IT daily news: tháng 2 2017

Thứ Hai, 27 tháng 2, 2017

Blink, First Take: Good-value security camera system for homes and small businesses

LG Watch Sport Review: Not the best start for Android Wear 2.0

IBM, VELCO join forces to create smart energy solutions firm Utopus

IBM's Smarter Energy team will come under the Utopus umbrella as part of the agreement.

IBM and Vermont Electric Power Company (VELCO) have announced the creation of Utopus Insights, a company which will specialize in smart energy products.

On Friday, the companies revealed that Utopus Insights, based in Valhalla, New York, will "strive to be a leading provider of the next generation of intelligent energy solutions."

The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 1956, Rutland, Vermont-based VELCO is an electric transmission company which transforms power from substations to lower voltage local customers in Vermont.

VELCO, owned by in-state electric distribution companies, will be an investor and strategic partner in the new company, while IBM Research's Smarter Energy team -- alongside the unit's intellectual property and technologies portfolio -- will become part of Utopus Insights.

IBM and VELCO hope the new venture will be able to create "create dependable, industry-tested software" which utilizes Big Data and analytics for the green energy market.

Dr. Chandu Visweswariah, an IBM fellow, has been named President and CEO of Utopus Insights. The executive says that as the renewable energy sector continues to innovate -- now including energy storage, electric vehicles, smart, energy-saving products, and renewables -- vendors need to move quickly to keep up.

By harnessing IBM's portfolio, the company will be able to offer an energy analytics platform from the outset for use with the cloud (SaaS) and IoT solutions, which can also be integrated with third-party software due to the use of open APIs.

See also: Cloud-to-client, direct: serverless computing reduces the middle

"Utopus Insights plans to bring these same solutions to other utilities' ongoing grid transformation work," Tom Dunn, VELCO President, and CEO said. "These next-generation tools can enable our industry to continue to deliver increased system reliability and operational performance in an era of rapid change."

"Utopus Insights will combine an established team of experts in energy analytics and optimization, software engineering and deep utility knowledge to offer new insights, tools and customer savings to grid customers," the executive added.

The new venture will launch in the first quarter of 2017.

Earlier this month, IBM announced a new partnership with Northern Trust to develop blockchain technologies suitable for use in the private equity funds market.

Survey: IoT progress has been slow but optimism remains

More than half of business leaders surveyed for the global Internet of Things Business Index 2017 said progress has not happened as quickly as expected.

More than half business leaders around the globe believe their organization's progress with the Internet of Things has not happened as fast as they expected, according to a new survey. Nevertheless, they still largely believe IoT will have a tremendous impact in the future.

As many as 24 percent of those surveyed said they "strongly agree" their progress has not happened as quickly as expected, according to the Internet of Things Business Index 2017, an Economist Intelligence Unit report, sponsored by ARM and IBM. Another 33 percent said they somewhat agree. Twenty-seven percent said they neither agree nor disagree, while just 10 percent said they somewhat disagree, and 2 percent strongly disagree.

Even so, there is a "strong degree in belief of vision," Pete Swabey of the Economist Intelligence Unit told reporters on a conference call.

When asked about the impact of IoT, 21 percent said it's already had a major impact, while 32 percent said it's had a limited impact but will have major impact in the future. Another 12 percent said it's had no impact so far but will have a major impact in the future.

The remaining respondents were more pessimistic: 20 percent said it's had limited impact so far and will have a limited impact in the future. Nine percent said it's had no impact so far and will have a limited in the future.

The study, conducted in September 2016, surveyed 825 senior business leaders, including 412 C-level executives or board members. Thirty percent were based in Europe, 30 percent in North America, 30 percent in Asia-Pacific and the remaining 10 percent were in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

The survey spanned leaders from 10 industries, including financial services; manufacturing; healthcare, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology; IT and technology; energy and natural resources; construction and real estate; automotive; infrastructure; and outsourced facilities management.

When it comes to the use of IoT in products or services, the plurality of business leaders surveyed, 35 percent, said they were in the research stage. As many as 21 percent said their organization was using no IoT at all, while another 21 percent said they were past the research stage and into planning. Fourteen percent were into implementation, while 8 percent said they were extensively using it.

