Unity and SteamVR Unite for Native Vive Support

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Unity-and-SteamVR-Unite-for-Native-Vive-Support-83116.html

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By Quinten Plummer 

Feb 16, 2016 10:21 AM PT

Unity Technologies last week announced that the Unity Platform has been retooled to offer native support for SteamVR, the software foundation for Rift rival HTC Vive.

The move will save effort and resources, whether developers build made-for-VR titles or merely build virtual reality support into traditional games.

In addition, Valve, the company behind Steam and SteamVR, introduced an advanced rendering plug-in developed for Unity.

Because Valve has been a major player in the game industry, it was clear that supporting SteamVR would be a part of Unity's strategy, Unity spokesperson Marcos Sanchez said.

"From the macro level, bringing developers access to all the major platforms and operating systems -- Oculus, Google, Sony, Microsoft with HoloLens, and now Valve -- we open the potential for success by broadening the audiences they can reach," he told TechNewsWorld. "We want to solve the hard problems for devs so they can focus on creating amazing games and experiences."

AR and VR in Focus

Unity Technologies has been baking general VR and augmented reality support into the platform, according to Sanchez. A big portion of its 400-plus engineers have been focusing exclusively on developing AR and VR content.

"Unity is recruiting some of the most talented folks from the most specialized, high-end game companies in the world to make Unity better," he said.

"Palmer Luckey of Oculus recently noted, at the Vision AR/VR Summit, that over 90 percent of the content created for Samsung's GearVR was made with Unity, which is a staggering amount," Sanchez added.

Battle Lines

The gold rush isn't quite on, as established players in the video game industry have, so far, dispatched prospectors into VR territory. However, game makers have been stepping up their efforts to explore VR, as there's a growing consensus in the industry that VR is for real this time.

It's a huge risk to appropriate too much of a company's resources for a nascent, untested sector of the market, but the game industry started to rally around VR, and alliances will start to emerge as a result, according to Joost van Dreunen, CEO of SuperData Research.

"Everybody knows that they can't all have a successful platform of their own and that the market will, at least to the extent that history is a reliable guidepost here, eventually settle on two or three devices," he told TechNewsWorld.

To mitigate the risk of betting on VR, companies understand how important it is to integrate their technologies with other groups and to "play nice early on," noted van Dreunen.

"Especially considering the active indie development community around Steam, it makes a lot of sense for Unity and Valve to team up. In the early stages of a new platform, offering an innovative, killer application is key to stimulate consumer adoption," he said.

For Unity's part, it's hedging its VR bets on "one of the most powerful game delivery systems," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

"Unity's support of SteamVR assures they will remain a popular and powerful developer platform if and when VR becomes as popular as it is expected to become," he told TechNewsWorld.

Take My Wallet Now

The budding VR industry that has taken form over the last few years may invoke memories of the early days of the video game industry.

Google's Cardboard kit and Samsung's purpose-built Gear VR adapter offer low-end VR solutions, relying on consumer handsets to serve as the displays for their headsets. The experiences on Cardboard and Gear VR can be compared to the Nintendo Entertainment System, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Genesis era.

Meanwhile, Facebook's Oculus VR, HTC's Vive and Sony's PlayStationVR headsets are reminiscent of the era of Nintendo 64, PlayStation One and Xbox One.

There has been a decade and a half between the Super Nintendo and the HTC Vive and more 30 years between the first game console and the Xbox One.

VR development has been moving at light-speed compared to the industry's past progress, but VR takes a step back in graphical fidelity, as it takes more power to process two scenes, one for each eye, at 90 frames per second.

It may take some time for full-on VR to emerge, according to SuperData Research's van Dreunen.

"After watching the keynote at Vision Summit, I agree with Unity's CEO, John Riccitiello, that the first few years we will see a slower pace in overall market growth as the industry gets itself organized," he said.

The sticker shock of the US$599 Oculus Rift helped put expectations into perspective. That price point has attracted tech-savvy early adopters but has turned off mainstream gamers who expected the headset would cost around $300 based on early reports.

"Once that establishes itself," said van Dreunen, "VR will become more generally available and accepted, at which point the market will accelerate its growth in terms of revenues." 

Mattel's 3D Printer Will Let Kids Do More Than Play With Toys

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Mattels-3D-Printer-Will-Let-Kids-Do-More-Than-Play-With-Toys-83115.html

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Mattel last week announced that it is giving its ThingMaker a high-tech makeover by equipping it with 3D capabilities.

Using the original 1960s iteration, children could create small toys, such as dragons and flowers, by pouring liquid plastic into molds, which were heated and cooled.

