David Nicholson: April 2014

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Motorola teases new smartphone launch on May 13, could unveil the Moto E

The press invite sent out by Motorola suggests that the company will be unveiling the successor to the value-for-money Moto G.

Motorola has sent out a press invite for a smartphone launch event on May 13 in London, and the teaser text hints at the arrival of the Moto E.

As previous leaks have revealed, the Moto E will offer relatively premium specs at a budget price, similar to the Moto G. These specs are expected to include a 4.3-inch display, a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 4GB of internal memory, 1GB of RAM, a 5-megapixel camera, Android 4.4 KitKat, and a 1,900 mAh battery. The Moto E is also said to have a microSD slot, the absence of which was one of the very few shortcomings of the Moto G.

Motorola hasn’t provided any details, but the “Priced for all” text in the invite is a surefire indication that the company’s next smartphone will be aimed at the masses. It’s unclear what the exact pricing strategy will be, but if the Moto G’s rock-bottom price is anything to go by, Motorola will be offering yet another device that puts all other low-end smartphones to shame.

Via: Pocket-Lint

Dedicated Google Docs and Sheets apps released for iOS and Android

The two apps are fully compatible with Google Drive and offer offline document and spreadsheet editing.

Google has released standalone Docs and Sheets apps for iOS and Android, with a*Slides app for presentations coming soon.

Google’s Drive app for the two operating systems has always supported documents, spreadsheets and presentations, but has lacked advanced editing options. The Docs and Sheets apps seem to be the first step towards remedying that limitation, though the two*will also go up against QuickOffice, Google’s dedicated Office app.

Both apps support creating and editing documents, whether they are saved on the web or locally on a device, without the need for an internet connection.*Collaborative editing is possible as well, and Google will likely be adding more features through updates if it intends to compete with the*Microsoft Office app recently launched for the iPad.

Source: Google Play (Docs, Sheets)*|*App Store (Docs, Sheets)

If a chip launches with no hardware wins, is it really a launch at all?

AMD launched yesterday its mobile followup to Kabini and Temash with a bevy of synthetic benchmarks, but absent were hardware wins.

AMD “launched” Beema and Mullins Tuesday, its latest mobile offerings and a followup to Kabini and Temash. In a nutshell these two chips are repackaged versions of Kabini and Temash with slight bumps in clock speed and features added. But there is one thing missing from this launch: a complimentary announcement of hardware that these chips will be featured in.

Granted, most friendly hardware blogs called this a “preview” but the bulk of the correspondence from AMD and a number of other sites called this a launch so launch it is. There’s not much new in this announcement that wasn’t known before from VR-Zone’s initial report last summer, to AMD’s first official announcement in the fall. Nearly everything about the architecture is the same, and these two chips do not support HSA.

Below are the final clock speeds of the chips:

AMD has also released a series of performance claims based on benchmarks which can be seen below:

As you can see, while AMD has made some sizable performance gains over Kabini and Temash it still falls short of Intel’s mobile offerings — which is why AMD has yet to announce hardware wins for these two chips. An announcement on this matter is promised for AMD’s APU14 conference scheduled for May 15 in Beijing, but considering AMD’s current mobile hardware wins one shouldn’t hold their breath. While Atom is in 229 tablet SKUs — a minuscule amount compared to what ARM commands but an expensive bargain considering Intel’s contra revenue efforts — AMD is in just one.

Manufacturers will be highly hesitant putting an x86 chip — unpopular in the tablet world — into one of their devices without some sort of compelling competitive bargain from the silicon’s owner. Intel can create that bargain with its cash reserves, but AMD can’t do the same. Considering the risk that the unpopular x86 platform presents in the tablet world, the non competitive performance as well as higher-than-Atom power draw of Beema and Mullins, there’s no reason to expect AMD to make any big gains in the tablet world anytime soon. This is a commendable effort on AMD’s part, but not good enough to rack up any hardware wins.

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This startup want every home in Singapore to own art

theartbounty is giving indie artists a voice, as well providing affordable sophisticated art to consumers by connecting the two via its web portal The art scene in Singapore has a problem — one that is not acknowledged enough, even as the government pushes for Singapore to be a major art hub*in Asia. For Singaporeans, who Read the full article...

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Why does this startup want to add 7 seconds of sound to photos?

Singapore-based web photography sharing platform Ubersnap has added a feature that wants to get creative juices flowing A picture is worth a thousand words. But for photographer and entrepreneur Ng Boon Chin, Co-founder, Ubersnap, a Singapore-based photo sharing website for shutterbugs, the words don’t come easy. One night, he found himself thinking about how he Read the full article...