Results were similar when business leaders were asked about their internal use of IoT. The plurality, 37 percent were in the research stage. Twenty-one percent said they were not using it all, 22 percent were in the planning stage, 15 percent were in implemetation and 6 percent were using it extensively.

Those figures, when compared with the results of the 2013 Internet of Things Business Index, show IoT adoption has advanced slightly globally. However, in the US, internal adoption is actually down slightly.

"It does suggest some companies that were, back in 2013, examining the prospects of IoT may have decided it's not for them," Swabey said. He noted that energy efficiency has been a key driver for IoT adoption, so falling oil prices may have taken interest in IoT down a notch.

The chief obstacle to using IoT, respondents said, is the high cost of required investment in infrastructure - 29 percent said so. Another 26 percent cited security and privacy concerns, while 23 percent named a lack of knowledge or commitment from senior management.

While there are real concerns, "that's balanced with the fact people still are investing and see real money to be made, whether it's saved on operational costs or new revenues," said ARM CTO Mike Muller.

When asked where in their organization IoT has had the greatest impact so far, 25 percent of respondents said it has sparked a new wave of innovation thanks to data that provided better insights. Another 22 percent said it's unlocked new revenue opportunities from existing products or services. Twenty percent said it changed their business model or strategy.

Meanwhile, when asked about the parts of the business that have seen the most positive impact so far, 38 percent said data management and analysis. Another 29 percent said products and services, while 27 percent said technology infrastructure management.

Amazon resists US demands to hand over Echo audio in murder case

Prosecutors want the audio recordings for evidence, but are they protected by free speech laws?

Amazon continues to resist the efforts of US authorities to obtain recordings from an Echo device which was in a home at the heart of a murder investigation.

This week, as reported by the BBC, the retail giant pressed back against the demand, claiming that prosecutors have not established that the Echo's records are necessary for the case.

In Amazon's first official legal response, the company said that it was required to weigh customer privacy against such requests. As such, at this time, the data will not be handed over unless a binding court order is enforced.

In November 2015, former Georgia police officer Victor Collins was found floating face up in a friend's hot tub. The friend, James Andrew Bates, discovered the body and informed the Arkansas police force.

However, suspected blood spots were found around the hot tub and one of Collins' eyes and his lips appeared to be swollen which has led to suspicion of foul play.

Bates has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

The Amazon Alexa smart speaker acts as a voice assistant and can be synchronized for purposes such as ordering goods and controlling smart devices, as well as weather and news updates, among other features. The assistant device records audio a fraction of a second before a "wake" word is detected, and this information is then sent to Amazon servers for interpretation.

The "always on" device is not meant to make recordings at any other time, but sometimes, the Alexa does misinterpret commands and wake words, leading to unintended audio records.

US prosecutors argue that the Alexa in use at Bates' home -- which was playing music at the time -- could shed light on the investigation. If the information stored in Amazon's servers reveal activity or words at the time the alleged murder was thought to have taken place, this could provide enough evidence to charge Bates.

Amazon has been asked to provide Alexa recordings for a 48-hour period during November 21 through 22, 2015, as well as subscriber and account information. Amazon has given the police the subscriber data and purchase history but argues that the audio recordings should be protected by the First Amendment.

See also: ZDNet Amazon Echo review

Last week, Amazon filed a motion with the US court, requesting the dismissal of the search warrant.

In the motion, Amazon says that customers should be able to use Alexa and have the "right to browse and purchase expressive materials anonymously, without fear of government discovery," and as the recordings "may contain expressive material," -- whether this is music or books requested by the user -- the response itself should be considered protected speech, which the government is charged with safeguarding.

"Given the important First Amendment and privacy implications at stake, the warrant should be quashed unless the Court finds that the State has met its heightened burden for compelled production of such materials," Amazon said in a statement. "Amazon will not release customer information without a valid and binding legal demand properly served on us. Amazon objects to overbroad or otherwise inappropriate demands as a matter of course."

The murder investigation and fight over Alexa's data may be an extreme case, but if US law enforcement has its way, the idea that governments can gather such personal data behind your closed doors may give consumers cold feet about using such smart devices in their homes.

This, in turn, could seriously impact Amazon's reputation and the popularity of the Alexa assistant.

