Google Smartwatch Teaser News

Earlier this month we heard new reports that Google’s smartwatch could be arriving “sooner rather than later”; perhaps as soon as the end of the month to coincide with the much-leaked Nexus 5 and the updated Android 4.4.

If this is true then Google will be entering a marketplace that has never been fuller and yet - apart from Apple perhaps - no company is better positioned to deliver the first ‘true’ Smartwatch ; one that would blow the competition away.
Google may have just teased an upcoming smartwatch during the company’s earnings call for Q3 2013.

Talking about the new multi-screen world, Google CEO Larry Page referenced smartwatches, but didn’t give any details as to what type of device the company would be creating.

“People increasingly have more than one device. Screens are proliferating in the home as well as wearable screens like watches and Google Glass”, said Page.

Google has yet to confirm it is working on a smartwatch of its own to compete with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Gear and Sony SmartWatch 2. However, this is the first time Page has mentioned anything of such a device.

The Google smartwatch, currently known as the Nexus Gem, is expected to launch on October 31 after numerous rumours tipped the date.

Smartwatch references aside, Google raked in $15 billion (£9.3 billion) in revenue for Q3 2013 and $2.97 billion (£1.84 billion) in profit. These figures exceeded analyst expectations by a margin.

“Google had another strong quarter with $14.8 billion in revenue and great product progress,” added Page. “We are closing in on our goal of a beautiful, simple, and intuitive experience regardless of your device.”

Despite the launch of the US exclusive Moto X, Motorola cost Google $248 million (£154 million) in operating losses.

Page also announced that 40 per cent of YouTube watchers now access the site via a mobile device, up from 6 per cent two years previously.

More successes for Google lie in the Chromebook market, as the laptops are now sold in 8,000 worldwide locations.

The search engine giant’s Research and Development budget has been increased by around $1 billion, and Page only wants that expenditure to grow. Part of his job requires him to spend on long-term R&D projects, including self-driving cars and Project Loon, Google’s balloon-distributed internet scheme.

W know why Google Planned to bring the smartwatch:
Here's why:

Hardware: they’ve bought two smartwatch makers already:

Google have already bought Motorola’s hardware division back in August 2011, and in doing so also acquired plenty of smarwatch expertise. Motorola’s MotoACTV  was launched back in 2011 and did dual service as both an MP3 player and a fitness-tracker – a hardware trend that will probably end up in basically the same place as smartwatches.

The MotoACTV had a 1.6-inch screen and runs Android, and came with all manner of connectivity - Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi, GPS. It even had some pretty impressive smarts at launch, including one feature that automatically generated a ‘motivation’ playlist with songs culled from the times you were running at your fastest.

In August this year it was also revealed that Google had bought WIMM labs back in 2012 – a firm that had only one product: an Android smartwatch. They even had their own ‘micro app’ store with apps offering standalone functionality for the watch – something that’s key to lifting the current hardware out of their second-screen rut.

This is plentyful reason for Goolgle to make the Smartwatch.

Smarts: they’ve been getting awfully good at contextual information

This ‘second-screening’ is one of the central criticisms of the current crop of devices: they have to be paired with smartphones and then simply repeat information from them (albeit in a slightly more convenient location).

Fitness devices like the Nike FuelBand and the FitBit have succeed in the wearables market because they offer functionality that is above and beyond your phone's. They deliver relevant information that users want to know on the fly - which is exactly what Google have been doing with Google Now.

The connection between Google Now and a Google smartwatch is not a new one (GigaOM's Kevin Tofel flagged it up back in August) but it certainly bears repeating. Google Now is Google’s ‘digital assistant’: you feed it with data about you and in return it makes your life a little easier, nudging you with reminders about meetings or transport delays.

This is exactly the sort of time and location sensitive information that would make a smartwatch smart and Google Now has even nailed down the medium in which to deliver this info: its card-based interface with small bullets of information (directions, reviews, receipts etc) is a natural fit for the limited screen real estate available on your wrist.

