Jobs for NSW and Investec back fintech accelerator H2

Sydney-based fintech accelerator H2 has received a AU$2 million loan guarantee from Jobs for NSW that will allow it to access a AU$4 million loan from Investec.

Jobs for NSW has underwritten a deal between niche lender Investec and H2 Ventures that will provide the Sydney-based fintech accelerator with an additional AU$4 million in funding.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Small Business John Barilaro said the government's AU$2 million loan guarantee, which comes from its AU$190 million Jobs for NSW fund, will help H2 Ventures create up to 40 new fintech startups and 400 new jobs across NSW.

The guarantee will allow H2 Ventures to access the AU$4 million loan from Investec Australia. The terms of the guarantee states that if H2 Ventures cannot repay its loan, Investec can claim 50 percent of any losses from the government.

David Phillips, head of the Emerging Companies division in Investec Australia, said the joint financing is a great example of private and public sectors working collaboratively to support entrepreneurs.

Founded by brothers Ben and Toby Heap in 2015, H2's portfolio includes equity crowdfunding platform Equitise, automated investment service Stockspot, and sharemarket visualisation platform Simply Wall St.

In September 2016, H2 Ventures launched a fintech fund H2Ocean, backed by financial and technology industry heavyweights including Link Group chairman Michael Carapiet and Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes.

H2Ocean was forced to withdraw from the IPO market in October 2016 after failing to raise the minimum subscription requirement. The co-founders stated that they're not abandoning the initiative, but not much activity has been noted since.

Jobs for NSW, which replaced the State Investment Attraction Scheme and Regional Industries Investment Fund, is also supporting startups through minimum viable product grants, building partnership grants, accelerating growth loans, and allocating AU$10 million to grow the state's network of incubators and accelerators.

The NSW government-backed initiative's board is being led by former Telstra CEO David Thodey.

Cisco places $3.7 billion bet on AppDynamics: What it means

Cisco is paying a hefty premium but will gain important new technology in return.

Cisco is taking application performance management startup AppDynamics off the table for $3.7 billion on the eve of its long-awaited IPO. AppDynamics was most recently valued at $1.9 billion, making Cisco's move seem like a bold one indeed.

The deal is expected to close later this year. AppDynamics will become a new software business unit reporting to Rowan Trollope, SVP and GM of Cisco's Internet of Things (IoT) and Applications business.

AppDynamics competes with the likes of New Relic and Dynatrace, as well as APM suites such as those offered by CA Technologies and BMC. (While Splunk is sometimes named as an AppDynamics rival, in practice many customers use the products jointly given Splunk's emphasis on log analysis.)

In its IPO prospectus, AppDynamics took pains to spell out the difference between its approach and that of legacy IT management and monitoring tools:

"Our integrated suite of applications monitors the performance of software applications and IT infrastructures, down to the underlying code, and automatically correlates them into logical 'business transactions,' such as booking a flight in a web browser, transferring money on a mobile device, getting directions through a car's navigation system or locating physical goods in an inventory system.

Real-time information about the performance of these business transactions provides our customers with actionable insights into their end-user experiences, the activities required to improve them and the business outcomes associated with them.

[L]egacy offerings are often resource-intensive, expensive and generally incapable of supporting complex, modern software applications and IT architectures, such as cloud and hybrid deployments, production-first software environments and microservices."

AppDynamics is available on-premises, on public clouds, such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, and in hybrid deployment form. The company targets mid-to-large enterprises and has roughly 2,000 customers in 50 countries. It estimates the total addressable market for its products at $12 billion.

Like most startups, AppDynamics has racked up plenty of losses, with its deficit standing at $477 million as of Oct. 31, according to the prospectus. But it has also experienced steady growth, with revenue of $158.4 million as of Oct. 31, a 54 percent rise year over year.

That pace of growth speaks to the premium Cisco paid for AppDynamics, which may not have been able to sustain it as an independent. Moving under Cisco's ownership and taking advantage of its massive channel will not only help AppDynamics reach more customers and cross-sell into Cisco's installed base, but also lower the cost of sales significantly.

Overall, Cisco's move to acquire AppDynamics is a timely and necessary one, says Constellation Research VP and principal analyst Holger Mueller. "With the expectation of enterprises building more software in-house, the need for application performance management becomes even more important," he says.

Meanwhile, Cisco needs to reinvent itself and create new revenue streams as it tries to shift from a networking-centric vendor to one focused more on enterprise software, Mueller adds. "But is a work in progress and Cisco must show that the new entities can grow and how it will address further missing pieces."

At first glance, AppDynamics seems like a fairly logical acquisition that extends Cisco's core capabilities, although the price tag raises an eyebrow, says Constellation Research VP and principal analyst Andy Mulholland. "The answer is that AppDynamics is all about enabling the new network of millions of devices and apps orchestrated in a constantly changing set of digital services," he says. "The new IoT/app/cloud infrastructure is inherently a network of a huge number of elements integrating in a constantly shifting pattern of 'outcomes' and that results in a game change in network management as it is currently understood."

Cisco needs AppDynamics' capabilities "as part of their strategy to move toward being the network of high-value interactions, as well as needing to prevent any direct competitor from gaining from a relationship with AppDynamics," Mulholland adds.

