Nuance CEO Paul Ricci said that company is nearing an inflection point with its mobile voice services and the next six months will bring “significantly greater visibility.”
On Nuance’s third quarter earnings conference call, Ricci was asked about design wins on mobile. Nuance has been repeatedly linked to Apple’s iOS 5 for voice recognition technology. Here’s what Ricci had to say.
I do think in the next 6 months that you will see a significantly greater visibility of Nuance’s voice services on a number of mobile devices and I think the visibility of that will accelerate the awareness of our technology on mobile devices, much as Dragon Go! has done in recent weeks. And I suspect we’ll create a– yet additional demand by more mobile and consumer manufacturers to incorporate voice capabilities in their devices.
If you connect a few dots, it sounds like Nuance’s greater visibility could come from Apple’s latest iPhone. Then again, Ricci mentioned multiple mobile devices. It appears Nuance is looking for its own halo affect: Become embedded in the hottest mobile devices and other customers will soon follow.
Nuance’s mobile and consumer division delivered third quarter revenue of $93.1 million, up 31 percent from a year ago. While the mobile grabs the headlines, Nuance’s business has been carried by its healthcare division. Overall, Nuance topped Wall Street expectations in the third quarter with earnings of 35 cents a share on revenue of $345.1 million. The company also raised its outlook for the fourth quarter, but much of that bump was due to three recent acquisitions—Equitrac, SVOX and Webdmex.
Yesterday news broke that the hacktivist group Anonymous is vowing to destroy Facebook on November 5, 2011 (Guy Fawkes Day). Now there is speculation that it’s all just a hoax, or that the collective group Anonymous doesn’t support what a few of its members are up to.
I contacted Facebook last night to see what the company thinks about a possible Anonymous attack. Facebook did not get back to me, so I decided to look for more information today.
On July 16, 2011, someone created accounts for an “Operation Facebook” on YouTube (FacebookOp) and Twitter (OP_Facebook). These account names are a little odd: why not just use one of the many other mediums that Anonymous has used in the past? Furthermore, the released video, embedded above, is not of the usual computerized voice and visual production quality that we’re used to from Anonymous.
The dates are also questionable: why didn’t this news spread like wildfire three weeks ago? Whenever Anonymous or LulzSec declare a new target, the world definitely notices. Furthermore, while Guy Fawkes Day is a perfectly understandable choice, it’s very far away. There are 112 days between July 16, 2011 and November 5, 2011: Anonymous rarely gives more than a few days notice, if at all.
My suspicions were confirmed via a few Twitter accounts that Anonymous has used in the past. They have given accurate information regarding the organization and its actions in the past, so I’m more likely to believe what they are saying.
GroupAnon, which has some 26,000 followers, sent out these two tweets:
No one can speak for the whole of #Anonymous. There are some anons who support #OpFacebook whilst others do not. | #AnonOps @Anonymous_SA Exactly! #OpFacebook is just an Op, it’s not Anonymous…
AnonOps, which has some 45,000 followers, sent out these four tweets:
We prefer to face the real power and not to face to the same medias that we use as tools. #OpFacebook #Anonymous #OpFacebook is being organised by some Anons. This does not necessarily mean that all of #Anonymous agrees with it. Dont be silly. Important things are happening in the world to deal with quirks like #OpFacebook. Lets keep our style & moral #Anonymous TO PRESS: MEDIAS OF THE WORLD… STOP LYING! #OpFacebook is just ANOTHER FAKE! WE DONT “KILL” THE MESSENGER. THAT’S NOT OUR STYLE #Anonymous
By contrast, here is the original message from the OP_Facebook account, which has some 3,000 followers:
spread the new video like AIDS NOU!!! youtube.com/watch?v=SWQTS8…
Here is the original “press release” from the YouTube video posted by FacebookOp:
Attention citizens of the world,
We wish to get your attention, hoping you heed the warnings as follows: Your medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed. If you are a willing hacktivist or a guy who just wants to protect the freedom of information then join the cause and kill facebook for the sake of your own privacy.
Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so that they can spy on people from all around the world. Some of these so-called whitehat infosec firms are working for authoritarian governments, such as those of Egypt and Syria.
Everything you do on Facebook stays on Facebook regardless of your “privacy” settings, and deleting your account is impossible, even if you “delete” your account, all your personal info stays on Facebook and can be recovered at any time. Changing the privacy settings to make your Facebook account more “private” is also a delusion. Facebook knows more about you than your family. http://www.physorg.com/news170614271.html http://itgrunts.com/2010/10/07/facebook-steals-numbers-and-data-from-your-iph….
