| MobileIron upgrades its MDM offering with a tablet app and enhanced security settings Jul 1st 2014, 13:59, by Juan Martinez 
Mobile device management company MobileIron has launched an app that is designed to enable IT to oversee enterprise devices from iPads and Android tablets. Additionally, MobileIron has unveiled a setting that will allow IT managers to define parameters for workers in order to ensure privacy and security. With the new tablet app, MobileIron Insight, MobileIron would like to give IT administrators the flexibility to control mobility deployments regardless of their own location or tablet device. From within the app, users can access data on which workers are using which device, which carrier they are on, and whether or not their activity is compliant with pre-established restrictions. The tool doubles down on bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies by allowing the policymakers themselves the ability to choose the device on which they perform their tasks. MobileIron Spaces As a new part of MobileIron Core, the company's flagship platform, the MobileIron Spaces setting will allow IT to establish data and task boundaries to protect user privacy, the company said in a statement. The new setting guarantees that administrators can only access mobile data and take actions based on pre-determined parameters. This is built to ensure unauthorized administrators don't view data that they are restricted from accessing. Parameters can be set based on business unit, region, device, and role.        |  | EU roaming charges slashed with data costs more than halved Jul 1st 2014, 12:18, by John McCann 
The EU has cut roaming charges as new price caps come into effect from today which sees the cost of calls, texts and data reduced when abroad. It's data roaming charges that have seen the biggest cut, with prices slashed to 16p per MB (before VAT) - down over 50% from 36p per MB. Text messages have dropped by a pence, from 6p to 5p, while making a call from an EU country back home will now cost your a maximum of 15p per minute rather than 19p. It's also cheaper to receive calls while abroad in the EU, with the price falling from 6p per minute to 4p per minute. Travellers bewareBe aware though that these price caps only apply in countries which are part of the European Union, so if you're travelling elsewhere - Switzerland for example - prices are likely to be much steeper. Three customers can feel even more smug however, as the network has also expanded its 'Feel at Home' service today to 16 countries, allowing you to use your contract allowance of minutes, texts and data abroad for no extra cost. The additional destinations added on July 1 2014 are France, Switzerland, Israel, Finland and Norway - with Italy, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland already part of the service.        | | In depth: Sony Walkman at 35: looking back at the most iconic music player of all time Jul 1st 2014, 11:30, by Ian Morris 
The Sony Walkman is 35 todayToday, the Sony Walkman turns 35 years old. The Walkman is, therefore just a year younger than I am, and I certainly feel like we've grown up together. Since the original Sony TPS-L2 was introduced in 1979, Sony has sold somewhere in the region of 220 million Walkmans, and it's still selling them today. I am not exaggerating when I say that the Walkman was the product that made Sony into a global name. If you weren't there, it's hard to explain just how much those of us who were lusted after the Walkman. From Sony's first models, through to that yellow one you could take in the shower, the Walkman range was THE gadget of the 80s and 90s, and we all wanted one like the kids want smartphones today. More, even. YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xhglauqyG0Walkman memoriesWe're back in time, it's around 1988 and I'm visiting my friend David at his home. We're stood in the kitchen, and David has a Walkman in his hand with a cassette loaded full of Ray Parker Jr's Ghostbusters theme song. He plays me a bit and my mind is completely blown. Not just because of how amazing that tune is, but also because it's coming from a box little larger than the cassette itself. How is this possible? This was life-changing for me, who knows, it might have been one of the things that kick-started my life-long love of gadgets. But before long, David's mother whisks the Walkman away. "It's EXPENSIVE! Don't touch!" The Walkman remained elusively expensive for quite some time, and was out of my reach as a youngster as it was for many people. It was the iPhone of its day for sure. I don't think I got a Walkman of my own until the mid-90s, but I do remember the machine. It had a large, lozenge-shaped play button on a the side, and took two AA batteries which it smashed