Twitter announced updates to its search function, which will include the addition of “autocomplete, spell check, related results relevant to the search query, and show both real names and Twitter handles for each search,” reports The Verge.
These are part of Twitter’s continued efforts to expand the social network more into the mainstream, especially the displaying of both Twitter handles and real names, “as it tries to ensure regular people don’t have a hard time finding their favorite athletes and celebrities among all the bizarre Twitter handles,” explains the post.
“These updates make search easier on twitter.com, and related search suggestions, search autocomplete and spelling corrections are also available on Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android,” notes the Twitter Blog.
One of the most interesting new developments, according to The Verge, is one that allows users to search for Tweets within a user’s own social circle. Instead of showing results of all “top tweets,” it will only show those search results from a user’s social stream, potentially narrowing a given search.
Much like Instagram and Hipstamatic for the still image, a certain suite of smartphone apps can turn otherwise mundane phone videos into visually interesting and memorable clips. “The secret to great smartphone video is to drown it in canned nostalgia,” writes the Wall Street Journal.
Apps like the Super 8 ($1) and 8mm Vintage Camera ($2) allow for mock-vintage camera actions and effects on a smartphone running iOS. WSJ writes that “those two, while relatively old, are still the best of the many vintage-video apps out for iOS.”
As for Android users, there are fewer options, but still some viable ones. Videocam Illusion Pro ($2) offers “a decent selection of filters, though none are as convincingly retro,” according to the article.
For those uninterested in filtering every video, there’s Filmic Pro ($4) available for iOS, which allows users to control other image aspects like exposure and focus. “Filmic Pro also lets you specify frame rate, dropping the unmistakably digital smoothness of 30 frames per second to a more film-like 24 or 25,” reports WSJ.
There are also editing apps available, such as the Avid Studio for iPad ($5).
Forbes contributor Shel Israel addresses the hype behind Google’s Project Glass and what he anticipates will occur when the glasses become available to third-party developers next year.
“I think that there are very complex unanticipated consequences coming down the line,” he writes. “There are obvious ones such as privacy, but there are also strange ones coming when the technology we use starts becoming our intimate advisor, when machines have personalities and start reminding us of R2D2 and the robots we have known in fiction.”
Israel lists some interesting applications in the consumer, military and medical sectors — and how the possibilities (and implications) will expand when the glasses are connected to big data.
“In short, they will be a multimedia, networked computer that serve as also as a Siri-type personal assistant that you wear in the guise of glasses,” he predicts, adding that the concept is actually part of something larger in personal tech that will eventually impact us professionally and personally.
“Wearable computers are a subset of a larger category — Contextual Computing,” says Israel. “The name may be boring, but the concept is very large and it rests at the point where the SciFi that entertained us yesterday become the essential tools our lives.”
Contextual computing will dramatically affect the way humans work, live and communicate — especially as the technology improves and machines merge more with people.
“Where is it all going? I have absolutely no idea,” concludes Israel. “Are their dangerous unintended consequences looming? Of course there are. Have we hit the point when [Dr. Frankenstein] should not be allowed to create the next sentient monster? Not a chance.”
Google will reportedly make only $15 on each Nexus 7 tablet, according to estimates from research firm UBM TechInsights.
CNET questions why Google would sell the tablet at such a thin profit margin.
“It’s possible that the Nexus 7 has been designed to either snatch away the consumers who are buying Kindle Fires or Barnes & Noble’s Nook tablets, or lure enough of a market share that constructing additional revenue streams based on the use of the tablet becomes worthwhile,” reasons the post.
The Nexus 7 has a higher resolution screen than the Kindle Fire and has a front-facing 1.2 megapixel camera, whereas the Kindle Fire does not have a camera with video chat capabilities.
Analysts suggest the Kindle Fire generates an estimated $46 per sale and a $499 iPad generates $171 per sale.
“If the estimated cost of construction proves sound, then the Nexus 7 must be intended for use in other ways to claw back some of the potential lost profit margin Google has established for itself,” notes CNET. “What has the company chosen? According to reports, online advertising revenues will make up the shortfall. In comparison, Amazon relies on downloaded, purchased content — and does well by it.”
Engadget reviews the Nexus Q, Google’s recently announced social media streamer. The $299 sphere-shaped device is priced higher than similar products from Apple, Roku and even the company’s own Google TV.
Features include micro-HDMI, micro-USB, TOSLINK, 10/100 Ethernet and powered stereo outputs. Connectivity options include Bluetooth, NFC and dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n.
Engadget points out that the Nexus Q is easy to set up, but is generally lacking in functionality when compared to its competitors. The review also suggests the device is in need of a Web-based interface.
“The Nexus Q is an impressive piece of hardware that, given time and a serious augmentation of capability, could mature into a very exciting little thing,” concludes the post. “Right now, though, the Q feels like a high-priced novelty.”
The hands-on review includes two videos and analysis of hardware, setup and performance.
“Overly aggressive ad networks — which can change users’ phone settings, send notifications and/or covertly access personally identifiable information — are present in 5 percent of free apps, according to new research by mobile security company Lookout,” reports AllThingsD.