How HPE's new security-at-the-edge solution will empower more IoT innovation:

Ericsson launches Connected Vehicle Marketplace

The Ericsson Connected Vehicle Marketplace will provide a single digital marketplace for open APIs for automotive equipment manufacturers and third parties.

Ericsson has launched its Connected Vehicle Marketplace, with the cloud-based service aimed at allowing equipment manufacturers to share data and applications in a secure and scalable way with third parties.

Announced at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona on Monday morning, Ericsson's Connected Vehicle Marketplace will provide a single digital marketplace for open application programming interfaces (APIs) for telematics data, regulated data sharing, partner management, and charging and billing solutions, the networking giant said.

According to Ericsson CEO Börje Ekholm, the Connected Vehicle Marketplace is an essential part of Ericsson's strategy for enabling connectivity, security, and innovation across the automotive industry into the future.

The marketplace is powered by Ericsson's mobile connectivity management Internet of Things (IoT) solution IoT Accelerator.

Scania, the first customer to use Ericsson's automotive marketplace, also announced its Scania One digital platform, saying the solution would allow it to streamline processes for its fleet customers including public transport, long-haul transport, and construction transport providers.

"Compared to many other industries, the transport industry is making rapid progress in digitalisation," Scania CEO Henrik Henriksson said.

"Now we are taking some serious steps translating the partnership into real business for us with bottom-line impact for our customers."

Scania said it now has 250,000 connected vehicles -- more than two-thirds of its vehicles sold during the past five years -- with the total number of connected vehicles predicted to reach 382 million globally by 2025.

Ericsson has been actively working on connected cars trials, earlier this month attaining data transfer speeds of 3.6Gbps on connected cars travelling at 170km/h in partnership with SK Telecom and BMW across a test 5G network.

Kaspersky: No whiff of Linux in our OS because we need new start to secure IoT

While Linux might be on millions of IoT devices, Kaspersky says there's no trace of it on its new secure OS.

The KasperskyOS-powered Kraftway switch is the first commercially available mass-market hardware to run the new security-focused OS.
Image: Kaspersky

Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky Lab, says its new KasperskyOS for securing industrial IoT devices does not contain "even the slightest smell of Linux", differentiating it from many other IoT products that have the open-source OS at the core.

Kaspersky today showed the "first commercially available mass-market hardware" based on its freshly minted KasperskyOS. The kit is a new layer-3 switch from Russian firm Kraftway.

The company has said a completely new OS is needed to protect industrial control systems (ICS) and Internet of Thing (IoT) devices. Kaspersky points to the recent Mirai IoT botnet as evidence that it is the right time for KasperskyOS.

The OS is supposed to cater to applications that need to run on small, optimized and secure platforms, including ICS switches, routers, IP cameras, and IoT controllers.

It's also designed to be extremely locked down, only allowing programs to execute documented operations within the context of a security policy that the customer defines. The security policy is aimed at offering choices to prevent a variety of IoT devices from being exploited to cause physical harm.

"Everything has been built from scratch," says Kaspersky. "Anticipating your questions: not even the slightest smell of Linux. All the popular operating systems aren't designed with security in mind, so it's simpler and safer to start from the ground up and do everything correctly. Which is just what we did."

According to Kaspersky, the project to build KasperskyOS has in fact been under way for the past 14 years, although coding didn't start until more recently.

Two other features the CEO highlights include the OS microkernel and its in-built security system.

The microkernel architecture allows users to "assemble 'from blocks' different modifications of the operating system depending on a customer's specific requirements".

The security system, Kaspersky Security System, is the on-board anti-malware platform, which only allows signed applications to run. It's also embedded in the firmware of IoT devices.

"To hack this platform, a cyber-baddie would need to break the digital signature, which -- any time before the introduction of quantum computers -- would be exorbitantly expensive," says Kaspersky.

Thứ Bảy, 25 tháng 2, 2017

Virtual reality startup Relax VR wants to relieve stress in corporate environments

Australian startup Relax VR believes virtual reality is an effective medium for self stress-management.

The early promise of virtual reality (VR) was vast: We would be transported to new worlds and live in alternate realities. While scientists and programmers have been investigating the possibilities of VR since the 1960s, it's only in the last few years that the technology started to gain mainstream traction, with VR applications spanning from education to real estate.

