New Technology News

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

CEO Brian Krzanich laid out the road map for Intel's future in his first Consumer Electronics Show keynote as CEO. Krzanich, who took over the top job last May, focused on wearable technology -- including some products designed internally -- as well as dual operating system tech and Intel's McAfee security software. Among the products Krzanich displayed was a Bluetooth headset, codenamed "Jarvis," that can integrate with a smartphone personal assistant function, such as Apple's Siri, without requiring the user to touch anything.

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Intel Leaps Out of the Box

12:40 PM

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CEO Brian Krzanich laid out the road map for Intel's future in his first Consumer Electronics Show keynote as CEO. Krzanich, who took ...

If you're inclined to make resolutions this time of year and you're concerned about your online and offline security, here are some suggestions that can keep you safer in the days ahead. At the top of the list: You should vow to change the passwords to your important accounts on a frequent basis. "To ensure your personal information online is secure, it's a good practice to regularly change your password," said JD Sherry, vice president of technology and solutions at Trend Micro.

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New Year's Resolutions: Be More Secure in 2014

11:54 AM

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If you're inclined to make resolutions this time of year and you're concerned about your online and offline security, here are som...

Estonian startup, VitalFields, which offers web and mobile apps to put farm management into the cloud and harness otherwise untapped farm-related data, has raised €500,000 in follow-on funding.

The round was led by original backer SmartCap, the venture capital arm of the Estonian Development Fund, with participation from new investor TMT Investments. Previous backers Wiser Financial Advisors, and Arvi Tavast, also participated, along with Ahti Heinla (one of the first Skype engineers) and Andres Kull. This brings total funding to €750,000, after VitalFields raised €250,000 in late 2012.

Founded in 2011 at the Garage48 hackathon, and also an alumni of accelerator Startup Wise Guys, we first described VitalFields as an agricultural early warning system. Its cloud-based wares help farmers do things like plant disease and growth phase modelling, tracking climatic patterns, and other farm management-related activity such as farm planning, stock management and P&L reports.

In other words, it’s another classic SaaS play, replacing old, largely, paper-based ways of doing things, or using legacy and expensive software, or tools that were never really designed to do the job. To that end, VitalFields also provides a degree of automation, consolidating various data, including hyperlocal weather reports and plant disease-related information, that would be otherwise difficult for a human to track manually.

VitalFields says it counts 1,500 farms as customers worldwide, and that today’s new capital will enable it to customise its solution for several new countries in Europe this year. It will also invest in R&D, specifically around analytics so that farmers can become more efficient based on the knowledge accumulated from similar farms, with a heavy dose of machine-learning. That’s potentially very beneficial since, as we’ve previously noted, smaller farms don’t always have access to or make great use of data, instead relying on less scientific practices.

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Estonian Farm Management Startup VitalFields Raises Further €500K

10:54 AM

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Estonian startup, VitalFields , which offers web and mobile apps to put farm management into the cloud and harness otherwise untapped farm-r...

The cloud has covered Sony in a big way: at CES today the company announced a pair of new services that will bring a new wave of cloud-based content to use across its range of devices. PlayStation Now will be a new network for cloud-based games, and a new video service will deliver both live and on-demand video.

The move points to how Sony is focusing on a more consolidated and converged product and services vision.

PlayStation Now is the new name that Sony is giving to a service based on Gaikai, the cloud-based gaming service that it acquired in 2012 for $380 million. Andrew House, the president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, says that it will effectively be a route for bringing legacy PS3 and PS2 games to Vita, smartphones, tablets and Bravia TV sets. “Playing your favorite PS3 game on your television will become a reality,” he said. The service will be starting in beta at the end of January with a full rollout coming this summer.

The second cloud-based entertainment service House announced today is Sony’s move into a new cloud-based TV service. House says that this will bring both live and VOD content — a long-rumored product, now finally appearing a reality. He provided very little detail on the specifics of the service — we are reaching out to Sony to find out more. For now, we know that it will be live later this year.

Sony’s move into cloud-based content is not early but still essential: it has some 70 million devices in use in the U.S. alone, it has some 70 million devices in use in the U.S. alone, House noted today, with some 25 million of them PlayStation3 players — where it is the most popular console for streaming TV services already. Netflix is a major content provider on that platform today, and so it’s unsurprising to see Sony — itself a big content creator — moving in earnest to offer more content directly to compete against the likes of these OTT players as well as other console makers like Microsoft.

