So you want to track your water, electricity or gas consumption, but you still don’t have a smart meter on your supply? Pixolus has a mobile app that makes it easier to keep track of meter readings, even with dumb meters. Just tell the Pixometer app which meter you’re going to read, point the phone’s camera at it, and let the optical character recognition software do the work. Once the app gets a lock on the numbers, it speaks the reading out loud and stores it, and the date, in that meter’s file. You can even enter the price per kilowatt-hour, for electricity, or per cubic meter, for water, and the app will show you the expenditure since the last meter reading, and what that works out to per month.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It's too soon to tell if Apple Watch will be a smash hit, but CEO Tim Cook said in a new interview that the new device “will be the first modern smartwatch—the first one that matters.”Cook told Fast Company that the company hasn’t put any sales expectations on the watch because the need for an iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6, or 6 Plus to work “creates a ceiling.”But the watch will be an important step forward for the industry, just as the iPod, iPhone, and iPad were, because it will create a new computing experience.MORE: 10 mobile startups to watch “The inputs that work for a phone, a tablet, or a Mac don’t work as well on a smaller screen,” Cook said. “Most of the companies who have done smartwatches haven’t thought that through, so they’re still using pinch-to-zoom and other gestures that we created for the iPhone.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple revealed Wednesday that iOS 8, released to the public in September, can now be found on 77% of iOS devices accessing the Apple Store. That's up from 68% in January.The iOS 7 edition of Apple's software for iPhones and iPads now accounts for just 20% of devices. Some have balked at moving to iOS 8 because of the space required to download it, while others have been spooked by buggy releases (I'm aware of at least one iOS 8 holdout in the office who says he doesn't have the space on his iPhone to download the new operating system).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Frankfurt Regional Court has issued a nationwide ban against Uber ride-hailing service UberPop, declaring its business model illegal.UberPop is a service operated by Uber that connects users of its smartphone app with private drivers who offer rides in their own cars for fees that are substantially lower than regular taxi fares. Mediating rides with private drivers who don’t have the required licenses is illegal, though, the court ruled on Wednesday.Uber should in principle put a halt to the service immediately, a court spokesman said, adding that if it does not, it can be fined up to €250,000 (about US$265,000) for every violation.Uber can appeal the ruling and meanwhile, the complainant in the case, Taxi Deutschland, needs to post a €400,000 security deposit. The money is meant to compensate Uber for lost business in case it wins an appeal. Taxi Deutschland will post the deposit as soon as possible, a spokeswoman said in an email.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Last week, the Federal Communications Commission released a 400-page document laying out the official orders for how it plans to regulate net neutrality under Title II common-carrier provisions. Not surprisingly, reactions to the document's specifics immediately separated out along ideological lines, with supporters of the doctrine praising the rules while opponents attacked them for leading to "years of litigation, serious collateral consequences for consumers, and ongoing market uncertainty."Stay flexible, my friendsTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Microsoft could be trying to chip away at Android’s dominance in its deal with Xiaomi to test the new Windows 10 operating system.The U.S. software giant announced Wednesday that select users of Xiaomi’s Android phones will be able to download a Windows 10 Technical Preview to their handsets, and offer feedback to Microsoft. The software giant is creating a custom Windows 10 build that can be loaded on the phones.Xiaomi has said it’s only an “experimental program” and not a commercial partnership.The program will target “power users” already adept at using their devices to install custom Android ROMs, also known as firmware. Following the announcement, Xiaomi’s online forum said it would release the Windows 10 pack soon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Windows 10 will arrive this summer, and Microsoft is tapping an unlikely partner to help test it: Chinese Android handset maker Xiaomi.To flesh out the upcoming OS, Microsoft is inviting a select group of Xiaomi users to download the Windows 10 Technical Preview to their phone, and offer feedback.It’s a surprising tie-up, given that Xiaomi has had huge success in using Android to sell its phones. Last year, it became China’s leading smartphone vendor, and the company has ambitions to expand globally.Whether this means Xiaomi will explore using Microsoft’s new OS is unclear. In an email, Xiaomi said the testing of Windows 10 was an “experimental program entirely led by Microsoft.” The program will only be confined to “power users” of its flagship phone, the Mi 4.