As solid as modern touchscreens are, there’s very often an subtly apparent sense of disconnect when you try to use one. According to Paul Dietz of Microsoft’s Applied Sciences Group, it all comes down to latency — he notes average touchscreens have a latency of a 100ms, which yields a noticeable bit of lag between a user touching a screen and the screen displaying a reaction to it.
Sure, it’s totally usable, but it never really feels like you’re fully in control. If you drag an app across the iPad’s screen, for example, the icon will dance around your finger a bit as the display tries its best to keep up. That’s not good enough for Dietz and his team, as they have whipped up a demo of how things ought to be — unlike the 100ms delay of a regular touchscreen, the demo knocks that delay between touch and tracking down to 1ms flat.
The difference is staggering, especially when Dietz trots out the slow-motion footage. With the delay between touch input and screen response slashed by orders of magnitude, a device that sports the sort of super-low-latency Dietz envisions has the potential to feel far more (for lack of a better term) natural than its brethren. There’s zero delay when you slide a checker across a board, for example, and bringing that sort of instantaneous feedback to the many screens in our lives could help to bridge the gap between operating a bit of software and the feeling of interacting with objects.
Stylus-based interfaces would benefit greatly from this sort of tech. I spent a few brief moments playing with Samsung’s 10-inch Galaxy Note, and while the included S-Pen certainly did the trick, it was still jarring to see the line I was trying to draw following the pen rather than coming from it. (It took me a few tries to nail that TC logo, natch).
But here’s the thing: as cool as this stuff is, I can’t help but wonder if it’s an accomplishment best appreciated by nerds. Microsoft’s interest in this seems purely academic — they’re not, after all, in the business of stamping out displays. The touch mavens at Synaptics though showed off an impressively precise low-latency screen at MWC 2011, so the interest within the industry is definitely there.
Whether or not this sort of tech will ever make it to the mainstream is something else entirely. Cost of implementation is one potential issue, but I would imagine for something like this, a bigger question is whether or not the average consumer will care enough. A stylus-driven UI is one thing, but our standard, slower displays have been doing an adequate job with finger-based input for a while now. Do we really need a disruption in screen tech if what we have is good enough?
I say yes (I’m no fan of just “good enough”) but that’s really not for me to decide. I look forward to seeing if any manufacturers out there are willing to take the plunge on a low-latency screen like this, and I’m even more hopeful that people find they like how it feels.
View the original article here
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Samsung Giveth And Taketh Away Ice Cream Sandwich For The Galaxy S II
Oh, how Galaxy S II owners’ hearts must have swelled last night! Samsung’s Filipino arm let slip on their news portal late yesterday that the long-awaited Ice Cream Sandwich update would be made available to owners of the international Galaxy S II on March 10. Sure, it would be all TouchWiz-ified, but users of Samsung’s one-time flagship handset would finally have access to Google’s latest OS update and all the goodies it entails.
It all sounds great, and it would be if it were actually true.
Hours after the news broke, Samsung reps took to the official Korean Twitter account to disavow the erroneous release date. Instead, they stated that the global release schedule for the Android 4.0 has yet to be finalized, and that they would share the news via Twitter as soon as it was. Sorry (again) Samsung fans, your wait for an official taste of Ice Cream Sandwich is now just as murky as ever.
Still, there’s bound to be little love lost if you live in the U.S. and use one of the many Galaxy S II variants currently in circulation. While Samsung can push out their Ice Cream Sandwich update through their Kies software updater whenever they please, the update has to go through additional carrier testing and certification before it’ll ever hit your domestic handset.
While Samsung Philippines seems to have pulled the article proclaiming the news, the upgrade FAQ is still live and presumably accurate, so take a gander to see what the GT-I9100 will be in for whenever the update actually hits. Of course, if you’re really impatient and don’t mind a little extra legwork, you could always install one of the TouchWiz ICS ROMs floating around out there, though the squeamish should probably steer clear.
View the original article here
Marvel Touts New Deal: Buy A Comic Book, Get The Digital Version Free
Well, if you want the best bang for your buck, you should probably get dressed and prepare to brave the outside world. Starting in June, any Marvel comic that costs $3.99 or higher (when did comic books get so pricey?) will come with a code that lets the purchaser download a digital copy of that same comic via the Marvel Comics app for iOS or Android.