Australian startup Relax VR is looking to bring VR into high-pressure corporate environments to relieve occupational stress -- a significant contributor to mental and physical illness, as well as lack of workplace productivity.

Founded by Eddie Cranswick and Sourabh Jain in January 2016, Relax VR is a mobile meditation application compatible with Google's Cardboard and Daydream, as well as Samsung's Gear VR headsets.

The application, which was launched in the iOS and Android app stores in Q2 2016, virtually transports users to tranquil locales of their choosing -- from beaches in Portugal to the Great Ocean Road in Australia -- and immerses them in 360-degree videos. A soothing voice is overlaid onto music to guide the user.

The goal of the application is to allow users to divert their attention inward and teach them to self-manage their stress.

Cranswick, who is based out of Fishburners' coworking space in Ultimo, Sydney, told ZDNet that immersion and presence play an important role when combining meditation techniques with virtual reality for stress management. As such, delivering the right user experience from the moment the user opens the application is paramount to Relax VR's efficacy, Cranswick said.

The startup recently appointed Madrid-based clinical psychologist and VR researcher Ivan Alsina Jurnet as its chief scientist to conduct research and measure the real-world impact of Relax VR.

Jain, who is a yoga and meditation teacher, said the evidence collected by Jurnet will be core to capturing the corporate market, which is a focus for the startup this year.

"There's some research that indicates VR is actually more effective at relaxation than traditional cognitive behavioural therapy. It's a great tool for relaxation and we have science to back that up now," Jain said.

Cranswick noted that selling to corporates is very different to selling to consumers. After the initial discussion, it can take months to progress through the approvals process, which can be challenging for startups taking the B2B approach, he admitted.

But the B2B approach is particularly lucrative for the Relax VR, the founders said. In 2016, the startup was focused predominantly on consumer adoption, but is now in talks with corporations about integrating Relax VR into their employee wellness programs. Pilot programs are currently being organised, though the founders could not disclose further details at the time of speaking to ZDNet.

"We're looking to deliver a structured relaxation program that employees in high-stress environments can sign up to. Corporate wellness is something that we think is a very valid use case for Relax VR," Cranswick said. "But we need to approach it the best way possible. In B2B, it's very important to provide something that's evidence-based, to make sure we've got data to back our [proposition]."

In addition to seeing consumer adoption across a range of global markets outside of Australia including the US, the UK, Germany, Japan, and South Korea, Jain said Relax VR has captured the attention of massage chair manufacturers that are looking to integrate VR headsets to their chairs, as well as companies servicing hospitals.

"We're keeping an eye on how VR is used in hospitals for patient care, especially in the US because hospitals there are generally more advanced when it comes to technology adoption. Once virtual reality headsets are rolled out in hospitals, there will be a massive opportunity for us," said Cranswick.

"It's a great use case, because we'd be able to transport people confined to their beds -- and in many cases, in a lot of pain and experiencing anxiety as well -- to somewhere peaceful. Hospitals don't usually provide a good experience so I think VR has a lot of power to keep people uplifted and keep their minds active."

Relax VR is not the only company to recognise the potential of virtual reality in health settings. In December 2016, Australian health insurer Medibank launched an immersive VR experience for Australian hospitals on Google Daydream, in collaboration with a group of neuropsychologists at Melbourne-based VR developers Liminal.

The "Joy" experience, which was designed entirely in 3D using Google's Tilt Brush, provides hospital patients with a virtual experience to attempt to relieve loneliness and isolation, particularly for long-stay patients with restricted mobility.

Victorian-startup Build VR also recently launched its Solis VR unit, a Gear VR handset that features video scenarios to trigger positive emotions for dementia patients, even for those in the later stages who are barely responsive.

Solis VR users start in a computer generated atrium in front of a wall with five paintings, with each one reflecting a VR experience. When the user looks at a painting, a 360-degree video begins, which could be of anything ranging from scuba diving, canoeing, or a trip to Bali. The experiences offer a distraction when dementia patients are experiencing boredom or displaying repetitive behaviour.

