Bittorrent’s Bleep is the Secure Chat App You’re Looking For

Posted on 25/09/2014 by Stephen Colbert

Bittorrent just launched a new and alluring chat client, “Bleep,” and it just might be what the doctor ordered for those fleeing Facebook.

When Facebook bought Whatsapp, it had 450 million monthly active users. It just recently passwed the 600 million MAU mark, and Mark Zuckerberg says it might hit the 1 billion mark faster than Facebook did.

Despite this rapid growth, many people are not excited about Facebook managed chat services, especially after the social giant started forcing users to download a separate chat app with a sketchy user agreement.

As a result, many have started looking for secure alternatives to chat options from giants like Facebook and Google. That’s where Bittorrent’s Bleep comes in. Bleep is a peer-to-peer chat client for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Since it’s peer-to-peer, there is no server broadcasting your messages. All chats are a direct connection between each participant, and the connection is also end to end encrypted, meaning the sender and receiver and the only eyes involved in teh conversation. All chat logs are also locally stored, so there is no cloud to even hack. Clearing your chat history eliminates all traces of the conversation.

It may sound like that’s all a little unecessary unless you’re taking part in some shady conversations, but with the recent privacy backlash, many people just want to know that their conversations aren’t being eavesdropped. It’s not only privacy against the likes of the NSA, but Bleep doesn’t collect any metadata, meaning the contents of your conversation aren’t analyzed for any topics for marketers.

The biggest drawback to something like Bleep is that it’s yet another account that needs to be opened, and you can only chat with other registered users that have added you to their address book. That might not seem like a big deal, but part of the appeal of the likes of Whatsapp and Facebook chat is the large user base. Many people are unwilling to go through the inconvenience of setting up a new account just for privacy’s sake.

The app itself (although still in an open alpha) is fairly innovative. Once an account is created, you can activate additional devices under your account simply by scanning a QR code in the settings menu, making it extremely difficult for a third party to gain access to your account. C

ontacts can also add each other through the same QR code scanning method, meaning you don’t have to give out your actual contact infromation to anyone, adding a layer of anonymity. It would be even slicker if this step could also be completed through NFC tapping, but the service is still new, so that very well may happen down the road.

At the end of the day, Bleep might not be for everyone, but for anyone who places a high value on privacy (and has friends who place a similar value on privacy), Bleep can provide the secure Facebook alternative you’ve been looking for.

Source: PCWorld

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Apple Gives FaceTime a Boost in iPhone 6

Posted on 17/09/2014 by Stephen Colbert

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are poised to revolutionize video calling.

Almost every science fiction movie ever has portrayed video calling as the preferred communication method of the future, yet as we move into the future, communication tends to move the opposite direction. Communication via text, through email, text messaging, or social media, seems to be the preferred means of communication.

Although Apple has lead meany in the video chat crowd through its FaceTime platform, the medium has yet to meet widespread mobile adoption adoption on smartphones even though the feature has been available for several years, is is relatively popular on less mobile Apple hardware such as iMacs, MacBooks, and even iPads.

Initially, it was impractical to stream data over 3G speeds, but as networks upgraded to 4G networks, data caps made sending and recieving video for voice chat an expensive proposition.

Going unmentioned at Apple’s keynote last week, but uncovered by Apple Insider, the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus both use the H.256 video codec for video chat. H.256, also known as HEVC, or High Efficiency Video Coding, offers the ability for FaceTime to stream the same video quality as previous iPhones, but at half the bandwidth.

Matthew Fleming, signals processing guru, said “This has the potential to give Apple a serious advantage in the mobile video calling domain where bandwidth is at a premium.” Not only will networks be more capable of handling video chat for the new iPhones, but will be able to do it with less of a hit to consumers’ data caps.

Obviously, data networks are always improving, but improvements in efficiencies in devices, software, and networks all work together to constantly enable us to do more from our phones. From video chat, to cloud storage, to streaming media, enhancements of this type benefit all mobile data use.

With Apple now entering the smartwatch race with the Apple Watch, maybe a future iteration will allow users to to finally be able to recreate their favorite sci-fi moments, while waiting for Apple to invent Hologram Chat.

Source: Apple Insider

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5Ghz LTE Means More Data for More People

Posted on 26/08/2014 by Stephen Colbert

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As more an more people use more and more data, two companies have tested new LTE technology that helps prevent data bottlenecks in dense population areas.

