TechEye |  |
- Could the Chinese snap up GloFo?
- If iPhone 6s fails, many will suffer
- Hulu offers “advertising free” service – with adverts
- Look out Apple and Samsung! Huawei is here
- HP tips over Hurd’s TippingPoint
- Sharp looks into joint venture
- Wikipedia purges paid shills
- Cyber security risks hyped up by Intel Security
- Brits lead way on watching less TV
- Internet of things brings security challenges
| Could the Chinese snap up GloFo? Posted: 03 Sep 2015 06:03 AM PDT
Peter Clarke, writing in Electronics Times, points to the fact that a Chinese consortium will raise £23 billion to buy US memory company Micron – a deal that the US government is likely to oppose. And another consortium wants to buy sensor manufacturer Omnivision. Clarke bases his analysis on a story in Taiwanese daily Digitimes and he believes that Abu Dhabi isn't as interested in developing its own semiconductor industry as it once was. GloFo was spun off as a separate company by AMD some years ago, and the acquisition of its technology would take China a long way towards establishing itself as a major global player in the industry. Further, GloFo, as Clarke points out, is a private company and wouldn't face the kind of regulatory scrutiny that a Micron acquisition would face. |
| If iPhone 6s fails, many will suffer Posted: 03 Sep 2015 02:13 AM PDT
Japan Display Chief Executive Mitsuru Homma said Apple is increasing orders ahead of the expected launch of the new iPhone this month. This is the only good news for the company which has been suffering a lot lately. Homma said that despite weakness in the Chinese market, Apple was confident that it would sell mire iPhones than ever. “They’re coming to us with more orders, saying ‘give us more, give us more’. They keep increasing,” he told Reuters in an interview. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook last week reassured shareholders about the strength of the Chinese market for iPhones after a slump in China’s stock market and the devaluation of the yuan rattled investors. However all his figures were before the crash and do not take into account that Chinese buyers might be a lot more careful now about what they spend their money on. But Cook's optimism may not be that useful for the likes of Japan Display. The company was formed in a government-backed deal in 2012 from the ailing display units of Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi. Its recovery has been based purely because of strong Apple orders. If the iPhone 6s tanks, Jobs Mob will have to retrench it could take Japan Display with it. Apple and Foxconn will survive if the iPhone 6s does not sell well in China, but other companies, which are dependent on Jobs' Mob will not be so lucky. Many will be alarmed at rumours that the new iPhone 6s is not going to be a game changer and might actually be worse than the iPhone 6. Tech news site cnBeta says the battery capacity of the standard-sized new iPhone will be reduced from 1810 milliampere hours to 1715 mAh, and the large-screened model will drop from 2910 to 2750 mAh. That amounts to a power drop of 5.3 per cent for the iPhone 6S and of 5.5 per cent for the larger iPhone 6S Plus or 7 Plus. The phone is also touted to be heavier as Apple fixes the structural problems which made the iPhone 6 bend. |
| Hulu offers “advertising free” service – with adverts Posted: 03 Sep 2015 01:56 AM PDT
Hulu has been slammed for injecting too many adverts into its video stream service and playing the same ones on repeat. It came up with a service where you pay extra not to have the adverts included. It sounds fair enough, after all an advert free service cuts back on revenue. The new "no commercials" tier comes at a slightly higher rate of $11.99 per month—compared to the regular $7.99 a month subscription, now euphemistically referred to as the "limited commercials" plan. The only problem here is that the advertising free service contains adverts. The only difference is that they are not dispersed throughout the stream, but at the beginning and end of the content. Variety reports that seven popular broadcast TV series will still have a 15-second preroll ad and followed by a 30-second post-roll ad. Even for subscribers with the "no commercials" plan. Affected shows include Scandal, New Girl, How To Get Away With Murder, Grey's Anatomy, Once Upon a Time, Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., and Grimm. In other words all the shows you sign up for Hulu to watch. How do they get away with that when it is a huge breach of advertising rules? We are uncertain, but we think it is because North America has institutionalised its fear of consumer protection and they overthrew its lawful government in favour of a French-backed corporate oligarchy. |
| Look out Apple and Samsung! Huawei is here Posted: 03 Sep 2015 01:55 AM PDT
Dubbed the Mate S, launched on the sidelines of Europe’s biggest consumer electronics show, IFA, in Berlin, has a 5.5-inch display, a 13 mega pixel rear camera and fingerprint security. Huawei says it is one of the first smartphones to include a Force Touch display, which can distinguish between a light tap and deep press, enabling access to more functions just by pressing harder. Huawei became the world’s third-biggest smartphone company by sales last month, overtaking Chinese rival Lenovo. But it is still far behind Samsung, which had 21.9 percent of the market in the second quarter, and Apple, on 14.6 percent. Huawei’s share rose to 7.8 percent from 5.4 percent in the first quarter. Huawei’s Mate S phone will retail for $732 which is slightly cheaper than some of the higher-end Apple iPhone 6 series models. Its Mate S will be available in more than 30 countries including China, Germany, Israel, Japan, France, Germany and Spain and can be pre-ordered in Western Europe from September 15.
