Monday, June 24, 2013
BlackBerry launches Secure Work Space for Android, iPhones.
Service allows Apple and Android users to keep both personal data and company information separately on the same device.
BlackBerry officially launched a service late Monday that allows Apple and Android users to keep both personal data and company information separately on the same device.
Managed through BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES), the long-anticipated Secure Work Space provides a secure container to keep corporate applications such as e-mail, calendar, contacts, and tasks separate from users' personal apps. The service is designed to prevent data leakage -- including copy and paste -- between the Secure Work Space elements and the rest of the device.
BlackBerry officially launched a service late Monday that allows Apple and Android users to keep both personal data and company information separately on the same device.
Managed through BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 (BES), the long-anticipated Secure Work Space provides a secure container to keep corporate applications such as e-mail, calendar, contacts, and tasks separate from users' personal apps. The service is designed to prevent data leakage -- including copy and paste -- between the Secure Work Space elements and the rest of the device.
Related stories
The module will also create a fully encrypted tunnel to the BES server, ensuring that all communications that originate from the device are secure, even if the Internet connection is not. Clients' IT personnel will also be able to remote wipe the Secure Work Space elements without affecting the personal data or apps on the device.
"With an integrated management console, our clients can now see all of the devices they have on their network, manage those devices and connect to them securely," David Smith, the head of enterprise mobile computing at BlackBerry, told Reuters. "We now also have a secure work space on Android and iOS that allows our clients to secure and manage the data on those devices as well."
The new module is expected to help the handset maker sell high-margin services to clients in which many or all of its employees are using devices sold by BlackBerry competitors. Once the de rigueur instrument of business communications, BlackBerry hopes the new service, along with a trio of new devices, will help it reclaim market share lost to Apple and Samsung.
The module will also create a fully encrypted tunnel to the BES server, ensuring that all communications that originate from the device are secure, even if the Internet connection is not. Clients' IT personnel will also be able to remote wipe the Secure Work Space elements without affecting the personal data or apps on the device.
"With an integrated management console, our clients can now see all of the devices they have on their network, manage those devices and connect to them securely," David Smith, the head of enterprise mobile computing at BlackBerry, told Reuters. "We now also have a secure work space on Android and iOS that allows our clients to secure and manage the data on those devices as well."
The new module is expected to help the handset maker sell high-margin services to clients in which many or all of its employees are using devices sold by BlackBerry competitors. Once the de rigueur instrument of business communications, BlackBerry hopes the new service, along with a trio of new devices, will help it reclaim market share lost to Apple and Samsung.
Friday, June 21, 2013
3D-printed pinhead battery could power robots.
One of the smallest batteries ever, this tiny lithium-ion can store enough juice to power tiny robots or medical implants.
We've seen some very sophisticated 3D-printed objects recently, but never a tiny 3D-printed battery -- one that's as small as a grain of sand, no less.
A group of U.S. and Korean researchers has managed to print a lithium-ion microbattery that can fit on the head of a pin.
Although it weighs less than 100 micrograms, it can store as much power per gram as larger Li-ion batteries used in laptops or electric vehicles. It could even power tiny robots or medical devices.
In a paper published in Advanced Materials, Harvard University's Jennifer Lewis and colleagues describe printing a "3D interdigitated microbattery architecture" with concentrated lithium oxide-based inks.
"Not only did we demonstrate for the first time that we can 3D-print a battery, we demonstrated it in the most rigorous way," Lewis said in a release.
The researchers made two interlaced, five-pronged electrodes by putting down up to 16 layers of lithium-metal-oxide particles. The pair measures less than a millimeter per side.
"The electrochemical performance is comparable to commercial batteries in terms of charge and discharge rate, cycle life, and energy densities. We're just able to achieve this on a much smaller scale," said collaborator Shen Dillon of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
The batteries could be made bigger or in another shape to suit specific purposes, such as helping robotic insects fly.
Lewis has already made 3D-printed antennas, so it can't be too long until we start seeing swarms of printed robot bugs.
As if the real thing weren't bad enough. Check out the video below showing how the battery was printed.
