Kindle Fire 2 and iPad 3 'to go head-to-head'

Amazon and Apple are preparing new versions of the Kindle fire and iPad tablets for a showdown in the first half of next year, according to the technology rumour mill. 

 

 

The updated Kindle Fire is said to have an 8.9-inch touch screen, compared to the current version's 7-inch display.\

According to the Taiwanese technology blog Digitimes the electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn will begin production of the new Kindle Fire in the first quarter of 2012, in time for launch in the second quarter.

Apple’s third-generation iPad will reportedly debut around the same time. It will be thicker than the iPad by 0.77mm, said iLounge, citing anonymous sources. The extra space will reportedly accommodate bulkier screen lights, required by a higher-resolution “Retina” screen, as first used in the iPhone 4.

The updated device is on track for a March release, iLounge said.

It would set up an intriguing head-to-head clash next spring between Amazon and Apple; the iPad has so far dominated the tablet computing market.

 

The Android-based Kindle Fire, introduced in the United States this month, is widely seen as the most credible challenger yet. It costs half the price of an iPad 2, but has received mixed reviews that said it lacks polish. A quick update with improved specifications could mark the start of the real contest with Apple.


The iPad 3 is expected to keep the technological pressure up on rivals with an upgraded processor for increasingly demanding tablet apps. The Apple A6 is thought to be based on the British firm ARM’s new four-core architecture. The iPad 2’s A5 processor has only two cores.

 

Computer that can read promises cancer breakthroughs

A computer system that can read scientific papers in a similar way to humans promises breakthroughs in cancer research, according to Cambridge scientists. 

 

Use of the pill in the population as a whole was significantly associated with both the number of new cases of, and deaths from, prostate cancer in individual countries around the world, the analysis showed

 

Called CRAB, the system is able to trawl through millions of peer-reviewed articles for clues to the causes of tumours. Already, it has uncovered a potential reason why some chemicals induce pancreatic cancer only in men.

CRAB is the latest implementation of a rapidly-emerging form of artificial intelligence called natural language processing, which is also used in the Siri personal assistant software in the iPhone 4S. It allows computers to read texts and derive meaning from them, despite their complexity and abiguities, as humans do.

The system will first be used to assess the risk that new chemicals could cause cancer.

“The first stage of any risk assessment is a literature review. It’s a major bottleneck," said Dr Anna Korhonen of the University of Cambridge, who led the development of CRAB.

"There could be tens of thousands of articles for a single chemical. Performed manually, it’s expensive and, because of the rising number of publications, it’s becoming too challenging to manage," she said.

Emerging economies including China and India are producing scientific research at an unprecedented rate, prompting fears that important discoveries could be neglected my human readers.


"Although still under development, the system can be used to make connections that would be difficult to find, even if it had been possible to read all the documents," said Dr Korhonen.


CRAB is to be made available to researchers online via a web interface. It is hoped the technology can be adapted to other fields of science.

 

Film industry takes on iTunes with Ultraviolet

The film industry is launching a new movie download service in an attempt to take on Apple's iTunes. 

 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was among the first films to be launched on the new Ultraviolet download service

 

Hollywood film studios, keen to avoid repeating the mistakes of the music industry by allowing iTunes to corner the market in digital downloads, have developed their own system for distributing films online.

Ultraviolet, which has the backing of all the major US film studios including Warner Brothers, Fox, Sony Pictures and Universal Pictures, launched in the US with the release of Horrible Bosses and then Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

The service works by giving consumers a code when they purchase a film on BluRay or DVD.

They can then use the code to add the movie to their Ultraviolet library, meaning they can download digital versions of the film onto their computer or stream it over the internet from the Cloud.

The Ultraviolet Alliance, a consortium of 70 companies involved in the film industry, says movies can then be enjoyed on any device, such as a computer, smart phone or tablet PC, unlike iTunes which ties users to Apple products such as the iPhone and iPad if they want to watch films while on the move.

Film studios also hope that the Ultraviolet approach will reduce "ripping" of DVDs as consumers will get a digital version of their movie when they buy a DVD.


The industry has even indicated it may eventually allow consumers to add movies they already own on DVD to their accounts so they can enjoy them online without having to "rip" them.
Ultraviolet, which as been three years in development, is currently only available in the United States but it is expected to be offered in the UK and rest of Europe next year.


Commentators have hyped the aggressive move into digital downloads by the movie industry as the start of a new format war to rival the battle between BluRay and HD-DVD.


Walt Disney Studios is the only major film studio not involved in Ultraviolet and is developing a digital download service of its own. There is likely to be intense competition between iTunes and Ultraviolet as the formats compete for the market.


But consumers in the US have already given the new service a lukewarm reception, with many reporting difficulties in downloading movies.


It has also attracted complaints from those who have already purchased films in other formats.
Apple's iTunes is currently the market leader for movie downloads and is incompatible with Ultraviolet movies.


Consumers have also begun selling their Ultraviolet digital rights codes on eBay for as little as $0.99, removing the need to buy the physical disk copy.