Motivation: they need to find a future beyond Google Glass:

Google Now isn't new, but the wearable way of delivering its info is. Currently, Google Now is most prominent on the Moto X. Released back in August, the Moto X was described by Google as the world’s “first self-driving phone”, offering always-on voice-commands allowing users to pose search queries at any time.

Now, not only is this type of functionality exactly what a Google Now-powered smartwatch could deliver, but the implementation of voice commands (and we shouldn't forget how difficult it is to process natural language) is also incredibly similar to the operation of Google Glass. Glass is an amazing bit of technology and definitely a rough approximation of Google's future, but it's also not for everyone. It's just a bit too geeky, too obvious.

To combat this Google has been pushing hard to associate the technology with the world of high fashion (they've had it on catwalks and even splashed it around in a feature for Vogue) but even this seems less like an effort to 'normalise' the device than it is a campaign to make Glass a product for the elite. Seeing it worn by the self-consciously high-powered at Fashion Week and film premieres makes it aspirational - not normal.

In a recent interview with MIT Technology Review, Mary Lou Jepsen (head of Google's secretive Google X Lab) described wearable computers as "a way of amplifying you", saying of the technology: "It’s coming. I don’t think it’s stoppable [...] you become addicted to the speed of it, and it let's you do more fast and easily."

It's clear that a big part of Google's future will be involved in stitching together some form of wearable tech with predictive software and a natural language driven search that helps you in your daily life. Amit Singhal, head of search at the company, has described the future of Google as "someone by your side who can help you".

Google Glass is the most public example of this but the technology remains just a little too conspicuous and self-aggrandizing for most of us. We don't want a digital butler, poised at the elbow and glaring frostily at the hoi polloi - we want a discrete helper, offering the luxury and ease of a butler without the palaver. A smartwatch with the same functionality as Glass could be just the ticket - a gateway drug to get us all addicted.

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'Smartphones and tablets making people less human' ? Is it Possible?

Yeah technology is making us less human day by day. The shows that Human are more dependent on Technology than Before.

Millennials are tech-savvy young adults who grew up with smartphones and iPads, but many think technology makes people less human, according to a poll released on Thursday.

The survey of 12,000 people aged 18 and older in eight countries, commissioned by Intel Corporation, also showed that 18- to 24-year-olds want technology to be more personal and know their habits. Older women and those living in emerging markets are the most enthusiastic about the role technology can play in their lives, the findings showed.

Dr. Genevieve Bell, an anthropologist and research director at Intel Labs, said although the results of the survey that examined global attitudes towards technology innovation may indicate that young adults are rejecting technology, the findings could be more complicated.

"A different way to read this might be that millennials want technology to do more for them," she said in a statement.

Nearly 90 percent of young adults questioned in the poll admitted innovations in technology make life easier, but about 60 percent said people rely on it too much and that it can be dehumanizing.

Seventy percent said technology enhances their personal relationships and about half believe it will have a good impact on education, transportation and healthcare.

Women age 45 and older, and those living in emerging markets such as Brazil and India, are more enthusiastic about the impact technology could have on their lives.

In China, more than 70 percent of women said technology is not used enough.

"Women historically have become avid users of technology when that technology solves a problem, helps us organize our live and that of our families, as well as aids us in saving time and time shifting," Bell said.

The findings showed that Italians and Japanese held the most negative attitudes toward technology.

The survey, which was conducted in Brazil, China, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan and the United States from July 28 to August 15, has a margin of error of plus or minus 0.89 percentage points.

From now onwards, Let's be more Human and stop relying on technology. If you agree with me hten share this with your Tech addicted friends and Family :-P 

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Android 4.3 update for Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy S III, Galaxy Note II due by Q4: Report

The Samsung Galaxy S III, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note II will be upgraded to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean by year-end, if a report is to be believed.

Sam mobile has revealed that Samsung is planning to roll out Android 4.3 update for its top of the line smartphones soon. The site mentions that the company has plans to roll out Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for its 2013 flagship, the Galaxy S4 in October while the 2012 flagship device, the Galaxy S III can be expected to get the new Android update by October end or even November.