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A game designer with an AR app won Tata's F1 challenge

Regulating IoT: Where Trump and the GOP should start

After engaging with business leaders, Arxan's Mandeep Khera is convinced that Washington should step in now to regulate certain IoT verticals.

The regulation of the Internet of Things has, so far, happened on a relatively ad hoc basis: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has gone after products egregiously lacking in security. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued voluntary guidelines for securing medical devices. A few other agencies like Homeland Security and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology have also released guidelines.

However, the security risks are bound to grow, as is the IoT market itself : Global IoT spending is expected to reach nearly $1.29 trillion over the next three years, IDC predicts. That's why now is the time for the federal government to set some hard and fast rules, argues Mandeep Khera, CMO at the application protection firm Arxan. His experience in both IoT and security has Khera convinced Washington can and should write new laws governing IoT, beginning with some critical verticals.

As the new administration takes charge, Khera shared his thoughts on what's next.

The following conversation was edited for brevity:

Why are you interested in seeing new regulations?

I've been following IoT for a while now. I spent a couple years in the IoT industry before I turned to the security side with Arxan. IoT's fairly new, it hasn't even quite gone mainstream yet. But one thing we've been concerned about is that just like any new technology, people focus first on functionality, so security is kind of on the backburner. People have been deploying apps like crazy in the last couple of years within IoT... and hackers are now starting to attack.

When I started talking to people -- various customers like chief security officers and even product teams -- they say, really there's no regulation that forces us to look into this. And it's sad but true -- people pay a lot more attention [to security] when there's regulation forcing them to do it.

Related: Businesses worried about hacks via mobile and IoT - but aren't doing much to stop them

How should Washington tackle this challenge?

IoT is such a huge revolution that's coming and has so many different parts, you have to look at it by vertical. There are some IoT verticals much more prone to attacks and more serious consequences that need regulations more than others -- connected medical devices like insulin pumps, blood pressure monitors, that are connected and need to be secure. If a hacker gets into it, it could result in the loss of a patient's life.

The FDA is already on it. They issued guidelines a few weeks ago and specifically said you have to secure the code. This is still a guideline -- it's not mandatory, but the medical device companies we're talking to are making a big effort to really start securing these devices.

The other is connected cars... From a cyberterrorism point of view, that we're expecting a quarter billion connected cars by 2020...If hackers can attack them, you could see some cyberterrorism like cars crashing into each other, running through red lights -- who knows. The implications are huge, so we're starting to see some movement on the regulation side there.

Those two are critical in terms of where we think the regulations should be coming. If you look at the rest of it -- oil and gas, manufacturing processes... home automation, wearables, -- the consequences are not as serious.

Will it be hard to regulate IoT, given how quickly technology advances?

I don't think it'll be hard because there are precedents. If you remember the financial industry regulations a few years ago, the GLBA [Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999] -- that has become the norm. All financial institutions have to make sure there's proper security in place for network, web applications and so on, so hackers can't get to it and steal financial information.

So it's not like we have to reinvent the wheel. Let's look at the same principles we used before and make sure anyone manufacturing IoT devices and software, that all of those things are secure before they can sell. It doesn't have to be a deal. It could be kept pretty simple.

The reason for the regulations not just about creating bureaucracy. I've asked executives point blank -- is regulation good or bad for you? And they said good because it gives us the budget. Otherwise they have a hard time going into their manager and saying we need X dollars to secure these things... These guys feel like they need to secure it, and they need money for it.

We have a completely GOP-led government now, between Congress and the White House -- what do you expect to see from them?

It depends. Clearly Trump is anti-regulation... But I think in this case, if he sees this as a cyber-terrorism issue, I think it'll get passed pretty quickly. But if he sees it as an annoyance and lobbyists tell him [it will be too costly], then he'll push it out. My feeling is he'll see it as the former.

Especially with all the hacking that took place during the election, I think it's top of mind for a lot of people.

Is there anything else Washington can do about IoT security?

Regulations are fine, but why don't we create tax breaks for companies doing a good job on security, so it gives them a positive incentive. It's a carrot and stick approach. We've had the stick for a while... but why don't we create tax breaks for companies doing a good job? It would be interesting to see if we could start a groundswell movement and push that cause.

Why building IoT solutions remains a challenge for developers

From parking to farming, applications for NB-IoT are heading out into the real world

Showing off a couple of practical uses for its new narrowband Internet of Things service, Norwegian mobile operator Telia reckons the tech will open up many original applications.

Telia and 7Sense are offering what they call the world's first smart irrigation system based on NB-IoT.

Image: Telia

In what it describes as a first for the Nordics region, Norwegian firm Telia has launched a commercial narrowband Internet of Things service, allowing operators to offer communication to and from connected devices over their existing 4G/LTE mobile networks.

Using narrowband for IoT, or NB-IoT, allows for more devices to be connected to mobile networks at a lower cost, ultimately enabling telcos to turn IoT into a basic service.

NB-IoT is one of several competing technologies that are generally termed low-power wide-area networking, or LPWAN. Chinese telecom vendor Huawei is one of the most noteworthy NB-IoT proponents, and Telia's service is based on its products.