The updated ThingMaker was designed in partnership with Autodesk, which created the 3D app that works in tandem with the printer. The app and printer will let children design, create and print their own toys.

"We initially announced our collaboration with Mattel back in April 2015 to provide an experience for kids and families where they could combine physical toys with a digital making adventure," said Jennifer Gentrup, spokesperson for Autodesk consumer and 3D printing.

"So, Autodesk helped develop the ThingMaker design app for Mattel, and the app was launched with Mattel's printer," she told TechNewsWorld.

The printers, slated to hit shelves in the fall, can be preordered from Amazon. The price is expected to be US$299.99, Mattel said.

How It Works

The app will provide kids with a couple of ways to make their own 3D-printed objects. For example, they can choose one of the templates included in the app, or they can come up with something unique, using hundreds of parts available.

The parts, or 3D files, then are sent to the printer where they are printed in batches and ultimately assembled using ball and socket joints, Mattel said.

The 3D ecosystem for kids is a response to a quickly growing 3D printer market. Companies like Barnes & Noble are selling relatively inexpensive models, priced at about $350 to $400, in stores and online.

What Can Parents and Kids Expect?

How do the toys to measure up in comparison with other 3D printers?

Most desktop models, like the kind available in stores today, are inferior to their industrial or business-oriented counterparts.

The most common type of desktop printer is a fused deposition modeling printer, or FDM, according to Max Mittler, an executive assistant at Solid Prototype.

"There are so many different types of printers out there, but if you print using a desktop printer, then you're going to get FDM printing," he told TechNewsWorld.

"For those types of printers, you're going to see the little build lines. It won't be smooth. That's because of the method the 3D printer uses. Ours uses a liquid resin, which lays down full layers at a time which creates solid models. FDM printers, on the other hand, will create a 2D with a support built inside," Mittler said.

In addition to the lack of smoothness, desktop models won't be able to produce the level of detail more sophisticated printers can.

"The biggest difference is going to be in what we call 'resolution.' We use PolyJet printers (stereolithography, or SLA), so it looks just like an injection-molded part. It's got a smooth finish," Mittler added.

It makes sense that Mattel would create a 3D printer for kids, he noted.

"This is definitely a natural progression for 3D printing," Mittler said. "It's become more and more popular. Most of our customers already have their own 3D printers at home." 

AT&T Jumps Into the 5G Race

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/ATT-Jumps-Into-the-5G-Race-83114.html

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AT&T on Friday announced plans to start testing 5G technology, with a possible limited commercial rollout before the end of 2016. 5G offers the promise of besting the speeds of today's fastest wireless networks by a factor of 10 to 100, through the use of millimeter waves, network function virtualization, and software-defined networking.

Through a collaboration with Ericsson and Intel, AT&T will be ramping up its efforts to bring 5G to market starting in the second quarter of this year. The planned tests follow extensive research, patent filings, and the development of software-defined networking, which allows AT&T to update systems without touching the hardware -- a faster, more efficient method of introducing new versions of programs and technology, the company said.

Bumps in the 5G Road

The race to 5G isn't without its challenges, however. It's no small feat to create a working fixed broadband network that delivers at least a gigabit of speed to consumer and business customers.

"Some of the things AT&T will be testing for are power and performance in rain or other disruptive weather conditions, like cold," said Fletcher Cook, AVP of global media communications at AT&T.

"If it goes well in the summer, you could start seeing point-to-point limited commercial availability for limited fixed broadband soon after," he told TechNewsWorld.

However, "that isn't for the wireless phone, wide-area network type 5G," Cook pointed out. "That's much longer term, because we have the standards that need to be sorted."

AT&T is working diligently with IEEE to establish uniform standards, he said. "The standards piece is the biggest hurdle. Identifying how networks between carriers will work and how those standards are set are two things we've got to figure out."

Driving Forces

Advances in new technologies, coupled with the rise in using smartphones for bandwidth-gobbling video consumption, are propelling AT&T and other companies to get 5G networks up and running.

"The combination of connected cars, the Internet of things, speed, and new technology like virtual reality is driving this," Cook said.

Marketing agencies also are jumping on the new tech bandwagon.

"Ever since CES, especially, the stage has been set for 2016 to be the year virtual reality becomes a household name," Cook noted. "It's become a checkbox for marketers and creative directors to have in their marketing strategies. For example, there are a lot of Fortune 500 brands that are making content for YouTube360, Facebook360 and Little Star; this is a new way to get their message out."

The trick will be finding enough bandwidth to seamlessly deliver all that content. As more and more people are investing in affordable means of watching VR content -- like Google Cardboard which requires only a viewer (priced as low as US$6.99) and a smartphone -- the demand for faster speeds and more bandwidth is growing exponentially.