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Users of Facebook’s Messenger app will soon be able to do more than just chat with friends and send them emoticons. They’ll also be able to send money.Facebook is adding a payments feature to its popular Messenger app, letting users link their debit card and send each other payments within the app. The tool is designed to be as easy as sending messages, with a “$” icon that will appear in the app. By tapping it, users can send money to the friend they’re chatting with. Recipients of the money will have to link their debit card to accept the funds.The free feature will be rolling out over the coming months in the U.S. to Messenger on Android, iOS and the desktop. Facebook made no mention of Windows.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Red Hat understands that developing a mobile application is not the same as building one for the desktop, which is why the company has augmented its software stack with new technologies for mobile development.“The whole Web architecture is giving way to an emerging mobile architecture,” said Cathal McGloin, Red Hat vice president of mobile platforms.Like IBM and Oracle, Red Hat has been working to extend its enterprise software portfolio so it can support mobile applications as well, particularly those that its customers develop in house.The company said Tuesday that it has completed integrating into its own software portfolio the mobile platform it acquired when it purchased FeedHenry last October. It has outlined how enterprises could use these technologies to build mobile applications.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
It doesn't take perfect vision to see that smartphones and mobile computing are the hottest part of the modern technology infrastructure. Open your eyes almost anywhere in the world and it's instantly obvious that mobile devices are continuing to revolutionize…well, just about everything.Still, those of us who work in technology may sometimes be too close to the situation to fully understand how much the industry continues to tilt away from legacy PC and server platforms—and even wannabe platforms like tablets—toward building everything around the ubiquitous smartphone. We still live and work with older categories—and in many cases still rely on them to run our businesses—and so may not always see how much the global center of gravity is shifting to the devices in the palms of our hands.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Following the launch of Dynamics CRM 2015 last November, Microsoft on Monday announced a Spring update to the software that promises new social, mobile and analytics capabilities along with closer integration with Office 365.On the social front, for instance, the Spring ‘15 release of Microsoft’s customer relationship management suite offers a new social center where marketing, sales and service teams can monitor social topics and engage directly with communities. Companies can create end-to-end customer engagements from social posts, while social analytics tools now offer text mining, cloud visualization and a social activity map. Tying it all together, Microsoft said, is a redesigned user interface.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
When compared side-by-side, the Apple Watch and Android Wear platforms have some similarities, but not many. A look at Apple's WatchKit, the programming tools used to create apps, gives a first impression that the Apple Watch's capabilities are currently limited.The first release of Google Glass gave developers limited access for building their apps, which captured developers' imaginations. Nine months later, Google released a comprehensive software development kit (SDK.) After listening to Augmate senior engineer Mike DiGiovanni's talk comparing WatchKit and Android Wear at the Wearable Tech Conference, the Apple Watch-like early Google Glass appears incomplete, and will likely get a comprehensive SDK update after Apple has field-tested WatchKit with its developer community.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple's special media event wasn't all about the upcoming Apple Watch. Per usual, Apple had a few tricks up its sleeve. Specifically, Apple surprised almost everyone when they introduced a new and incredibly thin 12-inch Retina MacBook.What makes Apple's new MacBook so fascinating is that it only comes with one port -- USB C. Just one solitary USB port to rule them all, as many people have jokingly characterized it. In other words, there's no MagSafe, there's no Thunderbolt, and there are no additional USB ports. All of the ports we've come to know and love are nowhere to be found on Apple's new super light and stylish MacBook.But just what is USB C, exactly, and why are so many people exceedingly excited about its inclusion on the soon to be released MacBook?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple's special media event last week wasn't solely focused on the upcoming Apple Watch. Per usual, Apple had a few tricks up its sleeve. Specifically, Apple surprised almost everyone when it introduced a new and incredibly thin 12-inch Retina MacBook. What makes Apple's new MacBook so fascinating is that it only comes with one port – USB-C. Just one solitary USB port to rule them all, as many people have jokingly characterized it. In other words, there's no MagSafe, there's no Thunderbolt, and there are no additional USB ports. All of the ports we've come to know and love are nowhere to be found on Apple's new super light and stylish MacBook.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