This communication tech is characterized by very good coverage indoors, outdoors and underground. It is well suited to devices that are battery-powered and transmit data only occasionally. These infrequent transmissions result in a very long battery life in the sensors, typically more than 10 years, according to Telia.

To illustrate the potential of its NB-IoT launch, Telia has unveiled two applications that make use of the new technology.

In the first, Telia and APX Systems have developed a pilot system for smart parking management, which is being tested on spaces reserved for disabled parking near a shopping mall in Oslo.

By using sensors drilled into the asphalt of the parking slots, the system can detect whether or not the parking space is vacant. This status information can be accessed through a companion app, so users can see if there are vacant spaces.

In the longer term, APX plans to implement a reservation scheme, so the users will see the open but reserved parking as yellow-coded on their maps.

The second application for the technology is what Telia and Norwegian company 7Sense describe as the world's first smart irrigation system based on NB-IoT. The system is designed to monitor and manage agricultural irrigation more precisely.

Each irrigation sprinkler is equipped with a sensor that registers its GPS position, sends alerts, and reports on issues such as falling water pressure. The sensor package is connected to the mobile network with an NB-IoT module, and transmits data regularly.

"NB-IoT opens up many new applications, and by employing this technology combined with our proprietary platform, we can now connect more devices to the Internet of Things, and develop exciting new commercial solutions together with our partners," Telia Norway CTO Jon Christian said in a statement.

"We are the first operator in the Nordics that brings NB-IoT into the real world with concrete solutions that solves real world problems."

Telia Norway CEO said NB-IoT represents a huge opportunity for many businesses.

"We were first with 4G, 4G+ and 4.5G, and are now first in the Nordics with NB-IoT. Mobile technology can achieve amazing things, and with just small adaptations to our prize-winning 4G network, we'll continue to roll out more NB-IoT in 2017," he said.

To run the new service, the only thing its networks needed has been a circuit board upgrade in the base stations, while the radio system itself has required no changes to activate the relatively new NB-IoT communications standard, released last summer by international telecom standards body 3GPP.

As it name suggests, NB-IoT employs a very narrow frequency band. Typical applications use only 200kHz bandwidth, which gives bit rates of a few tens up to a couple of hundreds of kilobits per second.

The standard uses licensed frequency bands to communicate. It can be implemented in dedicated frequency bands, in the guard band next to existing 4G/LTE bands, or in a band in a 4G/LTE frequency block. 3GPP recommends building NB-IoT in the 700MHz or 800MHz bands, in conjunction to existing 4G/LTE implementations.

Each 4G/LTE base station can support more than 100,000 connected things.

Read more about narrowband IoT

• Telstra to enable narrowband IoT network in 2017
• Huawei and Vodafone open narrowband IoT lab
• Nokia and M1 conduct 5G, NB-IoT live trial

Singtel announces eSIM availability across 4G network

Wearables with eSIMs will no longer need to pair via Bluetooth with phones to use data, SMS, and call capabilities on Singtel's 4G network.

Singaporean telecommunications provider Singtel has announced that the embedded SIM (eSIM) is now usable across its 4G network, allowing customers to connect their smart wearables without needing to pair with a smartphone via Bluetooth.

The "SIM-less" technology involves a permanently fitted SIM, around 10 times smaller than a nano SIM, being pre-installed in wearables. The Samsung Gear S3 Frontier LTE is thus far the only compatible device within Singapore, although the telco expects more compatible devices and wearables to become available in future.

The eSIM is activated with a QR code, with Singtel's eSIM profile needing to be downloaded to the wearable before mobile connectivity can be achieved. Those using a non-Samsung smartphone alongside their Gear S3 frontier LTE may have to install additional apps, however.

To facilitate connectivity for their eSIM wearable, Singtel post-paid mobile customers will be charged an additional monthly fee of SG$5.35, although the telco said this is the "promotional launch price", after which it will cost SG$10.70 per month on a 24-month contract.

Customers can also buy a SIM-only starter pack for SG$20, which includes 3GB of mobile data and 2GB of Singtel Premium Wi-Fi.

Standard Singtel Wi-Fi is currently unavailable via eSIM, but the company said it is "working towards making it possible in the near future".

Samsung's Gear S2 Classic 3G was the first device to launch a GSMA-compliant eSIM last year, after GSMA released the eSIM specification in February.

The eSIM specification has been backed by Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Huawei, Sony, and LG, along with chip makers, SIM makers, and telecommunications carriers.

"The initiative does not aim to replace all SIM cards in the field, but is instead designed to help users connect multiple devices through the same subscription and will help mobile device manufacturers develop a new range of smaller, lighter mobile-connected devices that are better suited for wearable technology applications," GSMA said at the time.

It therefore also has strong use cases for machine-to-machine and Internet of Things devices.

Singtel last week announced upgrading its 4G network to allow speeds of up to 450Mbps for customers with compatible smartphones, also attaining speeds of up to 1Gbps in a trial of its 4G network with Ericsson.

The network upgrade was achieved by making use of 256 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) technology, which increases efficient use of spectrum by increasing the number of unique radio waveform shapes to transport a third more data.

