Smartwatches and other wearables offer big development potential

The future's bright for wearable devices, even if it's a little foggy right now. That's what a panel of experts told a packed room of developers at the first Samsung Developers Conference here on Tuesday. Developers were in attendance primarily because they're interested in what apps they might create for Samsung's Android-based Galaxy Gear smartwatch and future wearable devices. One of the experts on the panel, Han-Shen Yuan, senior director of engineering at eBay, said his company is excited by the potential for wearables, especially those that get email, text and other notifications that can be quickly responded to. EBay has built an app for the new Gear smartwatch that tells auction bidders when they've been out-bid, so they can quickly respond. Yuan said it's too early to know how important the eBay app on the Gear will be, but he said eBay saw a sudden 30% hike in revenue when it first took its e-commerce and auction capabilities to mobile devices several years ago. He also noted that notifications on smartphones are coming so frequently that they become confusing to users, so a smartwatch notification can add clarity. Path, a social network that restricts the number of social contacts to 150 people, believes wearable devices can keep social networking more intimate. Ray Ho, a software engineer at Path who appeared on the panel, said he realized the value of wearables like Google Glass smart glasses when a user held up a baby to take a photo up close, which solicited an immediate response from friends. Another panelist, CJ Cornell, said greater intimacy of connections from wearable devices might sound threatening to older users, but is exciting to young users like college students. Cornell its working with college students on wearable prototypes at Cogswell Polytechnical College in Sunnyvale, Calif. "College students are a group open to lack of privacy," he said, noting how many intimate details they're willing to share on Facebook or other social networks. Cornell said he is 50% deaf, but wears hearing aides that are equipped with Bluetooth technology. That gives him the potential to easily gain personal information -- such as a person's name -- when the person is less than 10 feet away. The ability to share information over Bluetooth, he said, "...is a grand future." Wearable technology might be used to connect to biometrics and semantics-based software that can help interpret emotions -- something that could be useful in many situations, Cornell said. Police are already exploring the use of head-mounted devices that can scan a crowd to interpret faces for evidence of emotions that could be tied to potential violent acts. "Don't bet against any of these crazy ideas" for using wearables, Cornell told the Samsung developers. "There are 1 billion young people willing to experiment with wearables who are being enabled by new hardware and software. People will be doing this stuff." Bluetooth Low Energy, version 4.0, offers the opportunity to place beacons in a shopping mall or other large venue to precisely locate a person -- if wanted -- or be used to offer coupons or special offers, panelists said. A shopper in the men's section of a store might be able to get a coupon for a special deal when entering the department. The low energy features of Bluetooth 4.0 would allow it to work well with small devices with small batteries, like a smartwatch or smart glasses, the panelists said. The potential for geo-fencing on small devices is also getting a boost from Samsung's software development efforts involving Mobile Wallet 2.0 tools available to developers, Samsung executives said. Analysts have said wearable technology is in its infancy, even though several manufacturers, including Apple, are expected to launch smartwatches. Meanwhile, Google has been demonstrating Google Glass for more than a year. The panelists agreed that wearables are just beginning to arrive, but compared their development potential to the early days of e-commerce, which quickly took off. "We're still trying to figure out what's going to happen with wearables," Ho told developers. "Keep building [applications], because we'll eventually hit something powerful." download 2c chicago game gangster old pc download skype call recorder for mac download k lite mega codec pack 2011 64 bits download adobe flash player moi nhat cho chrome download solarwinds network performance monitor download how nimbuzz for pc download flash player upgrade required you must and install download odbc driver for access download docx to pdf converter cnet download most wanted facebook password cracker