Lookout also estimates users have downloaded applications including this technology “at least 80 million times, mostly on Android devices,” notes the article.
The security firm explains most developers use the software not because they have malicious intent, but because “they haven’t thought about the implications.”
The article features a chart that offers a breakdown of apps with aggressive ad networks based on specific categories. In order of popularity, the top four categories are: personalization, entertainment, games, and music and video.
Lookout found that “the alleged ‘bad actor’ ad networks — which include LeadBolt, Moolah Media, Appenda and IZP — are most common in personalization apps, to change phone wallpaper or make puzzles,” notes AllThingsD.
The United Nations Human Rights Council has declared Internet-based free speech and free expression as basic human rights. The ruling does not require countries to change their laws, but does establish standards by which countries will be judged.
Eileen Donahoe, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., hailed the decision as “momentous for the Human Rights Council.”
“It’s the first ever U.N. resolution affirming that human rights in the digital realm must be protected and promoted to the same extent and with the same commitment as human rights in the physical world,” she told reporters.
Although China ultimately supported the decision, ambassador Xia Jingge explained: “We believe that the free flow of information on the Internet and the safe flow of information on the Internet are mutually dependent… As the Internet develops rapidly, online gambling, pornography, violence, fraud and hacking are increasing its threat to the legal rights of society and the public.”
The decision puts Internet companies in an interesting position, as some will now expect the companies to promote freedom of speech at all costs.
But the decision does not change the fact that individual countries establish their own Internet laws. Thus, companies will likely continue to operate in accordance with local law.
More now than ever before, it is imperative for small businesses to project themselves from cyber-thieves, even if they have limited budgets.
“Small businesses feel like they’re immune from cybercrime, and they’re wrong,” says Larry Ponemon, chairman of the privacy think tank Ponemon Institute. “They are absolutely on the list of potential targets of cybercriminals.”
Research by Verizon’s forensic analysis unit reveals that of the 855 data breaches worldwide in 2011, 72 percent of those were done to companies with 100 or fewer employees (up from 63 percent in 2010). The small business is a very real target.
“A survey last year of executives at 500 U.S. companies of varying sizes found that 76 percent had had a cybersecurity incident within the past 12 months resulting in the loss of money, data, intellectual property or the ability to conduct day-to-day business, according to the Computing Technology Industry Association, an information-technology industry trade group,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
In many such cases, courts find that banks aren’t responsible for the money lost in cybercrime cases, “which a business client’s computer systems were breached,” notes the article.
“Cybersecurity experts say small-business owners need to do more to protect their firms from high-tech thieves than rely on standard security products,” adds WSJ.
Yesterday, ETCentric reported that the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced it would include a provision to recognize the “limitations and exceptions” to copyright, “consistent with the internationally recognized 3-part test” designed to identify what constitutes suitable limitations and exceptions in regards to intellectual property.
The announcement was made as part of the negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partners (TPP) trade agreement.
Harold Feld, senior VP of Washington, DC advocacy group Public Knowledge offers his take on the proposal through a post on Wetmachine, a group blog on telecom policy, software, science, technology and writing.
Feld suggests this provision was apparently made in response to an anticipated rejection by the European Parliament of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement largely due to objections “trying to force copyright maximalism on other countries” at the behest of the MPAA and RIAA.
“The Hollywood crazy train on intellectual property enforcement now very visibly threatens the ability to get future trade agreements ratified by Congress or by foreign governments,” he writes.
“The anti-SOPA campaign has genuinely changed the way in which IP policy gets negotiated, rather than fading away as memory of the legislation recedes,” notes Feld. “What the ACTA defeat in Europe and the pressure on USTR to shift position show is that the campaign to prevent the further erosion of free expression in the name of copyright maximalism has staying power. It now falls to all of us to ensure that we keep moving things in the right direction.”
CNNMoney contributor Dan Mitchell suggests that the same social media forces that helped stop the proposed SOPA and PIPA bills have also led to the European Parliament’s rejection of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).
The agreement “would have created standards for enforcing intellectual property rights across borders. ACTA would have applied not only to copyrights on media products like music and movies transmitted over the Internet, but also to trademarks and patents,” writes Mitchell. “So it also targeted people trying to move knockoff Gucci handbags and fake pharmaceuticals from one country to another.”
“There are two essential reasons for the widespread public outcry that ACTA has met with: the initial secrecy of the negotiations and the stunning vagueness of the agreement’s language,” he adds. “The negotiations were held behind closed doors, without input from either the general public or from public-interest groups. And the terms were so murky that it was impossible to tell what enforcement tactics would and would not be allowed.”
Opponents were to quick to warn that ACTA would lead to what the Free Software Foundation described as “a culture of surveillance and suspicion.”
The speedy organization of online protests that resulted once ACTA was revealed shows the growing power of social tools such as Facebook and Twitter.
“Politicians and owners of intellectual property would do well to keep that in mind as they try to create enforcement policies,” suggests Mitchell. “A good start would be to more directly target profiteers rather than innocent third parties, and to ensure that any laws or trade agreements adhere to basic democratic principles, such as due process of law.”