Initially, only Singtel customers with Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge handsets will be able to access the 450Mbps speeds, as can LG V20 users once the latter's upcoming software update is released.

Singtel and Ericsson also announced that a live trial, conducted to the east of Singapore in Pasir Ris, saw them attain speeds of 1Gbps across 4G using 256 QAM downlink combined with 4x4 Multiple Input Multiple Output (4x4 MIMO) and triple carrier aggregation.

Singtel said it plans to roll out 4x4 MIMO technology -- which doubles the data paths between mobile phones and cellular base stations to double download speeds -- to high-traffic locations on its network next year.

Singapore consortium to test smart mobility tech

Led by Nanyang Technological University and NXP Semiconductors, the consortium provides a testbed to develop and trial technologies such as smart traffic systems and environmental sensors.

A new Singapore consortium has been set up to develop and test smart mobility technologies, including smart traffic systems, automated video analysis, and environmental sensors.

Led by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and NXP Semiconductors, the new "smart mobility consortium" would tap wireless communication standard for vehicular use, vehicle-to-everything (V2X). The global standard had been adopted by countries such as Singapore and the US for use in transportation systems as well as autonomous vehicle networks.

NTU's campus would serve as testbed for technologies developed by the group, which currently also encompassed 12 other industry partners including Mitsui & Co.'s subsidiary Car Club, Red Hat, Panasonic, Smart Parking, ST Kinetics, ST Engineering, and Shenzhen Genvict Technology. These market players offered expertise relevant to the V2X ecosystem such as wireless communication design, data analytics, and network security, said the consortium.

It added that the test network was supported by NXP, which communications systems were designed to link cars, traffic lights, and other infrastructure. The NTU-NXP Smart Mobility Test Bed was first launched in April 2015 as part of a four-year S$22 million partnership to drive the development of V2X technology.

Further built out in December 2016 to support the 200-hectare campus, the NTU testbed currently comprised 50 vehicles equipped with smart on-board unit as well as 35 roadside units with video cameras mounted on street lamps located throughout the university. This would facilitate organisations, research institutions, and government agencies in deploying and testing V2X wireless applications.

The campus-wide test network also is supported by a data centre, managing live video and V2X data collection, as well as a command centre that monitors NTU's traffic real-time and broadcasts safety information. It runs on IEEE802.11p and 1609 standard, which the consortium described as a Wi-Fi-like standard for vehicular communications.

Yoon Soon Fatt, chair of NTU's School of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, said the university's researchers had focused on ideas that were "in line with Singapore's smart nation" ambition. These now could be supported by the new consortium, he said.

NXP's senior vice president of global technology innovation, Wang Hai, added: "The launch of the NTU-NXP consortium is an important step in realising Singapore's vision of a sustainable transport system that includes driverless vehicles.

"The consortium brings together industry players in V2X adoption to drive innovation within Singapore's rich network of industry, academia and government support," Wang said. "V2X adoption requires collaboration and we look forward to building the consortium."

Technologies being developed and tested included automated video analysis and environmental sensors, the consortium said. NTU and NXP said they would be rolling out initiatives to trial mobility applications with the aim to improve safety of all vehicles, including driverless cars and personal mobility devices.

Why a software-first attitude is a must for Internet of Things era ahead

'The new digital business model needs to be written in software,' and those who understand software need to step up to lead the way.

Technology managers need to step up and help business leaders navigate the intricacies of digital competition, and embrace the Internet of Things. Digitally savvy players are throwing a "wedge" between companies and their customers -- as well as employees. However, leaders need to be willing to begin the transformation in their enterprises.

Photo: Joe McKendrick

That's the warning from Karl-Heinz Streibich, CEO of SoftwareAG, speaking at the software provider's recent confab in Rome. "The new digital business model needs to be written in software," he said. "Not on paper, not hardware wise, but in software."

For anyone doubting the significance of software's impact on even the most well-run businesses, consider what's taking place within the automobile industry, he relates. "Software will become the prime source of innovation. In the German car industry, and you see the gearbox of the S-Class of Mercedes, you could cut it through and see tens of thousands of pieces. In the past, no competitor would be able to disrupt that within the next 100 years, because the automaker had 100 years of engineering advances. But in the new electronic car, the new connected car, in the new networked society with shared services, you don't need the mechanical gearbox anymore. It can run on software."

This is but one example of an IoT-driven digital disruption sweeping all industries, Streibich adds. The companies succeeding in this new digital environment, he continued, see themselves as "software companies first," he explains. Those that do not will not survive the next few years.

A company doesn't have to be an Uber-type disruptor to adopt this new model, he states. Rather, it's a matter of modernizing and extending information technology to support new digital initiatives. This means reliance on IT executives, managers and professionals to deliver new capabilities. "Digital companies already have a microservices oriented architecture, while non-digital existing companies still have IT application silos that are inflexible, not agile, and a nightmare," Streibich explains.

While SoftwareAG -- a middleware provider -- has an obvious interest in this argument, Streibich points to a pervasive reluctance to rally the organizational will needed to make necessary changes. "The CEOs I meet are already aware of that what to do, but can't, for various reasons," he states, citing estimates that 85% of executives in moribund organizations are still well aware they need to make the digital move.