Since carrier’s began providing high speed 4G LTE service over their networks, the number of people streaming music and movies, or downloading large apps and games has skyrocketed.

Data speeds have gone way up, and with it, so have data demands, as more people switch to cell phones with faster radios on faster networks and carrier’s like T-Mobile and Sprint both push for unlimited data, or at least high data caps.

This new access to content due to faster data access is awesome for many people, but just like any transportation system, such as highways, the system that transports our data can get clogged, which sort of negates the whole point of high speed data access.

That’s where Huawei and NTT DoCoMo come in. The two companies have just recently performed a successful test of an LTE broadcast using the unlicensed 5Ghz spectrum normally used for WiFi.

Most carriers broadcast over spectrum licensed by national regulating authorities (such as the FCC in the United States). Licensed spectrum is well regulated and ensures that consumers can purchase service from one company without another company blocking or clogging the system.

The 5Ghz frequency is an unlicensed frequency, because it is used by consumers and businesses for WiFi, which would be a little excessive to regulate in the same way as the frequencies used by carriers.

5Ghz typically has lower range (only a few hundred meters) and doesn’t penetrate solid objects very well, but it does not require a large open space to broadcast, making it very well suited for mesh style networks in capacity laden cities.

Some people may find the concept of 5Ghz LTE deployment a bit redundant, considering most WiFi broadcasts use the same frequency, the two broadcasts would usually be suited for the same areas, and many people are already accustomed to to using WiFi when available since it can be more reliably and some people with data caps are looking for ways to avoid using up their cap.

This homogenization of radio frequencies is only a necessary component of wireless technology as we move forward, though. Carrier aggregation (use of multiple frequency bands in a single broadcast) is an essential component of next generation LTE Advanced, and many cellular providers are already moving towards WiFi calling and offering more “smart” network features.

The benefits of such service is undeniable. Besides the benefits of carrier aggregation, 5Ghz WiFi alone offers 1.6x the capacity of current methods, but the more networks can do, the more concerns are raised over issues like net neutrality, where wireless providers’ smart networks will prioritize traffic to offer the best quality of service.

The technology isn’t available immediately (it seems that’s always the case), but Huawei and NTT DoCoMo will continue testing through 2015, and we may actually start seeing 5Ghz deployment in 2016.

Source: PC World

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Sprint Launches New Share Plans

Posted on 22/08/2014 by Stephen Colbert

After a brief stint of the “Framily Plan”, Sprint is announcing new plan pricing.

Spring has been in a very slow moving metamorphasis fo the past few years. After being the first carrier to lauch a 4G service with its Wimax network in 2010, Sprint was a pioneer in 4G technology, only to fall behind once competing carrier’s launched their superior netowrks usinmg the LTE 4G technology.
Since Sprint technically had 3 separate networks in the form of Sprint PCS, Nextel iDen, and Clearwire Wimax, it started the Network Vision initiative, which would coincide with an LTE launch and basically replace every piece of equipment on every tower so that all the netowrk base stations could support multiple wireless technologies.

The results have been fairly impressive, although very slow moving, and Sprint has been bleeding customers. So much so, that T-Mobile CEO, John Legere, has predicted that T-Mobile will overtake Sprint as the 3rd largest carrier in the United States by the end of 2014.

Sprint is in need of a big change to stop the loss of customers and start growing in order to maintain its place in the industry. The carrier has begun marketing itself as “America’s Newest Network” due to the many upgrades, and just recently replaced longstanding CEO, Dan Hesse, with newcomer, Marcelo Claure.

The change at CEO also comes with some competitive new pricing plans. Sprint will stop advertising its (off ridiculed) “Framily” plans (although they will still be available) and begin pushing some new family share plans will allow up to 10 lines to share 20 GB of data for $100 per month.

The exact break down of the new “Sprint Family Share PacK” plans aren’t broken down into more granular details in terms of voice and texting plans when combined with the $100 20GBs of shared data, but Sprint has said that 4 users could share 20GBs of data for $160 per month. Equivalent plans at the other carriers would run at $310 for Verizon and AT&T, and $180 for T-Mobile.

Sprint is also promising a credit of up to $350 to offset early termination fees for customers leaving contracts with other carriers. Sprint has been offering a similar deal for years, but the strategy mostly gets credits to T-Mobile, who has put a lot of advertising behind the deal as a part of its “uncarrier” initiative.