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Bootstrappers EP#04 with Lensy Co-founders: Be disciplined about money

When resources are scarce, startup founders, especially those bootstrapping, need to tighten purse strings, say Co-founders*Vincent Teo and Ang Qian Ling This is the last episode of the Bootstrappers series. Previously, we talked to Ian Tay from Pixaroll about finding users who would pay for your product, Kyaw Lin Oo from EventNook about working on Read the full article...

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Will Vietnam be Southeast Asia’s newest freelancing star?

Youth will usher the rise of Vietnam as Southeast Asia’s freelancing star. The youth face triple the country’s domestic unemployment rate The recent data on Freelancer’s growth in Southeast Asia revealed interesting insights in the region—while Jakarta leads the rest of the cities by number of users registering on the platform (close to 19,000 new Read the full article...

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iWatch mass production has reportedly started

Rumor has it that Apple’s much awaited wearable device has now entered mass production.

There have already been a lot of*rumors about the*component suppliers for Apple’s first wearable device. All rumors had carried indications about impending mass production. If the iWatch enters into that stage now Apple may have enough supply ready by the time it is supposed to release the smartwatch.

As far as the rumor mill is*concerned Apple is going to launch the iWatch at Worldwide Developers Conference 2014. Bear in mind though that Apple hasn’t used this event for a major hardware announcement in years, regardless of the fact that WWDC has served as the launch destination for many iPhones in the past. Even if these rumors are correct Apple won’t actually release the iWatch that same day, week or month. It is actually expected to start shipping units by*fall 2014, around the time its new iPhones are expected.

The company*rarely takes so much time between the*announcement and release of a new device, let alone a potentially game changing one.*Since it would mark Apple’s foray into the wearable device market the company would want the launch to go off*without any problems. Judging its past history it doesn’t seem possible that customers would be made to*wait from June till October at the very least for the smartwatch.

The report claims, citing supply chain sources based in China, that instead of using Printed Circuit Boards or PCBs for the iWatch Apple is instead relying upon System-in-Package or SiP modules.*SiP modules have integrated circuits which are all wrapped in one single package. While this takes up less space inside the device it does have a major disadvantage. If one part of the module goes bad the entire module has to be replaced. This could potentially keep production yields lower and thus create problems for the manufacturer.

Despite all of these rumors Apple still hasn’t confirmed if its building a smartwatch. We can’t expect any hints from the company until its ready to announce something, so lets keep our fingers crossed for WWDC 2014.

Source: China Times

Original BioShock looks amazing running on Unreal Engine 4

Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4 heightens BioShock’s immersive atmosphere.

BioShock originally used a modified version of Unreal Engine 2.5 to handle everything. Like other classicgames, it looks great to this day despite running on old technology. A gripping universe of believable characters, and detailed, thoughtfully put-together environments go a long way in helping the game achieve its timeless look and feel.

Now. a curious modder has gone through the laborious task of putting BioShock’s assets into the latest version of the popular Unreal Engine, and boy does it look stunning! Unreal Engine 4 received all sorts of big improvements in the overall rendering department, a vital part of which is of course how lights bumps and bounces off objects. BioShock greatly benefits from these graphical enhancements.

Textures do look a bit off, and some of the models are too reflective, but that’s understandable considering this is hobbyist work.

Besides big budget games, indie game developers are also slowly adopting Unreal Engine 4 for their projects, thanks to new indie-friendly pricing, and policies. We can’t wait for the day when Unreal Engine 4 becomes the visual benchmark for video games!

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Asiasoft to publish Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm in Southeast Asia

The territories include Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines; no word on its release in other places such as Indonesia and Vietnam Multiplayer online battle arena fans residing in Asia, who want something else besides League of Legends and DOTA 2, are probably clamoring for the impending release of Blizzard’s offering*Heroes of the Storm. Asiasoft Read the full article...

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This crowdfunded parkour game raised US$66,795 within 8 days

The game is called Hover: Revolt of Gamers, and it’s a three-man dev team nod to Jet Grind Radio and Mirror’s Edge Gamers in Singapore may remember the huge campaign push for first-person parkour title Mirror’s Edge back in 2008 and 2009. Fast forward to now, three people who form a dev team called Midgar Read the full article...

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Easy Taxi hits India shores; Sushant Kaistha appointed as MD

Easy Taxi has been launched in Mumbai in India and will be competing with Bookmycab, TaxiPixi, TaxiForSure and Uber. Other cities will be mapped soon Easy Taxi, one of the largest taxi-booking apps in the world, has launched its services in India, starting with Mumbai, the financial capital of the country. Sushant Kaistha has been Read the full article...

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Nod aims to bring futuristic gesture-control to the mainstream

Nod, a venture-backed startup that is already at advanced-prototype stage, is now offering its gesture-control ring for pre-order at $149.