You cannot hide from the reality in which you, the people of the internet, live in. Facebook is the opposite of the Antisec cause. You are not safe from them nor from any government. One day you will look back on this and realise what we have done here is right, you will thank the rulers of the internet, we are not harming you but saving you.
The riots are underway. It is not a battle over the future of privacy and publicity. It is a battle for choice and informed consent. It’s unfolding because people are being raped, tickled, molested, and confused into doing things where they don’t understand the consequences. Facebook keeps saying that it gives users choices, but that is completely false. It gives users the illusion of and hides the details away from them “for their own good” while they then make millions off of you. When a service is “free,” it really means they’re making money off of you and your information.
Think for a while and prepare for a day that will go down in history. November 5 2011, #opfacebook . Engaged.
This is our world now. We exist without nationality, without religious bias. We have the right to not be surveilled, not be stalked, and not be used for profit. We have the right to not live as slaves.
We are anonymous We are legion We do not forgive We do not forget Expect us
Summary: Toshiba’s Qosmio F755 3D is for 3D enthusiasts looking to enjoy 3D movies and games on a laptop without having to wear dorky 3D glasses.
Just in time for Back-to-School, Toshiba introduces a 15.6″ Qosmio F755 3D laptop that will keep your college-bound student entertained with all the latest 3D movies, without any 3D glasses. (3D gaming will have to wait till November as Toshiba is working with Nvidia on some driver and display tweaks, according to ThisIsMyNext.)
Rachel King first told you about a variant of this laptop back in April when it launched in Japan as the Qosmio T851; it has since been updated with a faster processor in the American version and renamed the Qosmio F755 3D.
Though Toshiba has not released detailed specs on the F755 3D yet, ThisIsMyNext is reporting that the laptop has an Intel Core i7 2630QM CPU, 6GB of DDR3 RAM, a 750 GB hard drive, as well as a Nvidia GeForce GT 540M graphics card that can run “Call of Duty: Black Ops and StarCraft 2 ran fluently in high details and 1360×768,” according to NotebookCheck. Rounding out its high-end multimedia features are its built-in Harman Kardon speakers, integrated Blu-ray rewritable drive, and a HDMI port to connect the F755 to your HDTV for 1080p playback.
What sets this 3D-capable laptop from others is its glasses-less 3D display. The Qosmio’s 15.6″ HD TruBrite screen is a “double parallax image display” that projects two sets of images for the left and right eyes to create 3D effect, which is essentially how the Nintendo 3DS display works. To help minimize dizziness from looking at 3D content at the wrong angle, the laptop even engages the built-in web cam to track and “react” to your “motion and position” to keep you in your 3D sweetspot.
Though the display on the Nintendo 3DS is capable of displaying both 2D and 3D content, it can only show one mode at a time, The F755’s 3D screen is the first on a laptop that can display 2D and 3D content simultaneously, which means you could be editing a 3D video in one window, while IMing in 2D in another, with both windows opened on the same screen.
While this desktop replacement may not be the most budget- or school-friendly computer for Back-to-School, it packs some quality specs and innovations that make the 3D experience on a laptop more enjoyable. (I for one am curious just how the motion and position tracking web cam can improve my on-screen 3D viewing angle.) If nothing else, the F755 3D with its red lid will definitely stand out from the crowd of new MacBook Airs on campus this school year.
The Toshiba Qosmio F755 3D is available from select e-tailers and ToshibaDirect.com starting mid-August, for $1699.99.
Frustrated by the fact that Amazon has had to remove the link to the Kindle Store from the iOS Kindle app? Want to read your Kindle books via the browser on your PC or iPad?
Now you can!
Here is Amazon’s web-based Kindle cloud reader. And it works!
The web-based Kindle reader is compatible with the Chrome browser on Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebooks, the Safari browser on PC and the Mac, and the Safari browser on the iPad (requires iOS 4+).
Here are some highlights from the press release:
- Automatically the Kindle library, as well as last page read, bookmarks, notes, and highlights for all Kindle books
- Current book is automatically made available for offline use
- Immediate web updates
- Customize the page layout to your desired font size, text color, background color, and more
- Kindle Cloud Reader will be available on additional web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Firefox, the BlackBerry PlayBook browser, and other mobile browsers, in the coming months.
Facebook has launched an instant messaging service for mobile phones, similar to BlackBerry Messenger.
The dedicated app, for iPhones and Android devices, allows users to contact individual friends or groups of people.
Its release comes a month before Apple is due to unveil a similar product.
Attention has been focused on mobile messaging recently because some of the London rioters were known to have used it to co-ordinate their movements.
So far Facebook's mobile messenger is only available in the United States, but it is expected to eventually roll out in other countries.
The social network's 750 million users already have the ability to send messages through the website, and on Facebook's original smartphone app.