"Streaming a lot of virtual reality content requires a lot of bandwidth," observed Austin Mace, CEO of Subvrsive.

"The introduction of a 5G network would definitely accelerate the mass adoption of virtual reality because it gets content to people faster," he told TechNewsWorld. "One of the biggest bottlenecks we face in live-streaming VR content is data speeds, so I can see this really alleviating that." 

India Trades Free Basics for Internet Freedom

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/India-Trades-Free-Basics-for-Internet-Freedom-83092.html

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By Richard Adhikari
Feb 9, 2016 2:38 PM PT

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India's Telecom Regulatory Authority on Monday ruled in favor of Net neutrality, effectively banning Facebook's Free Basics Internet access app.

"This is a very important decision for the future of the Internet in India," said Barbara van Schewick, director of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, whose paper the TRA cited in its ruling.
The TRA decided "ISPs should not pick winners and losers online," she told the E-Commerce Times. "The Internet is a level playing field where users, not ISPs, decide what they want to do online."
"Our goal with Free Basics is to bring more people online with an open, nonexclusive and free platform," said Facebook spokesperson Derick Mains.
His comments echoed CEO Mark Zuckerberg's reaction.
"While disappointed with the outcome, we will continue our efforts to eliminate barriers and give the unconnected an easier path to the Internet and the opportunities it brings," Mains told the E-Commerce Times.

The TRA's Ruling

Differential tariffs may make overall Internet access more affordable, expanding and accelerating Internet access, but they also classify subscribers based on the content they want to access, according to the TRA.
Such classification "may potentially go against the principle of non-discriminatory tariff" and disadvantage small content providers, the ruling states. Further, telecom service providers, or TSPs, may promote their own websites, apps or services platforms by offering lower rates to access them.
Unlike traditional markets where producers and consumers are distinct, Internet users are also content producers, the TRA said.
Also, every service provider is dependent on other networks, and no one TSP controls the entire Internet infrastructure, so allowing a provider that "is at one edge of the Internet to charge differentially for data that it does not alone process, could compromise the entire architecture of the Internet itself" and could alter the openness of the Internet, the ruling says.
"In India, given that a majority of the population are yet to be connected to the Internet, allowing service providers to define the nature of access would be (the) equivalent of letting TSPs shape the users' Internet experience," it continues, and this "can prove to be risky."
Letting TSPs charge differential rates on a case-by-case basis -- an option van Schewick's paper addresses -- "creates substantial social costs," notes the ruling.
Therefore, offering or charging discriminatory tariffs for data services based on content -- directly or indirectly, through refunds or other means -- is prohibited, the TRA ruled. However, it's OK to provide limited free data that lets users access the entire Internet.
"If ISPs really want to get more people online, they can, for example, offer 500 MB of bandwidth to everyone at 2G speeds, but what people do with that bandwidth is their choice," van Schewick said.

Arguments for Free Basics

More than 80 percent of Indians polled supported Free Basics, according to a Facebook-commissioned survey conducted last year.
However, only about 3,100 adults across the country, all of whom reportedly were Internet users, responded to the survey.
Only about 19 percent of Indians -- more than 243 million people -- have access to the Internet, according to Internet Live Stats.
"Statistical validity can only be assumed for truly random surveys," said Mike Jude, a program manager at Stratecast/Frost & Sullivan. "It starts from a constrained population that's defined by Internet use."
Still, "you should only regulate something once you have it," he told the E-Commerce Times. "Regulating preemptively only ensures that the thing being regulated never happens. People vote with their feet when they have to pay."
On the other hand, zero rating is "a dangerous approach," noted Jeremy Malcolm, senior global policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
It often "reduces competition, diverts users toward already-dominant Internet services, and creates the potential for censorship, and privacy and security problems," he told the E-Commerce Times. "We hope it will encourage Facebook and its partners to examine other ways to bring the Internet to India's poor." 

Smart Email and the Path to Digital Immortality

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Smart-Email-and-the-Path-to-Digital-Immortality-83079.html

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By Rob Enderle
Feb 8, 2016 5:00 AM PT

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I attended IBM Connect last week, where I checked out one of the most interesting products you've likely never heard of -- a new email offering called "IBM Verse." While there was a lot of discussion about how it better integrated social networking, what really intrigued me was the idea of putting cognitive computing inside an email client.

"Cognitive computing" is the new way of saying "artificial intelligence," because, you know, the industry likes to change terms every once in a while just to mess with our heads. Regardless of what it's called, thinking email could be incredibly powerful.
I'll close with my product of the week, which has to be IBM Verse, the fascinating email product that focuses on the user. If I don't tell you about it, you'll likely never hear of it.