How benevolent. Not every comic will get the two-for-one treatment, but most of Marvel’s biggest names are accounted for thanks to their price tag. Think The Avengers, Amazing Spiderman, Invincible Iron Man, and Captain America, with plenty more to like on the list.
The move isn’t without its downsides though — namely, that you’ll have to wing your way to the local comic book store and carry out a financial transaction in person. Which is fine, if you’re into that sort of thing, but it’s 2012 dammit and I don’t want to move any more than I have to.
I’m kidding. Really.
Marvel tested the concept last year when they announced that their Ultimate Comics line would come bundled with a digital copy, and the move garnered the comics giant plenty of “positive reactions from both retailers and fans.” Of course it did — fans get free stuff and comic book stores get their business and the potential for increased traffic. Meanwhile, Marvel eats up the goodwill from both parties and builds awareness of their mobile marketplace (and all of its in-app purchases). Everyone’s a winner!
View the original article here
Nokia Lumia 900 Won’t Hit AT&T Shelves Until April 22
We’d heard a while back that the long-awaited Windows Phone-powered Lumia 900 would show up on AT&T’s shelves on March 18.
However, around the time that this rumored launch date leaked, the Lumia 900 had yet to go through its testing in the technical acceptance process. Turns out, that may be the reason BGR is now reporting that the Lumia 900 launch has been delayed to April 22.
Luckily, the Lumia 900 will still go for an absolutely ridiculous price point. And when I say ridiculous, it’s a compliment. While Windows Phone devices haven’t had the most impressive specs to date, the platform itself and Nokia build quality are certainly worth more than $100.
But that seems to be the strategy with this partnership.
Nokia has seen a rough year, to say the least, and Windows Phone has never really been what Microsoft (or anyone else) would call a success. But all the pieces are falling into place, in terms of the products themselves. Now all Nokiasoft has to do is get people on board with the platform, and that means attractive pricing.
View the original article here
However, around the time that this rumored launch date leaked, the Lumia 900 had yet to go through its testing in the technical acceptance process. Turns out, that may be the reason BGR is now reporting that the Lumia 900 launch has been delayed to April 22.
Luckily, the Lumia 900 will still go for an absolutely ridiculous price point. And when I say ridiculous, it’s a compliment. While Windows Phone devices haven’t had the most impressive specs to date, the platform itself and Nokia build quality are certainly worth more than $100.
But that seems to be the strategy with this partnership.
Nokia has seen a rough year, to say the least, and Windows Phone has never really been what Microsoft (or anyone else) would call a success. But all the pieces are falling into place, in terms of the products themselves. Now all Nokiasoft has to do is get people on board with the platform, and that means attractive pricing.
View the original article here
New iPad May Sport 1GB Of RAM, But Apple Will Never Say So
If you were hoping that the blitz of iPad news would end with the device’s long-awaited announcement yesterday, well, sorry. Even with Cupertino’s latest tablet waiting in the wings for a March 16 release, we’re all still speculating when it comes to some of the device’s particulars, and now the new iPad’s allotment of RAM is getting its share of the spotlight.
According to The Verge, the new iPad will indeed feature double the RAM of its immediate predecessor, with a full gigabyte of memory ensconced within its aluminum frame. But why doesn’t Apple ever talk about it?
That Apple would make the jump to 1GB for their newest post-PC poster child shouldn’t come as a surprise. The original model launched with 256MB of RAM onboard, which made for some iffy use experiences after a few software updates. The iPad 2 debuted with 512MB under the hood, a substantial improvement to be sure, but it’s only a matter of time between new features and apps have iPad 2 users feeling the same sort of squeeze.
Now I can’t speak for everyone, but my childhood in computing was spent scrounging together allowances for new RAM so my off-brand PC wouldn’t chug quite so hard. As The Verge rightly points out, Apple’s iPad line to date has never blown the tech community away with the amount of RAM they’ve included. Apple’s silence on that front is to be expected — while they’re always eager to talk up their processors and their cameras, Apple has historically been content to leave the some of the technical specifics shrouded in mystery.
And why shouldn’t they? By throwing around adjectives like “magical,” “incredible,” and “amazing” at every possible opportunity, consumers are left to focus more on what they can do with an iPad rather than the little bits of silicon that make those experience happen. Sex sells, and RAM is anything but sexy.