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Sony Goes All-In On Cloud Content With “PlayStation Now” And A Cloud-Based VOD TV Service

10:39 AM

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The cloud has covered Sony in a big way: at CES today the company announced a pair of new services that will bring a new wave of cloud-based...

China reportedly will temporarily lift a sales ban on foreign videogame consoles, reversing a 14-year prohibition. Companies like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo -- which long have salivated over the heretofore obstructed gold mine of Chinese videogamedom -- will be allowed to make game consoles in Shanghai's free trade zone and then sell them in China. The free trade zone is something of an experiment for Chinese authorities. They also lifted online bans there on Facebook, Twitter, The New York Times and other previously blocked sites.

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So Now China IS Lifting Videogame Console Ban

9:39 AM

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China reportedly will temporarily lift a sales ban on foreign videogame consoles, reversing a 14-year prohibition. Companies like Sony, Mi...

Hardware maker, Heapsylon, debuted two new fitness products at CES 2014 : a smart fitness sock that coaches users on their running technique in real time and a heart rate monitor built into a T-shirt (and bra). I got a hands-on demo with Sensoria Sock’s smartphone application that alerts users to improper foot technique and came away, shall we say, breathless.

Sensoria places sensors on the bottom of the foot so an app can give feedback on the most common types of runner errors. During my brief jaunt with the early prototype, Sensoria was able to quickly identify that I do, indeed, strike my heels first when I run and also that I had an inconsistent pace (cadence). Unlike an expensive running coach with a camera, the Sensoria gives realtime auditory feedback in a natural environment and can follow me around wherever I go. Initially, only professionals have had access to this kind of realtime, ubiquitous coaching.

As a new runner, I’ve been having all kinds of nasty knee and cafe issues. This is a product my beleaguered body is begging for.

In addition to the Sock, Heapsylon also announced a shirt and bra with an embedded heart rate monitor. Heart rate chest straps are notoriously uncomfortable and a inconvenience to carry around. Never having to remember to bring my chest strap while I travel would be a pleasant bonus.

For the futurist, Heapsylon partnered with Google Glass developer, Race Yourself, to bring headsup visual feedback to runners. Instead of runners having to sporadically check their heart rate, Google Glass will display it in real time, along with visual data on their foot placement.

Of all the wearables I’ve demoed at CES thus far, the Sensoria Smart Sock is probably the most useful. It identifies a population eager for self-improvement and delivers a product that conveniently solves a major health issue. I can’t wait for it to be available in the Spring.

[Image Credit: Flickr User Heapsylon]

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Sensoria Is A New Smart Sock That Coaches Runners In Real Time

9:39 AM

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Hardware maker, Heapsylon, debuted two new fitness products at CES 2014 : a smart fitness sock that coaches users on their running techniqu...

The founders of Doodle, which offers an online scheduling service for individuals and businesses, are leaving the Swiss startup they founded in 2008. According to a company blog post, Michael Näf and Paul E. Sevinç will step down during the next couple of months, to be replaced by Michael Brecht as new CEO as of 1st February. He’ll lead the company along with a management team consisting of current Doodle employees.

Co-inciding with a change of guard, Doodle is also announcing that Swiss publisher Tamedia plans to fully acquire the company “in 2014″, following its original purchase of a minority 49 percent stake in May 2011 that saw German VC firm Creathor Venture sell its share in the company.

At the time, it talked up synergies between the scheduling service and its online directory search.ch, giving Doodle a boost in its domestic market of Switzerland with regards the SME sector. Terms of the minority acquisition were undisclosed, and I wouldn’t expect any more transparency this time around, though we’ll update this post if we hear any different.

Operating out of Zurich, Switzerland, Doodle claims 15 users per-month. The service, which makes it easy for users, groups and businesses to schedule meeting or take appointments, comes in a free basic version as well as various premium offering. Meanwhile, Tamedia says it will invest in Doodle to further fuel its international growth.

New CEO Michael Brecht is said to have more than 20 years of experience in the IT and online sectors and has held several international positions, including Managing Director at Germany-based CompuNet where he responsible for building the UK business, founder of urbia.com, an online portal for families and children (acquired by media house Gruner & Jahr), and founder of 52weine.de, a shopping club for wine.