In the future, Relax VR will look to integrate biofeedback systems that measure the physiological aspects that are related to stress, such as body temperature and heart rate variability. By collecting biofeedback changes in real-time, users will have a greater understanding of not only their stress patterns, but also the impact Relax VR is having on their stress patterns over time.

"I'm quite excited about seeing where wearables can be integrated into the experiences. Being able to measure stress indicators and providing that data to users would give them a holistic picture of how the relaxation is affecting them over a period of time," Cranswick said.

While Relax VR is not the only meditation application in the VR world, Jain and Cranswick believe their competitive advantage is their domain expertise.

"I'm a meditation teacher. We now have a clinical psychologist. We have a strong understanding of the content behind relaxation, what helps people relax. Whereas what we see with our competitors is that they tend to have more expertise in virtual reality, and they're kind of jumping on the meditation bandwagon as part of exploring what they can do with VR," Jain said.

"[Their products are] generally not as effective in relaxing users, even though they might be more entertaining."

Relax VR has been applying to accelerator programs and was accepted into one in San Francisco. However, the terms that were put forth by the accelerator were a little too far from ideal, the founders said.

"The whole application process was a good learning experience and it was also good validation for us -- they thought we had potential. But at the stage that we applied, it was better off for us to not take that opportunity at that time," Jain said.

Trevor Townsend, managing director at Startupbootcamp Melbourne, believes the excitement towards technologies such as virtual reality will fizzle out this year.

"Technologies such as Internet of Things, virtual reality, and augmented reality will start to enter the trough of disillusionment in 2017," Townsend told ZDNet earlier this year. "They have been much hyped, and although our industry will be working long and hard to make the technology vision come true, the overshoot of expectations and the reality of what is actually possible and the difficulties of delivering the vision will dampen the enthusiasm for these topics."

Townsend also believes VR and AR will be solutions looking for problems.

"Like the ill-fated 3D TV; people will be slow to adopt such technology [and] that means they need to drastically alter the way they consume entertainment. Immersive experiences will arrive, but probably still not in the way we have envisioned," Townsend said.

Meanwhile, Cranswick believes the VR space is moving faster than it meets the eye.

"I attend a lot of VR events in Australia and I've seen this space move quite quickly over the last year in terms of the general public interest. Enterprise applications of VR are driving a lot of the early adoption, but I think consumer-wise, there have been some big pushes from the likes of Samsung and Google," Cranswick said.

"There's still an element of education that's required for the general market to understand virtual reality. It's a very experiential medium, so you need to try it, it needs to be in more retail stores. A lot of companies need to get the demonstrations happening in greater numbers. Getting people to try it is going to drive adoption. Usually, when someone has tried VR they understand it straight away."

Relax VR is currently a paid app on iOS, Android, and a freemium app on Samsung Gear VR. The monetisation model for corporate customers will be different, though nothing has been finalised yet.

The startup is also planning to raise capital later this year.

Online lender Prospa raises AU$25m in AirTree VC-led round

The capital raised by online lending company Prospa will be used for production expansion and distribution, as well as for recruitment.

Online small business lender Prospa has raised AU$25 million in a Series B funding round led by Sydney-based AirTree Ventures. The round valued the company at AU$235 million.

The funds will be used for investment in product expansion and distribution, as well as talent acquisition.

The online lender was founded in 2011 by Beau Bertoli and Greg Moshal to meet the demand for faster financing solutions from Australia's 2 million-strong small business community.

Whereas traditionally small businesses would have to fill out complex paperwork for what could still be a negative outcome, Prospa claims that it can approve loans of up to AU$250,000 within 24 hours by processing the applicant's data, and has a 90 percent approval rate.

Prospa, whose debt funders include the Carlyle Group and Ironbridge Capital, has also surpassed AU$250 million in total loans to small businesses and secured strategic distribution partnerships with Westpac Banking Group, Reckon, and Mortgage Choice.

Other online lenders in Australia include Moula, Spotcap, ThinCats, and DirectMoney, though Prospa claims to be the market leader.

In the second half of 2016, National Australia Bank (NAB) launched Quickbiz Loans, an online application process lending up to AU$50,000 to small businesses within 10 minutes.

Also for small business customers, NAB launched a cloud-based digital platform -- NAB Business in One -- that synchronises data in real time across numerous applications including accounting, sales, and customer relationship management software, into a central, customisable dashboard.