The site further states that the Galaxy Note 3 predecessor would also be getting the taste of the new Jelly Bean iteration, but that would only be by the end of November, or early December. All three smartphones are also likely to receive a revamped TouchWiz interface with some added functions, claims the report.

Further the report affirms that Samsung is also testing the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for Galaxy Mega phablets. However, Sammobile has not revealed details on what new exclusive features to expect in the rumoured Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for the three devices, the Galaxy SIII, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note II. But given that Galaxy Note3 runs Android 4.3 with new features, we are hopeful that the three devices will be receiving some features of the latest phablet.
Samsung has made no secret of its plans to launch Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for its leading Galaxy smartphones, but so far the South Korean major has offered nothing in the way of release dates as well. But now it looks like the company is getting closer to having its latest software update finalized for its three smartphones. As of now, we would take this with a pinch of salt until the company confirms updates rolling out to the Galaxy smartphones.

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Nokia cannot use mobile brand post-Microsoft deal until 2016

After signing a pact to sell its handset business to Microsoft, Finnish phone giant Nokia can neither license the 'Nokia' brand for use in connection with mobile device sales nor use the brand on its own mobile devices for a specific period.

"Microsoft has also agreed to a 10-year license arrangement with Nokia to use the Nokia brand on current and subsequently developed Mobile Phones based on the Series 30 and Series 40 operating systems," Nokia said in a recent US filing.

Nokia, which will be left with only its telecom equipment, location and patent development businesses, would have the right to continue and maintain the Nokia brand, except for certain period as per the agreement.

After the closing of the deal "Nokia would be restricted from licensing the Nokia brand for use in connection with mobile device sales for 30 months and from using the Nokia brand on Nokia's own mobile devices until December 31, 2015," it said.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014, subject to approval by Nokia shareholders, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

As per telecom magazine Voice&Data, Nokia mobile phones have a 27.2 percent market share in India at the end of the Financial Year 2012-13.

Nokia will seek its shareholders' approval on November 19 this year to the USD 7.2 billion deal to sell its devices and services business to US software giant Microsoft. If shareholders of Nokia disapprove the deal, then it will have to pay about USD 51 million as damages to Microsoft.

In case an alternate proposal is placed before Nokia's shareholders which gets approved, then the Finnish company will have pay less amount as damage to Microsoft.

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Apple unveils iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s

Apple Inc introduced two new iPhones on Tuesday including the "iPhone 5c" that comes in five colors and starts at $99 with a contract, priced to bring one of the industry's costliest smartphones within reach of the masses in poorer emerging markets.

Chief Executive Tim Cook kicked off the event at the company's Cupertino headquarters which also ushered in the pricier iPhone 5s. Shares in Apple, which had been in negative territory most of the morning, briefly went positive and were down just 0.5 percent at $503.48.

Cook expects Apple to ship the 700 millionth device - an iPhone or iPad - based on iOS mobile software sometime next month.

The world's most valuable technology company is trying to beat back rivals like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd in markets like India and China, where it is quickly losing ground.

Wall Street approves of the move to offer a more basic version of the device, although some investors warned initially that it would reduce margins and potentially tarnish a brand that has been linked to premium users since its 2007 inception.

Now they hope a bigger emerging-market presence can help reverse a 29 percent fall in the company's share price since it hit a record high of $702.10 a year ago. The selloff was fueled by fears of slowing growth and a perception that Apple's ability to innovate and shake up industries was dwindling.

The new iPhones, coupled with a belief that Apple will announce a deal with the world's largest carrier in China, have spurred investors to build bullish share and options positions in the company over the past two weeks.

Also sparking Apple's upward momentum was hedge fund billionaire Carl Icahn's revelation last month that he had taken a large position and was pushing for the company to expand its program of share buybacks.

He has said the stock may rise to as much as $700 if Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook pushed for a larger buyback. The shares were down 0.5 percent at $503.64 in morning trading.