Email That Thinks

A lot of what we do with email is repetitive. That's why executives in the past rarely handled their own correspondence; their secretaries would do it for them. Secretaries, apprentices or assistants set up meetings, offered birthday wishes, responded to inquiries -- even sent direct messages. They often still do, which makes those roles especially powerful.
The fact is, if you get an email from a politician, chances are pretty good that it wasn't written by that politician. It might not have been written by a human at all -- but rather by some machine regurgitating the same text over and over again, mostly to annoy us.
If you could make an email system smart, it could do not only what secretaries used to do, but also a whole lot more -- and likely better. You see, a human assistant typically would not be privy to all of your email or other expressions of your thoughts. An assistant might not know all of your friends or family, and certainly wouldn't be well versed in your private and personal life.
An email system generally will handle most all of your daily correspondence, though, and if it were a smart email system tied into social networking, then over time, it likely would come to know you better than you know yourself.
As it gained insight, it not only could prioritize messages and automatically handle tasks like setting and changing appointments, but also could begin to respond for you, if you let it. You could opt to increase its responsibilities with your oversight.
Such a system could remove email as a chore for most of us, eliminate virtually all repetitive emails, and even allow us to be more accurate when dictating responses to email over our phones while driving. We could just give a command to write a response with key elements and let the system do the rest.

Valuable Advice

One of the big advantages of an intelligent email system would be dynamic advice. The system would be reading an email as it was created. If you're like most of us, from time to time, you have written an email you later regretted sending. Through routine monitoring, a smart system could make suggestions on how to alter tone and reword a message to better accomplish your goal, or just notify you that what you're writing could be deadly to, pick one, your career, marriage, relationship, safety or freedom.
I imagine that type of feature would be pretty useful on Twitter. In any case, it not only could act in your stead, but also could help you communicate more effectively and either keep you out of trouble or perhaps intercede after the fact.
Take this hypothetical alert, for example: "Email was not sent. It was determined that the racially and sexually insensitive material you were about to send to everyone in the company would result in a catastrophic response you may have not considered. Oh, and you forgot to capitalize Assh*le." Could be incredibly valuable by itself.

Digital Immortality

Let's push the envelope a bit. There are a number of projects designed to create an immortal digital concept of a person -- a digital avatar, if you like. At the core of these projects is some process to capture what makes every person unique. The easiest way to do that would be to mine a person's email for insights into personality, speech patterns, history and knowledge.
By increasingly being able to emulate someone, a smart email system eventually could create a decent digital clone that initially could interact over email, and perhaps with a good sound sample from the individual and the right speech integration, also do a pretty decent job of vocal emulation.
Imagine being able to send an email to a company founder who has died, asking for advice on a question of strategy or direction. Granted, the system might stay a bit stuck in time, given that it wouldn't be able to create the source's response on issues that were unknown during the individual's lifetime, but enhancements over time likely could emulate those responses as well, creating a thinking, learning, growing version of the departed executive.
Let's take Steve Jobs, for instance. I'll bet Apple's executive staff would like to have a chat with him from time to time, and if the Steve Jobs avatar were made visible, it likely could not only launch new products, but also interact with an audience.
Much of the email correspondence that would make such a thing possible still exists, and there is a chance that a digital version of Steve could be created from those records at some future point.

Wrapping Up: Email Smarter Than You Are

It does strike me that with smart TVs, smart cars, smartphones, and now smart email, there could come a time when we may not be smart enough ourselves, and we'll need a significant upgrade.
Until then, things like smart email could serve as the bridge that frees up our time and keeps us from doing certain incredibly stupid things, like writing an email while angry.
Still, I can' t help but wonder how long it will be before one of those smart things decides we're too stupid to interface with it.

Like a lot of you, I live in email. However, we really haven't seen much of an improvement in email since Outlook was launched in the 1990s. Granted, that's in large part our fault, as we really don't like change much. Still, it is well past time that someone came up with a very different idea.
What IBM Verse does is funnel your email accounts and social network feeds into one client. It then learns to organize your communications based on priority. No more last in first out -- you see your important stuff up front and can blow off your unimportant stuff more easily.

IBM Verse

IBM is adding cognitive capability to the product, but it is far less capable than the imaginings I indulged in above. Right now, it can provide assistance with the tone and structure of an email you're drafting, but as Watson becomes more capable, I expect that enhanced capabilities are in its future.
You have to see this product to appreciate it, though, as it would change your email experience substantially, and it could make you far more efficient and effective in handling written communications.
Ironically -- at least for me, given that one of the projects I worked on while at IBM was voice mail integration with email -- it doesn't have that feature. Still, in most other ways it is a huge step forward in how email is handled. Because IBM Verse rethinks email, and I live in email, it is my product of the week. 