Jean-Marc Racine, a managing partner at digital media firm Farncombe, said: "What they are trying to achieve is to decouple their content from the platform where you purchase it.


"If you buy a DVD, you can lend it to your friends, but you have to watch it using a DVD player. With Ultraviolet you will be able to watch it on your smartphone, smart TV, computer no matter where you are.


"This could be a very good thing for the consumer.


"One of the main problems they are going to face is the security of their content to prevent piracy."

 

Samsung tweaks Galaxy Tab to beat Apple ban

Samsung has redesigned the Galaxy Tab 10.1 for sale in Germany to beat a court order obtained by Apple on grounds that the original device copied the iPad. 

Apple's iPad 2 (left) and Samsung's Galaxy tablet

 

The new version will be called the Galaxy Tab 10.1N and features cosmetic tweaks including speakers on the front, rather than the sides, and a visible silver bezel.

"We modified the model to reflect Apple's claims," a Samsung spokesman said.

Samsung and Apple have been engaged in some of the most bitter battles of the technolgoy industry's patent wars. Apple has alleged that Samsung's Galaxy-branded tablets and smartphones "slavishly" copy the iPad and iPhone, and has launched legal action in several jurisdictions.

"It's no coincidence that Samsung's latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging," Apple said in April.

"This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple's intellectual property when companies steal our idea."

The German courts granted Apple an injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1, which runs Google's Android operating system, in August, blocking sales in Europe's largest market. The judge said there was a "clear impression of similarity" between it and the iPad.

Samsung has countered Apple's legal attack with attempts to ban sales of the iPhone 4S in Australia, France, Italy and Germany.

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 was launched in Britain on August and received broadly positive reviews. The iPad still dominates tablet computing market, however, accounting for 67 per cent of sales in the third quarter, according to Strategy Analytics.

 

Radio 3 begins 'HD’ broadcasts

BBC Radio 3 will be playing better music tomorrow morning – the Corporation’s classical station has become the first in the UK to broadcast full time in so-called “high definition sound”. 

 

The new service offers a wider range of volumes than normal broadcasts, accentuating the loud and quiet sounds most often found in classical music

 

Listeners, however, will need to use a computer to benefit from the new service, and will need speakers better than those that come with most laptops or standard PCs. At its best, however, the sound quality is almost double that of digital radio and comparable to FM sound. It offers a wider range of volumes than normal broadcasts, too, accentuating the loud and quiet sounds that are most often found in classical music. 

The quality of existing FM and DAB Radio 3 broadcasts will not be affected. The BBC will mark the occasion by broadcasting a daily new recording of a modern Christmas carol each morning at 8.50 am and the schedule will include a new work from British composer Sir John Tavener. Over the first 12 days of January, Radio 3 is also devoting its entire schedule to Mozart. His complete works will be broadcast in HD.

The innovation means that the BBC will now be broadcasting two different audio qualities online, as well as DAB, FM, MW and LW radio.

Tim Davie, Director of BBC Audio and Music, said “I expect Radio 3 to be the first of an overall industry drive to keep improving the quality of audio for listeners.”

Radio 2 has already conducted trials of HD for Sir Elton John’s Electric Proms performance in October, and Radio 4 will also broadcast the service of nine lessons and carols in HD on Christmas Eve. Mr Davie said that he considered that extending the number of HD stations broadcasting the UK was “a natural evolution”. He added that drama on Radio 4 benefited just as much from increased sound quality as other music stations.

The improvements in audio quality are achieved by increasing the “bit rate” of the broadcast signal. Radio 3 is already broadcast at the highest quality of any BBC radio station, transmitted at 192 kbit per second. The new HD standard, however, uses 320 kbit/s. Audio on a CD is approximately 1400 kbit/s, but compression technologies for digital audio mean that 320 kbit/s is considered to be sufficient by many audiophiles.

The sound quality of FM radio is widely considered to be the highest available on nationwide broadcast networks, but the Government’s programme of digital switchover is aims to gradually turn off FM signals across the country. There is, however, no date yet set for when FM broadcasts will be switched off completely.

Cargo plane bomb plot: Explosive fears could spell end of in-flight Wi-Fi

Passengers could be prevented from using Wi-Fi devices on flights amid fears they could be used to detonate explosives. 

 A mobile phone was found alongside explosives in the failed cargo plane bomb, sparking fears that terrorists could use mobile devices and in-flight Wi-Fi services to remotely detonate bombs.

 

Plans to install in-flight Wi-Fi on aircraft could be thrown in to disarray by last week’s failed cargo plane bomb plot, say industry experts. 

Mobile phones have long been used by terrorists to remotely detonate explosives, by calling or texting the handset, and there are concerns that allowing people to use mobile devices during flights could enable terrorists to easily activate a bomb. 

In-flight Wi-Fi gives would-be bombers ample opportunity to contact explosive devices hidden on an aircraft, said Roland Alford, managing director of an explosives consultancy firm.