If anything, this reflects Clayton Christensen's "innovator's dilemma," which states that leaders of existing companies are locked into high-margin businesses to please shareholders, leaving low-margin opportunities -- underserved markets -- wide open for disruptive competitors. Software-driven products may have lower margins than more expensively crafted physical products, and this may stop enterprises short of making a full digital dive.

The technology for making the digital move is widely available, and most CIOs, IT managers and IT professionals know where to find it and how to install it and make it work. Business executives will need guidance and support on the best routes to take, and ongoing education from their IT advisors on how it will make the long-run difference.

(Disclosure: SoftwareAG assisted with my travel expenses to the meeting.)

AT&T Q4 earnings on target, says 2016 transformational

A day after Verizon disappointed with its financial results, AT&T delivered in line earnings for the fourth quarter.

AT&T reported fourth quarter earnings that were in line with expectations as the company delivered 2.8 million net wireless subscribers.

The company, which delivered its results a day after Verizon sparked concerns about future growth, reported earnings of $2.4 billion, or 39 cents a share, on revenue of $41.8 billion. Adjusted earnings were 66 cents a share, in line with Wall Street estimates. Analysts were projecting fourth quarter sales of $42 billion.

For 2016, AT&T reported earnings of $13 billion, or $2.10 a share, on revenue of $162.8 billion.

Among the key highlights:

• AT&T added 1.1 million smartphone subscribers in the fourth quarter in the U.S.
• Wireless postpaid churn was 1.16 percent.
• DirecTV Now launched with 200,000 paid net additions.

CEO Randall Stephenson noted that AT&T transformed its business with the acquisition of DirecTV in 2016 and said the pending purchase of Time Warner was a "logical next step in our strategy" to combine content and distribution.

As for the outlook, AT&T projected revenue growth in low single digits with adjusted earnings growth in mid-single digit range. The guidance excludes the purchase of Time Warner.

Teclast Tbook 16 Pro review: A compact dual boot workhorse for the mobile worker

Teclast Tbook 16 Pro review: A compact dual boot workhorse for the mobile worker

Google Pixel not so great: There are plenty of better business phones

The best Android smartphone you can buy? Not when you have options like the Moto Z Force Droid, Galaxy S7, LG V20 and Huawei Mate 9. Matthew Miller reviews the Pixel's pros and cons.

After nearly two months with the Google Pixel XL, mine's going back up on Swappa tonight.

The Google Pixel has an excellent camera, the battery gets you through a day, and it gets the latest Android updates quickly.

It's also priced the same as the most expensive smartphones available (the Apple iPhone 7), has no water resistance, has no optical image stabilization, has limited storage (32GB model), has a fragile glass back, offers a stock Android experience with no software enhancements, and it has very limited availability even after three months on the market.

CNET review: Just like the Pixel, only bigger

Why is the Pixel not the best for business?

If you want the smaller Google Pixel, then you may be able to find one on the Google Store or in Best Buy and Verizon retail locations. The Google Pixel XL is nearly impossible to find in stock and the 128GB model has been out of stock at Google's online store since November 30th.

I purchased a 32GB Pixel XL from Swappa and have ran out of storage twice since I bought it. I don't even have many games or sizable applications installed, but did load up some music and lots of documents. Also, with the 32GB model, you only get about 23GB for your usage. Even with the ability to offload photos to Google Photos, the 32GB model is inadequate for the high price of the device.

Water resistance was a rare feature on smartphones a couple of years ago with Sony and Moto being two of those offering such capability. Today, we find Apple, Samsung, Sony, Lenovo, and others offering it as a standard feature. When you work and communicate outside then it is important to have some peace of mind that the elements or accidents won't kill your expensive device.

Work phones often get beat up and if handling is planned to be a bit rough then cases are often used. There doesn't seem to be any justifiable reason to have the glass upper portion of the back on the Pixel and even with extreme care it scratches more easily than any other glass material I have used. Thankfully, it's only a cosmetic issue, but at the high price of the phone it's not acceptable to have such a flawed design.

Android enthusiasts love stock Android and prefer a Nexus or Pixel that gets the Android updates first. However, a stock Android experience does not offer enhanced experiences and advanced customization in settings that many have come to appreciate.

Why are other Android phones good for business?

I previously listed seven reasons the Galaxy Note 7 beats the Google Pixel for the enterprise and while the Note 7 is no longer with us, the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge offer most of those same functions. Using the Galaxy S7 again over the past week is what convinced me to give up on the Google Pixel XL.

In addition to the reasons previously listed, the Galaxy S7 offers the best T-Mobile Digits experience, provides the best platform to serve as a companion to the Gear S3 Frontier, connects to my bike speed and cadence sensors to serve as a bike computer, conveniently charges via wireless, and more.

Verizon is heavily advertising the Google Pixel, but the better option for the enterprise is the Moto Z Force Droid Edition. This Android smartphone offers Android 7.0 Nougat and Daydream VR support, along with a shatterproof display, massive battery, compelling modular design, storage expansion, water resistance, and Moto enhancements. It is also priced less than the comparable Google Pixel XL.