A Look Inside How ESPN Gets Ready For Super Bowl 50

http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/06/a-look-inside-how-espn-gets-ready-for-super-bowl-50/

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ESPN Live Behind The Scenes Tour

Before it’s made apparent by my remarks, I don’t know jack shit about football. I can watch a game with a Bud Light in hand and unassumingly make my way through a plate of snacks and know when the right time to yell at the ref or give a high five is, but eh it’s not my thing.

What I was really interested in when I rolled into ESPN’s Marina Green mobile studio in San Francisco was what actually went into putting on a production like this that would undoubtedly be the go-to analysis for millions of fans. I wondered what went into choosing the location and, in a city like San Francisco, what sort of community interactions took place to get the studio invasion okayed. I also was curious how many people it really took to get the production up-and-running.

When I grabbed my security credentials and walked into the open-air studio on the edge of the San Francisco bay, it was clear that this was a huuuge production.

Famed football players moseyed through the sets as dozens of fans outside of the barrier gaped at athletes I didn’t recognize. Someone jovially shouted “Hey, who is that guy?” as the all-to-knowing crowd guffawed because this celebrity was really THAT famous. Meanwhile I stood there, phone in hand sending snapchats of the stars (?) to my football-loving buddies who replied with jealous hatred.

Beyond the select few “talent” and their interview subjects who were present, there were dozens and dozens and dozens of production crew members. Most of these people were buzzing from set to set while others took their union-required breaks to check out some of the takes being prepped for the more theatrical commercial bumpers.

The exciting thing about the pop-up studio is that at any given moment there was something going on that was streaming live to living rooms across the country and everyone there had a piece in how that process took place. Equipment was being misplaced, takes were stretching on for hours and someone’s whereabouts was always being inquired about. But the crazy thing is that even with the uncertainties caused by covering this massive event on foreign turf, the staff rolled through beaming its coverage and made it apparent what a well-oiled machine this production was.

Graphene Shows Promise For Brain Implants

http://techcrunch.com/2016/02/07/graphene-shows-promise-for-brain-implants/

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Graphene, the super thin carbon material that’s been exciting scientists in the decade+ since single-atom thick graphene crystallites were successfully extracted from the bulk material, continues to give hints of a promising future blending electronics and biology.

In a new study, conducted by researchers at the Cambridge Graphene Centre and the University of Trieste in Italy, and published in the journal ACS Nano, the suggestion is it could be used to make highly effective, flexible brain implants in future — biodevices that avoid the loss of signal problem associated with the scar tissue that can form around modern electrodes made from more rigid substances, such as silicon and tungsten.

Point is, human brains are made of soft tissue so it helps if your electrodes can flex too. Graphene is also considered to have excellent biocompatibility properties (although research into potential toxicity is not conclusive at this stage).

The implication of the Cambridge-Trieste research is that graphene-based electrodes could, in future, be safely be implanted in the brain — offering promise for the restoration of sensory functions for amputee or paralysed patients, for example, or to help individuals with motor disorders such as epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease. So the future potential being glimpsed here is pretty exciting — albeit, theoretical and a long way out (plus, it should be stressed, the successful experiments were also conducted on rat brain cultures).

The researchers note that previously other groups have shown it is possible to use treated graphene to interact with neurons in the brain, however the problem with using treated graphene was the signal to noise ratio was very low. Working with untreated graphene retains the material’s much lauded electrical conductivity — resulting in a significantly better electrode. And one that was seen to interface well with rat neurons.

“For the first time we interfaced graphene to neurons directly,” said Professor Laura Ballerini of the University of Trieste in Italy, in a statement. “We then tested the ability of neurons to generate electrical signals known to represent brain activities, and found that the neurons retained their neuronal signalling properties unaltered. This is the first functional study of neuronal synaptic activity using uncoated graphene based materials.”

The scientists couch the research as a “first step” towards using pristine graphene-based materials as an electrode for a neuro-interface. So again, graphene-based biodevices aren’t going to be coming to CES next year — perhaps in a couple of decades…

They say their next steps will be to investigate how different forms of graphene are able to affect neurons, and whether tuning the material properties might alter the biological response (in terms of synapses and neuronal excitability).

“Hopefully this will pave the way for better deep brain implants to both harness and control the brain, with higher sensitivity and fewer unwanted side effects,” added Ballerini.