Its new application adds the option to send directly to a mobile phone via SMS, and also to include location information.
Bad timing?
Facebook's timing has raised a few eyebrows within the industry, given the debate around BlackBerry Messenger's role in the recent UK rioting.
However, it is likely that its decision to launch in the US now was influenced by the impending Arrival of Apple's iOS 5 and its integrated messenger.
Stuart Miles, the founder of Pocket-lint.com, told BBC News that Facebook might be able to make mileage out of its compatibility with more than one phone system.
"Apple will be iPhone to iPhone, like Facetime. The same as BBM which is Blackberry to Blackberry. [Facebook] will be Android to iPhone, so theoretically it can only benefit from the platform," said Mr Miles.
"The big question you have to ask is how long will it be before Google+ has a messaging service built-in."
Samsung and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) were set to square off in a court in the Netherlands on Wednesday, after a German court on Tuesday prevented the former from selling its newest Galaxy Tab everywhere else in Europe.
Samsung has given us a formal response to the German ruling. Unsurprisingly, it will be appealing the injunction decision:
The Dusseldorf court had slapped an injunction on Samsung while it works through the details of Apple’s iPad copycat lawsuit against the Korean consumer electronics giant.
“Samsung is disappointed with the court’s decision and we intend to act immediately to defend our intellectual property rights through the ongoing legal proceedings in Germany and will continue to actively defend these rights throughout the world.
“We will take all necessary measures to ensure Samsung’s innovative mobile communications devices are available to customers in Europe and around the world.
“This decision by the court in Germany in no way influences other legal proceedings filed with the courts in Europe and elsewhere.”
For now, the 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab continues to be sold in The Netherlands, but that could change fast. A decision could be published within a matter of days, or a couple of weeks at the most, notes the Dutch blog tweakers.net.
As we noted yesterday, this decision in Europe concerns design intellectual property, rather than patents. That will likely mean no kind of pricey licensing arrangement between the two companies can be reached, but even so, if things continue this way for Samsung it could end up costing the company greatly.
Ironically for Samsung, Europe is one region where it may have had a fighting chance for some good tablet marketshare, according to the analysts at Forrester. Yesterday, the company released a report that indicated that Apple’s iPad tablet may only end up with a 70 percent market share in Europe this year, compared to 80 percent in its home market of the U.S..
Google has thrown in with near field communication (NFC) mobile payments in a big way, as evidenced by its Android manufacturer partnerships and the test run of the Google Wallet app. But while Google may be buying into NFC in a big way, consumers may not be loving the idea of the Goog having that much control over their virtual wallets.
This idea is suggested by a study conducted into mobile shopping habits by Ogilvy & Mather, which was reported in turn by Ad Age.
The research firm asked 500 online survey takers “Who do you trust with mobile payments?” and gave a list of eleven providers that could be chosen without limit. The traditional credit card companies (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, even PayPal) dominated the list, with Google all the way down at number eight.
Just under twenty percent of respondents said that Google had their trust in this arena. For comparison, Visa topped the list with forty percent or so, while Facebook took the bottom with twelve percent. Apple was the leading consumer technology company on the chart, beating Google with a 23% trust rating. And above Apple was the United States Postal Service, at 25%.
It really strikes me as odd that not a single company listed scored above that forty percent mark. Is there really no single company that customers trust with their mobile device transactions?
An obvious solution is for Google to partner up with more trusted companies and reap the combined boost in reputation. And in fact, Google Wallet is already provided in partnership with both Citibank and MasterCard, even during the current limited trial.
Meanwhile, Visa is throwing its weight around to bolster the overall NFC infrastructure here in the United States, which can only help perception of mobile payment providers across the board.
But at the end of the day, there are really only two questions to ask. First, do you trust Google with your mobile payments? And second, do you trust mobile payments at all?
Before the iPad, there were Windows-based tablet PCs that are essentially laptops with displays on twist-able hinges that recognize touch controls by styli. They used to be coveted Back-to-School computers for students in math and engineering or any other discipline with lots of diagrams and formulas to jot down, but they have basically disappeared from retail store shelves with the proliferation of iOS and Android tablets. Dell apparently still sees an enterprise market for tablet PCs, as the company just refreshed its Latitude XT3 with a larger 13.3″ touchscreen display, a bi-directional hinge, and Intel’s ‘Sandy Bridge’ Core i-processors.
Rather than create a tablet with a laptop dock that is sold separately like the Asus Transformer, Dell’s XT3 is a full-sized laptop with out-of-box tablet functionality. But the convenience of having two machines in one is quite costly at $1957 for the base model, which sports an Intel Core i3 (2310M at 2.1 GHz) processor. A 16 GB, Wi-Fi only Transformer and dock is only $550, while a 13.3″ Dell Vostro 3350 with a similar CPU starts at just $519. So why would you pay significantly more for a laptop-tablet in a beefier form factor, than a tablet that can transform into a laptop with accessories?
