Home Blog Page 257

BlackBerry’s re-entry into B2B space to make a dent in US iPhone sales in long run

Naushad K. Cherrayil
-
0
BlackBerry’s re-entry into B2B space to make a dent in US iPhone sales in long run
  • With 5G, security concerns are going to be higher as business apps are going to come on to mobile phones.
  • BlackBerry’s security software is embedded into 500m endpoints, including 150m cars, and with over 12,000 global customers.
  • Apple’s iPhone sales likely to take a hit in the US if BlackBerry picks up steam in the long run.

Dubai: BlackBerry is reentering the smartphone space at the right time as security has moved to the forefront of concerns in both enterprises and governments.

“The security part came to people’s minds only after the US started raising concerns over Huawei devices.  With 5G, the concerns are going to be higher as business apps are going to come on to mobile phones. It is more for 5G that the switch may happen and it is here where BlackBerry can add value,” Shobhit Srivastava, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research, told TechChannel News.

There is a buzz around security, he said and added that BlackBerry’s strength lies around security.

OnwardMobility, in partnership with BlackBerry and FIH Mobile, is set to manufacture new phones bearing the BlackBerry brand in the first half of next year.

The phones are likely to be manufactured in India or Vietnam and not in China.

Key components to success

At its peak in 2012, the BlackBerry devices were a status symbol and had more than 80 million active users.

“The encrypted BBM messaging service and its QWERTY keyboard was a key component of BlackBerry’s success and the devices are known for protecting communications, privacy and data,” Srivastava said.

With 5G coming in, he said that Blackberry is aiming at enterprises, regulated industries and governments.

Dr. Ramazan Yavuz, Senior Research Manager at International Data Corp, said that BlackBerry still enjoys a strong brand equity in the mobile phone industry.

“All successors after RIM targeted to monetise this equity and I believe this is still the Holy Grail for OnwardMobility and FIH Mobile,” he said.

The dynamics of smartphone competition will be quite different in 2021, he said and if the differentiation of the product will be only “security and a physical keyboard”, today’s technology audience is far more sophisticated and the technology solutions are far more capable.

“This leaves BB to address niche market segments like certain sectors of finance, legal or government verticals where 5G applications will be rapidly deployed in the near future and will be heavily used,” he said.

Security is part of its DNA

“We are excited that customers will experience the enterprise and government level security and mobile productivity the new BlackBerry 5G smartphone will offer,” John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO, BlackBerry, said.

BlackBerry started losing market share after Apple launched iPhones and the Canadian company finally stopped manufacturing its phones after iPhones and other Chinese manufacturers launched devices a bunch of features that appealed to consumers and to app developers to make money.

In 2016, Chinese company TCL acquired the rights to produce BlackBerry-branded phones and that is going to end by the end of this month.

Srivastava said that Blackberry is going to position itself towards enterprise space.

“Blackberry exited the phone manufacturing business as they were losing money and they wanted to position themselves as a security company with their QNX platform. All their concertation was going towards saving the company and focus only on profitable businesses. That is why they did not pay much attention to the mobile phone space with the onslaught of Chinese companies,” he said.

Yeo Swan Chin, Managing Director for BlackBerry South East Asia and South Asia, said the company has transformed itself in the last seven to eight years.

“Many know us as a smartphone manufacturer but we have a long history in connecting and securing endpoint security and that has always been our DNA.  We started by securing PoS terminals and we are the first to come out with a mobile device management system,” he said.

Customer focus not on radar

“Our security software is embedded into 500 million endpoints, including 150 million cars, and with over 12,000 global customers. We developed AI security solutions what work with human instincts and not against them. Endpoint security software is doubling every three years while there is a global shortage of 4 million cybersecurity workers,” he said.

“We at Blackberry, take a different approach. We incorporate machine intelligence to complement human intelligence and redefine how modern endpoints are built. We are the leader in the security AI market,” he said.

In the short term, Srivastava said BlackBerry may not make a big dent in iPhone sales in the US but as it picks up steam, it will be targeted more towards Apple rather than Samsung in the enterprise space.

“BlackBerry is expected to hold talks with enterprises and governments who have switched to iPhones rather than Android devices for security reasons. Many people still prefer BlackBerry keyboard and its encrypted features and many are very likely to switch back to BlackBerry when launched,” he said.

Moreover, he said that BlackBerry will not focus on the consumer side as the competition is very cut-throat in the Android space.

“In the consumer space, they are very unlikely to make a big impact because 5G phones are already available in the market,” he said.

In consumer segment, Yavuz said that Huawei will still command a certain market share by 2021.