Google Strikes Back at Ad Blockers

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/83081.html

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By John P. Mello Jr.
Feb 6, 2016 10:00 AM PT

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Google this week reportedly pulled one mobile ad blocker from the Google Play store and prevented another from being updated.

The moves come on the heels of Samsung'sannouncement this week that it was opening up its mobile Web browser to ad blockers.
AdBlock Fast, which was one of the first blockers to take advantage of Samsung's largesse, reportedly was tossed from Google Play.
Rocketship Apps, the company that makes AdBlock Fast, did not respond to a request for comment for this story, but CEO Brian Kennish told TechCrunch that Google cited Section 4.4 of the Android Developer Distribution Agreement as the reason for sacking the app.
That section bars developers from releasing apps that interfere with "the devices, servers, networks, or other properties or services of any third party including, but not limited to, Android users, Google or any mobile network operator."

Policy Not Crystal Clear

After its release, AdBlock Fast became the top app in the Productivity category in Google Play. That meteoric rise may have been the reason Google quickly removed the app from its online outlet, Kennish told TechCrunch.
Another ad blocker for Samsung's browser, Crystal, reportedly also ran afoul of Google. When its development team tried to upload an upgrade for the app, it was rejected. The reason? Section 4.4.
Other ad blockers can be found in Google Play.
"I can't comment on what happened to other apps," said Ben Williams, operations and communications manager atEyeo, maker of AdBlock Plus.
"I can just say that Adblock Plus for Samsung browser is still in the Play Store," he told the E-Commerce Times.

Laconic Google

"While we don't comment on specific apps, we can confirm that our policies are designed to provide a great experience for users and developers," the company said in a statement provided to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Joshua Cruz.
Samsung was equally terse on AdBlock Fast's fate.
"We wouldn't want to comment about the issues another company may be facing," Samsung PR Manager Philip Berne told the E-Commerce Times.
While Google is concerned about ad blockers, it has other concerns about the mobile Web, noted Gavin Dunaway, senior editor at AdMonsters.

Better Mobile Experience

"Google's worried about ad blocking on the mobile Web, but they're more worried about the user experience on the mobile Web," he told the E-Commerce Times.
For example, Google in October launched its Accelerated Mobile Pages program to encourage content providers to create mobile Web pages that load faster and consume less precious data.
"It will have an effect on ads because it means there are going to be more static placements, rather than anything crazy that will take up a lot of data to download," Dunaway said.
The problem with ads on the mobile Web is that they're not designed for the mobile Web.
"You end up downloading everything meant for the desktop Web," Dunaway explained. "They're too big, and they're just going to suck away your data."

In-App Eyeballs

While advertising on the mobile Web may be annoying to users, it isn't where most advertising is seen.
"Ad blockers are for the mobile Web. Users spend most of their time in applications, where there is still no ad blocking," Dunaway said.
"As long as there's no ad blocking there, I don't think Google is all that concerned," he added.
Ad blockers are a problem for more than just Google, noted Greg Sterling, vice president of strategy and insight at the Local Search Association.
"The industry as a whole is getting very nervous about this," he told the E-Commerce Times.
"Google is taking the hard-line position because ultimately it sees ad blockers as destructive to advertiser and publisher interests," Sterling said.

Paying the Piper

The problem is a simple one from Google's point of view, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
"Advertising is how you pay for Android," he told the E-Commerce Times. "If you put up an ad blocker, from Google's perspective, you're ripping off Google."
"When you decided to use Android, whether intentionally or not, you've agreed to consume ads to pay for this free operating system," Enderle noted. "This is Google making sure you pay what they think you should pay." 

Politifact

If you are into politics and want to see if the facts are true go to http://www.politifact.com/ and it will tell you what all the candidates said and if it is true or not.Info gathered from other sources.

Apple Pencils In March 15 for 4-Inch iPhone Launch

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Apple-Pencils-In-March-15-for-4-Inch-iPhone-Launch-83070.html

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By John P. Mello Jr.
Feb 4, 2016 5:00 AM PT

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Apple is planning an event to unveil a refresh of its iPhone 5s and its Apple Watch, as well as to introduce a new version of its iPad Air, 9to5Mac reported Tuesday. However, the event date could change, or the company could opt for an online announcement.

The 4-inch iPhone 5se reportedly will look similar to the 5s and sell at the same price point: US$450. However, it will have a faster processor, Apple's A9 chip and support for Apple Pay.
"It'll have the guts of a current phone but in a smaller size," said Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst withTechnalysis Research.

4-Inch Display

"There are people who want that smaller size. It's not going to change the world, but it's a viable alternative for a certain segment of the market," O'Donnell told TechNewsWorld.
"Some users are very comfortable with their old iPhone 5s and stick with it because of its small size," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.
"A new 4-inch display gives them a no-excuses reason to move to a new phone," he told TechNewsWorld.