Back in December 2015, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia struck a deal with New York Stock Exchange-listed online small business lender OnDeck, providing loans of up to AU$150,000. OnDeck also boasts a 10-minute application process.

MATRIX Voice brings fast and affordable development of voice-controlled IoT apps on Raspberry Pi

The new MATRIX Voice tool competes with Google Home and Amazon Echo to bring affordable voice control to the Raspberry Pi platform

Miami, Fla.-based, venture-backed, machine intelligence creation company MATRIX Labs is launching the next open-sourced tool for Internet of Things (IoT) developers. The new hardware, MATRIX Voice, brings development of voice-control apps to the Raspberry Pi, or the standalone platform.

The 64-bit architecture of the Voice has voice recognition integration with (32-bit) Amazon Alexa and Google Voice. The tool will allow makers and hardware developers to quickly create low cost voice-control apps.

The Voice board has a radial array of seven MEMS microphones, which are connected to a Xilinx Spartan6 FPGA + 64 Mbit SDRAM. The microphone array on the Voice lets you take advantage of voice recognition in your app creations.

It uses services such as Microsoft Cognitive Service, Amazon Alexa Voice Service, Google Speech API, Wit.ai, and Houndify. Events can be triggered based on sound detections and applied to pre-configured actions.

The hardware includes 64 GPIO pins (40 pins for Raspberry Pi, 16 GPIOs, 2 i2c, and power pins) for device-to-device connection. It also includes far-field voice capture, beam-forming, acoustic source localization, noise suppression, de-reverberation, and acoustic echo cancellation.

The company will also offer a stand-alone 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled 32-bit microcontroller version for commercial voice solutions for IoT.

To simplify hardware application development, the MATRIX Voice includes MATRIX OS, which allows developers to build hardware applications in a few lines of JavaScript code.

It measures, appropriately enough 3.14-inch (the value of Pi) in diameter and is priced at $45. It launched its Indiegogo campaign, asking for $5000 "flexible goal" investment earlier today.

MATRIX Labs Co-founder and CEO Rodolfo Saccoman said: "MATRIX Voice is our latest addition to the MATRIX Labs toolbox and, like our MATRIX Creator dev board, MATRIX OS, App Store, it is poised to accelerate the creation of next-generation voice-control apps faster and more cost-effectively than ever before."

VIDEO: Meet the newest Raspberry Pi

Thứ Ba, 21 tháng 2, 2017

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Could smartphones replace datacenters? These Finnish researchers think so

Researchers think they've found a way of using the vast untapped resources of processing power in smartphones and IoT devices for large-scale number-crunching.

The Ubispark researchers tested their software using Samsung Galaxy S4 phones and a LG Smart TV and found them more than the equal of a single server in computing power.
Image: Ubispark

A smartphone today packs more computing power than the computers used by NASA in the Apollo space program. At the same time, the Internet of Things is bringing connectivity to a growing number of devices, from smart TVs to fridges.

Now researchers at Finland's University of Helsinki want to harness all these computational resources in a project called Ubispark, which uses smart devices for energy-efficient distributed computing.

The aim of Ubispark is to create local computing clusters made up of phones and other smart devices that collectively can run large-scale data-processing tasks.

"You have connectivity through mobile networks, which is available more widely than the fixed networks you need for cloud computing or to have your own datacenter," Eemil Lagerspetz, head of the research project, tells ZDNet.

"The smartphones in our pockets are even faster than [the supercomputers of the past]. There is the power, there is the connectivity, so why not [use them for computing tasks]."

The goal of the research project is to build a mobile platform that enables smartphones and IoT devices to run computing tasks that traditionally require larger computers and datacenters.

A user downloads the app onto their device, chooses which scientific or commercial projects they will allow their phone to be used for, as well as the conditions, such as only running when connected to Wi-Fi or a charger. One hour of computation consumes an estimated 10 percent of battery life.

"The app would then connect to the participating projects that want to offload computing to smartphones," Lagerspetz explains. "Those tasks would start coming in from the cloud into the phone and run there and the results would be sent back to the originator of the task."

In other words, while your phone sits idle on your office desk, it could be helping to compute weather forecasts, earthquake warnings, or solve encryption challenges.

