| HTC creates an 'emerging devices' departmenr Jul 22nd 2013, 11:09, by Jay McGregor 
Troubled smartphone maker, HTC, is looking to take the initiative back by introducing a new department. The new department, called 'Emerging Devices', will reportedly focus on developing new products that can catapult it back into the lead of the smartphone war, as well as ""global distribution strategies". The man heading up the new department is the current President of HTC North America, Mike Woodward, according to the Wall Street Journal, which claims to have seen an internal email. HTC: The New ClassThere's no indication of what new products are being worked on, but other changes are happening over at HTC towers. Jason Mackenzie, current head of Global Sales, will be heading up the entire US operation, alongside his current role. HTC is looking to rebuild its backroom operation after a number of very public high-profile walkouts earlier this year, including; Lennard Hoornik, CEO of HTC Asia, Jason Gordon, Vice President of Global Communications, Chief Product Officer Kouji Kodera, Rebecca Rowland, Global Retail Marketing Manager, John Starkweather, Director of Digital Marketing and Eric Lin, Product Strategy Manager. The new executives will have a good platform to build from after decent sales and rave reviews of the HTC One, which TechRadar gave 5 stars.     |  | Apple should be showcasing games not spreadsheets, says Molyneux Jul 22nd 2013, 10:54, by Patrick Goss 
Gaming luminary and former Xbox man Peter Molyneux has challenged Apple to show off games and not spreadsheets when it announces products. Molyneux - who is now focused on app gaming after leaving Lionhead, the company he founded and then sold to Microsoft - believes that the touchscreen is still lacking a defining gaming moment, and he believes there is more to come from Apple and its flagship devices. "When Steve Jobs got on stage and showed me that device that was a moment of near orgasmic excitement," Molyneux told Pocket-Lint in an interview. "It should be the games that Apple show off on stage, not a spreadsheet. We should be able to give people a little window into a world, which they have created. I would love that." Interesting things"The interesting thing about the iPad is that it has done incredible things for music...but there hasn't really been a computer game that really represents gaming on the go," he added. Molyneux is currently working on Godus, a god game that owes plenty to, perhaps, his most famous hit in Populous, but brings a healthy slice of Black and White. "My plan for what it is worth, is to take everything that I've done in the past 20 years and remove all the rubbish...and create an absolutely amazing delightful world that people will be able to interact with in a relaxing and playful way for many, many months." What are the best free iPad games? Check out our top 70.     | | Optus wants your help to build a better network Jul 22nd 2013, 07:13, by Farrha Khan 
Both Vodafone and Telstra have been busy upgrading their networks, and now Optus is looking to crowdsource network information through its OptusNow Android app to help it gather data about areas it needs to improve like signal strength. "As part of our commitment to giving customers the best network experience possible, we're always looking for ways to improve… so understanding actual network experience and making improvements based on this are absolutely critical for us," said Amanda Hutton, head of Customer Experience at Optus. Currently, there are 300,000 Android users that have downloaded the app, but users will need to update the app for Optus to be able to collect the network data. After installation or update of the new version of the app, users will be able to opt in or switch that particular function off. What's the point?The OptusNow app will be collecting network information on areas that may need upgrading, location of black spots, mobile phone faults, call dropout locations and the strength of coverage inside buildings. "Networks are incredibly complex, so this app is designed to gain insight into network experience at an individual customer level, not just the average experience," Hutton said. According to Optus, the app won't collect any information about websites that you visit or other apps that you use, and there will also be no extra data charges for using the app.     | | PayPal goes cashless and cardless in Aussie cafes, bars, restaurants Jul 22nd 2013, 06:17, by Farrha Khan 
Although PayPal has a very large user base, it is starting to see competition in the digital wallet space from Mastercard, which launched its MasterPass earlier this year, and Visa, which just announced its new V.me digital wallet service. But while PayPal doesn't have backing from financial institutions like Mastercard and Visa, it is expanding its offiline payment options by partnering with EatNow, OrderMate and Beat The Q using a mobile app. "As we continue to work in collaboration with other leading entrepreneurs and innovators of all sizes, PayPal's mobile application will increasingly be seen as a destination for consumers to browse local businesses, order ahead and transact at point of sale," said Hill Ferguson, vice president of Global Product at PayPal. Retailers can integrate PayPal's app into their existing point of sale (POS) system, like Kounta, Micros, Island Pacific or Vend, which will allow customers to use their PayPal mobile app to simply "check-in" to the store to pay. The retailer then selects the checked-in customer and confirms the PayPal payment option through their POS. Where can you PayPal?PayPal released its API in November last year, with Sonoma Bakery, Mexican restaurant Guzman Y Gomez, fashion retailer Glue store and educational retailer Crayons the first retailers to implement the new payment system. "Over the last year, PayPal has been collaborating with hospitality and POS companies to provide more flexible and secure payment options for Australian consumers, making it easier than ever to pay how they want, when they want," said Jeff Clementz, managing director of PayPal Australia, in a media release. OrderMate's network of over 1000 cafes, bars and restaurants and EatNow's network of 2000 restaurants will be able to accept PayPal payments as well, while Beat the Q customers will be able to place their orders in advance. Clementz also added that there are currently five million active Australian PayPal accounts, and this new system has meant that Aussies will now have access to over 90,000 merchants both online and offline.     | | Geepers wants to tell you where to go Jul 21st 2013, 23:58, by Farrha Khan 