Thursday, June 20, 2013
Instagram, take two: Video is the new picture.
Instagram has video -- 15-second, filtered, camera-stabilized miniature movies, to be exact. But more importantly, with the release, video will finally get its moment in the spotlight.
Thursday, Facebook-owned Instagram added video sharing, giving members a way to capture up to 15 seconds of video and frame their footage, using a filter or automatic camera stabilization, in the best light possible.
Though the product bears resemblance to Twitter's Vine, which allows for 6-second clips, Instagram video comes with the qualities that its built-in audience of more than 130 million people have grown to love: it dramatically improves upon the act of capturing video. It's as if Instagram is repeating history, doing for video what it's already done for the photo by making the medium approachable to the masses.
As Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom said, it's "everything we know and love about Instagram, but it moves."
Sure, Instagram is standing on the backs of Vine and a myriad of other mobile video-sharing services, but such was the case when Instagram first launched with its beautifully simple approach to immediate photo sharing.
"Who would have thought, before Instagram, that we needed yet another camera app?" Gartner Research Director of Consumer Technologies Brian Blau told CNET.
The application didn't invent photo sharing. Instead, it carved out a new category in social networking by making the behavior something that everyone with an iPhone, and later an Android device, could enjoy.
"Instagram mastered the art of capturing something important and making it look as important as it does in the real world," Brian Solis, Altimeter group principal analyst, told CNET.
Three years later, video is ripe for a similar renaissance.To date, video has been the chimera of app makers looking to get rich quick by emulating Instagram. The medium has been a difficult one for technologists to master, Blau said. SocialCam and Viddy, each of which offer people a way to shoot and share short videos, grew rapidly but fell off in popularity just as quickly, in part because both were dependent on Facebook to promote application actions.
With Facebook as owner, Instagram video won't have the distribution problem or user retention issues of the apps that came before it. In fact, the social network is doing its part to promote cross-posted Instagram videos in News Feed by making them as large and arresting as possible. On desktop, Facebook users will glimpse a full-width video in their stream, instead of a thumbnail. And because the clips are no more than 15 seconds and shouldn't induce nausea, people may be more inclined to click to watch, like, and react to the videos their friends share.
"We're finally seeing the dawn of ... mobile video finding a way to help people better communicate," Solis said of Instagram video. "One of the challenges that mobile video has had over the years is that while it's easy to capture and share moments across social platforms, for the most part, those videos were incredibly painful to endure."
Instagram corrects for those issues with instant video fixer-uppers: filters and camera stabilization, the latter of which Solis believes is especially key. People won't have to take Dramamine to watch a mobile video, he said.
The Facebook-effect should also prove quite significant in helping video-sharing from smartphones break out and become as commonplace as photo sharing. The potential is for a cyclical, psychologically rewarding effect where users create and share pleasant-to-view videos to Facebook that generate "likes" and comments, which spawns more sharing and encourages more people to do the same.
Really, Instagram video is Facebook video, and for most social networkers, it'll become the first application they think of when they want to share a life-like mini movie with friends.
Fate of Microsoft's tablet OS in question -- again.
Device makers based in Asia are not keen on Windows RT. That has become painfully clear.
Reports that Windows RT is headed for the dustbin of failed Microsoft operating systems has become a month -- if not weekly -- ritual for Asia-based sources.
This time Digitimes has gone so far to compare RT to the fate of Hewlett-Packard's failed WebOS.
"Microsoft's Windows RT operating system may fall to the same fate as Hewlett-Packard's (HP) WebOS as most brand vendors have already stopped developing related products," Digitimes wrote on Wednesday, citing sources at hardware suppliers.
The last high-profile put-down of RT came from Acer's chairman earlier this month when he wondered out loud whether Acer would continue to make an RT product.
Microsoft has refuted claims about the demise of the OS, saying that Windows RT is a necessary disruption.
And it has been trying to improve its chances for success. Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that Outlook would be part of the OS.
Microsoft is also offering educational discounts for its Surface RT and cutting prices for the tablet in Japan.