Whether or not pricing along will help Sprint turnaround and grow as a carrier is to be seen, but along with its continued network improvement efforts and new CEO, we might be seeing just the first glimpse of a brand new Sprint.

Source: re/code, CNN Money

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Apple And IBM Are Teaming Up to Tackle Enterprise Mobility

Posted on 23/07/2014 by Stephen Colbert

Apple and IBM used to be bitter rivals, but the to companies just formed a new partnership that may change the face of enterprise mobility.

Anyone that knows much about Apple or Steve Jobs knows that Apple and IBM have never been best friends. The two companies were fierce competitors in the 80s, when they were the two front runners in the PC industry. The animosity extended beyond marketplace competition, too. Steve Jobs was very vocal about his dislike of IBM, although, he didn’t always need words to express his feelings on the matter.

Overt demonstrations of this nature weren’t just personal, either. Apple’s targeting of IBM also extended into official marketing. Apple has always been very combative in its advertising, and one of the most famous Apple commercials targeted IBM directly, and even compared the competing company to an Orwellian Big Brother.”

Although, over the years, the relationship between the two companies has lost a lot of the animosity, but that is mostly attributed to the fact that they don’t directly compete as much as they used to. IBM sold its notebook division to Lenovo and focused much more on enterprise services, while Apple went on to dominate the consumer market.

In fact, the role of each company in the industry has transformed to the point where they actually have a lot to offer each other. IBM sells and supports enterprise equipment and services and Apple devices are used in 90% of enterprise, so the partnership only makes sense.

Some may say that Steve Jobs would be rolling in his grave about now (see above photo), but Jobs might have even seen this coming. Jobs once described the difference between Apple and IBM by saying

IBM has the best process people in the world. They just forgot about the content. And that happened a little bit at Apple, too. We had a lot of people who were great at management process. They just didn’t have a clue about the content. In my career, I found that the best people are the ones that really understand the content.

The same is very true today. IBM has found massive success in the enterprise due to a focus on process. IBM is a world leader in business process management, data storage and security, and enterprise support for both hardware and software. The company has basically established itself as a go-to one stop shop for anything enterprise IT related.

Meanwhile, Apple has focused almost solely on the consumer and consumer content, and excelled at it. Apple is a major leader for applications and hardware, but very few of these services target any large scale deployment. Apple IDs, for example, are a personal ID with no corporate alternative, making enterprise IT management of Apple devices somewhat troublesome. Despite the wide adoption of Apple devices in Enterprise, the devices have surprisingly little to offer most companies.

This partnership brings together the best of both worlds of both the “processes” and the “content” that Steve Jobs mentioned as components of success. Although many corporations may not start seeing the benefits of this partnership for many months, it is a massive pairing that will benefit both companies as well as their customers.

Source: re/code

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How to Share Your Android Screen to Your TV With Chromecast

Posted on 18/07/2014 by Stephen Colbert

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Google announced the ability to share your Android screen to your TV at Google I/O, and the feature has finally been launched!

Since the Chromecast was launched last year, it’s quickly becomes one of the most popular streaming devices, for obvious reasons. Not only is it only $35, but it also provides support for most major streaming services (let’s be honest, it really just needs to support Netflix) and it doesn’t require phone resources to stream. The workload is handed off to the Chromecast to do the lifting, leaving you free to use your device.

Several updates to the Chromecast at this year’s Google I/O, including one of the most demanded features: screen mirroring. The ability to cast a copy of your device’s screen, and not just streaming media.

This update has begun rolling out to most major Android devices, although some are not yet supported (such as the HTC One). If you would like to see if your device supports the screen casting functionality, you can find the full list of supported devices on Google’s Chromecast support page.

If your device is supported and you’d like to get started casting, it’s very simple. Assuming your device is supported, the first thing you want to do is make sure you have the most recent version of the Chromecast app installed. You can check your software version in the app under Settings>Software Version. If it is version 1.7 or newer, then you’re good to go!

The next steps are quite similar to streaming any other media. You need to make sure you are connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the Chromecast (Google announced feature that does not require this step, but it is not yet implemented).

If your app is updated and you are on the right Wi-Fi network, then you may have already figured out the next step, because it is fairly obvious once you enter the app menu. You will see a cast button, which enables the casting. Once your display is being shared, you will notice that there is a notification in your notification shade (just like when you are steaming media) that will allow you to turn sharing off. You can also turn it off by entering the app again.