Amazon is reportedly developing a smartphone aimed at competing with Apple’s iPhone and Android devices.
Sources say Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Foxconn will work with Amazon. Additionally, Amazon is acquiring wireless technology patents. The sources do not mention what operating system Amazon plans to use to run the device.
“A smartphone would give Amazon a wider range of low-priced hardware devices that bolster its strategy of making money from digital books, songs and movies,” suggests Bloomberg.
“It would help Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bezos — who made a foray into tablets with the Kindle Fire — carve out a slice of the market for advanced wireless handsets,” notes the article.
In a related Bloomberg TV video interview, analyst Victor Anthony suggests the move is not necessarily about competing with leaders such as Samsung and Apple, but rather to provide a thin-margin device like the Kindle Fire.
“I do think it’s the next logical step for Amazon to follow,” he says. “I think what they want to do is really come out with a device that will allow them to increase the number of Amazon Store touch points whereas consumers could actually buy digital media content, they could buy physical goods. I think that’s the focus for Amazon launching a smartphone.”
According to IDC, manufacturers shipped 398.4 million smartphones and other mobile devices worldwide in Q1 2012.
Google has published a patent application for face detection in video, a technique that “uses video frames to generate clusters of face representations that are attached to a given person,” reports Engadget.
That would allow for Google to identify subjects from various angles and “then attach a name to a face whenever it shows up in a clip, even at different angles and in strange lighting conditions,” explains the post.
This could be useful on YouTube, so people could be tagged in uploaded videos. But, as Engadget notes, it could also be used to “spot people in augmented reality apps and get their details — imagine never being at a loss for information about a new friend as long as you’re wearing Project Glass.”
Of course, since it’s only a patent, it’s impossible to tell exactly what Google will do with this technology. But the possibilities are interesting.
Japanese camera maker Olympus has announced yet another prototype for a glasses-mounted heads-up display. The company has been working on prototypes in this space since 2005 and has shown several augmented reality concept devices in the past, none of which made it to market.
“Dubbed MEG4.0, the display features Bluetooth connectivity for interfacing with smartphones and uses Olympus’ own ‘proprietary optical technology’ to maximize the visibility of the outside world,” reports The Verge. “Unlike Project Glass, however, Olympus’ device doesn’t appear to include a camera — an odd choice for a company built on imaging products.”
Features include: QVGA 320×240 display, up to eight hours of battery life, and built-in accelerometer. The small wearable display is designed to fit on most glasses.
“The HMD (Head Mounted Display) renders information using Olympus’ proprietary Pupil Division Optical System, which, according to Olympus, is bright enough to be seen outdoors without sacrificing battery life,” notes Wired in a related post.
For those interested in the development of augmented reality glasses, Wired published an overview in April describing six glasses with integrated displays currently available. The report — which details the Vuzix Star 1200, Recon Mod Live Alpine Goggles, Brother AiRScouter, Epson Moverio BT-100, Sony HMZ T1 and Silicon Micro Display ST1080 — includes images and videos.
Last week, Apple was granted a patent for a head-mounted display apparatus, that if ever produced could compete with the likes of Google Glass.
It was originally filed in 2006 and is titled “Peripheral treatment for head-mounted displays.” The patent describes “how images could be projected to generate a peripheral display that would create ‘an enhanced viewing experience’ for the user,” explains Wired.
It is designed to display video information in front of the user’s eyes. It’s not clear whether the headset would be in the form of a helmet, glasses, visor or other.
Apple’s proposed project could also be used for augmented reality. Wired notes that “in the patent, Apple provides a few examples of where this would be useful: in surgery applications where CAT scans or MRI images could be combined with the surgeon’s field of vision; for military personnel, firefighters and police, who could use the display to show tactical information (see ‘Terminator’); and for scientists and engineers who could benefit from viewing stereoscopic CAD drawings.”
Also within the patent is a description of how video and image information could be received from a portable device like an iPhone.
Wired makes note of the potential Google vs. Apple showdown, saying that “Google’s patent is very specific to Google Glass — it’s for a wearable display with an integrated finger-tracking input sensor. Apple’s on the other hand, seems pretty broad, covering a variety of head mounted display technology implementations.”
In addition to a range of consumer-based products and services demonstrated at the recent Google I/O conference, the company announced some compelling solutions intended for enterprise customers.
“At the top of the list was the launch of Google Compute Engine, an infrastructure-as-a-service product that lets developers run their applications on Google’s high-performance servers,” reports CNNMoney.
“This is an area which is core to us, and we are making a deep, long investment here,” says Sundar Pichai, senior VP for Chrome and Apps. “We think for the long haul.”
“The company also unveiled a few business-friendly upgrades to Google Apps, like the ability to edit documents offline, and the availability of the Chrome browser on Apple iPhones and iPads,” notes the article.
Google now has an enterprise sales and marketing team that is focusing on an evolving market and the crossover of consumer and business.
The company says its Android operating system is showing signs of acceptance in the workplace and the majority of its Gmail customers are now small businesses (five million in the U.S.).