A new version of Surface RT is expected to arrive in the coming months too, packing a Qualcomm chip and possibly built-in 4G/LTE -- a first for Surface.
So, what's the fate of RT? At least for the foreseeable future, Microsoft will continue support Windows RT via its Surface RT tablet, lack of enthusiasm from device makers notwithstanding.
Xbox One vs. PlayStation 4.
Here is everything that we know about the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One and how the yet-to-be-released consoles compare with each other.
We've still got about five months before the new Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launch in North America, and already blood has been spilled.
From Microsoft gathering an arguably more impressive stable of exclusive games, to Sony revealing the lack of restrictions on PS4 games and a $100 lower price -- to Microsoft now doing a complete 180 on its DRM policies, this next console launch may be one of the most exciting and brutal yet.
And I can't wait to comfortably watch from the sidelines, praising Thor I'm not in either of their shoes.
Editors' note (June 19, 4:15 p.m. PT): This story has been updated and expanded since its original publication.
Hardware
The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 house very similar silicon inside their respective bodies, with a few key differences.
The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 house very similar silicon inside their respective bodies, with a few key differences.
According to an exhaustive analysis by Digital Foundry, the biggest difference between the two systems' hardware is the type of RAM each uses. The PlayStation 4 uses 8GB GDDR5 RAM, while all signs point to the Xbox One using 8GB of DDR3 RAM. The GDDR5 RAM used in the PlayStation 4 is the same type of RAM used by most PC video cards and is optimized for graphical throughput.
Richard Leadbetter at Digital Foundry speculates that the PS4's GPU could have as much as 50 percent more raw graphical computational power than the one in the Xbox One. That, coupled with its faster graphics memory, may translate into prettier games on the PS4.
Judging from the demos shown at both Microsoft's and Sony's press conferences, it's difficult to say which system displayed more impressive real-time graphics. Both Final Fantasy XV (or is it Final Fantasy Versus XIII?) and The Order displayed incredibly impressive real-time cut-scenes on the PS4.
Possibly better than anything I saw on the Xbox One during Microsoft's press conference, but it's hard to say for sure having not actually played any of the games and having so far only seen them from hundreds of feet away on giant, but not nearly giant enough, screens.
Once I've had some hands-on time with plenty of games this week, I'll do another update on this post.
Check out the chart below for more details on the consoles' hardware.
| Xbox One | PlayStation 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $499 | $399 |
| Availability | November 2013 | Holiday 2013 |
| Blu-ray | Yes | Yes |
| Hard drive | Built-in (500GB) | Built-in (500GB) |
| Motion control | New Kinect (bundled) | Move controller |
| CPU | 8-core x86 AMD | 8-core x86 AMD |
| RAM | 8GB DDR3 | 8GB GDDR5 |
| USB 3.0 | Yes | Yes |
| Wireless | Yes (802.11n w/Wi-Fi Direct) | Yes (802.11n) |
| Gigabit Ethernet | Yes | Yes |
| HDMI | Yes (in and out) | Yes |
| Suspend/resume game support | Yes | Yes |
| Background downloading | Yes | Yes |
| Native gameplay sharing (video) | Yes | Yes |
| Real-time gameplay steaming | Yes (Twitch) | Yes (Ustream) |
Exclusives
To state the obvious: each company's lineup of first-party (self-published) games will be exclusive to its own console. So, as usual, any new Halo, Gears of War, or Fable titles will remain Xbox only, while future Uncharted, Killzone, or Ratchet and Clank games will only appear on PlayStation.
To state the obvious: each company's lineup of first-party (self-published) games will be exclusive to its own console. So, as usual, any new Halo, Gears of War, or Fable titles will remain Xbox only, while future Uncharted, Killzone, or Ratchet and Clank games will only appear on PlayStation.
At its E3 press conference, Microsoft showed many exclusive first-party titles. Key games included Dead Rising 3, Ryse: Son of Rome, Killer Instinct, Quantum Break, Project Spark, Titanfall, and Forza 5. The company also pledged that all DLC (add-on downloadable content) for Activision's Call of Duty: Ghosts would debut first on the Xbox One.