Still, the fact of the matter is that RAM matters, even if Apple would prefer you didn’t know about it. As apps get more complex and more impressive (as they should, considering how picky we are about them), the demands they exact on a device’s hardware grow ever greater. More robust system resources means more opportunities for developers to flex their respective muscles, and the last thing Apple needs to do is displease the people who generate revenue for them. More RAM is a win for nearly everyone involved, and while some of us may never see as much as we like in our iDevices, that shouldn’t stop Apple from at least talking about it.
View the original article here
Apple Goes Big In Texas With $304 Million Austin Campus
Most of the news around Austin this week is centered around SXSW, naturally, but Texas Governor (and erstwhile presidential candidate) Rick Perry broke some news today that’s unrelated, but still Austin-relevant. Apple, it seems, which has been slowly growing its presence in the state’s tech oasis, chose SXSW weekend as an auspicious time to announce a major new campus in Austin.
There isn’t much known about the campus or its purpose, but Perry’s announcement does note that the price tag is a hefty $304 million, so it’s more than just a new building or two on the existing Riata Vista Circle. It’s estimated that it will add 3,600 jobs over the next decade, doubling Apple’s employment in the area.
The existing buildings and employees are reportedly focused mainly on administrative duties, and a few related to chip engineering. Apple told Reuters that the new campus will be in customer support, sales, and accounting. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but essential to supporting Apple’s increasing software base and customer responsibilities.
To sweeten the deal, the state has earmarked $21 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund to help with the cost of establishing the facility. That’s less than $6000 per job if things pan out as expected &Mdash; a bargain. Perry’s press release lauds the fund as having successfully created thousands of jobs and much revenue for the area. So far, the TEF has spent $443.4 million, matched by over $15 billion in other tech investment in the state.
View the original article here
There isn’t much known about the campus or its purpose, but Perry’s announcement does note that the price tag is a hefty $304 million, so it’s more than just a new building or two on the existing Riata Vista Circle. It’s estimated that it will add 3,600 jobs over the next decade, doubling Apple’s employment in the area.
The existing buildings and employees are reportedly focused mainly on administrative duties, and a few related to chip engineering. Apple told Reuters that the new campus will be in customer support, sales, and accounting. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but essential to supporting Apple’s increasing software base and customer responsibilities.
To sweeten the deal, the state has earmarked $21 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund to help with the cost of establishing the facility. That’s less than $6000 per job if things pan out as expected &Mdash; a bargain. Perry’s press release lauds the fund as having successfully created thousands of jobs and much revenue for the area. So far, the TEF has spent $443.4 million, matched by over $15 billion in other tech investment in the state.
View the original article here
Jumptap: Android, iOS Now 91% Of All Mobile Ad Traffic, Kindle Fire 33% Of All Tablet Use
The onward march for Android and Apple continues apace, and leaves a big question mark for how other platforms can hope to compete, at least in the U.S. market: New figures out from Jumptap indicate that in the month of January, the two combined made up 91 percent of all smartphone traffic on its U.S. mobile ad network — representing a new high for the two most-dominant mobile phone platforms.
But while Apple has seen a huge jump in smartphone users following the launch of the iPhone 4S last year, Jumptap’s figures indicate that in tablets it has a strong competitor in the form of the Kindle Fire, which now accounts for 33 percent of all tablet traffic on the network.
While these numbers do not exactly speak to how many Kindle Fire devices there are in use compared to iPads (we have a bit more on that subject here), it does point to the fact that people are using their Amazon devices for a whole lot of ad-based services.
Jumptap’s numbers indicate that while Apple (at 32.2 percent) and Google (at 58.8 percent) are dominating across its U.S. ad network of 95 million monthly users, the weak appear to be getting weaker: RIM’s BlackBerry platform is at a “new low” of 6.7 percent share of impressions, while Symbian accounted for 1.4 percent of impressions, and Windows Mobile for even less: 0.5 percent.
Jumptap’s prediction is that despite gains that Microsoft may make as a result of Nokia’s new line of Windows Phones, collectively the bottom three will not have more than 10 percent of impressions at any point this year. Still, that is actually leaving room for some growth…
In tablets, Amazon is proving to be a strong competitor, at least in the area of usage. In January, it accounted for 33 percent of all tablet traffic, and as you can see from the table below, that share has risen quickly over the last three months, outpacing even the growth of tablet traffic itself. Apple’s share, meanwhile, is at its lowest in four months, at 48 percent. Ditto the collective force of all of the other tablet makers.