New iPhone Unlikely

While much has been made of the 5se's screen size, there are other benefits to the phone, if the rumors about it prove to be true.
"It's catering to people who don't like a larger screen for sure, but it's also a way to take a very successful product, the 5s, and put some features in it that will make that device more future-proof when it comes to operating system upgrades," said Carolina Milanesi, chief of research at Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
"Apple will also be able to monetize more from it with Apple Pay and make it appeal to a larger audience with a lower price," she told TechNewsWorld.
There's reason to doubt that the 4-inch iPhone will be included in Apple's March event, however.
With the iPhone 7's release expected in September, any iPhone models launched before then would appear outdated in a very short time, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster said, according to a report in AppleInsider.

Not a Market Mover

The March event will focus on introductions of new versions of the Apple Watch and iPad Air, Munster reportedly said.
The new Apple Watch probably will be an "S" version of the wearable, with a design similar to the existing model, he predicted, but with improved components and battery life, as well as more watchbands.
The new iPad likely will be a refresh too.
"It's the guts of an iPad Pro with the body of an iPad Air 2," Technalysis Research's O'Donnell said.
"It's not going to breathe new life into the tablet market. The iPad Pro didn't, and the iPad Air 3 is definitely not going to," he added.
Still, "with the tablet market stagnant, a refresh of the iPad Air may be a good idea," said Milanesi of Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.
"The iPad Pro is a niche product. It's an enterprise professional user play. That talks more in terms of margins than it does sales volumes," she noted. "So having a refresh of the very popular Air is something that might help Apple lift the product upgrade cycle with a lot of consumers who are still hanging on to previous versions of the iPad."

Event-Worthy Lineup?

Do the rumored products have the pizzazz to warrant an Apple event?
"These are incremental things. That's why there's speculation as to whether there needs to be an event or just an announcement," O'Donnell said.
"It's what everyone has come to expect. It would be a letdown if we don't have it," Milanesi noted.
"I don't know how big an event it's going to be," she said, "but you'll quickly find out by where the location is going to be." 

Rugged Turing Phone to Run on Sailfish OS, Not Android

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Rugged-Turing-Phone-to-Run-on-Sailfish-OS-Not-Android-83073.html

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By Jack M. Germain • LinuxInsider • ECT News Network
Feb 4, 2016 11:46 AM PT

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Turing Robotic Industries this week announced that it has uninstalled Google's Android mobile platform in favor of Jolla's Sailfish OS in its yet-to-appear secure smartphone.

The Turing Phone, molded from a single unit of the Liquidmorphium liquid-metal alloy, is designed to be more durable to absorb shocks and prevent screen breakage.
Preorder pricing ranges from US$610 for the 16-GB version to $870 for the 128-GB model.

Optimized for Swiftness

TRI started taking preorders for the smartphone last year. It delayed the planned shipping date of Dec. 18 to resolve remaining developmental steps for the device, including its security platform and operating system. The new projected shipping date is in April.
Customers found out about the OS switch this week through an email.
The Sailfish OS is optimized to run fast on the Turing Phones and the Snapdragon 801 processor, according to the notice.
"It has a super-secured platform environment, which Android lacks, and it does not use Java for UI (Android). So Turing targets design-savvy users and those who care about their privacy," said Steve Chao, CEO of TRI.
Google Play Store apps and Android apps in general will run on the Sailfish OS via the Alien Dalvik engine. User experience with Android will not be impacted, he told LinuxInsider.

Sailfish vs. Android

The Sailfish OS is a continuation of the Linux MeeGo OS, which was developed by an alliance of Nokia and Intel. The MeeGo mobile software platform was created through the merging of Moblin and the Maemo OS, which was developed by Nokia, according to Turing officials.
"TRI decided to use Sailfish OS because it has a long-term plan to build a trustworthy communications network. Sailfish is based on a pure mobile Linux platform with unmatched speed and with great performance," Chao said.
The decision was not made from a comparison with Android. Rather, the goal is to enable TRI to build an ecosystem around its own devices. The Turing Phone is just one example, he said.
"Sailfish is the perfect platform in which Turing may start building its ecosystem surrounding the IoT and the Future Networks (ISO/IEC 29181)," Chao said.

Tarnished Efforts

It's hard to understand why Turing would swap out the mature Android distro it originally promised. Sailfish is too new to know how it will perform, according to Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.
"Turing claims it's the fastest mobile OS in the market. That may matter since the Turing Phone is running a 2-year-old CPU. While Sailfish is capable of supporting Android apps, early reviews have also noted significant glitches," he told LinuxInsider.
TRI may have discouraged potential buyers with the change in OS. The company got a lot of good press for its idea of shipping a highly durable and secure phone aimed at consumers.
"But the project's delays have tarnished the effort somewhat, and it is not clear how this latest twist will play among Turing supporters," said King.