Key exclusive PlayStation 4 titles shown include Killzone: Shadow Fall, Infamous: Second Son, Knack, The Order, The Dark Sorcerer, and 10 new indie titles.
If I had to pick which console has the strongest lineup of exclusive games, the Xbox One would be my choice. The exclusive games shown just felt more exciting than what Sony demoed.
However, the true value of these exclusive titles will depend on how well each plays, so look for further impressions later this week. We'll try to spend as much one-on-one time as possible with each game.
Controllers
The handheld controllers of the PS4 and the Xbox One are evolutionary descendants of the versions found on each respective platform.
The handheld controllers of the PS4 and the Xbox One are evolutionary descendants of the versions found on each respective platform.
The Sony DualShock 4 differentiates itself with a clickable touch pad on the front -- giving developers an additional option when designing games, although we've yet to see it in actual application.
The DualShock 4's body includes a "light bar" in the front that enables motion control functionality with the PS4's Eye camera to track the position and identify where the controller is and, if need be, actually adjust the split-screen orientation during multiplayer couch gaming. The Xbox One will accomplish this with assistance from Kinect, as it automatically tracks who's holding which controller. The DualShock 4 also includes the social-focused Share button, a built-in speaker, and a headphone jack.
The Xbox One uses Wi-Fi Direct to connect its controller, whereas the PlayStation 4 relies on Bluetooth 2.1+EDR. On paper, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR's theoretical 3Mbps maximum speed is clearly outclassed by Wi-Fi Direct's 250Mbps theoretical throughput. However, whether this will result in any tangible difference remains to be seen. In the Xbox One's case, the extra bandwidth could end up being important if Microsoft chooses to release add-ons, like a microphone for voice chat, and an updated version of its keyboard pad. It will be interesting to see which wireless standard delivers more efficient battery life.
While we have yet to touch the DualShock 4, CNET's Josh Lowensohn got some very brief hands-on time with the Xbox One game pad.
Motion and voice control
Every Xbox One unit will come bundled with a second-generation Kinect. While the PS4 will be compatible with Sony's Move controller and new stereo camera, it has yet to announce any plans to bundle them with the system.
Every Xbox One unit will come bundled with a second-generation Kinect. While the PS4 will be compatible with Sony's Move controller and new stereo camera, it has yet to announce any plans to bundle them with the system.
The new version of Kinect will offer a wider field of view, better tracking of individuals (limited finger tracking is now included), and the ability to track more overall bodies. And (frighteningly!) also determine your current heart rate.
The first Kinect never really made a strong impression with hard-core gamers, and it's too early to tell just how developers will make use of the second generation's upgraded features, but since every Xbox One owner will have one, its functionality advantages will be much more integrated into your overall Xbox experience.
The device will always be on and simply stating "Xbox on" will power up your entire system and sign you into your account based on facial recognition. Not to be outdone, Sony says its camera will have similar facial recognition functionality.
More than any other next-generation feature, it's the ability to navigate your entire interface simply with the sound of your voice that feels the most futuristic to me. And by "futuristic" I mean, this is the kind of stuff I envisioned we'd see by this time when I was a kid. Interfaces that bring us one step closer to a holodeck.
Right now it's too early to tell which motion/camera solution will be best, but Kinect may at least be the most ubiquitous. That may inspire more developers to utilize more of its enticing offerings in games.
Nongaming entertainment
Microsoft's first Xbox One event in May was clearly focused on communicating that the Xbox One would be much more than simply a box to play video games on, and began its presentation demoing how the system would integrate with your television.
Microsoft's first Xbox One event in May was clearly focused on communicating that the Xbox One would be much more than simply a box to play video games on, and began its presentation demoing how the system would integrate with your television.
The Xbox One will allow you to switch from game to TV show, to the Web, to a movie, to Skype, easily and smoothly (without switching inputs), with just the sound of your voice. You'll also have the ability to multitask, running games and other apps simultaneously.
The Xbox One will not replace your cable box, but will instead allow you to plug your cable box into it, bypassing your cable company's interface, giving you control of live TV through your Xbox One. You'll even be able to create your own personalized "channel" with the shows and services you choose.
