.
Of course, the PowerPad 16 isn’t a charging solution aimed at the home user, but it could make your life easier when out in public. We take our devices with us to school, college, conferences, and on holiday. They need charging on a regular basis, which means searching out a power point, and hoping someone else hasn’t got there first. Read more...
iPhone of the Future May Be Powered by Hydrogen Fuel Cells
Sometime in the future, Apple devices such as the iPhone, iPad and MacBook might work longer than ever on a smaller and lighter battery pack. How is this possible? By using hydrogen fuel cells, which convert oxygen and hydrogen into water, heat and electricity. The US Patent & Trademark Office has recently published two Apple patent applications, detailing how fuel cells might power smartphones, laptops and tablets of the future.
Hydrogen fuel cells aren't exactly a new technology; they've been used to power Honda cars, for example, and they bring their own set of problems, especially in the context of smartphones or laptops. "It is extremely challenging to design hydrogen fuel cell systems which are sufficiently portable and cost-effective to be used with portable electronic devices," admits Apple. Read more...
Apple rumor watch: iPad 3 March, iPhone 5 LTE
The Apple [AAPL] rumor machine kicks into high gear this weekend, as veteran iWebsite, iLounge, claims a well-sourced rumor: that the iPad 3 ships in March while the iPhone 5 will boast a metal back and LTE support.
Can I take a little salt with that?
"It is certain because it is possible," wrote Tertullian way back in c.160AD. And that's the thing about rumor -- as he also wrote, "It is certain because it is impossible." Do these directly contrasting phrases offer enough subliminal suggestion that all these rumors could be misconstrued or false?
Let's take a look at the claims, first for the iPad 3:
The report claims the next iPad will be slightly thicker (an additional 0.7mm) but this thickness will be to hold a twin light bar system for the much higher-resolution display. The report claims we may see the device take a bow in January for a March release. Read more...
Why are women so excited about the new iPhone 5?
Something strange just happened. While dropping my daughter off at school, I spotted some other moms huddled together talking in hushed tones. Breathless chatter to recap the Glee season premier? Oh no, they were talking about the news that Apple is expected to unveil the next iPhone on October 4. A similar scene played right after that while I was getting coffee and then again this afternoon as I waited to check out at the grocery store.
Now, I know I'm excited about a new iPhone release because I cover (and covet) lifestyle tech. But mainstream moms? When did a new iPhone release become that one thing so many women are talking about right now? Is this the new Prada handbag, season premiere of Dancing With the Stars or Nordstrom Half Yearly Sale? Read more...
The iPad takes on manufacturing
First it won accolades as the next killer consumer device. Then it slipped into the backpacks and briefcases of white-collar information workers, and in some cases it's becoming a corporate-sanctioned alternative to the laptop.
Now the Apple iPad -- and, to a lesser extent, emerging competitors in the burgeoning tablet market -- are starting to pop up on the plant floor and in distribution centers and warehouses, promising to wring efficiencies and cost savings out of industrial operations by offering mobility and real-time data visibility to workers in manufacturing.
"When Apple created the iPad, the [manufacturing] industry had a sort of wake-up call ... that mobility is not only relevant for people outside the company, but also for those inside the company who have information needs and are not tied to their desk, but are tied to their asset," says Pierfrancesco Manenti, a manufacturing analyst at IDC Insights.
"With a relatively small investment, companies can re-create the whole information-on-the-fly scenario that was nearly impossible before unless they made enormous investments in PCs, cable networks and ruggedized PCs." Read more...
Too-high Android tablet prices spook developers
While developer interest in Apple's mobile devices remains solid, interest in Android has stalled among programmers disappointed with tablet prices and pressed by Android fragmentation, a survey published today showed.
"Interest in Android on tablets has stalled, or plateaued, however you want to put it," said Scott Schwartzhoff, vice president of marketing at Mountain View, Calif.-based Appcelerator.
The poll, conducted two weeks ago by Appcelerator and research firm IDC, polled more than 2,700 developers who use Appcelerator's Titanium cross-platform compiler to produce mobile applications using JavaScript, HTML and CSS.
The numbers reflect a growing frustration that Android tablets don't stack up against Apple's iPad, and that their biggest weapon -- lower prices -- has not been used. Read more...