"If it were to be possible to transmit directly from the ground to a plane over the sea, that would be scary," he told New Scientist. "Or if a passenger could use a cellphone to transmit to the hold of the aeroplane he is in, he could become a very effective suicide bomber."

Experts discovered mobile phones packed in with explosives in the printer bombs that were discovered on cargo planes last weekend. It is not yet clear whether the phones would have worked as timers, or whether they would have been activated remotely by terrorists calling or texting the phone.

But companies who have invested heavily in developing in-flight Wi-Fi systems have defended the technology.


“There are many ways of coordinating an attack without using a mobile phone,” said Aurelie Branchereau-Giles, a spokesman for OnAir, which makes in-flight Wi-Fi equipment.

“The position of our security experts is that the use of mobile phones on planes does not constitute any additional security threat.”

Panasonic to cease production of Technics turntables

Decline in demand for analogue kit blamed for the demise of the DJ’s favourite. 

 The iconic SL-1200 Technics turntable is one of a number of analogue music devices that wil be discontinued by Panasonic.

Panasonic has confirmed that it will cease production of devices in its Technics range of audio equipment, which comprises turntables, mixers and headphones beloved by a generation of DJs. 

The Japanese company said it had seen a slump in demand for the analogue devices, as more and more musicians move towards digital downloads and track mixing. 


“Panasonic decided to end production mainly due to a decline in demand for these analogue products, and also the growing difficulty of procuring key analogue components necessary to sustain production,” a spokesman for Panasonic told The Tokyo Reporter.

Technics turntables have long been essential kit for DJs. The SL-1200 model, in particular, was one of the most popular, with 3.5 million sold since its launch in 1972.


Panasonic has not yet announced whether it will retire the Technics brand, or simply cease production of analogue devices and instead turn its hand to purely digital equipment under the Technics umbrella.

The announcement comes just days after Sony revealed that it would no longer be manufacturing and selling its iconic cassette Walkman in Japan.

16bn devices online by 2020, says report

More than 16 billion internet-enabled devices will be hooked up to the web by the end of the next decade, according to industry analysts. 

 Smart fridges of the future could be connected to the web, and able to place an order with your local supermarket to replenish dwindling supplies.

 

The “internet of things” will expand to encompass around 16 billion devices by 2020, according to experts at consultancy firm Analysys Mason. 

The “internet of things” refers to a growing number of internet-enabled devices that can be hooked up to a network to communicate with other web-enabled gadgets and services. These include devices such as home electricity systems, which are connected to the internet via smart metres to build a map of energy use. 

“That figure might actually be a conservative estimate,” said Jim Morrish, principal analyst at Analysys Mason and author of the report. “Taking in to account the uncertainties inherent in forecasting new technologies 10 years out, we believe that a realistic number of devices may be 44 billion, and six billion a realistic minimum.

"That’s a worldwide average of between 0.8 and 5.8 internet-enabled devices for each person alive in 2020.”

 Experts believe the smartphone will be the main “portal” in to the internet of things, aggregating and filtering information from a range of web-enabled devices owned by the user, and offering management and control functions – for instance, setting the time that a “smart cooker” would start cooking the evening meal, or granting remote entry to a property in order to allow a postman to leave a parcel on the porch.

 The most direct potential consequence of the internet of things is the generation of huge quantities of data,” said Morrish. “In a hypothetical internet of things environment, every physical object, and many virtual objects, may have a virtual twin ‘in the cloud’, which could be generating regular updates.”

Ears Provide New ways of Identification

Forget fingerprints or the colour of your eyes, airport security could soon be looking at the shape of your ears when deciding whether to allow you into the country

Researchers have discovered that each person's ears have a unique shape and have created a system that is able to scan them. The scans can then be compared with a database of ear shapes to identify whose they are.

For more info on this story go to www.telegraph.co.uk

BlackBerry reveals PlayBook tablet to compete with iPad.

BlackBerry's new Playbook Tablet will be the ''fastest ever tablet'', says research in motion.

This will be released in the new year. It will have a 7-inch multitouch screen, and a new OS (operating system) gotten from the company's purchase of QNX.

The tablet will be able to run Adobe’s Flash, which Apple’s iPad doesn’t, and offer micro-HDMI and micro-usb ports. It weighs just 400g and includes dual HD cameras for video calling. Pricing and release dates, for the UK and the rest of the world, have not yet been announced, but it will be available in the USA in the first quarter of 2011 and “international markets” in the second quarter.

Although 3G and 4G models are planned for the future, the device will initially connect to the web via wifi or via a user’s BlackBerry smartphone, and offer a reflection of its screen for expanded use.
It will offer “true multi-tasking” and "an amplified view of what's already on your BlackBerry”. It’s expected that 16gb and 32gb models will be offered.

HP announces apps and printers that don’t need computers

New ‘web printing initiative’ includes remote printing, apps and a printer with a built-in internet browser and detachable screen 

HP has introduced a new range of printers that talk directly to mobile devices and can be accessed remotely. The launch of the new ePrint platform gives each device an email address, and allows documents to be emailed directly to the printer for immediate printing.