The LG V20 offers a replaceable battery, expandable storage, the best video capture experience, and a useful secondary display. It is also priced less than a comparable Google Pixel XL and includes Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box.

The Huawei Mate 9 is priced a couple hundred less than a comparable Google Pixel XL and offers a larger display with smaller bezels, expandable storage, dual rear cameras with OIS and advanced camera software, and machine learning technology.

​LG sends out invites for G6 event on February 26

LG Electronics has sent out invites for the G6 unveiling event to take place on February 26, a day ahead of Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

LG Electronics has sent out invites for its flagship phone the G6, set to be unveiled a day before the Mobile World Congress next month.

The South Korean tech giant will hold an unveiling event on February 26 in Barcelona, a day before the mobile tradeshow kicks off there.

The invitation shows fireworks above a lake at night with the moniker "See More, Play More".

The card was made in 18:9 ratio, the screen ratio of the phone itself, a LG spokesman said, to highlight the new UXs made just for the ratio.

LG Display, which supplies its displays to LG Electronics, announced earlier this month that the G6 will have the new QHD+ display.

The G6 will have 564 PPI resolutions and features that capitalize on the long screen.

The phone will also have a heat pipe that prevents overheating, and has gone through extensive quality testing for safety, LG said.

LG will also adapt remote after-sales services that utilize machine learning technology, the company announced earlier this month.

Apple 15-inch MacBook Pro (2016) review: Fast, light, innovative, and expensive

Apple 15-inch MacBook Pro (2016) review: Fast, light, innovative, and expensive

Cheetah Mobile launches Made for Samsung News Republic app with exclusive features

Millions of us spend more time on our phones than any other computing device and use our phones to stay up on the latest news. The latest News Republic update adds exclusive features for Samsung phones and watches.

As a commuter who spends about two hours a day on the train, I rely on my smartphone for the latest news. I've tried Apple News, Google Play Newstand, Flipboard, and others. Cheetah Mobile announced the latest version of News Republic that brings exclusive features for Samsung device owners.

Last year Cheetah Mobile acquired News Republic. We also saw News Republic replace HTC Blinkfeed on HTC devices. This latest news centers around the fact that this app release is an exclusive "Made for Samsung" app.

As stated in the press release, this latest version brings the following new features:

• Text-to-speech: Article pages now have a speaker icon that users can tap to activate text-to-speech functionality. Playback controls will appear at the bottom of the screen.
• Long-press for more info: Within a news article, Samsung users can now long-press on a topic to view Wikipedia information without leaving the article.
• Edge Panel news: Samsung Galaxy S7 edge owners can get the freshest news, simply by opening their Edge Panel app. A list of Breaking News will appear, and a single tap will open the article of interest.
• Gear S3 widget: News Republic is now compatible with the Gear S3. The new widget displays the Top Stories, and users can click to read the full articles, with the help of a circular scroll bar, directly from their smartwatch.
• Newsstand: Users can select individual news outlets to follow from within the app. News Republic's learning algorithm will also recommend content providers directly in the article list page.

I installed the new app on a Galaxy S7 and on my Gear S3 Frontier to test out the new features. The tap-and-hold Wikipedia integration is useful and the ability to easily select news sources and view the news you want from all over the world is great. Too often these mobile news apps offer confusing interfaces and news that I have no interest in. This latest News Republic update may just end up being my primary mobile news app.

News in small snippets are great on a wearable, when done properly. The News Republic app provides a couple headlines with the option to see more and so far works well on the Gear S3 with its rotating bezel.

Using a Gear S3 with an iPhone: Too many concessions

Using a Gear S3 with an iPhone: Too many concessions

Huawei Mate 9 review: Meet the new best Android smartphone for business users (RIP, Note 7)

Huawei Mate 9 review: Meet the new best Android smartphone for business users (RIP, Note 7)

Windows 10: Fujitsu goes mobile with pocket-sized tablet plus ultralight laptop

Fujitsu has unveiled a six-inch Windows 10 tablet, and a 13.3-inch super-light Windows 10 notebook.

Fujitsu's palm-sized Arrows Tab V567/P tablet runs a full 64-bit version of Windows 10 Pro.

Image: Fujitsu

Japanese tech giant Fujitsu has announced a phablet-sized six-inch Windows 10 tablet and a new 13.3-inch Windows 10 ultralight notebook.

The two new mobile-focused devices are part of Fujitsu's 18-product Windows 10 launch, which includes nine laptops, four tablets, one desktop PC, and four workstations, some of which will be available this week in Japan.

Among the Fujitsu Arrows Tab family is the new Arrows Tab V567/P, whose six-inch screen could easily see it pass as a phone, except that it runs a full 64-bit version of Windows 10 Pro. The device is 85.4mm (3.4 inches) wide, and weighs 280 grams (0.62lb), according to Fujitsu's announcement.

Fujitsu hasn't released other specifications in the announcement, but the product page for Japan notes this model features a 1.44GHz Intel Atom chip, with 4GB RAM and 64GB flash storage. The display resolution is at 1,080 x 1,920 pixels.

