Steve Wozniak: Nokia Lumia Windows phone is ‘beautiful’

April 30, 2012

Nokia was once the giant of the mobile phone market. Nowadays, they’ve lost traction in the new world of smartphones and tablets, with Apple arguably taking many of their once-loyal customers.

nokia-lumia-900

But Nokia have a surprise cheerleader in Steve Wozniak, the guy who co-founded Apple with his late friend Steve Jobs. Known as Woz among friends and techies, he’s a massive fan of mobile technology and has good things to say about both Android and Apple, unlike Jobs who vowed to wipe out the rival OS.

Woz recently queued outside an AT&T shop in order to get his hands on the new Nokia Lumia 900, the first phone in a brand new range of Windows smartphones. And Nokia are very pleased with the positive PR he’s given them on Twitter. Woz branded the new Windows Mobile handset ‘beautiful’. He also said in an interview that he was ‘shocked’ at how attractive the phone was, adding: “For looks and beauty I definitely favour the Windows Phone over Android.”

The Nokia Lumia 900 isn’t yet out in the UK, but it’s due to hit stores within the next three weeks. It boasts a 4.3” touchscreen, an 8MP rear camera and a front facing camera for video calls. The Lumia runs Windows Phone 7.5, Microsoft Office, SkyDrive and Nokia Drive, putting it front and centre in the race to the cloud. It records video at 720p HD, has in-built GPS and allows users to link their phone to their Xbox LIVE account, giving it the edge for gamers. It’s also undeniably pretty, with a slim candybar shape and sleek curved edges.

Nokia made a loss in the last quarter of 2011, despite licensing a number of smartphone patents to Apple for the iPhone 4S. In terms of handset sales, all hopes are pinned on Lumia to help them recover. Support from Woz is likely to give them a valuable PR boost in the run up to launch here in the UK.

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Oracle vs Google: the latest battle in the courts

April 26, 2012

Yet another court case has kicked off among major tech companies, and for once, it doesn’t involve Apple.

Oracle Vs Google

The latest legal battle involves two of the biggest and most well-established companies in the technology industry: Oracle and Google. The outcome could be a very big deal for the smartphone industry, and could have significant implications for the future of Android.

Oracle claim that Google used 37 copyrighted elements and various patents relating to Java, a product which they now own after buying out Sun Microsystems two years ago. Oracle say Google programmers used these elements of Java in the development of the Android operating system without applying for a licence, and they say that this crucial Java code underpins the whole Android OS.

The case is significant because Google could be forced to reveal highly sensitive financial information about Android. If the company fails to win the case, Google could have to pay Oracle damages and ongoing royalties – a bill which could easily reach billions of dollars. If Google don’t pay up, they could, in theory, be forced to re-write Android from the ground up. That means they would need to remove any Java code.

The outcome will be decided of a jury in San Francisco made up of a broad range of US citizens, but it’s likely to be a highly technical case. According to the press, the jury members include a fashion designer, a postman, a nurse and a teacher. They will be asked to consider evidence from a stack of emails sent between Google staff confirming that Java was used without an agreement and no alternative could be found at the time. According to analysts, this was partly because so many programmers already knew Java and could develop applications for Android easily, but Google gave up on trying to negotiate a deal with Sun Microsystems.

Google say that a win for Oracle could be bad news for future compatibility as companies will be too scared to borrow from each other in order to make applications work well.

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Google Drive launched for Google Apps users

April 25, 2012

After months of speculation, Google’s newest online service is here, and it’s about to make waves in the cloud computing arena – at least in the business world. Home users will have to wait a little longer yet.

Google Drive - Cloud Service

Google Drive is initially being aimed at business users, tackling far bigger enterprise cloud storage solutions head-on. It’s initially only available to people who have a Google Apps domain. Initially all users are being granted 5GB of storage space, but Google Apps administrators can choose to buy more space. 20GB of Google Drive storage costs about £2.50 per month, and this can be stacked to a whopping 16TB. Apps for Google Drive are also available in the Chrome Web Store, and presumably we’ll see lots of new integrations in the coming months.