So, why would you use this feature? Well, some apps don’t natively support casting to a Chomecast. The example Google used at Google I/O was Google Earth, but it can also be used for casting Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or web pages. Considering how often we share Facebook and Instagram photos on small screens, I’m actually surprised these apps don’t have built in cast functionality.

So there you have it. Thanks to this nifty update from Google, you can now cast anything you want from your phone to your TV. Chromecast is really taking off, so be ready for additional updates in the future as well!

Source: CNET

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New Curved Lens From Sony Could Be The Future Of Imaging

Posted on 16/07/2014 by Stephen Colbert

Many different manufacturers are creating new and unique camera technology, but the newest Sony technology mimics the shape of the human eye.

The growing popularity of digital photography, especially smartphone photography, has lead to many technological improvements when it comes to imaging devices. Many improvements are software related, such as improved filtering or image processing (some manufacturers, such as HTC, even have a dedicated image processing chip), but others are hardware, such as Optical Image Stabilization and HTC’s Ultra-Pixels.

A new curved sensor from Sony sets out to offset the “Petzval field curvature,” which is a performance issue with flat image sensors preventing an image from being brought into proper focus (check Wikipedia for a more technical description). There is existing equipment in most lenses that compensates for this, but it adds to the expense and size of the module.

Sony’s curved lens answers many of these questions, although it still has more improvements necessary before it is ready for wide usage. The sensor is currently 2/3rds of an inch long, making it much too large to use in the average smartphone, although it’s only a matter of time before the technology is miniaturized.

The act of bending the edges of the sensor actually has many benefits. First, it holds a much stronger resemblance to the construction of the human eye, which is a fairly efficient optical construction. The act of bending the sensor also strains the photodiodes, which results in decreased image noise, while also assisting in the reduction of necessary hardware in the sensor.

Initially, Sony’s curved sensor will only be able to be used in low to mid range digital cameras, but it’s only a matter of time before it will be able to be used in smartphone camera modules, which is where the real benefit is. Larger cameras can afford the extra hardware necessary for a flat sensor, but for smartphones, millimeters are valuable.

Although some camera phones, such as the Nokia Lumia 1020 have very large sensors in place already, the curved lens also sounds very similar to the large megapixels (aka ultra-pixels) of the cameras on HTC’s One line. It also might be exclusive to Sony’s devices, since it is their sensor.

Whatever phone it’s in, it’ll b a huge development. Just one more thing to look forward to in future phones!

Source: Engadget

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New Wearable Device Shocks You Into Submission

Posted on 11/07/2014 by Stephen Colbert

If you like wearables, but wish they did more to influence your behavior instead of merely tracking it, this new wearable might be exactly what you need.

2014 has seen all sorts of wearables, from smartwatches to fitness trackers. Some wearables even plan to measure blood sugar and hydration. It’s all been a fairly one way street, though, as demonstrated by the quantified self movement. Most wearables gather data from the wearer, but other than providing analytics or occasional vibrations, there’s very little direct feedback.

So, wearables help to track lifestyle choices so you can know what your diet and exercise habits look like, but the current technology merely provides alerts about any needed changes. The problem is, most people already know they need to change habits. That’s why people get a wearable in the first place. Now they just have numbers that represent how badly they need to change.

This is why many people ditch their wearables after only a few months of use and the reason Maneesh Sethi developed the Pavlok. The Pavlok is a wearable that tracks your progress towards goals, just like any other wearable, but builds in the consequence of an electric shock if the goal is not met. For example, it will vibrate in the morning to accompany your alarm clock, but if it is snoozed too many times, it will deliver a shock to the wearer.

It may sound rather harsh, but this may be a very desired feature for the more stubborn of us who need a little more persuasion than a polite vibration alert. Pavlok doesn’t just hold you accountable for your own preset tracking goals, but also has a social component. Did you commit to a friend that you would visit the gym? If you don’t check in to the gym on Foursquare, your friend may deliver an electric shock to your wrist from across the internet.

This method may not be for everyone, but could be very effective for those that do stick with it. Sethi himself says he has lost 30 pounds over just a few months of testing. Obviously, Pavlok must be paired with a true desire to change or establish good habits to be successful, but for those that fit that description, Pavlok could be a powerful tool.

The lifestyle enforcement of Pavlok can extend far beyond just fitness purposes as well. Imagine pairing it with an app like mint, where it will provide a shock any time a particular budget allowance is exceeded, or have it shock if you don’t clear your Gmail inbox by the end of the day.