Smartphone growth still racing ahead at record pace

Smartphone shipments grew by 9% in the third quarter, a record for a single quarter, which continues a record-setting trend, research firm IDC said Tuesday. The fourth quarter is also expected to be strong for smartphones, which could result in 1 billion smartphones shipping for the entire year, compared with 500 million units shipped in all of 2011, IDC said. The total shipped in the third quarter was 258.4 million, beating the previous record high of 237 million smartphones shipped in the second quarter of 2013. The double-quarter record smartphone shipments in 2013 "show the real momentum of the smartphone market," said IDC analyst Ryan Reith, in a statement. China now accounts for more than a third of all shipments, making it one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets. Prices for smartphones have also declined, largely because of low-cost Android products, IDC said. IDC analyst Ramon Llamas said that after top seller Samsung and Apple ranking second, "a tight race of vendors [is] trying to break out from the pack." He noted in the third quarter that China-based vendors Huawei and Lenovo moved up past South Korea-based LG Electronics, while Coolpad and ZTE, also from China, are not far behind. "Android...has been a huge factor in their success," Llamas said, while noting that Android vendors are also challenged to show how their phones differ from one another. Looking at individual vendors, Samsung shipped more smartphones than the next four vendors combined, shipping 81.2 million smartphones (31.4% of the total) in the third quarter. Apple was second with 33.8 million (13.1%); Huawei was third with 12.5 million (4.8%); Lenovo was fourth with 12.3 million (4.7%) and LG was fourth with 12.0 million (4.6%). When smartphones are combined with other mobile phones, Samsung still leads, with 115.4 million shipped in the third quarter (24.7% of the total), nearly double what Nokia shipped, at 64.6 million (13.8%). Apple ranked third, with its 33.8 million (7.2%), followed by LG with 16.8 million (3.6%) and then Huawei with 14.6 million (3.1%). Overall mobile phone shipments reached 467.9 million in the third quarter, IDC said. The numbers are similar to those reported Monday by research firm Strategy Analytics, which said Samsung shipped more than 88 million smartphones in the quarter, up 55% from the same quarter last year, for a a record 35% market share. download online streaming video software download adobe photoshop cs6 licensing for this product has expired download flock of seagulls i ran link download plants vs zombies dinero infinito sin cheat engine download flash player untuk linux download real football 2014 jar 320x240 download videos from youtube on iphone download itunes 9.2 ipod touch download drivers for samsung galaxy s3 download latest nimbuzz software pc

Samsung kicks off first developer conference

Samsung kicked off its first global developer conference on Monday to a crowd of 1,300 developers. In a broad-reaching keynote, Samsung officials focused on smart TV, gaming, multiscreen innovations as well as developer tools for a recently introduced mobile software developer kit. The mobile SDK includes hundreds of features, such as ways to use a stylus for more precise touch interactions and handwriting within apps and Web pages. There was also an introduction of Samsung Wallet 2.0 for users with smartphones running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and higher. Mobile Wallet can be used by a developer to create a way for users to buy digital content online and eventually for in-store purchases with NFC-ready phones.The wallet will give developers the ability to reach as many as 100 million Samsung account users for free. "You don't have to implement your own complex payment system," said Curtis Sasaki, vice president of the Samsung Media Solution Center in the U.S. While the keynote was intentionally broad, it was meant, partly to entice developers to build apps for Samsung's own application store, which is separate from Google Play, the principle Android application store. Overall, the new mobile SDK has more than 800 application programming interfaces that developers may use for building their own applications. Many of the tools in the mobile SDK as well as SDKs for smart TV and multi-screen innovations will be explained in 50 sessions over the next two days. Injong Rhee, senior vice president of Samsung's mobile communications business, said applications for business users will grow three times faster in coming years than applications for consumers. When Rhee described some features of the Samsung Knox management software first introduced in early 2013, he also admitted that "a lot of people say that Android is not secure." But he quickly added, "I proclaim here that Knox will transform enterprise management." The crowd at the event included many young developers, some working on apps on their own, but many working at larger companies that are building a variety of apps. Two developers working for a Canadian company that builds customer support software for third parties said they were glad to come to the Samsung event, partly because they haven't been able to get tickets to attend Google I/O for Android developers. "I don't want Google to take over everything in Android development, and I don't think Google should be controlling Samsung," said one of the two developers, who requested their names and companies not be identified. download broadband usage meter full version download photo frames and effects software download rise of the video game torrent download picvideo m-jpeg codec gratis download belkin router manager software download google sketchup pro 7 full version download 401k 60 day rule download autodesk sketchbook pro for android download small wma mp3 converter download alcohol 120 1.9 5 build 3823