Competitors have been shoring up their cloud storage services over the last few weeks to try defend themselves against a formidable new competitor, and Google’s new product is bound to stir up the market. Microsoft already made some changes to their SkyDrive service this week: new users now get 7GB (previously they were given 25GB). Dropbox have also enhanced their service with a few tweaks, but over time, the issue of price could come back to haunt them: they’re significantly more expensive than their rivals.

If you already use services like Box or Dropbox but you don’t use Google Apps, you won’t yet be able to make the switch. Gmail users can register their interest on the Google site, but for now, the service isn’t available to people with ordinary Gmail addresses.

Google Apps administrators can enable the Google Drive service now by logging into their control panel: Google Drive is listed under a new heading, ‘Drive and Docs’ (previously just ‘Docs’). Administrators can enable offline access for documents and permit users to install Google Drive on their PC or Mac.

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Intel and the 3D transistor

April 24, 2012

It seems 3D is set to invade every aspect of our digital worlds. First 3D movies and TV, then 3D games consoles – and now, Intel are manufacturing 3D transistors.

Intel's 3D Transistor

The new Intel Ivy Bridge range includes a variety of quad core processors for home users and ultrabooks – ultra thin, low power laptops designed to compete with the Apple Macbook Air. The new processors include more than a billion transistors, each measuring 22 nanometres across, and they are now three dimensional in shape. Up until now, processors have only been manufactured in a two dimensional shape.

Three purpose-built factories are already producing the new processors which will eventually replace the Sandy Bridge line.

Intel say the new technology can provide a 20% performance boost while consuming 20% less energy because transistors can switch the chip off when it’s not in use. This could give Intel a strong advantage in the manufacture of tablet PCs and smartphones, an area which they currently don’t dominate as they no doubt wish they did. Other chips from AMD are more common as they provide better power consumption and cut down on the amount of times devices need to be recharged.

Thanks to Ivy Bridge, home users who don’t have a separate graphics card should also see better performance when using HD video. The chip will also be able to patrol the use of USB3 connections, making it easier for manufacturers to provide secure access to storage devices via the new faster USB technology.

New processors from AMD will be hot on the heels of the new Intel technology once their new Piledriver chips are released, but as yet, there are no solid details on how the chips work or when they will be available. This gives Intel the chance to stay one step ahead of its rival, and it could see a new exciting range of smartphones and tablet PCs hit the shelves later this year.

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Tupac ‘resurrected’ thanks to Pepper’s Ghost 3D projection

April 24, 2012

Festival goers at the Coachella festival were treated to a totally unique performance – a performance which hit the headlines around the world for being a first in the music industry.

AV Concepts created a life-size 3D projection of Tupac Shakur

A team of computer programmers from British company AV Concepts created a life-size 3D projection of Tupac Shakur, the US rapper who was fatally wounded in a drive-by shooting in 1996. Making the projection cost the Coachella production team $10 million.

Staff at AV Concepts combined footage from live shows with computer animation to bring Tupac back to life and appear to walk around ‘live’ on stage, talking to the crowd and performing with other artists.

The video has been widely reported as being a hologram, but the effect is actually created using a technique called Pepper’s Ghost. This visual effect was invented in the 1860s and involves projecting an image onto a sheet of glass, giving it an ethereal, transparent appearance. Thanks to modern CGI, the projection of Tupac is actual size, incredibly clear and, when viewed from afar, looks totally lifelike.

The performance was live-screened on YouTube and some fans on Twitter said they were shocked to see the deceased rapper performing. It performed a Tupac track, ‘Hail Mary’, which the rapper had never performed live before his death. It then performed a collaboration with Snoop Dogg, the headline act at the festival in California. The performance quickly began trending on Twitter, but the audience reaction was mixed; stars like Katy Perry were moved to tears, but others found the hologram to be ghostly and unsettling.

Mariah Carey has previously used the same technology to perform five live concerts across Europe at the same time, convincing many people she was actually in the stadium when she was actually thousands of miles away. AV Concepts have also created similar projected holograms and effects for companies like Adidas, Cadbury, Virgin Digital and Samsung.

