wel see a torrent of new devices emerge that are connected to the Internet and each other through a wide range of different wireless networking protocols.
As a result, there a race on, not just to get those devices connected, but also to provide the network infrastructure necessary to managing all of them at scale.
all without relying on Wifi, Bluetooth, or cellular networks. The company hopes to do that by combining low-powered wireless connectivity and a smart distribution network for data coming from those devices.
There he led the company strategic software initiatives in open source, Internet of things, and wearables verticals. As a result, he has experience in large-scale wireless systems,
but the company has assembled already a 20-person team of experts in radio frequency technology and distributed networks.
To do that, the company is developing its own wireless data protocol and wireless modules that can be inserted into devices that manufacturers want to be a part of its network.
it could create its own connection to them in a cost effective manner without relying on existing cellular or Wifi networks.
#Coolchip Technologies Is Redesigning The Humble Computer Fan If there one part of a PC that doesn get enough love, it the fan.
These small plastic spinning pieces cost almost nothing and keep hundreds or thousands of dollars of advanced technology from cooking itself.
The only time anyone talks about a computer fans is when we notice them doing their jobs. can go on Youtube without them winding up,
making a bunch of noise! For many, these fans are becoming increasingly unnecessary. Chips built for phones,
tablets and even some laptops are designed to use small enough amounts of power than they can dissipate heat without blowing a bunch of air all over everything.
But for users who demand power gamers, video editors and the like fans are still a reality that has to be dealt with every day.
Coolchip Technologies is working to redesign fans to be less of a nuisance. While there are alternatives (like liquid cooling) for those who simply cannot stand the presence of fans,
and achieve 35-40 percent greater thermal performance than traditional PC fans. That impressive, but not something that most consumers would be aware of or care about.
Among PC gamers, this could be huge. An enthusiast gaming rig typically has one CPU and one to four graphics cards, each
of which generate enough heat to warrant one of Coolchip fans. Anyone with a PC built for maxing out their games
or software would notice the noise reduction from switching to fans this quiet. Apparently I not the only one to notice that.
Onstage, Sanchez noted that Coolchip has partnered with Cooler Master to bring its technology to market as aftermarket add-ons early next year
and Microsoft consulted with the startup to make quieter fans for the Xbox One games console,
At a Facebook, Google, or Amazon data center, replacing hundreds or thousands of fans with ones using 35 percent less power could yield significant cost savings.
As data centers move from big PC processors to large networks of ARM chips, there will likely be even more individual chips to keep cool.
And Device Sandboxes Incoming Blackphone the post-Snowden pro-privacy Android smartphone joint venture between secure comms company Silent Circle and phone maker Geeksphone has confirmed it will be adding an app store
This will enable users to segment##activity on their##device by creating multiple##secure spaces for particular apps accounts or data.
The feature will be powered by Canadian company##Graphite Software#s OS-level virtualization software. Speaking to Techcrunch back in October Blackphone cofounder Jon Callas indicated an app store was incoming detailing a plan##to expand its##hardened Android OS to include a curated app store experience#offering third party apps##it##has selected
and vetted/reviewed for potential security concerns. The Blackphone device and startup business is an attempt to consumerize the hard problem of security
and privacy within a familiar-looking Android##wrapper and by bolting on multiple third party services to put##secure alternatives for essentials such as##cloud storage within easy reach (as well as bundling up the cost of their initial subscription in with the phone).
Users can##download and add stores to their device after##purchase but that requires at least a degree of##legwork.
Adding its own privacy-focused store to the OS is therefore a natural next step#given it will expand the utility of the device
while apparently maintaining high standards of user##privacy. However it s also##a trade-off given that running third party software introduces more security risks.
That s presumably why Blackphone is##combining the launch of an app store with the addition of virtualized secure Spaces#to offer another sandboxed layer to help safeguard data on the device.
and##the user##to have just the one##device for work and person use securely separating out their##personal apps and content from##work apps and content.
#Users will then also be able to spec out additional Spaces on the device as they desire#such as for instance a child-friendly bucket with access to a sub-set of apps.
##The number of apps on the store will doubtless intentionally remain##far fewer than on major app stores such as Google Play.
Callas previously told Techcrunch the store could##include##different security review tiers for apps as a way for users to navigate the risks of running third party content.
