Day: February 14, 2012

Cisco: mobile connections will hit 10 billion by 2016, helped by tablet boom

That Cisco’s always been prescient. Three years ago, the networking giant predicted a 66-fold increase in worldwide mobile data traffic — a surge that was expected to dovetail with the spread of 4G networks. With us so far? Sounds pretty obvious sensible, right? Well, the company’s got more wisdom to share from its crystal ball: the outfit’s just released its annual mobile data traffic forecast, and the marquee stat is that there will be an estimated 10 billion mobile connections by 2016. And though Cisco expects the bulk of these (8 billion) to take the form of cell phones, it also foresees a rise in tablets: there will be 5 billion of them, the company says, and that’s not even counting all those WiFi-only models floating around (Cisco tallies WiFi traffic in a different forecast, released later in the year). If the market does indeed swell to 5 billion cellular-connected tablets, that would represent a 25 percent jump over today’s global figure. Moreover, Cisco estimates that by 2016 21 percent of those 5 billion tablet owners will be relying solely on mobile data to get their internet fix.

All told, whatever the mix of smartphones and tablets, we’re going to be chugging down an insane amount of data: 10.8 exabytes per month, worldwide, or 130 exabytes annually — a lofty sum that breaks down to 33 billion DVDs, among other cutesy equivalents. One last figure before we sent you off into a statistic-laced coma: 4G will account for only six percent of mobile connections by 2016, but is expected to generate 36 percent of mobile data traffic. We’ll let you newly minted LTE adopters chew on your piggy data-hogging habits; the rest of you can find more numbers in the PR after the break.

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Cisco: mobile connections will hit 10 billion by 2016, helped by tablet boom originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cisco: mobile connections will hit 10 billion by 2016, helped by tablet boom

Scalado Remove clears up your photos, we go hands-on (video)

Scalado Remove clears up your photos, we go hands-on (video)
It’s a familar scenario. You’re traveling with a friend and she poses in front of a famous monument. You’re ready to take her picture with your phone but there’s a constant stream of people and vehicles getting in and out of your shot. What are your options? You could wait for the right lull in traffic to press the shutter key or you could use Remove — Scalado‘s patented new object removal technology. Remove captures several images in a row, analyses them and automatically creates a composite photo devoid of unwanted details. Better yet, it highlights potential objects and lets you eliminate them manually. The folks at Scalado — best known for such camera innovations as zero shutter lag and Rewind — are planning to showcase Remove at Mobile World Congress later this month but luckily for you, we got an exclusive first look at an early build of the Remove app for Android.

We installed the app (designed for Gingerbread) on two of Samsung’s flagship devices — our Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ and our global Galaxy S II. The primary UI is simple and looks pretty much like any other basic camera app. Just tap the on-screen shutter key and Remove quickly takes several pictures in a row (the Nexus is about twice as fast as the GS2 here, interestingly). You can touch a second time to stop capture or let the app finish on its own. Remove then magically displays the resulting composite shot which you can save to the gallery by tapping the checkbox at the top right corner of the screen. There’s also a toggle in the same location which lets you switch to a secondary UI that allows you to pick which unwanted details to remove (or keep) from each frame. Of course you can load and re-tweak previous captures at any time to restore (or eliminate) objects after the fact.

Remove introduces a completely new way to capture special moments, and while we experienced occasional issues with the responsiveness of the UI and noticed a couple minors bugs, the app is relatively intuitive and works rather well for a prototype. Take a look at our gallery of sample images and screenshots below and hit the break for the full PR treatment, including Scalado’s concept video.