Industry observers said Apple had not turned out a category-defining electronic device since late co-founder Steve Jobs made a bet on the iPad in 2010. Speculation revolves around a smartwatch along the same lines as Samsung's recently introduced Galaxy Gear, or some sort of TV product.

But analysts said neither was likely to generate numbers anywhere in the neighborhood of the iPhone, which supplies half of Apple's revenue and is the company's highest-margin product.

"Apple needs to demonstrate in the coming months that it has other product lines which can start to make up for slowing growth and falling margins in (the) iPhone and iPad," said Jan Dawson, a chief telecoms analyst for Ovum Research. "That's a tall order."

More immediately, Apple will get a boost if it succeeds in enlisting China Mobile Ltd in its iPhone network. For the first time, the company will host media in Beijing just nine hours after its Cupertino, California, launch, spurring speculation it will announce a distribution agreement with the Chinese carrier.

The world's largest wireless carrier serves more than 740 million users and is perceived as more amenable to carrying the popular smartphone now that profit and subscriber growth are decelerating. Net income grew just 2 percent in the quarter that ended in June.

And smaller rivals China Unicom and China Telecom, which both already sell Apple's iPhone are making headway against the market leader.

Separately, Japan's largest carrier, NTT DoCoMo, is expected to begin selling it as soon as this fall, other sources said.

One key question is whether Apple will also sell its cheaper iPhone 5c in more mature markets like Europe or the United States, heightening the risk that it will begin cannibalizing sales of the flagship 5s.

Globally, the market for cheaper smartphones priced around $300 - the iPhone 5 now starts at $649 without a contract - may grow to 900 million units by 2015, Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi estimated. Assuming Apple manages to capture just 10 percent of that market, the 5c would bring in revenue of $30 billion annually.

"The only real potential to surprise investors (on Tuesday) seems to be in the scope and velocity of a new China strategy, and any new features within iOS 7 and fingerprint scanner technology," said Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes.

"Since it missed the trend toward larger screened phones and seems poised for only incremental iPad improvements, we believe that Apple needs to prove it can innovate in software and services."

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Researcher Pokes Holes In Java 7 Security

Researchers: Oracle’s Java Security Fails

Faced with an onslaught of malware attacks that leverage vulnerabilities and design weaknesses in Java, Oracle Corp. recently tweaked things so that Java now warns users about the security risks of running Java content. But new research suggests that the integrity and accuracy of these warning messages can be subverted easily in any number of ways, and that Oracle’s new security scheme actually punishes Java application developers who adhere to it.

Java’s security dialog box.

Running a Java applet now pops up a security dialog box that presents users with information about the name, publisher and source of the application. Oracle says this pop-up is designed to warn users of potential security risks, such as using old versions of Java or running applet code that is not signed from a trusted Certificate Authority.

Security experts differ over whether regular users pay any mind whatsoever to these warnings. But to make matters worse, new research suggests most of the information contained in the pop-ups can be forged by malware writers.

In a series of scathing blog posts, longtime Java developer Jerry Jongerius details the various ways that attackers can subvert the usefulness of these dialog boxes. To illustrate his point, Jongerius uses an applet obtained from Oracle’s own Web site — javadetection.jar — and shows that the information in two out of three of its file descriptors (the “Name” and “Location” fields) can be changed, even if the applet is already cryptographically signed.

“The bottom line in all of this is not the security risk of the errors but that Oracle made such incredibly basic ’101′ type errors — in allowing ‘unsigned information’ into their security dialogs,” Jongerius wrote in an email exchange. “The magnitude of that ‘fail’ is huge.”

Jongerius presents the following scenario in which an attacker might use the dialog boxes to trick users into running unsafe applets:

“Imagine a hacker taking a real signed Java application for remote desktop control / assistance, and placing it on a gaming site, renaming it ‘Chess’. An unsuspecting end user would get a security popup from Java asking if they want to run ‘Chess’, and because they do, answer yes — but behind the scenes, the end user’s computer is now under the remote control of a hacker (and maybe to throw off suspicion, implemented a basic ‘Chess’ in HTML5 so it looks like that applet worked) — all because Oracle allowed the ‘Name’ in security dialogs to be forged to something innocent and incorrect.”