Better Plan In the Works

The change in OS will have little impact on buyers' interest in the Turing Phone, Chao maintained. The phone will be unique and secure.
"Most Turing users went for Turing's unique design. The design was the most important part of their decision in purchasing it. Most of them were tired of the iPhone and the same looks that Android phones had to offer," he said.
The OS change strengthens the interest of Turing fans who sought a secured environment for mobile computing. Sailfish is the perfect answer to that, he said.

Security Factors

TRI developed a decentralized authentication technology that provides a dramatic improvement over the logic of identity-based encryption, according to the company.
Both the master public key and the unique private key are anonymously bundled into the phone. Each Turing Phone can directly verify the identity of other Turing devices without the need for a third-party key center, it said.
This complete authentication creates a protected communications network insulated from cyberthreats and privacy intrusions, the company said. This circle of trust lets users exchange sensitive data such as Social Security numbers or bank wiring instructions with the assurance the information will reach only the device intended. 

Google to Put Self-Driving Cars Through Rainy-Day Paces

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Google-to-Put-Self-Driving-Cars-Through-Rainy-Day-Paces-83074.html

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By Peter Suciu
Feb 4, 2016 1:53 PM PT

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Google on Wednesday announced that it has chosen Kirkland, Washington, as the next location to test its self-driving cars.

It picked Kirkland as the third test city to give the cars more experience driving in new environments, traffic patterns and road conditions, the company said.
Google has conducted testing mainly at or near its campus in Mountain View, California. Last year it expanded to Austin, Texas.
Its self-driving cars have racked up 1.4 million miles, the company said, adding that people in Kirkland soon may be able to catch a glimpse of the latest test vehicle, a Lexus RX450h.
The move to Kirkland will allow the autonomous team to experience different -- notably wetter -- conditions, while the area outside of Seattle is known for its winding roads and quick changes in elevation, according to Google.

Real-World Conditions

Testing in varied weather and road conditions is considered crucial in the development of autonomous vehicles.
"Google has not conducted trials on public roads in areas outside California or Texas, where the weather is primarily clear," said Sam Barker, a Juniper Researchanalyst.
"The big criticism that Google has been facing on its self-driving trials, despite clocking over 1 million miles, is the fact that most of it has been done in California where the weather is one dimensional throughout the year," noted Praveen Chandrasekar, automotive and transportation research manager at Frost & Sullivan.
"The decision shows that Google is confident that the systems are able to stand up to adverse weather," Barker told TechNewsWorld.

Diverse Conditions

Google's expanded testing in Kirkland follows Ford'sannouncement that it began testing in snow and icy conditions at the Mcity facility at the University of Michigan's Mobility Transformation Center near Detroit.
Ford highlighted its efforts at last month's North American International Auto Show.
Google isn't "alone in testing against weather conditions. Ford claimed earlier this year that their autonomous vehicles were able to operate in snow when tested, being able to do so by mapping the area beforehand. However, it is understood that these tests were undertaken in a controlled environment," said Barker, author of the report "Autonomous Vehicles: Adoption, Regulation & Business Models 2015-2025."

Road Rules

Weather isn't the only consideration in determining where to test autonomous vehicles.
"The California DMV's proposed rule of having a driver behind the wheel might make it tough for Google to sustain its testing efforts only in California," Chandrasekar told TechNewsWorld.
Opting for other testing locations also provides for greater climate and environmental diversity.
Google needs "more locations that present them with dynamic weather -- like the rain in Washington -- to calibrate the sensors and make sure the sensor fusion is providing the intended results, have an opportunity to improve coverage of their HD maps, and use the different road conditions -- slopes in Washington -- to understand real-world performance," Chandrasekar said.
"This is basically an effort to get as close to real-world testing as possible before the different states start passing individual regulations that might prove to be a challenge to Google, like in California, for its completely driver-free self-driving cars," he added.

Less Visibility

Varied weather will be crucial as autonomous vehicles rely on a number of advanced sensors. Just as weather can affect a human driver's ability to see the road, it too can affect how the vehicle's sensors operate.
"Systems such as Lidar have difficulty in differentiating between genuine obstacles and weather conditions, and camera-based systems are unable to see road markings or signs," said Juniper Research's Barker. "Ensuring autonomous systems are able to stand up to a change in weather conditions is the one of the hurdles facing those in development."