Gesture control is all the rage, especially with wearable devices gaining ground among both early adopters and the mainstream population. Smartwatches still work on the same principle of touchscreens, like with their smartphone counterparts. But the usual means of controlling wearables is by voice, such as with Google Glass. However, this comes with some limitations, as expressed by the founder of Fin, another crowd-funded startup marketing a wearable gesture-control ring.

Nod, a venture-backed startup, is also offering a ring that controls devices through gestures and swipes. Meant for controlling devices like smart TVs, wearables, and even other connected devices like thermostats, Nod also addresses the limitations of other input methods like voice.

“We took a step back and looked at how we’ve progressed from plug panels and dip switches to the mouse in the PC era, and then touch in the mobile era, and we were like ‘what’s next?’,” says Nod Labs founder and CEO Anush Elangovan. “Speech has always been one part of it, but speech doesn’t work in a crowded room for example, so the next obvious one is gestures.”

Like Fin, the Nod ring connects to devices via Bluetooth, and it uses a mix of different sensors in achieving its goal.

The difference with Nod is that it offers micro-gesture controls through its highly sensitive sensors. It supports subtle swipes and brushes, *as well as two-finger controls, which include rotation of one’s fingers. The ring is more sensitive than the typical gaming mouse,*at about 32K DPI sensitivity, which means developers can take motion and gesture control to the next level. According to the founders, Nod’s API is open for developers, and making software compatible with the ring should be a simple as adding a few lines of code.

TechCrunch says the notable difference with Nod is its backing from two high-profile Silicon Valley VCs, particularly Menlo Ventures and Sequoia Capital. The company is also in its advanced prototype phase with Nod, which means they’re close to bringing the device to production.

Currently, Nod is already accepting pre-orders for $149 apiece, with shipping expected to start this Fall. Check out the demonstration video below.

Source: TechCrunch , Nod

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

[Singapore] Launch of RHTLaw Taylor Wessing’s Corporate Technology Practice Group

Launch of RHTLaw Taylor Wessing’s Corporate Technology Practice Group Synopsis: To celebrate the launch of our dedicated Corporate Technology practice group in Asia, RHTLaw Taylor Wessing would like to invite you to an event on Thursday 15 May from 6pm at The Westin, Ballroom 1. The evening will provide an opportunity to network with peers Read the full article...

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The Xbox One will make it to China this September after all

The partnership between Microsoft and BesTV made it possible; tech analysts seem almost confident about its future in the region A while ago, e27 reported that the Xbox One will be out in September in parts of Asia, but news about it being out in one of the biggest Asian regions in the world was Read the full article...

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Echelon 2014 brings SpacePak just for you!

e27 is introducing SpacePak, a goodie bag that features discounts and free trials of products from exhibiting startups as well as sponsors of Echelon 2014 Goodie bags are a mainstay at many events. In many cases, they contain little trinkets, pens, and stationery, which while cute, are not very environmentally friendly, and hardly add value Read the full article...

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mig33′s holding company secures US$2.2M from FIH Mobile Limited

Project Goth Inc., the holding company of mig33, will extending its reach into the mobile ecosystem with this new announcement Shortly after announcing that it has been acquired by Latin Gold to get listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), and its acquisition of Hong Kong-based online community alivenotdead.com, the holding company of social networking Read the full article...

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Apple refreshes the MacBook Air lineup

The 11-inch and 13-inch models have received a slight speed bump as well as a $100 price cut.

It was rumored recently*that Apple might quietly announce the 2014 MacBook Air lineup today and that is exactly what has happened. The new models are now available through the online store and ship within 24 hours. Units have also arrived at the company’s brick and mortar stores.

This is the second MacBook Air refresh in under a year. The last time Apple revamped the entire lineup was in June 2013. It was a major update back then as Intel’s new Haswell processors brought amazing gains in speed and battery performance.*The 2014 lineup is merely an evolutionary update in the sense that it brings the latest Haswell silicon. Nothing else has been tweaked or changed.

Entry level MacBook Air models are now slightly faster courtesy of the 1.4GHz Intel Core i5 processor that replaces the same 1.3GHz processor found on the predecessor. It retains the same 128GB of storage on the base model though it would have been nice of Apple to bump it up. RAM is kept constant at 4GB, I personally would have preferred Apple increasing it to at least 8GB. Those who want these privileges can choose to pay more by ordering a built-to-order unit from the online store. Apple didn’t even include Thunderbolt*2 connectivity in the new MacBook Air lineup.

Its safe to say that the new update is far from impressive and certainly not the MacBook Air update we have all been waiting for. Apple is actually rumored to be working on a 12-inch MacBook Air which will be ultra thin due to its fan-less assembly. This notebook will reportedly have a Retina display which would certainly blow the display on existing Airs out of the water.

Thanks to the $100 price cut the 11-inch base MacBook Air now costs $899. As a result of this cut the 13-inch model is now down to $999.

Source: Apple