Oracle has not responded to requests for comment. But Jongerius is hardly the only software expert crying foul about the company’s security prompts. Will Dormann, writing for theCarnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, actually warns Java developers against adopting a key tenet of Oracle’s new security guidelines.

Oracle recommends that all Java applets be cryptographically signed regardless of the privileges required by the program. Unsigned Java applets will run within a web page with a scary red warning that, “Running this application may be a security risk.” One of Java’s most-touted features is a “sandbox” security mechanism that is supposed to prevent certain functions when the applet is sent as part of a Web page. But according to both Jongerius and Dormann, Oracle made the default behavior for signed code to be full access to the computer (essentially, negating the usefulness of the sandbox).

“What about Oracle’s vision of a Java future where every Java applet is signed?,” asks Dormann, a longtime security research with the Department of Homeland Security’s US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT). “What this vision means is that every Java applet, which would be signed, would also now be in a state where it could be repurposed because it is now no longer restricted by the sandbox. A poorly designed sandboxed Java applet can’t do much of anything.  However, a poorly designed signed Java applet can do pretty much anything that native code can.”

Both Dormann and Jongerius offer a number of ideas that Oracle could use to remedy the situation. Only time will tell if the company will take notice of the recommendations. In the meantime, I’ll continue to urge regular Internet users to get rid of Java completely, or at least to disconnect the Java plugin from any Web browsers (obligatory disclaimer: this advice does not scale for business users, whose computers may rely on Java for specific applications).                                                                                                                                  !!! use our blog for more specification i.e.www.inventorykit.blogspot.in                                

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NASA to launch moon mission next month

WASHINGTON: Nasa is making final preparations to launch a small car-sized robotic Moon probe next month in an attempt to answer prevailing questions about the lunar atmosphere. 

The US space agency is gearing up for the mission designed to gain a better picture of the structure and composition of Moon's thin atmosphere. 

The September 6 launch will be the first beyond Earth orbit from the Nasa's Virginia Space Coast launch facility. 

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) will orbit the Moon to gather detailed information about lunar atmosphere and determine whether dust is being lofted into the lunar sky, Nasa said. 

A thorough understanding of these characteristics of our nearest celestial neighbour will help researchers understand other bodies in the solar system, such as large asteroids, Mercury, and the Moons of outer planets, the agency said. 

                                    "The Moon's tenuous atmosphere may be more common in the solar system than we thought," said John Grunsfeld, Nasa's associate administrator for science in Washington. 

"Further understanding of the Moon's atmosphere may also help us better understand our diverse solar system and its evolution," said Grunsfeld. 

The mission has many firsts, including the first flight of the Minotaur V rocket, testing of a high-data-rate laser communication system, and the first launch beyond Earth orbit from the agency's Virginia Space Coast launch facility. 

The probe will launch on a US Air Force Minotaur V rocket, an excess ballistic missile converted into a space launch vehicle. 

LADEE was built using a general purpose spacecraft design that allows Nasa to develop, assemble and test multiple modules at the same time. 

The bus structure is made of a lightweight carbon composite with a mass of 547.2 pounds - 844.4 pounds when fully fuelled. 

"This same common bus can be used on future missions to explore other destinations, including voyages to orbit and land on the moon, low-Earth orbit, and near-Earth objects," said Ames Director S Pete Worden. 

Butler Hine, LADEE project manager at Ames, said the innovative common bus concept brings Nasa a step closer to multi-use designs and assembly line production and away from custom design. 

"The LADEE mission demonstrates how it is possible to build a first class spacecraft at a reduced cost while using a more efficient manufacturing and assembly process," Hine said. 

Approximately one month after launch, LADEE will begin its 40-day commissioning phase, the first 30 days of which the spacecraft will be performing activities high above the Moon's surface. 

These activities include testing a high-data-rate laser communication system that will enable higher rates of satellite communications similar in capability to high-speed fibre optic networks on Earth.
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