Given brands like Xiaomi, TCL and Oppo are pursuing aggressive growth, he said that the absence of Huawei alone is not a full driver of growth for BB.

“Putting the world on Notice: The AI is ready”

Mohammed Fahad
-
0
“Putting the world on Notice: The AI is ready”
  • But are we? It is a question that we all need to ask and definitely one that was asked by Matthew Tarascio, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence at Lockheed Martin after history of sorts was made in the field of machine learning and artificial intelligence as the latter beat a human fighter jet pilot in a dogfight.

Bengaluru: Artificial Intelligence just triumphed over humans yet again, but this time around it was in the crucial area of proving its absolute superiority in advanced warfare.

In the battle of artificial intelligence versus a human fighter pilot, the AI algorithm, developed by Heron Systems, swept a human F-16 pilot in a simulated dogfight 5-0. The pilot, a recent graduate of the US Air Force Weapons School’s F-16 Weapons Instructor Course is an operational fighter pilot with more than 2,000 hours in the F-16.

DARPA says the aim of the project is to demonstrate the feasibility of developing effective, intelligent autonomous agents capable of defeating adversary aircraft in a dogfight.

“DARPA’s AlphaDogfight Trials seeks to advance the state of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies applied to air combat operations,” it said.

The computer-based competition are designed to demonstrate advanced AI algorithms that can perform simulated within-visual-range air combat maneuvering.

Live broadcast

The AI developed by Heron Systemsalso was able to make adjustments on a “nanosecond level” where the human “OODA loop”—observe, orient, decide, and act—takes longer, giving the algorithm another advantage.

Eight teams were selected for the AlphaDogfight, by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). The top four teams competed their AIs in simulated F-16 dogfights for the top spot following which AI faced off against a human F-16 pilot in the final event.

The event was broadcast live from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab (JHU/APL) via a ZoomGov Webinar. You can watch the five hour long video on the DAPRAtv YouTube Channel.

Reports quoting Col. Daniel Javorsek, the program manager of DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution Program, which includes the AlphaDogfight, said the goal of the event was to increase the confidence of the feasibility of using artificial intelligence in combat aircraft. If the event was able to convince just a couple pilots, “then I’m considering it a success. That’s the first steps I need to create a trust in these sorts of agents.”

Matt Tarascio, vice president of artificial intelligence at Lockheed Martin commenting on social media after the competition said, “We just put the world on notice that AI is ready … the bigger question is are we?”

“AI is a part of virtually everything we do today, so we are all part of this revolution … some are at the leading edge while others are likely unaware that what powers their favourite voice assistant is AI….. there is a truly exciting opportunity to fuse humans and machines to leverage the generalisation and contextual understanding of humans with the narrow expertise of AI. This is a perfect example of why DARPA exists … to incubate the impossible … can’t wait to see what’s next,” he said responding to a user’s comment.

According to DAPRA these trials are a precursor to the DARPA Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program, which involves AI development and demonstration in three program phases – modeling and simulation, sub-scale aircraft, and full-scale aircraft testing.

“Ultimately, ACE will be flying AI algorithms on live aircraft to demonstrate trusted, scalable, human-level autonomy for air combat,” the note adds.

Selpic P1 review: A handheld mobile printer for multiple surfaces

Naushad K. Cherrayil
-
0
Selpic P1 review: A handheld mobile printer for multiple surfaces
  • P1 is world’s smallest and lightest mobile printer and weighs just 92 grams.
  • The inkjet printer can print on curved surfaces or vertical surfaces or even curved angles.
  • To print different colours, you need to change the cartridges every time and it is a pain.

Dubai: California-based company Selpic is pushing the boundaries of digital printing. After S1 and S1 Plus mobile printers, the company is set to mass-produce P1, the world’s smallest and lightest handheld mobile printer.

Selpic P1 printer is currently up for crowdfunding on Indiegogo and comes in black and white versions.

I was surprised when I opened the box to see a small printer compared to the larger S1.

First of all, hats off to Selpic to keep the P1 so compact.

There are two well-known brands – PrintPen (255 grams) and PrinCube (110 grams) but P1 weighs 92 grams. At only 5.12×1.22×0.94 inches, it is small enough to fit into a pocket or a handbag.

To keep the body light, Selpic used plastic for the top half of the device and a light metallic shell towards the tip or the bottom side of the P1.

The handheld mobile pen printer works a lot like a label maker and it is fun to use. It can be used to print words, logos, QR codes and graphics on a variety of surfaces.