And that it##may also include##apps that some might##consider insecure by design (such as social media apps which##focus on sharing)
or make it easier for users to download other app stores.##We re going to do things like security reviews of apps.
and we cover##the unfun things like email clients things like that which we have gone
An early mover the firm has seen increased competition from younger firms like Dropbox and older companies like Microsoft and Google.
In a blog post Box##CEO Aaron Levie described the Trust effort in the following terms:#
The San francisco-based lender will provide software that allows brands to offer small loans to their consumers,
Taking a page from the likes of ebay and Priceline, it is introducing a new dutch auction-style feature.
Users can now ake an Offeron a product, suggesting a lower price to the vendor than the one listed on Amazon.
The move seems to be a clear bid to compete against the likes of sites like ebay for more business for its marketplace from third-party vendors,
and keeps the negotiation within Amazon walled garden rather than being taken offline, where Amazon would get no commission,
what ebay does today. Amazon is clear to point out that this is ot an auction formatin that you are not actively bidding against others
a user will be able to add the item to his/her shopping cart, at the negotiated price,
Singapore Temasek Holding which invested in Rocket Internet Lazada last month led the round, which included participation from existing investors DST Global and Chinese internet giant Tencent.
The company is not disclosing its valuation but this new funding round which is one of the largest ever for a Chinese tech firm is a huge jump on its $100 million Series C round from January this year.
Didi Dache claims to have over 100 million registered users and more than 1 million taxi drivers on its platform.
to allow users to book their ride from inside the app itself. That partnership alone accounts for over 20 million bookings per month.
leaving it with a huge challenge to break their dominance in the country. idi will continue its commitment in providing mobile-based transportation services to more users,
The company believes in its mission of making transportation easier for everyone through mobile Internet
and funded by ex-Skype employees and IMBOX. me backed by ex-Nokia President and CEO Olli Pekka Kallasvuo to name but a few.
because modern companies use an increasing amount of specialized tools for specialized services like Trello for Task Management Github as a Code Repository and Google docs for online collaboration.
#We ve built a type of search engine that indexes every tool/service you connect with Chatgrape (so far we ve got Github Bitbucket Google Drive Google Calendar
#In a demo given to me over Skype and in my own testing I could grok immediately how much time this feature alone could potentially save.
As naturally as it is for all of us to tag a friend on Facebook only that it s no longer about the pages you ve liked
and most recently The Austrian Research Institute for Artificial intelligence (OFAI) to develop Chatgrape s chat#intelligence even further.
and nail the required User interface#make the likes of Slack et al. look long in the tooth almost over night.
and an invite-only beta that s seen it sign up 300-plus companies comprising 1500 active users who have sent over 100000 messages.
A large hardware reseller obviously handles different internal data than say a large furniture manufacturer. We aim to have at least five large enterprise customers by summer 2015
#Mesosphere Announces First Data center OS And $36m In Funding Mesosphere, the commercial entity built on top of the open source Apache Mesos project,
announced some major milestones today, starting with $36m in Series B funding along with the early release of
what they are calling the first data center operating system. The round was led by new investor Khosla Ventures with additional funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Fuel Capital, SV Angel and other unnamed investors.
Besides the funding though, the bigger news was the announcement of their first data center operating system (DCOS.
This is a new kind of operating system that operates on the scale of the entire data center, which means instead of controlling a single machine,
the operating system sits on top of the data center and enables administrators to treat all of the resources in the data center as a single, virtual entity.
and lets administrators spin servers and software up and down as needs require much more quickly than with current methods.
The virtual machine allowed you to make the best use of your resources on a single machine
but Mesosphere wants to take that concept a step further and allow you to apply that same principle to the entire data center.
Because today applications tend to work across multiple servers, no matter how many ways you break down a single machine resources,
By applying this virtual machine concept across the entire data center, you create a single pool of resources that you can manipulate any way that you like
What more, this ability to virtualize the entire data center dramatically speeds up the time it takes to spin up server clusters from days or weeks to hours or even minutes
or use a graphical user interface to quickly drag and drop resources from a library to the command line panel.
This gives administrators the ability to start multiple instances of any software in the library very quickly.