At an elementary level, IT is all about using technology to enable the business. This really hasn’t changed, even back in the early days when IT was called data processing or management information systems. In today’s IT world, business enablement is driving a few meta-trends. Cheap hardware and open source software is driving big data analytics to the mainstream. Organizations are abandoning the costs and constraints of on-site IT systems as they move applications and systems to the cloud. Mobile devices are becoming the primary compute platform for users, automating business processes and changing application development.Given the crazy activity around new IT initiatives like these, it may be somewhat surprising that information security was rated as the most important of all meta-trends in a recent ESG research survey (note: I am an ESG employee). ESG asked 601 IT professionals working at mid-market (i.e. 500 to 999 employees) and enterprise (i.e. more than 1,000 employees) organizations in North America and Europe to rank 6 different meta-trends on a scale from 1 (most important) to 6 (least important). The results were as follows:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Last year we reviewed five of the first Gigabit Wi-Fi access points to hit the market. This time around, we’re testing three new entrants: the Cisco WAP371, D-Link’s DAP-2695, and the Edimax WAP-1750.D-Link DAP-2695In addition to the regular access point mode, this Edimax unit supports WDS with or without the access point functionality running concurrently. It supports up to 32 SSIDs, 16 for each band. The access point also offers a simple load balancing feature and rogue access point detection. Like the D-Link access point, this unit has a built-in RADIUS server so you can easily utilize enterprise-class Wi-Fi security. However, the Edimax unit supports up to 256 user accounts. Another simple yet potentially very useful feature is its built-in beeper so you can make access points sound from the web GUI and physically locate them in the building.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
Gigabit Wi-Fi access pointsLast year, we reviewed five of the first Gigabit Wi-Fi access points to hit the market. This time around, we’re testing three new entrants: the Cisco WAP371, D-Link’s DAP-2695, and the Edimax WAP-1750. Each product is a three-stream (3x3) 802.11ac access point designed for small and midsized business (SMB) environments and up. Each includes a built-in controller to centrally manage multiple access points. (Read the full product review.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
New products of the weekOur roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow. Allworx ConnectPricing: Connect 320: $1,230; Connect 324: $1,355; Connect 530: $1,665; Connect 536: $1,875; Connect 731: $3,250To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
E-commerce giant Alibaba Group and affiliated online payment service Alipay are aiming to use facial recognition technology to take the place of passwords.On Sunday, Alibaba chairman Jack Ma showed off the new feature while speaking at the Cebit trade fair in Hanover, Germany.Using Alipay, Ma bought a souvenir stamp from Alibaba’s e-commerce site in China. But to confirm the purchase, Ma scanned his face using the front camera on his smartphone.“Online payment to buy things is always a big headache,” he said. “You forget your password, you worry about your security. Today we show you a new technology.”Alibaba, which reigns as China’s largest e-commerce player, said Monday that the facial recognition feature was still under development.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Apple products are highly touted for being extremely sleek and well-designed. While some companies opt to use cheaper materials in an effort to preserve the bottom line, Apple has a penchant for sparing no expense when it comes to manufacturing.As a result, Apple not only opts to use the best materials available, but it's also willing to expend millions upon millions of dollars on advanced machinery and tooling processes that competitors either a) can't afford to use themselves or b) simply don't want to. Consequently, the build quality on Apple products is typically best in class.Apple's next big game-changing product is the Apple Watch, slated for release on April 24. During Apple's recent media event, the company, as it's prone to do, showcased a video detailing certain aspects of the Apple Watch manufacturing process.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here