Football fans will see deeper integration with NFL on the Xbox One; however, details on how exactly this will work are few. Look for Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and other streaming services to make a return from the 360; whether they remain behind Xbox Gold's pay wall has yet to be addressed by Microsoft.
The PS4 will not want for services like streaming video, but live TV integration is not currently on the table. You will see streaming video through Netflix, Amazon, Hulu Plus, Redbox Instant, MLB.TV, and Sony's own Video Unlimited Service, which hosts more than 150,000 movies and TV shows to rent or own. Other services like Music Unlimited, Crackle, and Flixster will also be available on the the PS4.
Sony also announced that it's currently working on "cutting-edge," exclusive PS4 programming "developed with gamers in mind." But the company didn't provide much more detail than that.
Community and social
During the PS4 reveal back in February, Sony was clearly putting out different messaging compared with what had come before. While PSN has seen vast improvements (especially if you're a Plus member) in its offerings as of late, you'd be hard-pressed to compare it favorably with the Xbox Live community experience.
During the PS4 reveal back in February, Sony was clearly putting out different messaging compared with what had come before. While PSN has seen vast improvements (especially if you're a Plus member) in its offerings as of late, you'd be hard-pressed to compare it favorably with the Xbox Live community experience.
For PS4, Sony is targeting deep integration into its service. It wants you connected all the time (though neither console-maker requires it; see below). Things like live video chat and Facebook will be natively integrated. When your friends purchase a new game, you'll know, and you'll be able to play new games before they've even finished downloading.
However, the biggest change is the addition of the Share button on the PS4's controller.
Through this button, gamers can broadcast live gameplay, take screenshots, or share videos of their latest gaming triumphs. Your friends will post comments to your screen while they watch you play. If a player is stuck in a particularly difficult section of a game, he can call in an online friend to literally take over his controls. Frustration successfully circumvented, despite a possible bruised ego on the sharer's part.
That's a feature I'll probably never use (see aforementioned tender ego), but I can easily recognize how incredibly cool and useful this could be for many players out there.
With Remote Play you can stream your PS4 game onto a PlayStation Vita. I'm unsure if this will be available for every game, but it does make the PS Vita much more enticing. To me, at least.
Microsoft for its part, has increased its Xbox Live friends list limit from 100 to "all" of them, and achievements are getting a big overhaul. It writes on its Xbox One site that the new achievement system will have "richer detail and span across your games and experiences."
Other Xbox One social features include built-in Skype, the ability to track Xbox Live trends, and see what your friends are playing or watching most. With Smart Match you can look for multiplayer games while spending your time in other apps.
Game DVR automatically records the last few seconds of your gameplay and allows you to upload video of your latest triumph for others to see. The Xbox One fully integrates Twitch's live-streaming capabilities. Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be able to not only live stream their own gameplay -- with the option to add voice or video to the stream with Kinect -- but also watch streams of others as well.
SmartGlass will also be more tightly integrated into the Xbox One.
Apple's low-cost iPhone won't be cheap, says Pegatron CEO.
Has one of Apple's major suppliers just outted the much-rumored low-cost iPhone?
At a shareholders meeting on Thursday, Pegatron CEO T.H. Tung served up one intriguing comment about the so-called "cheap" iPhone, suggesting that the product is real but that it won't be cheap, according to China Times as covered by blog site Macotakara.
Tung said the price of the phone would be "fairly high," though he apparently didn't reveal any specific price ranges. The CEO explained that compared with cheaper feature phones, today's smartphones are able to do so many things that they justify their higher prices.
Apple has been shifting some of its manufacturing work away from Foxconn in favor of Pegatron in part to avoid relying on a single supplier.
Pegatron has reportedly been tapped as the major assembler of the low-cost iPhone, the Wall Street Journal reported in May. Earlier last month, Pegatron said it would build up its workforce by 40 percent during the second half of 2013, according to Reuters, suggesting that the company may be ramping up its factories to prep for the low-cost iPhone.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)