Do you think 3D holograms of dead stars are in bad taste, or a fitting tribute?

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Early launch for the Amazon Kindle Touch 3G

April 23, 2012

Amazon have launched one of their US-only products one week earlier than planned due to unprecedented demand. Unfortunately for fans of tablet PCs, it’s not the Kindle Fire – yet.

The Kindle Touch 3G UK release is brought forward

Kindle fans are likely to consider an upgrade since the navigation buttons on previous Kindles have been basic and clunky, making text entry cumbersome. But is it worth the money?

The new Kindle Touch 3G model sits at the top of the price band for Amazon Kindle products at £169 – that’s far more than the US price of around $150 (£99). A cheaper wi-fi only model is expected to follow next week and will cost £109. The non-touch, non-keyboard version is now the cheapest in the range at £89.

The tech in the Kindle Touch 3G is a little different from the touch screen in a tablet. The e-reader casts an infra-red layer over the screen, and when you touch, the Kindle Touch 3G detects the co-ordinates of your finger position. This means the screen is set low in the case, and if you hold the device while touching the screen, you can actually turn pages repeatedly without realising.

As with the previous 3G Kindle, buying books on the Kindle Touch 3G is free of charge anywhere in the world. However, people who have already used the touch version say it runs noticeably slower, taking more time to turn pages. There’s also the issue of putting fingerprints on the screen which can spoil the ‘paper-like’ look of the letters. Unlike the old Kindle, the Kindle Touch 3G must be switched off to avoid turning pages while the device is in its case, as any fasteners or protruding corners will break that infra-red beam and cause you to lose your page.

Will you be upgrading to the Kindle Touch 3G?

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British company launch £16 Linux PC

April 23, 2012

After months of delays, one of the most stripped down computers in the world has finally been released. Costing £16 for a non-ethernet version or £30 with an ethernet connector, the Raspberry Pi is affordable and accessible and could be the key to getting more people interested in computer programming.

Despite being little more than a circuit board with ports soldered to the sides, the Raspberry Pi has sparked interest among a diverse range of people, including school children, gadget-lovers and hackers. The computer weighs just 45 grams and fits into the palm of the hand, but it is capable of running the same applications as a basic desktop computer. It runs Linux and has an on-board Arm chip, similar to most smartphones, and has ports for TV, audio, USB and HD video, plus 256mb RAM. The ‘top spec’ model has an additional USB ports and an ethernet port. Rather than using a bulky hard drive, the Pi stores data on tiny SD cards, although a USB hard drive can be added.

The computer is manufactured in China but was designed by a British company. The inventors hope to inspire a new generation of innovators, bringing computers back to a more basic and accessible level, and allowing children to experiment with programming and electronics. The device has also attracted a great deal of interest from Linux enthusiasts and attracted worldwide media coverage.

The first batch of Raspberry Pis were shipped via Leeds company Premier Farnell last weekend. Early adopters who ordered through Premier Farnell should receive their bare-bones computers by the end of the week. It’s also possible to order via RS Components. Those who would prefer to have a case on their device should hold out for the second version which will be housed in a basic box.

If you’re curious about what the computer can do, watch this demonstration video by Liam Fraser.

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Twitter taking top spammers to court

April 12, 2012

Twitter Spammers taken to Court

It’s really easy to use Twitter on any smartphone, and the age of mobile devices and tablet computers has really helped the microblogging service to take off. But as with all communication platforms, Twitter has become a target for spam.

If you use Twitter, you’ll probably have received a spam tweet at some stage: particularly if you mention a term such as ‘iPad 2’ or ‘iPhone 4’ in a tweet you send. Some spammers send malicious links as well. Even if you’re smart enough to follow these links or reply to the accounts, Twitter spam can be annoying.

The staff at Twitter are taking their crackdown on spam to the next level. After tweaking the site to cut down on spam before it reaches users, they’ve now announced they’re taking the makers of spamming software to court in order to prevent the messages being sent at all. The five tools they’ve targeted are TweetAttacks, TweetAdder, TweetBuddy, troption.com and justinlover.info. (The latter is a site which promised a way to get Justin Bieber to follow you on Twitter – it has now been taken offline).