its way through in no time at all. It was a very cool gadget though, and you have to remember that the combination of a ghetto blaster at home, and a Walkman for going out, meant that you could now record your favourite songs off the radio and take them with you. This was life changing for youngsters of the day. YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbH6njSlhEoChanging music foreverWe were the first generation to be able to do this, and it's not overstating the issue to say it changed music, and how people listened to it. It also scared the willies out of the music industry, which for the first time was facing a threat to revenues from kids with dual-deck home systems making bootleg copies of albums while also recording the Top 40 off the radio to avoid having to buy singles. Anyone in their 30s will remember building compilations on a Sunday night, fingers hovering over a pause button to grab every second of the best songs. And it all sparked a now-laughable "home taping is killing music" anti-copyright infringement campaign. As the 90s went on, and the music CD became the format to own, the Walkman range transitioned to Discman, but soon reverted when Sony realised that the name Walkman had become as recognisable as its own four letter moniker. Walkman was as synonymous with portable music as the iPod would be 15 years later. I had a Discman too and it, along with a copy of Michael Jackson's Dangerous, changed everything. The King of Pop knew how to make a beautifully produced record and CD really was the only medium to listen to that album on. Things started to wobble for Sony a bit in the 2000s, we saw the move to Minidisc, a great format in many ways, but not one most people showed much interest in. The sound quality had evolved, but sadly the process for making compilations was still convoluted and we were back to hovering over the pause button to start recordings. Later on, Minidisc would gain the ability to work directly with computers, and music could be digitally transferred, but it was too late for the format really and despite being loved by those who used it, it was killed by the MP3 player. 
The best Walkman?Of all the music players I've ever owned, the Sony NW-HD5 MP3 player is, without doubt, my favourite. It was a touch illogical, in that it required some utterly hopeless software to work, and files would be copied in Sony's ATRAC format. But the HD5 was perfection in audio terms, the best sound available on an MP3 player at the time - easily beating the iPod. I still have it, it's sitting next to me now and it has battle scars and looks well-loved. I'll keep it as a memento forever. After all this I even went on to own a Sony W800i Walkman phone, and until it broke, it was a brilliant pre-smartphone handset. It was a garish white and orange, but it was a really nice mobile and could store enough music for my commute to and from work. It basically started me and many others down the road to using a phone for music instead of a Walkman, and that has never been reversed. In short, it is the phone that holds the bloodied knife that was used to stab poor old Mr Walkman while he peacefully slept. There are still some cool products coming out with Walkman written on them, too, like Sony' new high-quality players. But really, the stand-alone music player has had its day, and even Apple admits that its phones and tablets are eating the iPod alive. There are lessons here for Apple. Sony went from being the global leader in electronics to making a loss of £685 million in 2008, the year before it made its last tape-based Walkman. It's only just on the mend now, thanks to some more great products, but the product that made it great is effectively no more. Happy birthday Walkman, and thanks for the memories.        | | iPhone 6 display leak highlights 5S dwarfing Jul 1st 2014, 10:19, by James Rogerson 
We've seen plenty of iPhone 6 leaks over the last couple of months, but as yet we haven't seen any images of the actual display cover, however that might have just changed. 9to5Mac received several photos supposedly showing just that. The images were sent by Sonny Dickson, a prolific Apple leaker, and show the 4.7-inch model both on its own and alongside the front of an iPhone 5S. Bigger but similarThe most obvious difference in the iPhone 6 model is that it dwarfs its predecessor, but many other things look the same. The top and bottom bezels for example seem to be a similar size and the overall shape is similar too. 
On the other hand the size bezels are perhaps slightly smaller and there's a new hole to the left of the earpiece. This could just be a repositioned FaceTime camera or it could be some kind of new sensor, which wouldn't be surprising as the iPhone 6 has been rumoured to feature additional sensors. 