While Google has shut down Latitude, Geepers is creeping into the geo-location space with plans beyond simple check-ins. With almost any social network, the "check-in" has become a standard, fun feature, but Geepers allows you to store preset addresses and locations under your own directory, so that you could potentially have something like "!TechRadar_Au.Office" or "!TechRadar_Au.Fishing". "!TechRadar_Au.Now" can be used as a check-in style feature for a more immediate way for friends to find you at a particular location. You can choose to share these labels and locations temporarily or for longer periods of time with certain individuals or companies. But Geepers goes even further than that, especially for logistics like courier and mail services. You could send your ".Office" address to a courier services, but if your plans suddenly change, you could change your location to ".Home" using the Geepers app, and the courier company would be informed immediately. Currently, Geepers already has Fastway Couriers signed on, but it is also in talks with postal services and other courier and logistic companies worldwide. The Geepers futureThe brains behind the project, David Whitfield, came up with the idea for Geepers while travelling in China. "Geepers was actually created sitting in the back of a car in China, because the driver wouldn't move until we had the address of where we were going next into his GPS. It's difficult in a lot of the world because the address and the GPS wouldn't really talk to one another," said Whitfield. After a lot of yelling and confusion, he kept thinking that there must be a better way of doing things, and so began the creation of Geepers. "We are to the real world what domain names are to the internet," said Whitfield. The future for Geepers, Whitfield explained, goes beyond personal addresses for delivery purposes, or simply being able to find friends at a restaurant or public place, as businesses can sign on and have their physical presence placed on the map as well for easy location by customers. "Geepers is the future of business locations and addresses, delivering significant commercial efficiencies for the logistics industry in particular, and will become a significant tool in location based marketing." Digital address bookLaunched in Sydney last week, the Australian startup is backed by incubator BlueChilli and Internode founder Simon Hackett. Currently, the service is only available through web browsers, but the team is working on an app that is set to be launched in August. Key backer, Hackett sees the potential uses for Geepers to expand from beyond the personal check-ins or the logistical delivery uses, and instead challenge the roles of the Yellow and White Pages. "Geepers has the potential to become the most popular way that internet users will dynamically and accurately locate the people, places and things that matter to them, anywhere in the world," said Hackett. "I for one would love to be able to keep all my contacts appraised of changes in my life, by simply having my Geepers identity represent a dynamic link of personal information beyond physical position."     | | 'We can spy on you,' says mobile expert who can hack SIMs with texts Jul 21st 2013, 16:24, by Chris Smith 
A mobile security expert in Germany claims to have discovered a flaw in mobile SIM encryption technology that allows him to hack in to a phone, eavesdrop on calls and even make mobile payments. Karsten Nohl, founder of Security Research Labs in Berlin, said he has been able to obtain the 56-digit digital key, which allows SIM data to be modified, simply by sending a virus to the device via text message. Nohl told the New York Times that it took just two minutes to complete the hack and estimated that up to 750m mobile users would be vulnerable to the attack if the method was uncovered by malicious parties. He told the 'paper: "We can remotely install software on a handset that operates completely independently from your phone." "We can spy on you. We know your encryption keys for calls. We can read your SMS's. More than just spying, we can steal data from the SIM card, your mobile identity, and charge to your account." ImplicationsNohl has reported the findings of his study to the GSM Association and will present the research in full on August 1 at the Black Hat computer hackers' conference in Las Vegas. He has also advised chip makers to improve their technology in order to block the messages he was able to send to infiltrate devices. A spokesperson for the GSM Association responded: "We have been able to consider the implications and provide guidance to those network operators and SIM vendors that may be impacted."     | | Mozilla promises 'most aggressive' release schedule for Firefox mobile OS Jul 21st 2013, 15:55, by Chris Smith -470-75.JPG)
The Firefox web browser is known for pushing out updates quickly and it looks like Mozilla is committing to the same release schedule for its new mobile OS. In outlining the company's strategy this weekend, Alex Keybl, Mozilla's Manager of Release Management promised significant quarterly updates to the Firefox mobile OS. Now version 1.0 of the would-be iOS and Android contender is out of the gate, the company said it also plans security updates every six weeks. In a post on the Mozilla blog Keybl said: "Now that we have our v1.0 behind us and we're moving forward with even more partners, we're going to do our best to bring Firefox OS back into our heartbeat and will make quarterly feature releases available to partners along with six-weekly security updates for the previous two feature releases." EmergingHe added that the strategy will easily outstrip other OS-makers in the mobile space: "As far as I know, that's the most aggressive mobile OS release strategy out there (and may still require some tweaking). "This sort of alignment across multiple browser products, and now an OS, is unprecedented at the pace we're moving. Keep it up, Mozillians." Handsets running the Firefox OS are now rolling out in emerging markets, with 16 countries targeted for launch this year. It is unlikely to be available in the U.S. or the U.K. until 2014. The likes of Sony, ZTE, LG and Huawei have already committed to building handsets for the platform.     | |
No comments:
Post a Comment