The library includes popular open source products by default such as Apache Spark Apache Cassandra, Apache Hadoop and Google Kubernetes,
or customers can add internal software packages. DCOS is compatible with several versions of Linux including Redhat, Centos, Ubuntu,
and Coreos, as well public cloud infrastructure services from companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft. Finally, you can use it with private cloud infrastructure services including virtual machines, bare metal and Openstack.
Administrators can also set up triggers with a scheduler tool so that when certain conditions are met, the system will automatically run a predefined set of commands.
For instance, administrators could run a set of commands based on cost so the job would only run
if the cost threshold were met. What more, administrators can take advantage of the API to build applications against the single pool of data center resources available from Mesosphere DCOS.
Mesosphere said DCOS will be generally available next year, but there is an early access program now w
#Fashion And Tech Companies Merge Online And Offline Sales Editor Note: Stephanie Chan is a freelancer who writes for Renegade
and the web. in November, fashion and tech entrepreneurs and experts gathered at the Decoded Fashion New york Summit to discuss integrating technology,
Nordstrom and ebay. According to ebay Inc.,the Rebecca Minkoff partnership marks the company continuing expansion into the physical marketplace and not simply a ne-offdeal.
The company has filed several patents for the new technology, and according to head of Innovation and New Ventures Steve Yankovich, his is not a pilot for us.
but ebay is hoping for a deeper integration with the retail experience. In the past, ebay has released a transaction eat mapfollowing Thanksgiving
which shows online buyer-seller activity in a real world context. The new high-tech store Minkoff launched in Manhattan Soho neighborhood aims to capitalize on that kind of big data knowhow
It an extension of work ebay has done with other retailers, like Kate Spade. Minkoff and her cofounder (and brother), company chief executive Uri Minkoff explained their thinking
Recognizing the increasing role mobile is playing in retail, Minkoff decided to integrate the smartphone into the showroom experience.
The customer can enter her phone number and then walk away to enjoy a drink while a store associate curates their personalized fitting room.
lingerie and adidas lines through a large touch screen display on the shop floor. It goes beyond just the boutique scene:
An Ugg store in D c.-area mall Tysons Galleria now enables customers to browse touch screen catalogs
and check out using their phone instead of a cash register. In fact, the entire Tyson Corner Center mall is attempting to go online with a designated smartphone app, virtual concierge services,
and other functions r
#Separating The Opportunities From The Obstacles In Open-source Networking Open standards have driven the networking market since the earliest days of the Internet.
While the use of open source for networking is a more recent phenomenon, it is no less important.
A major industry transition to open source for software-defined networking (SDN) is under way, and users and vendors stand to benefit.
Some expectations, however, may need to change. While the original idea behind SDN separating the control from the data plane in network switches has turned out to be just one of many architectural approaches that have emerged
it did catalyze massive interest in software and open source within the networking world. Things like APIS and Devops tools became relevant to network engineers,
and open source movements emerged to fulfill the need for increased automation and flexibility as organizations moved deeper into the cloud.
Most recently the conversation has shifted to how open-source policy frameworks can hide the complexity of networking
and make interacting with networks easier and faster for application developers. Suddenly, networking is not just about the next generation of ASIC technology.
It now about innovating at the speed of software. While some of these open-source technologies are still maturing
Networking vendors have moved aggressively to support open-source orchestration, network controllers and even software-based appliances to drive higher levels of interoperability.
Originally a collaboration between Rackspace and NASA, the Openstack cloud computing software platform is the most prominent open-source project to emerge in recent years.
Openstack serves as an open source network orchestrator that lets users describe what they want from a network through a set of logical network abstractions.
This project, led by the Linux Foundation, focuses on the control and management of network resources,
has defined host/virtual machine/container interactions for networking. Critical portions of OVS are included now directly in the Linux kernel,
and it has become an important building block in extending the network into the operating system. Open source projects have performed also significant work on open protocols,
including: Openflow. Now managed by the Open Networking Foundation, Openflow kicked off the SDN movement in 2008 by promoting the idea of programmability in switches.
While it has offered not the magic bullet SDN advocates were looking for, it did advance the science,
A relatively new protocol proposed to the Internet Engineering Task force (IETF), Opflex was designed to offer a highly scalable architecture that works across a broad range of hardware devices to enable multivendor innovation.
The Open vswitch Database Management Protocol. OVSDB was conceived to handle management tasks on network devices not originally included in the Openflow protocol.