Twitter have already filed a case against the makers of five prominent software tools and web applications, and by shutting down those tools, they hope to slash the amount of spam being sent via tweet. Not only will the major toolkits be unavailable, but they hope this definite legal action will act as a deterrent to others.

In addition, Twitter say they have tightened up their spam detection measures, and they’ll automatically scan links to determine whether the destination is a fake web page, a virus or some other kind of malicious website. Twitter emphasise that users should continue to block and report any spammers that target them using the service.

Just last week Twitter announced an upgrade to their Blackberry client, including automatic link shortening and the ability to share your latest tweet as a status message on Blackberry Messenger. The new Blackberry app also allows you to add Twitter account information to your BBM contacts.

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Instagram fans delete accounts as Facebook announces takeover

April 10, 2012

Facebook shocked the world yesterday by announcing a $1 billion dollar takeover of photo sharing app Instagram. It’s the first time Facebook have purchased another start-up, and could mark a new direction in their mobile photo sharing services.

Instagram fans delete accounts as Facebook takeover

Originally only available on the iPhone, Instagram recently caused some controversy among hardcore users by opening up its service to Android phones too. The move was almost certainly a key factor in Facebook’s decision to go ahead with the sale, particularly since Facebook’s own mobile apps have never been well received. Some estimates place the total number of Instagram users as high as 50 million.

Instagram makes no money, much like YouTube when Google bought it at the end of 2006. It has no ads and doesn’t charge for the app, and has relied on investors for income. With only a handful of staff and a previous valuation of $500 million, Instagram’s directors and shareholders are set to reap the rewards of the $1 billion takeover. Mark Zuckerberg has effectively doubled the value of their company overnight. The CEO, Kevin Systrom, is 26 years old and previously worked for Gmail. He also turned down a position at Facebook before it hit the big time, but now holds an estimated $400 million in stocks and cash.

Tech industry analysts are still speculating about the massive price tag; their best guess is that Facebook want to head off competition from the social photography app which has become a ‘safe haven’ for people who don’t want to share pictures on Facebook. Those users are the ones expressing disappointment in Instagram for becoming a part of the social network they were trying to escape, and some hardcore Instagram fans are now deleting their accounts in protest. Mark Zuckerberg has stated that Instagram will not change as a result of the takeover, but only time will tell how Facebook plan to make use of the millions of photographs they now have access to.

How do you feel about Facebook buying Instagram?

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Apple in trouble after marketing iPad and 4G

April 10, 2012

Despite a largely successful launch of the ‘new iPad’, Apple have landed themselves in hot water over some of the claims made in their adverts. After courting controversy in Australia, it looks like Apple could be in trouble in the UK as well – less than one month after The New iPad was launched here.

Apple in trouble over Marketing for The New iPad

The problems revolve around Apple’s claim of 4G connectivity. In the UK, 4G isn’t available, and since no network is ready to launch the new super-fast mobile connection, it may not be available until early next year. But Apple launched the new iPad with marketing material that states 4G connections are possible. In total, 24 people have complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that Apple have been misleading people by claiming that the new iPad can connect via 4G, but the only place Apple can technically claim 4G connectivity is North America. As a result, many retailers in other countries have been careful not to use Apple’s generic promotional displays in their stores in case customers complain.

In Australia, Apple ran an advertising campaign offering ‘WiFi and 4G’ connections, but was investigated and forced to give people their money back if they felt they had been misled. In the UK, we’ll have to wait and see whether the Advertising Standards Authority investigate Apple before we know if refunds will be offered. Since the complaints were first reported, their website has been updated to make the information clearer, but the Advertising Standards Authority could still decide to rule on whether Apple posted misleading information when the product was first released.

If the Advertising Standards Authority say that Apple must offer refunds, that could affect some of the 3 million people who have already purchased the new iPad. However, that’s unlikely to bother the US tech giant: they are now on course to become the first ever $1 trillion company.

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