The wireless inkjet printer can print on curved surfaces or vertical surfaces or even curved angles. It has a roller on the base for a smooth roll and can print from left to right or right to left. It currently supports 10 languages such as English, Arabic, Japanese, German, Italian, French, Korean, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, etc.

The P1 prints at 600×600 dots per inch and its inkjet head is equipped with 300 nozzles and has a nozzle spacing of just 0.002 inches. Each nozzle can eject 18 million drops per second to get incredible quality.

Versatile printer

To get the printer connected, the app “Selpic handy printer” has to be downloaded from the Apple, Windows or Android app stores and has to be paired through WiFi or Bluetooth networks.

On the top half of one side, there is a power button and a USB Type-C charging port.

To turn on, you need to push the power button for two to three-second and wait for the green LED light. The green light will also flash when you are printing. The LED will flash red when the battery is low.

There is a round locking button which you need to press when you want to change the cartridge and a button to press when printing on the other side.

What you want to be printed has to be typed on the app or it can turn your voice into text using the smartphone’s built-in microphone. The speech recognition works well as advertised.

In the app, print settings can be done for the interface material such as paper, glass, plastic, leather or cloth and changing print directions.

With the app, users can change fonts and sizes and printing will happen as you scroll across the printing surface.

The device will print only what you can see on the app and if you enlarge a photo or a logo, zooming in will crop part of the image.

It has a library of images and icons and you can edit, print QR codes and customise barcodes. You can also take photos with your phone or photos stored on your phone to print but remember that it can print only in one colour.

Comfortable grip

The review unit I got came with a black ink cartridge but you can buy other colours such as magenta, cyan, yellow, light magenta, light cyan, red and green separately. The cartridge costs $39 currently; it could be retailed for $59, for every colour and it is expensive.

To print different colours, you need to change the cartridges every time and it is a pain.

However, the Selpic P1 has a comfortable grip and stable operating experience.

I tried on all the listed surfaces and it worked fine but the ink, sometimes, gets smudgy on very smooth surfaces and does not dry up fast.

With a single cartridge, it is capable of printing 90 pages of A4 papers and replacing the cartridges can be done in seconds.

The 7.4V lithium-polymer battery can provide close to three hours of working time. The box comes with a micro-USB cable and no 5V charger but you can use any smartphone charger. It takes more than 2.5 hours to charge the battery to full.

Conclusion

Selpic P1 is a printer targeting a niche segment and it cannot replace a normal printer to print documents.  The P1 has its uses but they’re limited. It is worth considering when you want to print phrases and images to your gear or hobbyists or a niche of minimalist aficionados. It cannot print large images and the print area has to be within 12.7x500mm. The app can support JPG, BNP, GIF, PNG and Office documents.

A campaign for the Selpic P1 is launched on Indiegogo with the device starting from $99. There are also several other packages available. The retail price for the device is expected to be $199. A single colour cartridge costs $39 and will be retailed for $59. The device will be delivered to the backers in September and be available in retail stores in October.

Pros

  • Sleek and lightweight
  • Compact form-factor
  • Quick-drying waterproof ink
  • Can print on any surfaces with multi-angles
  • Support multiple languages
  • Built-in line break function
  • Plenty of colour inks to choose

Cons

  • A bit expensive
  • Proprietary cartridge
  • Ink does not dry fast on glossy surfaces
  • Connectivity issues can happen
  • Takes a long time to charge a small battery
  • Cannot print large images
  • Available only in October at retail stores

Global hackathon to crowdsource tech solutions to combat Covid-19 launched

TCN Bureau
-
0
Global hackathon to crowdsource tech solutions to combat Covid-19 launched
  • “Better Health Hackathon: #CodeforCovid19,” aims to find solutions for the immediate and long-term societal impact of Covid-19
  • The hackathon is organised by HCL Technologies in association with Microsoft and International SOS

A global hackathon aimed at crowdsourcing technology innovation to find solutions for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has attracted over 7500 applications worldwide.

The applications have come from 600+ unique organisations and academic institutions spanning 350 locations across 52 countries.

The competition is open to technology innovators, entrepreneurs and problem solvers from the global developer community.

In an effort to engage top talent in the coding community, the hackathon is partnering with BeMyApp to leverage their expansive network of coders and tech enthusiasts. The Hackathon is open to eligible participants who are at least 18 years of age.

An initiative of HCL Technologies in association with Microsoft and medical and travel security services firm International SOS, the multi-phase hackathon, “Better Health Hackathon: #CodeforCovid19,” aims to find solutions for the immediate and long-term societal impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, including pandemic containment and prevention; diagnosis, treatment and therapeutic management; recovery and return to normal; and systemic solutions for future crises.