For example, the Open Compute Project was formed to help drive low-level innovation in open hardware and software.
using open source to define an intent-driven policy language that can help application developers easily describe networking requirements.
As users look to make a broad range of cloud technologies interoperate, open-source networking is benefiting from being a natural extension of existing community efforts.
Vendors haven always been quite so supportive of open source networking. Some networking vendors initially viewed the rising tide of open-source projects as a threat.
and associated user demands for openness became too strong to resist. Most vendors have since come to embrace the trend.
and around open source projects even as they look for synergies with their own product lines. The industry is now going through the process of deciding on
so it up to vendors to meet those customer requirements by filling in any gaps in their own distributions of the open-source software.
Testing and quality control in open source also may not be up to the network vendor standards for enterprise-ready products.
Indeed, many open source projects have been year awayfrom being operationally ready for a long time. However the consensus-driven process behind open-source projects moves much faster than that of traditional standards bodies like the IETF.
Many people don understand that open source takes a long time to mature. By accepting open source into the product development cycle, vendors give up some control over product delivery schedules.
If the community can agree, timelines will slip, and vendors who rely on open source for their own products will be forced to extend release schedules.
Customers may expect vendors to build and release products at the same pace as they did before,
But these initiatives are establishing new standards for software components at a much faster pace than the traditional standards process ever did.
Open source networking stakes out the middle ground between the traditional, slow-moving standards process and the rapid pace of product development and innovation possible with more proprietary designs.
and build differentiated products that better meet user needs. Vendors should also contribute some of those innovations back to the community to help promote new standards that will help the market continue to grow.
Over the next few years, users can expect to see the continued evolution of all of these projects,
and users will see increased collaboration between web scale companies, cloud operators and vendors to ensure that open-source tools meet the needs of the user community.
The result will be a win-win scenario for both network vendors and users h
#Data From Alibaba E-commerce Sites Is Now Powering A Credit-Scoring Service Alibaba Group affiliate Ant Financial services has unveiled a new credit-scoring system that uses data from the e-commerce giant sites to gauge userscreditworthiness.
Dubbed Sesame Credit the new service is an example of how Alibaba reach in China goes far beyond online shopping.
Sesame Credit scoring system which is currently in beta looks at data gleaned from the 300 million registered shoppers
For example credit history can be measured through a user history of credit card and utility payments through Alipay.
Data used from shopping websites indicate how often a buyer or vendors follow through on transactions and the quality of their interactions with other users.
Ant Financial says that it will supplement data collected from Alibaba sites and Alipay with information from public agencies financial institutions and other merchants.
Sesame Credit users can check their scores which range from 350 to 950 points through Alipay Wallet a mobile wallet app
or shopping sites that accept Sesame Credit scores. The idea of using shopping transactions to measure creditworthiness may be off-putting to some consumers after all it like having your FICO score determined by your ebay feedback or Amazon rating.
But Ant Financial says that Sesame Credit can give more consumers in China access to financial resources like home loans
and phone contracts even if they don have a credit history. In a press statement Sesame Credit chief data scientist Yu Wujie said the service is targeted toward users who ay have obtained never bank loans
or applied for credit cards. However they might be active Internet users who shop online a lot e-pay their utility bills on time have a stable residential status
and have been using their mobile phone numbers for a long time. We will take these and other factors into consideration when assessing consumerscreditworthiness. esame Credit says it will protect user privacy by collecting an individual data only after they sign up for the service.
The credit-scoring system is an example of how the user data collected by Alibaba Group e-commerce business can be used to power other verticals.
In addition to financial services Alibaba hoard of data is used by its cloud computing subsidiary logistics and even health tech that organizes patient information for hospitals f
#Secret Media Makes Ad Blockers Useless To Display Those Sweet, Sweet Pre-Roll Video Ads Chances are installed that you an ad blocking extension to skip Youtube pre-roll video ads.
But now, many media companies suffer from these ad blockers and have no choice but to switch to a freemium model
or find a way to shove some ads down your throat. Meet Secret Media, an advertising technology startup specialized in advertising encryption
so that even the most sophisticated ad blocking software can block your ads. e only work with top premium publishers,
cofounder and CEO Frédéric Montagnon told me in a phone interview. very time a publisher distributes a page,
-and-mouse game between ad blocking contributors and Secret Media. Montagnon, Julien Romanetto and the rest of the team have been flying under the radar for the past few months not to raise awareness.