One look at the specs of the XT3 and it’s clear the machine is first and foremost a laptop, which makes it unfair to compare to a tablet, performance-wise: (this is what $1957 will get you)
CPU: Intel Core i3 (2310M)
OS: Windows 7 Professional, 64-bit
Display: 13.3″ HD (1366×768) with Camera and Microphone; touchscreen recognizes 4-finger controls, and stylus/trackstick
RAM: 2.0GB, DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM, 2 DIMMS
Keyboard: Internal English Dual Pointing Keyboard with touchpad
Enterprise features: No Out-of-Band Systems Management; Remote Data Delete and Free Fall Sensor
Primary Hard Drive: 250GB 5400rpm Hard Drive (solid state drive also available, as is a second HDD)
Optical Drive: External 8X DVD with Cyberlink Power DVD, no media
Battery: 6 cell
Connectivity: Intel Centrino® Advanced-N 6205 802.11a/b/g/n Half Mini Card
Ports: Network connector (RJ-45); USB 2.0 (3) - 1 USB/eSATA combo, Stereo headphone/Microphone combo jack, IEEE 1394, Memory card reader, 34 mm ExpressCard, Docking Connector, VGA, HDMI, 1 Full and 2 Half Mini Card Slots, SmartCard Reader and optional Fingerprint Reader
Dell is betting that its enterprise security features and greater computing power in the XT3 will appeal to healthcare professionals, animators and professionals who work outdoors (for example, architects checking on a construction site). For business users who require a lot of precision and computing power in their work, a device that can render large graphic files like an X-ray or AutoCAD could make the XT3 worth the money. For the average consumer watching YouTube clips on a mobile device, a Transformer would be just fine. For those professionals who would benefit from this tablet pc design though, does this setup work for you?
Here's something you can't get with an iPad: 250GB of internal storage. Archos' upcoming Android "Honeycomb" 3.2 tablet will pack a 250GB hard disk drive that's been tweaked to perform more like a flash drive.
Archos G9 combines a 250GB hard disk drive with a 4GB flash drive.
(Credit: Archos)
The Archos G9 will sport a 250GB Seagate Momentus Thin 2.5-inch hard drive--a mere 7 millimeters thick. Though not as compact as a 1.8-inch HDD (like Apple once used in its MacBook Air and iPod), it's not as expensive either.
And Archos has tweaked the Seagate drive a bit to allow it to perform more like the flash drives found in practically all tablets today. 4GB of flash storage sits on top of the HDD, according to Craig TerBlanche, director of marketing for Archos in North America. Often-used data is stored in the flash component, allowing faster access than a standard 2.5-inch HDD, TerBlanche said.
All of this results in bigger bang for the buck. "You get 250GB for the same cost as a 32GB flash drive," he said.
Another marquee feature is the 1.5GHz Texas Instruments OMAP 4460 dual-core processor. This is the same processor that Google has approved for upcoming Android Ice Cream Sandwich devices. That means consumers can expect to see a new wave of tablets and smartphones built around the TI 4460. But Archos will likely be one of the first, as those devices aren't expected until late in the year.
The 8-inch 250GB Archos G9 will be $369.99 and the 10-inch 250GB model, $469.99. Both are due in September
Start-up Millenniata and Hitachi-LG have teamed up to create a new optical disc along with a read/write player that will store any data — movies, photos, and music — forever. The disc is compatible with any current DVD or Blu-ray player.
Millenniata calls the product the M-Disc, and claims that it “cannot be overwritten, erased, or corrupted by natural processes.” In fact, if you were so inclined, you can dip it in liquid nitrogen and then boiling water without harming it (See video).
The M-Disc platters resemble typical DVDs and Blu-ray discs in that they are made up of multiple layers of material sans a reflective or die layer. During the recording process, a laser “etches” permanent pits onto a proprietary rock-like data layer using higher temperatures and as much as five times more energy than ordinary optical discs.
Credit: Millenniata, Inc.
A U.S. Department of Defense study found the resiliency of the product to be greater as compared to other leading optical disc competitors.
The platters can be read on any machine that can read a DVD, however, Millenniata’s machine is required to write it. Currently, the discs can store about the same amount of data as a DVD (4.7GB) but only write at 4x or roughly half the speed of today’s DVD players. Plans to ramp up recording speed are underway.
Millenniata will target consumers first when it launches the M-Disc read-write player in early October. After that, the company plans to make a foothold in the long-term data archive market as an alternative to cloud and other storage and backup technologies.