Judges and advisory panel members include experts from Johns Hopkins University, University of Cambridge, Tuck School of Business, The University of Queensland, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and subject matter experts from HCL.

“Technology has a big role to play in alleviating the challenges brought on by the pandemic, addressing solutions for successful containment and the reorientation of business and society,” Arthur Filip, Executive Vice President, Sales Transformation & Marketing, HCL Technologies, said.

Specifically, the HCL Better Health Hackathon: #CodeForCOVID19 will address the following areas:
  • Prevention and containment: #StayAtHome
  • Diagnosis, treatment & therapeutic management
  • Recovery and return to normal
  • Systemic solutions for crises and pandemic management

Data scraping: 235m social profiles leaked online

TCN Bureau
-
0
Data scraping: 235m social profiles leaked online
  • Leaked data includes names, contact information, personal information, images and statistics about followers.
  • Comparitech, which identified the leak says the profiles were taken from publicly viewable social media pages.

In yet another massive data breach, 235 million Instagram, YouTube and TikTok (recently banned in India) user profiles have been leaked online.

According to security research firm Comparitech, the data was scraped by Social Data – a company that sells information to marketers.

Data scrapping uses automated technology to save information that people share publicly on social media. The controversial practice is used to save information such as users’ posts and photos to their profile details.

The recent leaked data includes names, contact information, personal information, images and statistics about followers.

According to Comparitech the profiles were taken from publicly viewable social media pages of the social media sites.

“Evidence suggests that much of the data originally came from a now-defunct company: Deep Social. The names of the Instagram datasets (accounts-deepsocial-90 and accounts-deepsocial-91) hint at the data’s origin,” a post by Comparitech said.

Three identical copies of the data were hosted at three separate IPv6 addresses. In total, each one stored data on about 235 million social media profiles. Here is a breakdown of the largest datasets:

  • 96,714,241 records scraped from Instagram
  • 95,678,713 records scraped from Instagram
  • 42,129,799 records scraped from TikTok
  • 3,955,892 records scraped from Youtube

Although Social Data insists it only scrapes what is publicly accessible, the practice is against Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube terms of use.

Debate still continues about the legality of data scraping as some argue that all information is publicly available data and in no way violates privacy. However Facebook has made its stand clear that companies are not allowed to scrape data using automated means from its platforms without prior permission.

Ericsson sees US struggling to be on 5G forefront

TCN Bureau
-
0
Ericsson sees US struggling to be on 5G forefront
  • South Korea, Japan and China are all accelerating their own spectrum auctions.
  • It’s really critical, as a country, to be early at rolling out the 5G networks, Ekholm says.
  • Mid-band spectrum auction in US is expected to take place in December 2021, with private operation of services likely to begin in 2022.

Bengaluru: The US will struggle to be on the forefront of building nationwide 5G coverage as it lacks spectrum and mid-band spectrum, Ericsson chief said.

Speaking to McKinsey & Company, Borje Ekholm, President and CEO of telecom giant Ericsson, said that it’s interesting to see, globally, what has happened with the rollouts of 5G.

The US has been faster at moving ahead in millimetre (high frequency) spectrum for 5G but it lagged in mid-band spectrum allocation.

The mid-band spectrum in the US is heavily utilised by government services like the military and has prevented commercial operators from accessing that spectrum and moving forward with wider 5G deployments.

The White House has officially handed off the 3,450Mhz to 3,550Mhz spectrum to the FCC for an auction that will allow private operators to access midband spectrum.

The auction is expected to take place in December 2021, with private operation of services likely to begin in 2022.

 “Europe has decided to slow down, with several countries delaying the spectrum auctions. And we see operators being, in general, very cautious. In northeast Asia, it’s completely the opposite. There, South Korea, Japan, and China are all accelerating their own spectrum auctions,” he said.

Platform for innovation

“If we look 12 months out, we will, for sure, see China have fairly good coverage of a 5G network, well ahead of pretty much everyone except South Korea and Switzerland,” he said.

“When we were rolling out 4G, everyone was asking us, what’s the killer app for 4G? Why do you need 4G? The interesting thing is that both the US and China were very early in rolling out 4G,” he said.

In a way, he said that created a platform for innovation in the app economy, e-commerce migrated very quickly away from laptops to mobile devices and streaming went to mobile devices too.

A lot of the social networks are today mostly done over “mobile”.

“So it’s not a surprise that you see almost all of the consumer-app economy being dominated by the US and by China. And I fear early leaders can do the same thing in 5G. So it’s really critical, as a country, to be early at rolling out the 5G networks as well,” Ekholm said.

1...256257258...267Page 257 of 267