But, according to an Adobe study, 26 percent of U s.-based Internet users installed an ad blocker.
While hardcore ad blocking users might complain, advertising is the necessary evil of the web.
So get ready to see some pre-roll video ads again s
#Elemental Path Debuts The First Toys Powered By IBM Watson A company called Elemental Path is developing a new line of smart toys for children
which will be powered by the super computing system IBM Watson, enabling the toys to engage in real and personalized conversations with kids,
and evolve with the child as he or she grows. Cognitoys, as the toy line is being called,
with a smart dinosaur toy that supports full speech recognition and can chat with kids, tell them jokes
Co-founded by Donald Coolidge and JP Benini, previously of software development shop Majestyk Apps,
which allowed them access to the IBM Watson technology, making them the first toy company to be able to tap into the system.
explains Coolidge. ids are using iphones and tablets much more than most parents would like them to,
when the benefits are not very clear, he says. With Cognitoys, the technology is instead inside the device and the toy gets to know the child,
texturized rubber similar to that of a Leapfrog tablet. On the toy front, there a big button that,
and a small piece of hardware that connects to the cloud. s a connected device,
With the IBM Watson-powered system, the toy is able to listen and respond to questions and return its answers quickly within a second or much less,
For the toy younger users, the system offers activities like jokes and storytelling, while older kids can ask it more specific questions,
The software could be used in other applications as well including kidsapps. Based in Manhattan, the startup has a small amount of funding from friends and family,
#Clinicloud's Bluetooth-Enabled Stethoscope And Thermometer Lets Doctors Check Your Vitals From The Cloud We are getting that much closer to building the doctor office of the future right within our homes today.
Digital health diagnostic tools startup Clinicloud has launched a line of Bluetooth-connected stethoscopes and thermometers that enable consumers to check their own vitals
says Clinicloud cofounder Dr. Andrew Lin. e are putting these powerful tools into the hands of everyday users,
The startup plans to add more hardware devices in the future and is working on a series of partnerships with major retail brands to sell the devices to consumers That could possibly save the American consumer a lot of time and money.
The Clinicloud website is now open for pre-orders and the kits are expected to ship in July t
Business users don want to wait 12 months. We started seeing a rush of interest from lines of business, where the conversation changes to business value,
#Apple's Activation Lock Leads To Big Drops In Smartphone Theft Worldwide The temptation of a smartphone for a thief is dropping,
thanks to Apple decision to implement a remote kill switch via Find My Phone that can erase
and disable a phone once it been stolen or gone missing. A new report from Reuters found that iphone theft dropped by 50 percent in London,
40 percent in San francisco and 25 percent in New york. The drops represent theft activity as measured during the 12 months following Apple introduction of the remote locking feature in September 2013
as part of ios 7. With ios 8, Apple made its so-called said ill switchactive by default, in accordance with California regulation,
Apple Activation Lock requires a user to authorize a wipe or fresh install using the existing icloud credentials on record,
Apple is one of the first major manufacturers to switch to implementing the system by default, rather than through user opt-in,
All new iphone 6 and 6 Plus units for instance, will have it on be given default that they shipped with ios 8 pre-installed.
Stats from last year indicated that Apple implementation of the Activation Lock were having a significant effect,
but Apple combined ios 8 adoption rate (currently at over 70 percent) and the fact that it now on by default means that the risk associated with stealing a modern ios device is even greater.
The aim is to make smartphone theft ultimately as futile as stealing a credit card, whereby a user ancellingtheir hardware renders it ultimately useless.
Smartphone theft is often theft of opportunity meaning a thief weighs reward vs. risk, including factors like how difficult it is to recoup an investment on something theye taken.
Activation Lock doesn automatically render smartphones using it worthless to thieves, but it skews the value proposition considerably,
and reduces reward (an iphone sold for parts is worth far less than a fully functional unity, for instance).
Apple seems committed to coming up with new ways to protect user devices and data when it comes to theft,
given its early pioneering of phone tracking tech via Find My iphone. Patents awarded Apple have described also systems
whereby the phone requires positive ID of the user to even display an unlock prompt,
and tech which can monitor and report on unidentified users in the background
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