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| HP tips over Hurd’s TippingPoint Posted: 03 Sep 2015 01:28 AM PDT
Private equity firms have expressed interest in TippingPoint and the deal could be valued at between $200 million to $300 million. HP is reviewing all parts of its business to find assets that may not fit into the separate companies ahead of a planned corporate breakup in November. HP plans to split into two publicly listed companies, one focused on enterprise technology, software and services and one focused on slower-growing computer and printer businesses. TippingPoint makes hardware for companies’ firewalls and competes against companies such as Palo Alto Networks. Its technology is not a key part of HP’s broader security strategy, which is focused on more sophisticated, faster-growing areas such as encryption. In fact, HP bought an encryption company called Voltage Security. HP bought TippingPoint as part of its $2.7 billion acquisition of 3Com in 2009. In May, HP sold a controlling stake in H3C Technologies, another unit of 3com, to China’s Tsinghua Unigroup for $2.3 billion. It sounds like the 3Com assets have been flogged of for a tidy profit, which is something that the current HP board can thank its former CEO Mark Hurd. |
| Sharp looks into joint venture Posted: 02 Sep 2015 07:04 AM PDT
And, according to a report in the Taipei Times, Hon Hai Precision is one of the parties Sharp executives are talking to. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn, is a giant conglomerate and if a deal is struck between it and Sharp that could well prompt antitrust investigations. Sharp already supplies a chunk of panels to Hon Hai, which specialises in contract work for other manufacturers, including Apple. Producing LCD panels is a capital intensive operation and the cost of new fabrication plants is immense. Sharp has faced stiff competition from other manufacturers including Korean giants Samsung and LG. Sharp has already exited from the US market, will cut its employee headcount by 10 percent and cutting back on other technologies it produced. The Taipei Times, quoting an unnamed source close to the negotiations, said the question of how much money was involved had not yet been raised. |
| Posted: 02 Sep 2015 06:54 AM PDT
The editors said they have blocked 381 user accounts, saying they were engaged in what Wikipedia calls "undisclosed paid advocacy" – that is taking money from companies or individuals to hype up particular entries. The editors said in a blog post that they want to make sure Wikipedia is "an accurate, reliable, and neutral knowledge resource for everyone". The volunteers said they wiped out 210 articles created by the 381 "sock puppet" accounts and believe the articles they killed – related to businesses, business people or artists – were promotional in nature. They believe the Wikipedia violations were created by a coordinated group but they did not say who or what organisation was responsible for the shills. Wikipedia doesn't believe all paid editing is a violation of their Ts&Cs, citing, for example museum and university employees who do, however, disclose their affiliations. |
| Cyber security risks hyped up by Intel Security Posted: 02 Sep 2015 06:41 AM PDT
As Intel Security (McAfee) has a vested interest in selling people security products, it would say so though, wouldn't it? In its annual report on the state of cyber terror, McAfee Intel now reckons that by 2020 there will be 31 billion connected devices. And we face threats from not only crazies who want fame and notoriety but also from state sponsored crazies who want to exploit vulnerabilities in the fabric of nations. Intel Security has produced a chart to frighten the daylight out of those who generally feel insecure.
Intel Security said that the internet of things is just beginning to be exploited and believes "it is only a matter of time" until IoT threats are widespread. It said that cybercrime is now a "fully fledged industry" with suppliers, markets, service providers, financing, trading systems and the rest. The annual cost of cybercrime to the world economy is now estimated to be $400 billion. |
| Brits lead way on watching less TV Posted: 02 Sep 2015 06:27 AM PDT
IHS surveyed people in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The Europeans watch far less TV than the USA, with Americans averaging nearly six hours every day. The data is based in viewing habits in 2014, contrasted with 2013. In contrast, British people watch less than three hours a day, but have shifted to catch up and recorded programmes. The French spend 216 minutes watching broadcast TV a day but the speed of online growth is slower than in the UK. In Germany, traditional broadcasting remains strong, while in Italy people watch more broadcast than before. The Spanish watched an average of 242 minutes of TV every day, but online video viewing has grown by 24 percent. American people watch 531 minutes of TV a day and IHS believes that while Europeans turn on the radio for background noise, US citizens would rather switch on the telly. |
| Internet of things brings security challenges Posted: 02 Sep 2015 06:19 AM PDT
But, according to a report from Gartner, only 20 percent of enterprises will have digital security services protecting devices and services. Gartner said that the IoT means new platforms and services means enterprises need to consider their responsibilities and include the emerging technology as a factor in their business strategies and planning. In many ways, enterprises need to consider the internet of things in a similar way that they've considered bring your own device and cloud computing, but the scale is much bigger. Gartner points out that internet of thing devices will lock into a hybrid of old and new technology structures and the need to secure the IoT will be complicated. Security officers at enterprises need to remember that the principles of security for data, applications, networks, and hardware are applicable to the new world where every physical thing is connected too. |
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