Otherwise the device looks broadly similar, at least based on the display panel. The home button cut out is bottom centre as always and the earpiece is top centre. It's worth noting also that the iPhone 6 is photographed in both black and white, so it's likely to arrive in both of those colours come launch. - After something cheaper and available already? Consider the iPhone 5C.
       | | Is this our first look at the Sony Xperia Z3? Jul 1st 2014, 08:26, by James Rogerson 
Sony has gone flagship mad lately, releasing a new one every six months or so, so it's about time we caught a glimpse of the Sony Xperia Z3...and we might just have done that thanks to a leaked image. The photo, posted to Digi-wo, shows the front of a white Sony smartphone and there's not a whole lot to take away from it. It has the same OmniBalance design as many other Xperia handsets but if anything it looks more like the Sony Xperia T3 than the Xperia Z2, though unlike the T3 it's likely to have a glass back. 
There's also a smaller black handset next to the Z3 and that's purportedly an Xperia Z3 Compact, which may mean Sony is skipping over the Z2 Compact. Suspect specsRumours accompanying the images suggest that both the Z3 and the Z3 Compact will have Snapdragon 801 processors, however earlier rumours pointed to the Z3 having a 2.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor, alongside 3GB of RAM and an Adreno 420 graphics chip clocked at 500MHz. Whispers also claim that it will have a 1080p display and a PVD coating, which will give the phone extra scratch and impact resistance. We've heard nothing else at all about the Z3 Compact, but going by the Xperia Z1 Compact we'd expect the specs to be much the same, albeit with a smaller and possibly lower resolution screen. The only release date news we've heard suggests that the Xperia Z3 could be here as soon as August, in which case a lot more information and photos are likely to show up soon. However, it's much more likely to show up at IFA 2014, which was the site of the Xperia Z1 launch - so it could be another phone readying to take on the iPhone 6 in the battle for your pocket.   | | Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini arrives with fingerprint scanner and more Jul 1st 2014, 08:22, by John McCann 
We knew it was coming and now it's been made official - the Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini has arrived. It follows on from the Galaxy S4 Mini and S3 Mini, both of which were a little disappointing as Samsung ditched a lot of the specs of the flagship for these paired down versions. There's good news with the Galaxy S5 Mini however as it inherits some of the biggest tech from its bigger brother including the fingerprint scanner under the home key, heart rate monitor on the rear and the IP67 water and dust resistant chassis. Samsung has also equipped with the S5 Mini with an own-brand 1.4GHz quad-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 4.5-inch 720p HD Super AMOLED display, 16GB of internal memory, microSD slot, 8MP rear camera, 2.1MP front camera and a 2100mAh battery with Ultra Power Saving Mode. It's worth noting that Samsung has dropped the impressive Snapdragon 801 chip found in the Galaxy S5 for its own offering in the S5 Mini. It will be interesting to see how it copes as Qualcomm's latest processor is a solid performer. That's more like itThese are the specs we've seen in numerous rumours, and they are a significant improvement on the S4 Mini which had a 4.3-inch non-HD display, dual-core processor and 1900mAh battery. The Galaxy S5 Mini rocks up running Android 4.4 KitKat, although that's covered in Samsung's TouchWiz UI, and the inclusion of 4G, NFC and Bluetooth 4.0 LE are further feathers in the S5 Mini's cap. The Samsung Galaxy S5 Mini will go head to head with the HTC One Mini 2 in early July in Russia, with global markets to follow. The S5 Mini will be coming to the UK, but release date, price and colour variants will be announced later.        | | The Windows 9 preview may drop this autumn Jun 30th 2014, 19:10, by klee 
Last May we learned the Windows 9 preview could come by early Spring 2015. Now word on the internet street says the preview version of Microsoft's operating system could launch much earlier than anticipated. Microsoft sources told ZDNet that the next version of Windows OS, codenamed "Threshold," will arrive with a preview build this fall. While the preview date has been moved up from a previously rumored February release, Windows 9 is still expected to drop Spring 2015. The same sources also say Windows 9 will have more features designed for desktop-oriented users than Windows 8.1. The new version will rely more on a mouse and keyboard, and touch will become an optional input, rather than a focus. One of the most notable additions, or reintroductions, that reflects this is Threshold's inclusion of the Mini-Start menu. Originally demoed at Microsoft Build 2014, this revamped menu bar will include the usual list of applications. Plus, users