This is a key point, because it indicates that those who are buying the Kindle Fire are also buying into the whole service-led proposition behind it: content is something that Apple has, up to now, been able to say that it does better than any other Android tablet maker, but Amazon’s mix of its appstore apps, plus offerings of streamed content and more besides appears to be giving that idea a run for its money. That also indicates to developers that this is a potentially strong platform to develop for.What remains to be seen is whether Apple has another “new launch” effect in the coming months, as a result of its news on Wednesday. It’s expected that Apple will reveal a new iPad and in the process could see the same effect on the tablet market that the introduction of the iPhone 4S had on its market share in smartphones last quarter — when, by most accounts, its share jumped quite significantly compared to those of other device makers.
View the original article here
Why Google’s Plan To Make Maps Pay For Itself Could Backfire
Google was once satisfied to have its satellite products, like Maps, drive goodwill among startups and create new exposure to their users. But now we’ve heard Google’s new plan is to make these products self-sufficient. It’s begun charging high-volume users of its Maps APIs. Companies like Foursquare and Apple are balking at the price hike and looking to strategically reduce reliance on Google, so they’re switching to OpenStreetMap.
This short-term revenue play could turn into a long-term disaster because OpenStreetMap users have to contribute the improvements they make to its data, so one day it could become better than Google Maps. And who’ll be next to bail on Google’s API? Yelp comes to mind.
The Google Maps API used to be free, as it was trying to gain popularity and displace MapQuest and Yahoo. At the beginning of March it began charging anyone pulling over 25,000 page loads a day $4, $8, or $10 per additional 1,000 loads, and also now offers Premier Tier. Foursquare and Apple jumped ship, plenty of other big companies might do the same. With it now publicly traded, investors could push Yelp to switch to a free alternative.
Digtal Trends published some great background and analysis on the maps industry this morning. It explains how Foursquare is using a company called MapBox to improve data it pulls from OpenStreetMap, while Apple might use acquired companies including C3 Technologies to add 3D graphics.
This is where Google’s long-term problem emerges. OpenStreetMap, or OSM, is totally free at any volume, but if users improve its data on their own, they have to contribute those improvements back to OSM. If someone augments OSM with satellite, street view, reviews, or other mashups, everyone’s maps benefit. As more big maps users switch to it, it will get better and better, creating a snowball effect where it gets more attractive with time.
While Google has the best maps right now, these contributions mean it might not stay that way. Like crowdsourced Wikipedia usurped traditional encyclopedias, the same could happen with maps. One day even low-volume free clients might switch to OpenStreetMap and end users might prefer it. This could hurt Android, which is Google’s future. The search and ads giant has plenty of ways to make money. Charging for the Google Maps API seems like a wrong turn.
View the original article here
This short-term revenue play could turn into a long-term disaster because OpenStreetMap users have to contribute the improvements they make to its data, so one day it could become better than Google Maps. And who’ll be next to bail on Google’s API? Yelp comes to mind.
The Google Maps API used to be free, as it was trying to gain popularity and displace MapQuest and Yahoo. At the beginning of March it began charging anyone pulling over 25,000 page loads a day $4, $8, or $10 per additional 1,000 loads, and also now offers Premier Tier. Foursquare and Apple jumped ship, plenty of other big companies might do the same. With it now publicly traded, investors could push Yelp to switch to a free alternative.
Digtal Trends published some great background and analysis on the maps industry this morning. It explains how Foursquare is using a company called MapBox to improve data it pulls from OpenStreetMap, while Apple might use acquired companies including C3 Technologies to add 3D graphics.
This is where Google’s long-term problem emerges. OpenStreetMap, or OSM, is totally free at any volume, but if users improve its data on their own, they have to contribute those improvements back to OSM. If someone augments OSM with satellite, street view, reviews, or other mashups, everyone’s maps benefit. As more big maps users switch to it, it will get better and better, creating a snowball effect where it gets more attractive with time.
While Google has the best maps right now, these contributions mean it might not stay that way. Like crowdsourced Wikipedia usurped traditional encyclopedias, the same could happen with maps. One day even low-volume free clients might switch to OpenStreetMap and end users might prefer it. This could hurt Android, which is Google’s future. The search and ads giant has plenty of ways to make money. Charging for the Google Maps API seems like a wrong turn.