Flashlight app vendor settles with FTC over privacy violations

The maker of a popular flashlight app for Android phones agreed to settle charges brought by the Federal Trade Commission that it left consumers in the dark about its data-sharing practices. The settlement, announced Friday, requires Goldenshores Technologies LLC to provide a just-in-time privacy disclosure informing users about what, how, when and why their geolocation information is being collected by the company's "Brightest Flashlight Free" app. The settlement prohibits Goldenshores from misrepresenting how consumer information is collected and shared. It also requires the company to specify precisely how much control users will have over the manner in which their personal data is used, the FTC said in a statement. Under the agreement, Goldenshores is required to delete all consumer information it collected through the flashlight app. However, the FTC did not assess any fines against the company for its privacy violations. The FTC said Goldenshores transmitted users' location data and device ID numbers to advertising networks and other third parties without the consent or knowledge of the users. It also accused the app maker of deceiving consumers into thinking they had the option of not sharing their data when in fact they had no control over the data. Regardless of whether users accept or reject the terms of the company's license agreement, the flashlight app would transmit location data and device ID information as soon as the consumer launched the application, the FTC said in its complaint . "When consumers are given a real, informed choice, they can decide for themselves whether the benefit of a service is worth the information they must share to use it," said Jessica Rich, drector of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection in the statement. "But this flashlight app left them in the dark about how their information was going to be used." Goldenshores could not be reached immediately for comment. The FTC's actions are another indication of the growing scrutiny being given to the data collection and data sharing practices of mobile app vendors. Numerous reports of egregious privacy violations by leading mobile application vendors prompted lawmakers to introduce a bill earlier this year that would require vendors to disclose what data they collect and how the data is share, use and stored. The bill, known as the Application Privacy, Protection and Security Act, would give the FTC the power to enforce privacy rules on mobile app vendors. Meanwhile, states such as California have plowed ahead with enforcing privacy rules on mobile app vendors. Last year, California Attorney General Kamala Harris struck an agreement with several leading companies, including Facebook and Google, to make their privacy policies more transparent to users of their mobile apps. The mobile industry itself has tried to stave off regulations via a multi-stakeholder initiative led by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). Under that effort, industry stakeholders, rights groups and Internet marketers are developing a privacy code of conduct for the mobile industry. download plants vs zombies 2 gratis jugar download adobe flash player 9 for for window 7 download the christmas tree david rose download plants vs zombies 2 vollversion pc download ring my bells mp3 download video helper fur chrome download hp laserjet 1020 drivers for windows 7 download shareware mario games that dont need ing download mp3 of whip it by devo download nimbuzz version 3 50

Apple plans Arizona factory that will run on renewable energy

Apple plans to build a components plant in Mesa, Ariz., that will run entirely on renewable energy. It will be Apple's latest move to expand its domestic manufacturing operations. Most of the company's products are made overseas, and Apple has been under pressure to invest at home. The project will create more than 2,000 jobs, Apple said in a brief statement to the IDG News Service on Monday. That figure includes 700 manufacturing jobs created in the first year and about 1,300 jobs in construction and other fields, according to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer. Apple said it will work with Salt River Project, an electric utility in central Arizona, to create "green energy sources" to power the facility. "Their investment in renewable energy will also be greening our power grid, and creating significant new solar and geothermal power sources for the state," Brewer said in a statement. GT Advanced Technologies, a crystal materials manufacturer, said it will own and operate furnaces and related equipment at the plant, where it will employ more than 700 people. GT said it had entered into a multiyear agreement to supply Apple with sapphire material. Apple has said that it would invest $100 million this year in domestic production of Macintosh systems, and that it would make one of its Mac lines exclusively in the U.S. In May, the company said it would make some Mac parts in Texas. download crack serial number for internet manager download convert mp4 to mp3 software download 3 doors down jay z here without you lyrics download itunes music purchased on ipad download vlc media player italiano windows download gifts and curses mp3 download uc browser universal version download angry birds to lg phone download adobe flash player for samsung gt s5620 download flash player 10 apk