The tablet will be available from ¥151,800 ($1,337) in Japan this week. Fujitsu warns some functions of Windows might not work on the device, given that this version of Windows isn't designed for a screen that small.

The device appears to be aimed at local enterprise customers who want a tablet that can be managed with the same tools they use for corporate PCs.

The other notable product in the release is the 13.3-inch display Lifebook U937/P, which weighs at most 799 grams (1.76lb), depending on the configuration. This device is available in black and red and will go on sale from ¥284,900 ($2,510) in early February.

The lightweight notebook also comes with Windows 10 Pro pre-installed and is available in Japan with either a 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor or a 2.2GHz Intel Celeron processor.

The standard configuration comes with 4GB RAM, HD LCD display and flash storage in either 128GB, 256GB or 512GB capacities. Fujitsu notes that all nine new LIFEBOOK models feature Intel's seventh generation or Kaby Lake processors.

The launch also includes a new a 12.5-inch Lifebook convertible, also with Windows 10 Pro, featuring a 2.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB RAM, and an LCD display at either HD or Full HD resolutions. The two-in-one can be purchased with 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB flash storage.

It's unclear which if any of these products will be released in Europe or the US. ZDNet has asked Fujitsu for an answer and will update the story if we receive a response.

Read more about Fujitsu

• Oracle, Fujitsu team up in enterprise cloud push
• How Fujitsu is preparing for the world of fast and hybrid IT
• Lenovo in talks to buy Fujitsu's PC business: Report

Here's when the Moto Z, Moto Z Play will receive Android Nougat

Motorola's latest devices still don't have Android Nougat, but the company has given a timeframe on its eventual release.

Motorola updated the Verizon Wireless Moto Z Force Droid Edition to Android Nougat in December, yet its unlocked counterparts are left behind. There is hope, however.

Motorola on Wednesday confirmed to Android Central the phone manufacturer will update the unlocked Moto Z and Moto Z Play to Android Nougat in February and March, respectively.

The delay is odd, given that both devices are unlocked and void of extraneous testing procedures and requirements before a wireless carrier will approve the update.

ZDNet's Matthew Miller fell in love with the Moto Z Force Droid after it received Android Nougat, opting to use it over the Google Pixel XL.

As Miller pointed out in his story, Motorola used to be known for quickly updating its unlocked phones to the latest release of Android. After the company was purchased by Lenovo, those updates users had come to expect from Motorola have slowly trickled out, with little or no public commitment from either company.

Taboola buys Israeli startup Commerce Sciences

Taboola's main product generates recommended content typically found at the bottom of articles on a bevy of websites.

Taboola, an Israeli content discovery and recommendation company, announced plans to acquire web personalization and on-site optimization startup Commerce Sciences. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Taboola said that Commerce Sciences' staff will join Taboola's Tel Aviv workforce.

Commerce Sciences was founded in 2012, also in Israel, and is backed by Genesis Partners, KGC Capital, Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors, and other angel investors.

The startup's personalization technology analyzes the implied characteristics of website visitors as they relate to a particular time and context, meaning that the same person may be more likely to interact with different on-site content depending the time of day.

Taboola, which competes directly with another Israeli company named Outbrain, says the acquisition furthers its personalization strategy and technology portfolio. Taboola's main product generates recommended content typically found at the bottom of articles on a bevy of websites. Taboola says it serves more than 360 billion recommendations to over 1 billion unique visitors every month on websites such as USA TODAY, Huffington Post, MSN, Business Insider, Chicago Tribune and The Weather Channel.

"These are important times to understand the value of data and the user experience, as the web has become very fragmented," Taboola founder and CEO Adam Singolda said in prepared remarks. "The notion of personalization based on user demographics is old school. It's evolving into the context in which users are consuming the web; we all have multiple personas as we come from social, search, our phone, and more - imagine if every site had a version tailored to each one of those personas."

The Big Trends for Business at CES 2017:

Microsoft buys deep-learning startup Maluuba

Microsoft has acquired Montreal-based deep-learning startup Maluuba for an undisclosed amount.

In its first aquisition of calendar 2017, Microsoft announced plans to buy Montreal-based deep-learning startup Maluuba for an undisclosed amount.

Maluuba has done work in natural-language understanding and reinforcement learning.

Harry Shum, Microsoft executive vice president of the company's Artificial Intelligence and Research Group, explained a potential scenario where Maluuba's technology could help this way:

"Imagine a future where, instead of frantically searching through your organization's directory, documents or emails to find the top tax-law experts in your company, for example, you could communicate with an AI agent that would leverage Maluuba's machine comprehension capabilities to immediately respond to your request. The agent would be able to answer your question in a company security-compliant manner by having a deeper understanding of the contents of your organization's documents and emails, instead of simply retrieving a document by keyword matching, which happens today. This is just one of hundreds of scenarios we could imagine as Maluuba pushes the state-of-the-art technology of machine literacy."

Microsoft officials said Maluuba co-founders Sam Pasupalak and Kaheer Suleman will become part of Shum's organization.

Yoshua Bengio, an advisor to Maluuba and head of the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms, also will be advising Microsoft and interacting directly with Shum as part of the deal.