View the original article here
NewsiT Raises $500K To Gamify Crowd Journalism
Crowdsourced news platform NewsiT.net just announced that it has raised $500,000 in seed funding. And, timed to match the beginning of South by Southwest, it’s also launching its iPhone app.
The company was founded by longtime journalist Melinda Wittstock, who has worked for the Times of London, BBC Television, the Guardian, the Observer, ABC News, National Public Radio, and MSNBC/CNBC. Wittstock says she wanted to reinvent the newsgathering and publishing model after attending “too many conferences with a lot of moaning and not a lot of solutions.”
This is hardly the first experiment with crowdsourced journalism. (Here’s a story that combines two examples — last fall, Spot.us, which uses crowdfunding to support investigative journalism, was acquired by American Public Media’s Public Insight Network, which helps newsrooms collect crowdsourced data.) But Wittstock says NewsiT was built around an important insight: “Every other user-generated content type play that we’ve seen over time expects regular folks to be journalists — and we don’t.”
So the startup doesn’t expect any of its members to create a complete news report on their own. Instead, it breaks a story up into manageable tasks, then assigns multiple members to each task. Members are rewarded with points and badges for both contributing and reading.
For example, the site is currently working on a story about the effect of digital media on politics. To participate, members can answer some basic questions, like whether they trust mainstream media or friends and social networks more as a source of political information. Or they can get more involved, by actually interviewing a panelist at SXSW about their opinions.
Eventually, someone from the NewsiT editorial team will take on those contributions and combine them into a polished article. Wittstock says NewsiT is also developing algorithms to help it find the patterns in user submissions, identifying answers that might be inaccurate — or perhaps a big scoop.
Naturally, the iPhone app creates new opportunities for gathering news while users are away from their desks. As the example above suggests, NewsiT will be taking advantage of its new mobility by creating a number SXSW-specific tasks.
And while Wittstock is looking into licensing the company’s technology to others, she doesn’t just want to be a technology provider to other organizations. NewsiT is a site for news gathering and news consumption, and it offers rewards for both. (That applies to the app, too.)
Investors include Sandra D. Kresch, president of PSD International and managing director of Golden Seeds, and P. Chrisman Iribe, CFO of Scaleform Corporation and former president and COO of PG&E.
View the original article here
The company was founded by longtime journalist Melinda Wittstock, who has worked for the Times of London, BBC Television, the Guardian, the Observer, ABC News, National Public Radio, and MSNBC/CNBC. Wittstock says she wanted to reinvent the newsgathering and publishing model after attending “too many conferences with a lot of moaning and not a lot of solutions.”
This is hardly the first experiment with crowdsourced journalism. (Here’s a story that combines two examples — last fall, Spot.us, which uses crowdfunding to support investigative journalism, was acquired by American Public Media’s Public Insight Network, which helps newsrooms collect crowdsourced data.) But Wittstock says NewsiT was built around an important insight: “Every other user-generated content type play that we’ve seen over time expects regular folks to be journalists — and we don’t.”
So the startup doesn’t expect any of its members to create a complete news report on their own. Instead, it breaks a story up into manageable tasks, then assigns multiple members to each task. Members are rewarded with points and badges for both contributing and reading.
For example, the site is currently working on a story about the effect of digital media on politics. To participate, members can answer some basic questions, like whether they trust mainstream media or friends and social networks more as a source of political information. Or they can get more involved, by actually interviewing a panelist at SXSW about their opinions.
Eventually, someone from the NewsiT editorial team will take on those contributions and combine them into a polished article. Wittstock says NewsiT is also developing algorithms to help it find the patterns in user submissions, identifying answers that might be inaccurate — or perhaps a big scoop.
Naturally, the iPhone app creates new opportunities for gathering news while users are away from their desks. As the example above suggests, NewsiT will be taking advantage of its new mobility by creating a number SXSW-specific tasks.
And while Wittstock is looking into licensing the company’s technology to others, she doesn’t just want to be a technology provider to other organizations. NewsiT is a site for news gathering and news consumption, and it offers rewards for both. (That applies to the app, too.)
Investors include Sandra D. Kresch, president of PSD International and managing director of Golden Seeds, and P. Chrisman Iribe, CFO of Scaleform Corporation and former president and COO of PG&E.
View the original article here
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