Continue reading Scalado Remove clears up your photos, we go hands-on (video)

Scalado Remove clears up your photos, we go hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Feb 2012 04:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scalado Remove clears up your photos, we go hands-on (video)

Apple-Approved Fair Labor Inspections Begin At Foxconn


redletterdave writes “Apple announced on Monday that the Fair Labor Association has begun inspecting Foxconn’s Chinese factories, upon Apple’s request. Apple said that Auret van Heerden, the president of the FLA, is leading a group of labor rights experts in the first round of inspections at the sprawling plant in Shenzhen, China, more informally known as
‘Foxconn City.’ The FLA’s independent assessment — completely supplementary to Apple’s own auditing practices — will involve interviewing thousands of Foxconn employees about the working and living conditions, including working hours, compensation, managerial issues, and health and safety conditions. Foxconn has ‘pledged full cooperation with the FLA,’ and will reportedly allow unrestricted access to all of their operations. The investigative team will report their findings in early March on the FLA’s website. Apple’s other suppliers, including Quanta and Pegatron, will be inspected later this spring. By the time summer rolls around, the FLA hopes to have covered 90 percent of facilities where Apple products are built and assembled.”


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Apple-Approved Fair Labor Inspections Begin At Foxconn

Get to Know Multibeast, Your Hackintosh’s Best Friend [Video]

We give you a basic overview of Multibeast—the handy hackintosh post-installation tool by tonymacx86 and MacMan—in our always up-to-date guide to building a hackintosh, but just enough to give you the basics. In the video above, hackintosher StingRay walks you through every little detail of MultiBeast so you can get to know one of the most vital tools for the process. More »


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Get to Know Multibeast, Your Hackintosh’s Best Friend [Video]

VLC hits version 2.0: brings presents to all the platforms (update: it’s the RC version)

Open-source friend to all the video codecs, VLC media player, has hit version 2.0, bringing with it a raft of new features across Mac OS, Windows and Unix versions. VideoLAN’s also brought the player kicking and screaming into this decade with a better (read; less Windows 98-looking) makeover. The PC version will include a new 64-bit edition, while Mac OS X users will get a new iTunes-esque look, playback for Blu-ray and a new native full screen mode for Lion. There’s also a new subtitle manager and support for multiple videos inside RAR files. There’s also two extra surprises; an iOS version makes a return to the fold, with the development of an Android version appearing in the change log. Willing to give the first release a try? The files are available for your platform of choice at the source link below.

Update: This is the release candidate version, so you won’t be able to update your existing version. And it looks like 64-bit Windows users will have to wait a little longer.

Image credit: Felix Kühne

VLC hits version 2.0: brings presents to all the platforms (update: it’s the RC version) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VLC hits version 2.0: brings presents to all the platforms (update: it’s the RC version)

MIT's Online Education Prototype Opens For Enrollment


OldHawk777 writes with news that MITx, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s online learning initiative, has opened free enrollment for its first course: 6.002x: Circuits and Electronics.
“Modeled after MIT’s 6.002 — an introductory course for undergraduate students in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) — 6.002x will introduce engineering in the context of the lumped circuit abstraction, helping students make the transition from physics to the fields of electrical engineering and computer science. … ‘We are very excited to begin MITx with this prototype class,’ says MIT Provost L. Rafael Reif. ‘We will use this prototype course to optimize the tools we have built by soliciting and acting on feedback from learners.’ To access the course, registered students will log in at mitx.mit.edu, where they will find a course schedule, an e-textbook for the course, and a discussion board. Each week, students will watch video lectures and demonstrations, work with practice exercises, complete homework assignments, and participate in an online interactive lab specifically designed to replicate its real-world counterpart. Students will also take exams and be able to check their grades as they progress in the course. Overall, students can expect to spend approximately 10 hours each week on the course.”


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Windows 8 on ARM: Everything You Need To Know [Windows 8]

Up until late last week Windows 8 on ARM was a complete mystery. We know the product existed, that it would launch at some point in the future, and it would sport the Metro interface Microsoft has been showing off for almost a year now. The silence on just about everything else had led many to wonder if Microsoft was further behind on the ARM version than they were letting on, but this week they finally opened up the information floodgates. That might sound like a bit of an exaggeration, but 9000 words is a bit more than we were expecting. It makes for an interesting read, but let’s be honest here, most of you just want the CliffsNotes right? More »


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Windows 8 on ARM: Everything You Need To Know [Windows 8]