Microsoft created the combined Artificial Intelligence and Research Group last September concurrently with the departure of executive vice president Qi Lu, who previously led the combined Office and Bing organizations.

Doctors want to use IBM's supercomputer to diagnose health conditions:

The obscure city luring Amazon and Oracle with the promise of dirt-cheap developers

Out on the EU's eastern border, tech giants and outsourcing companies are thriving in a city where software development comes at bargain prices.

You may have never heard of Iasi, a Romanian city located just inside the EU's eastern border. But companies such as Amazon and Oracle have, and they've already been tapping into its resources to develop their businesses.

Iasi is one of the most cost-effective cities in the European Union if you're interested in software development. Junior English-speaking developers can be hired for €500 ($522) a month take-home pay.

Iasi has doubled its technology workforce over the past few years through both formal and informal education. The city is home to over 12,500 IT workers who are fluent in English, have a good command of French, and supplement their education by learning skills needed for their jobs.

"Probably the strongest selling point is the availability of highly-skilled human resources, with two very strong local technical universities," Valerica Dragomir, executive director for the Employers' Association of the Software and Services Industry, tells ZDNet.

Tech giants have already found Iasi on the map, and are familiar with its workforce. Oracle, which formally opened an office there this summer, intends to hire a few dozen people in 2017.

Amazon is even more ambitious. It has just moved to a larger building in the city and plans to recruit 400 technical staff over the next three years, adding to the 600 already employed there.

Its R&D center, the first opened in Eastern Europe 10 years ago, is focused on developing new website features and offering support to Amazon customers worldwide.

But Iasi is also the place where outsourcing companies such as Ness, Centric IT, and Fortech are making plans, tuning in to the city's vibe and advantages. A skilled workforce, low costs, generous and fairly-priced office space, and the proximity to Western Europe in terms of air travel and time zones are among the benefits.

Ness has to compete with companies in Poland, Germany, Hungary, and the Czech Republic for contracts. "Our main arguments revolve around Iasi's talent pool," a Ness spokesperson says. "Moreover, in the past two years, the airport has added new destinations to its flight schedule."

How far money goes is also a selling point. Tech companies in Romania benefit from several incentives. They can keep their workforce costs low, because developers don't pay income tax.

Salaries in Iasi are lower than those in Western Europe. While junior developers start at €500 a month take-home pay, a senior programmer can earn as much as €3,000 ($3,160). That's up to 20 percent less compared with Bucharest for entry-level jobs, according to the Brainspotting recruitment agency.

Still, technologists in Iasi can afford a good life, taking into account living costs: €1,400 in Iasi is the equivalent of €5,000 in London, if one rents accommodation in either city. Consumer prices are 60 percent lower in the Romanian city than those in the UK capital, while renting an apartment costs 88 percent less.

Although they earn above the country's average, developers are finding it difficult to save enough money to venture into the startup world.

Because investors are scarce, most entrepreneurs keep nine-to-five jobs while building their products in the evenings and on weekends. That's the approach used by the creators of Marionette Studio, a project which helps 2D game developers build animations directly in their browsers.

Co-founder Bogdan Apostol has put all his spare time and savings into the startup in the past year. Most local entrepreneurs do the same. Those who can afford to quit their job and don't have to borrow money from friends and family are the exception, he says.

So far, Marionette Studio hasn't made a profit and continues to be driven by its founders' enthusiasm and their ambition to innovate. "We're passionate developers. This is the first online skeletal animation software for 2D games," Apostol says.

However, he believes he has reasons for feeling optimistic. He thinks the tech environment in Iasi are looking better than they did a few years ago.

"The city has a solid academic environment and a fair amount of technical graduates. What they really lack is an environment that encourages them," he says.

App.net shutting down once and for all in March

Freemium Twitter alternative App.net will finally remove itself from the internet on March 14 after development work stopped in May 2014.

On March 14, social network App.net will be deleting all user data, more than two years after active development on the platform ceased.

In May 2014, App.net co-founders Dalton Caldwell and Bryan Berg laid off all salaried employees, including themselves, as a result of a lack of paying users.

"At that time we made the difficult decision to put App.net into autopilot mode in an effort to preserve funds and to give it ample time to bake," Caldwell and Berg said in a blog post on Thursday. "Since then every dollar App.net has charged has gone towards paying for the hosting and services needed to keep the site running.

"Unfortunately, revenue has consistently diminished over the past 2+ years, and we have been unable to return the service to active development."

The site began as an exclusively paid service, but switched to a freemium model in February 2013.

The co-founders said App.net would immediately cease receiving any new user signups, and any subscription renewals would be stopped. Users will be able to export their data until March 14, at which point all user data will be deleted.

"Ultimately, we failed to overcome the chicken-and-egg issue between application developers and user adoption of those applications," Caldwell and Berg said.

"Our initial developer adoption exceeded expectations, but that initial excitement didn't ultimately translate into a big enough pool of customers for those developers. This was a foreseeable risk, but one we felt was worth taking."

App.net began as a Kickstarter-style 30-day fundraising campaign with a target of $500,000. The target was exceeded as App.net raised $803,000 from more than 12,000 backers.