Laptop and tablet prices are about to hit their lows for the year

Prices of some laptops and tablets have already fallen, with others expected to drop starting with Black Friday year-end holiday sales in the U.S. this week. Some Chromebook laptops will be available for $199 and some Windows 8 laptops could come down to $250. The price of Windows 8 tablets and hybrids could fall to under $250, while Android tablets could be available for under $100. Laptops Finding a laptop under $200 would have been considered a steal during the holiday shopping weeks last year, but the number of products in that price range has expanded this year. Netbook-style Chromebooks running Chrome OS are the least expensive, while fully functional Windows laptops will cost more. Chromebooks are thin-and-light laptops with limited storage and without a full-fledged OS like Windows. They are intended for people who do most of their computing on the Web, with users likely to use online services for storage. Acer's Chromebook C720-2848 is the least expensive Chromebook, already priced at $199.99. It has an 11.6-inch screen, an Intel Celeron 2955U processor based on the Haswell microarchitecture, 16GB of storage, and offers 8.5 hours of battery life. One possible upgrade is Acer's $299.99 C720P Touchscreen Chromebook, which has similar specifications to the non-touch Chromebook C720, but has a touchscreen and 32GB of storage. Other Chromebooks include Hewlett-Packard and Google's Chromebook 11, which has an ARM processor and is priced at $279. HP's 14-inch Chromebook 14 has an Intel processor and is priced at $299. Deals for fully functional laptops with Windows 8 or 8.1 will pop up sporadically, with some laptops with 11.6-inch and 15.6-inch screens already priced at less than $300. Dell has listed Inspiron laptops starting at $199 for Black Friday and an Asus 15.6-inch laptop is on sale via Groupon for $279.99. Beyond $300 laptops, HP will sell laptops Friday starting at $399. Toshiba is pitching deals for Friday and Cyber Monday. Prices have already been lowered on enterprise laptops and Lenovo is offering discounts on all ThinkPad laptops. Microsoft Store is now selling an Asus X102BA-BH41T Touchscreen Laptop with a low-end Advanced Micro Devices processor for $299.99. The company is also planning further discounts on Friday and there may be deals on its Surface RT tablet, which has been selling poorly. Prices of the tablet could fall to $199.99 at the Microsoft Store, Best Buy, Walmart and Staples, according to enthusiast site Neowin. Tablets Another way to get Windows 8.1 is through small-screen tablets such as Dell's Venue 8 Pro, which is an 8-inch Bay Trail tablet that for a limited time was available for under $230 at Walmart and TigerDirect. A source familiar with the product said the price of the tablet is expected to fall again. The tablet has 32GB of storage, but the Windows 8 OS occupies a lot of that space. Other tablets such as the Asus Transformer Book T100 will be available with keyboards and could fall to under $300 in the coming days. Windows 8.1 tablets with 8-inch screens now cost about $350. For Android tablets, retailer Walmart as part of its Friday deals will sell HP's 7-inch Android tablet called Mesquite for $89. Many Android tablets could fall to under $150, an example being Dell's Venue 7, which is priced at $149, but was recently sold for $127 in a short-lived deal. Lenovo's S6000, an Android tablet with a 10-inch screen and quadcore ARM processor, is already priced at $194. Online deals Newegg, one of the most popular technology retail sites, is running Black Friday promotions and brick-and-mortar stories like Best Buy and Target are also offering online deals. download mp3 ringtone maker full version download facebook exporter for iphoto mac download broadcom management applications installer download crossover for mac 10.5.8 download simple port forwarding pro download skyforce mobile game full version download acer aspire one linux recovery disc download pc tools antivirus software download dynamic dns client for zoneedit download game accelerator 9.0.95 activator