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The idea that Apple has been working on a smartwatch—referred to in many circles as the iWatch—has been probably one of the worst kept secrets ever, mostly figured out by sheer intuition and an assortment of news that pointed to just such a development. But a new development has emerged that all but proves the concept, if not necessarily the name. Specifically, that new development is a patent for a smartwatch device that covers several components contained within the device, and in the grandest Apple tradition, there's a lot lurking under this hood.
 Why You Need to Know: The patent in question--reportedly patent number 8,787,006—covers what's described as a "wrist-worn electronic device and methods therefore", and is actually referred to in one illustration as the "iTime". Quirks in nomenclature aside, the smartwatch in question offers a clever idea that really should have been seen coming; a means to interact with Apple's other devices, particularly the iPad and the iPhone. |
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With the list of cities that are officially vying for Google Fiber, it makes sense that the Internet giant would start talking more about its expansion plans. The company announced earlier this week that there are as many as 34 cities that are now legitimate candidates for Google Fiber rollouts. Google says it is working on completing some checklists that will pave the way for future rollouts.
Why You Need to Know: In order to actually get the Google Fiber the cities need to complete the readiness checklists that will try and streamline the process and also keep the cost of construction in check. Google will be working with the towns that are most ready for the technology to get rights-of-way, permitting and details over the next few months. |
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Most tablets are based on trying to get you the minimum performance required to hit a particular price point and the market is awash with cheap tablets that don't appear to be selling that well. At the top of the pile are the iPad and the Samsung that looks the most like an iPad. On the side are the Microsoft Surface tablets that focus on productivity, Kindle that targets readers and shoppers, and the Panasonic Toughpad which focuses on being nearly invulnerable. These are well differentiated products targeting folks that have a particular need that separate them from the pack real and fake iPad users. NVIDIA is choosing a different vector with their Shield Tablet; instead of focusing on productivity, invulnerability, reading, or shopping they are focusing on gaming, and their new Shield Tablet is an impressing piece of hardware.
Why You Need to Know: NVIDIA's strength is in gaming and their K1 technology, which the Shield Tablet is based on, came from a massive effort to bring mobile platforms in line with PC platforms because folks were increasingly using mobile technology for playing games. |
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Verizon added 1.4 million net new mobile connections in its second quarter of 2014, of which 304,000 were postpaid phone net additions. The bulk--1.15 million new connections--were for postpaid tablet service.
Why You Need to Know: That necessarily shifts Verizon revenue growth efforts away from adding more mobile phone customers to increasing revenue from the customers it does have; some would argue Verizon is doing just that. |
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The move to the cloud, for many business systems, is one that's proving to offer plenty of advantages. It's offering greater flexibility, greater mobility, and even some cost savings for businesses that put it to use. But as is often the case with most any new development in technology, there are positive and negative benefits to consider, and the cloud is increasingly having one major problem: security.
Why You Need to Know: Several reported incidents in recent months have shown that there's something of an issue when it comes to security and cloud-based apps. One company, Code Spaces, found itself needing to close altogether after the loss of its customer data in the wake of unauthorized access to its AWS management infrastructure. Worse, Dropbox found itself being used as the command-and-control infrastructure for several attacks on government websites, and even that almost paled in comparison to Heartbleed, and the rampage it went on in exposing vulnerabilities and taking advantage of same. |
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