will supposedly be able to pin Metro-styled live tiles to the start menu. Transform and log outOn top of being more desktop focused, Windows 9 is said to transform itself based on the hardware it's installed on. PC and laptops will receive a SKU version of Windows that brings the desktop to the forefront of the interface. Transforming laptops, such as the Lenovo Yoga 2 11 and the Surface Pro 3, will start with the Metro splash screen and switch to Windowed mode when the keyboard is in use. Other tablet and phone platforms won't have a desktop at all. Devices might be able to run apps side-by-side similar to the Samsung Galaxy S5. Oh right, Windows 8.1Along with the new Windows 9 details, Microsoft is rumored to be delivering the next Windows 8.1 update this August. Reportedly, this second and final update will come will just a few UI adjustments and tweaks, but nothing majorly game changing. It seems Windows 8.1 is destined to fade away into obsolescence much like Vista. - Seems like the Xbox One is being left out of all this Windows update news
       | | The Windows 9 preview may drop in a few months Jun 30th 2014, 19:10, by Kevin Lee
Last May we learned the Windows 9 preview could come by 2015. Now word on the internet street says the preview version of Microsoft's operating system could launch much earlier than anticipated. Microsoft sources told ZDNet that the next version of Windows OS, codenamed "Threshold," will arrive with a preview build in a few months time. While the preview date has been moved up from a previously rumored February release, Windows 9 is still expected to drop in the first half of 2015. The same sources also say Windows 9 will have more features designed for desktop-oriented users than Windows 8.1. The new version will rely more on a mouse and keyboard, and touch will become an optional input, rather than a focus. One of the most notable additions, or reintroductions, that reflects this is Threshold's inclusion of the Mini-Start menu. Originally demoed at Microsoft Build 2014, this revamped menu bar will include the usual list of applications. Plus, users will supposedly be able to pin Metro-styled live tiles to the start menu. Transform and log outOn top of being more desktop focused, Windows 9 is said to transform itself based on the hardware it's installed on. PC and laptops will receive a SKU version of Windows that brings the desktop to the forefront of the interface. Transforming laptops, such as the Lenovo Yoga 2 11 and the Surface Pro 3, will start with the Metro splash screen and switch to Windowed mode when the keyboard is in use. Other tablet and phone platforms won't have a desktop at all. Devices might be able to run apps side-by-side similar to the Samsung Galaxy S5. Oh right, Windows 8.1Along with the new Windows 9 details, Microsoft is rumored to be delivering the next Windows 8.1 update this August. Reportedly, this second and final update will come will just a few UI adjustments and tweaks, but nothing majorly game changing. It seems Windows 8.1 is destined to fade away into obsolescence much like Vista. - Seems like the Xbox One is being left out of all this Windows update news
       | | Google Glass banned in UK cinemas over piracy fears Jun 30th 2014, 14:02, by Chris Smith 
In a move that will surprise precisely no-one, the UK's cinema chains are banding together to issue a blanket ban on Google Glass headsets over fears they could be used to make pirate recordings. Google Glass Explorers will be asked to remove their specs before entering the theatre or in the case of the Vue chain, when the lights dim prior to the start of the programme. The headset, which only became available in the UK on July 23, is capable of recording video relatively discreetly, although a red light appears on the frame when capturing footage. One moviegoer in Leicester Square, London was asked to remove his specs this weekend when staff were unable to discern whether recording was taking place. Glasshole rule"Customers will be requested not to wear these into cinema auditoriums, whether the film is playing or not," said: Phil Clapp, chief executive of the Cinema Exhibitors' Association. An Odeon representative said the firm was requesting "guests and employees do not wear Google Glasses [...] capable of recording images and video within the cinema auditorium." Google itself has requested users and cinemas to employ the same sense of etiquette as they do with mobile phones. A Google spokesperson said: "We recommend any cinemas concerned about Glass to treat the device as they treat similar devices like mobile phones: simply ask wearers to turn it off before the film starts. Broadly speaking, we also think it's best to have direct and first-hand experience with Glass before creating policies around it. The fact that Glass is worn above the eyes and the screen lights up whenever it's activated makes it a fairly lousy device for recording things secretly."   | |
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