If this type of behavioral enforcement sounds attractive to you, keep an eye out for Pavlok to launch a crowd-funding initiative in September. The prototype device currently costs $250, but once the device is available for retail purchase, Manish says it will have a cheaper price tag attached.

Source: Engadget

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Netflix Job Pays You to Binge Watch

Posted on 08/07/2014 by Stephen Colbert

Everyone loves to binge watch Netflix, but a now job posting for the streaming giant means you could actually get paid to watch!

Netflix has changed the way we watch TV forever. Instead of watching TV or movie series one installment at a time, many people have begun watching in marathon binge sessions. The binge watching is actually so prevalent that Netflix accounts for almost 1/3 of total internet traffic.

Despite this vast abundance of available streaming media, people don’t always know what to watch. Netflix works hard to index all its content by relevant details like cast and crew or genre and some more adventurous viewers will even go the (sometimes risky) route of Netflix Roulette, but Netflix doesn’t have the ability to index and tag its videos in the same way as search engines like Google. There are no robot crawlers that can watch and index movie characteristics in the same way they crawl images and text on the internet.

In what may actually seem like a dream job to some, Netflix actually employs people to watch Netflix all day and manually input tags. Otherwise, how would Netflix recommend you watch “Witty Dysfunctional-Family TV Animated Comedies Featuring a Strong Female Lead”?

This is not an imaginary position staffed by Oompa Loompas, but an actual job that Netflix actually pays people to perform. It may not be quite as cut and dry as getting paid to watch TV, although you would definitely be free to tell people that’s what you do!

The positions are titled “Taggers,” and the task is pretty self explanitory and includes perks such as free Netflix and flexible hours, but I would imagine it has an unfortunate side effect of making you despise TV. Nevertheless, there are far worse job out there than “paid Netflix watcher.”

Netflix is currently hiring for the position in the UK/Ireland. If you think this is your dream job, but you don’t reside in the proper country, just keep your eyes on the Netflix jobs page for any future openings. There’s always new content coming out, so they aren’t likely to ever lose demand for new Taggers.

Source: Engadget

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HTC Finds Sales Success With The One M8

Posted on 07/07/2014 by Stephen Colbert

HTC makes great phones, but doesn’t always get the sales it needs to succeed. Although recent numbers suggest that’s starting to change.

HTC has had a great run the past several years since introducing its “One” brand. The phones are traditionally very highly reviewed and receive multiple top industry awards, but HTC has not been able to translate this success into sales numbers, posting losses quarter after quarter for several years now.

Finally, HTCs diligence and pursuit of quality has paid off–literally–in the form of $92 million in profit off of $2.2 billion in total revenue. These numbers may not be significant when compared to Apple or Samsung, but for HTC it marks a turnaround, and hopefully indicates that the general public is now more familiar with HTC and associates the One brand with HTCs commitment to quality.

Although the new HTC One M8 is likely a large component of HTCs improved sales numbers, HTC has also gone above and beyond with its commitment to customer satisfaction through programs such as the HTC Advantage. In addition to the HTC One branding, HTC has changed up its marketing game and may also be getting its name out there through social media and other mediums.

Since this is the same quarter that the HTC One M8 was launched in, it will be interesting to see if sales remain steady, or if the device launch marks the peak of HTCs performance for 2014. Although its biggest product has already been announced, HTC may yet have some additional surprises incoming. HTC has long been rumored to be entering the smartwatch race, which we will likely see shortly before christmas this year. HTC has also been long rumored to be working on a new Nexus tablet, which was not announced at Google I/O, but we may still see that this fall with the launch of Android L.

With both iOS 8 and Android L incoming before the end of the year, the smartphone landscape may be in for some shifting, but if HTC can maintain its commitment to quality and keep sales up, then we may get to see some new life breathed into the long struggling smartphone manufacturer.

Source: Engadet

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Author Archives: Stephen Colbert

Bittorrent’s Bleep is the Secure Chat App You’re Looking For

Apple Gives FaceTime a Boost in iPhone 6

5Ghz LTE Means More Data for More People

Apple And IBM Are Teaming Up to Tackle Enterprise Mobility

New Curved Lens From Sony Could Be The Future Of Imaging

New Wearable Device Shocks You Into Submission

Netflix Job Pays You to Binge Watch

HTC Finds Sales Success With The One M8