But first the mobile cloud computing platform needs to be built. Currently the researchers are testing their approach using nine Samsung Galaxy S4 phones and a LG Smart TV for predefined tasks. The preliminary results show that this configuration is more than enough to equal the computing power of a single server.

"We have nine smartphones computing in parallel and one server computing the same thing, and we can achieve the same speed," Lagerspetz says.

"[But] if you want to beat a cluster of machines at Amazon, you might need 10 times the number of phones, so 90 phones. If you're working in a big organization and you have a lot of employees, you just put our app on their phones and you're ready."

This approach is not only a cost-effective alternative to running your own datacenter or paying for cloud computing, but also saves energy. According to Lagerspetz, smartphones are typically 50 percent to 90 percent more energy-efficient than a server.

While Lagerspetz aims to create a flexible mobile platform for cloud computing, the idea of crowdsourced processing power is not new.

For example, Seti@Home and IBM's World Community Grid projects use the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing, or BOINC, platform to harness the unused computing power of computers, smartphones and tablets for scientific research.

"BOINC has a star-like architecture so there is no connection between the different devices, they all have their own connection to the central server," Lagerspetz explains.

"The idea in our project is that devices in close proximity can share intermediate results and run multi-stage computing tasks in cooperation, independently from any server."

Lagerspetz says using phones or IoT devices in the same location, such as an office space, is optimal for achieving the best computing results. The devices can have local fast connectivity between them and act as one unit.

As the distance between the devices used for a computing task grows, the more problems arise as data transfers and the varied quality of mobile networks start to become more of an issue.

It can also be a challenge to convince people to give access to their devices. Lagerspetz hopes to create a similar win-win scenario to the smartphone battery research project Carat, where users get details on what their battery problems are in exchange for sharing data. Alternatively, the incentives could be financial, if the open-source platform is used commercially.

"For example, electricity companies or mobile operators could give you some benefit from giving your computing power to them while your phone is not used," Lagerspetz says. "They could pay a part of your electricity bill or give a discount on your monthly payments."

While there are still several challenges to tackle, including the limitations of current mobile platforms, Lagerspetz hopes to have the first version of the app available for Android this year.

He believes that the untapped power of smartphones and IoT devices has a huge potential in taking computing to where people are and eventually even replacing datacenters.

While we are asleep, it could be our phones, TVs, and washing machines that are at work helping scientific research.

The Ubispark researchers found that the computation time for the same task for a cluster of smartphones is higher than that of the server, for just 7.2 percent of the power.
Image: Ubispark

No PC monitor? Samsung smart sunglasses double as smartphone and desktop display

Samsung doubles down on virtual reality for the upcoming Mobile World Congress as it unveils new products from its C-Lab.

Samsung says its Monitorless streaming glasses address the lack of VR and AR content.
Image: Samsung

Samsung has offered a peek at four new VR/AR projects from its C-Lab incubator, including a pair of smart sunglasses, and a VR app to help the near-blind see content more clearly.

Samsung's new 'Monitorless' device looks like regular shades, but displays content streamed from a smartphone or PC. The glasses can also double as an AR and VR headset due "the electrochromic glass" panels behind the normal lenses.

The right arm of the device contains a CPU, Wi-Fi chip, and projector, while the left arm contains a battery and speaker. Content is streamed over Wi-Fi Direct or peer-to-peer Wi-Fi.

Samsung says users can switch between AR and VR modes, though the headset has really been created because there's a lack of VR and AR content.

"Monitorless addresses the fact that there isn't enough AR and VR content currently available and also enables users to play high-capacity PC games on a mobile device," says Samsung.

Monitorless is one of four new C-Lab AR and VR projects it's teasing ahead of Mobile World Congress, where it will show the products in detail. C-Lab's range of ideas so far include a waist-watching smart belt, life-logging necklaces, and a microneedle skin patch that injects nutrients and measures melanin.

Samsung will also show off a new mobile app for the Gear VR, called Relúmĭno, which it says can help the near-blind and visually-impaired read books and watch TV more easily. It says it's cheaper than using existing visual aids and can remap blind spots as well as correct distorted images.

Relúmĭno is a visual aid application for Gear VR.
Image: Samsung

The VuildUs app lets home decorators take a VR rendition of their room to the furniture store to size up furniture at the store and buy it if they like how it looks.

Finally, Samsung has built traVRer, a 360-degree video app that lets users visit various landmarks around the world with "mood, noise and events captured".

"Users can switch seamlessly between different videos to go in different directions or see the place at a specific time of day, all without the need to navigate menus for alternative video options," says Samsung.

Samsung has also lifted the lid on its traVRer is a 360-degree video platform.
Image: Samsung

ExoLens Pro wide-angle kit hands-on: Making a good iPhone 7 Plus camera even better

The Apple iPhone 7 Plus has a solid camera, but sometimes you want to capture more. The iPhone camera is limited by space so an external lens helps enhance the camera at a price.

While I jump around a lot testing various mobile phones for ZDNet, the Apple iPhone 7 Plus (see my full review) continues to be a prominent part of my collection and offers everything I want and need in a smartphone today. The camera is a joy to use, but it also has more limited functionality than what we see in Android devices like the LG V20 or Huawei Mate 9.

Given the yearly iPhone release and massive market of iPhone owners, we thankfully have an incredible accessory market to enhance the iPhone. For the last couple of weeks I've been testing out an ExoLens Pro wide-angle kit for the Apple iPhone 7 Plus.

ExoLens has been making these high quality external lens options for various iPhone models, but we had to wait a bit longer for the iPhone 7 Plus due to the new rear dual camera design. There is now an iPhone 7 Plus gel liner option so you can purchase the full wide-angle kit, that includes the gel liner and mount, for $199.95.

The ExoLens kits have optics provided by Zeiss so are designed and built to a very high standard. I've owned several phones with Zeiss optics in the past and they are tough to beat. If you are serious about shooting great photography with your iPhone, then you will likely be as impressed as I am with the ExoLens product.

The ExoLens Pro wide-angle kit includes gel liners for the iPhone 6/6s, 6/6s Plus, and 7/7 Plus. These gel liners fit under the aluminum ExoLens Edge mount. This mouint includes a cold-shoe mount on top for lighting, audio, and other accessories.

The iPhone 7 Plus gel liner slides over the secondary, telephoto camera lens that is positioned closer to the center of the iPhone 7 Plus. There is no impact on the primary camera, but you cannot take portrait or optical zoom photos with the lens mount on the iPhone.

The ExoLens Pro wide-angle lens is constructed of aluminum and glass. Rubber lens caps are included for both ends of the lens. The small end is threaded and secures firmly to the edge mount. It should be applied after you attach the edge mount. There is also an alumium protective lens hood included with the kit.

There is an integrated key-ring loop on the edge mount in case you want to carry this around with you on a lanyard. ExoLens includes soft carrying cases for the mount and large wide-angle lens so you can keep everything protected from dust and smudges.

The lens is a Zeiss Mutar 0.6x Asph T wide-angle lens (18 mm equivalent) and can be purchased without the edge mount for $149.95.

You can find a few samples of the output in my embedded image gallery. Full resolution images are available in my Flickr album that includes more comparison samples. It is immediately obvious that the ExoLens wide-angle lens captures much more than the default iPhone 7 Plus camera. Samples include houses along a street, a room shot that a real estate agent might capture, and a backyard landscape shot.

I included a few comparison shots from a LG V20 since the LG V20 has a dual camera design with an 8 megapixel wide-angle camera. As you can see in my sample shots, the LG V20 captures more than the iPhone 7 Plus with ExoLens wide-angle lens. The LG V20 also has a bit of curvature present at the edge of the photo while the ExoLens produces clear shots throughout the range captured by the iPhone.

These external lens accessories are expensive, but if you are going to use your iPhone as your primary camera and want more capability then they are a nice option to have. The ExoLens wide-angle kit is extremely well constructed and performs as intended. I encourage you to read through the details of the design and usage of the lens on the ExoLens website as it is impressive how much work goes into making such high quality lenses.

The ExoLens wide-angle kit is great for travel photography, video, time-laps, and more. Real estate agents will love using this kit to capture the exterior and interior features of homes.

It takes talent to capture great photos, but with devices like the iPhone 7 Plus and accessories like the ExoLens it helps us amateurs get a bit closer to the professionals.