BlackBerry's BBM comes to Windows Phone in beta form ahead of widespread launch

In response to "an incredible number of requests," Blackberry will soon bring its BBM messaging app to Windows Phone.
For now, the app is in a filled-up closed beta, though you can register to join the waiting list. Blackberry says it will open the app to everyone in "the coming weeks."
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It appears that Blackberry is embracing the modern-style design of Windows devices. Users will be able to swipe through each section of the app, and can pin any contact directly to the Start screen for faster access.
The BBM app will have three main sections. Contacts will let users find friends, create groups, and start multi-person chats. The Chats section will list all ongoing conversations in reverse-chronological order, and the Feeds section includes recent contact activity such as status changes, broadcast messages, and new profile photos.
The initial release will focus on basic functionality, including conversations, broadcast messages, shared calendars, shared lists, and group photo albums. Blackberry says it'll eventually add other features such as stickers, voice chat, BBM Channels, and location sharing.
BBM was once an exclusive feature for Blackberry phones. The company released iOS and Android versions last fall as its own smartphone market share spiraled downward, and as cross-platform messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Line became popular. Blackberry now sees cross-platform messaging as a potential revenue stream, both through advertising and the sale of stickers.

iPhone 6 Reportedly Launching Sooner Than Expected

When it comes to Apple, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Brian White has a mixed track record. He was the first Apple watcher to reveal that the company planned to launch an iPad mini, though details were scarce at the time, and he also was the first with sources who pointed to an iPhone being made available in several new colors last year. White has also had some big misses though, and he famously suggested that Apple was working on an iTV controlled by an “iRing,” that would be worn on the user’s finger — which seems… unlikely.
As Rumors of iPhone 6 reportedly launching sooner than expected are Coming its creating A Buzz in Tech Industry.
With White’s recent hits and misses in mind, his latest note could go either way. According to the analyst, Apple’s larger 5.5-inch iPhone will launch sooner than expected this year.

“Our research at Computex highlights that the majority of the accessory makers we interacted with today have already begun production in support of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6,” White wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday morning. “During our China/Taiwan Tech Tour in April, we met with a small number of accessory makers that had started initial production of accessories for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 but not the 5.5-inch version, but today’s research highlights a much broader ramp of the 4.7-inch version.”
He continued, “Also at Computex, we noticed that a few vendors had already started work on accessories for the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 and the pieces were available at the show. Given the lack of data points in recent months around progress with the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 and growing skepticism in the media around a 2014 launch, we view this as a positive development. Based on today’s research, we believe the timing of the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 launch appears to be in sync with our expectation around the unveiling (i.e., September) of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6.”

According to reports, Apple will release its 4.7-inch iPhone 6 in or around September, and then the bigger 5.5-inch iPhone phablet will launch closer to the holidays.

Latest iPhone 6 renders show new details

In the past couple of months we have been exposed to multiple mockups, physical component leaks, schematics and just about everything else related to the iPhone 6. We know a lot about the unannounced iPhone, including the new curved design language and thinner profile. However, a new set of renders might give us the first clear picture of what the next generation iPhone would really look like.
So far, the mockups we have seen have been unable to replicate the antenna line breaks that have become an integral part of iPhone design. Now designer Mark Pelin has designed some new renders that provide a cleaner and prettier view of how Apple might implement the antenna in the iPhone 6.
Mind you, these are just renders and there’s nothing official about it. Check out the source link for more photos.

Technology Students Compete with the Latest Tech Ideas in Evansville

The latest in Naval Warfare could be being pitched in Evansville.

16 business and engineering students at USI will be pitching some high tech ideas this morning for the 3rd annual Technology Commercialization Academy.

4 teams of four students have been hard at work developing ideas and business strategies for commercialization of several Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division patents.

The teams with the highest potential will continue in the academy for another 5 weeks.

At that time, students will have the opportunity to further develop their ideas and reach out to potential customers and investors. 

Android L vs. iOS 8: Can Apple take on Android’s biggest update ever?

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We all thought Android 4.4 KitKat was a major change when it came out late last year, but the still unnamed L release of Android puts that to shame. Despite not telling us the codename (Lollipop?) or the version number (5.0?), Google demoed an updated UI called Material Design and a plethora of new features. You won’t be able to get your hands on the final version of L until this fall, but Apple is going to have its work cut out for it competing with the new Android, even after its lauded iOS 8 announcement. Here’s how Android is evolving and what that means for the iOS vs. Android matchup coming later this year.

Android ‘L’, Android smartwatches, Android Auto, and Android TV announced at Google I/O

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Updated @ 2:40pm That’s it — the keynote is over. This incredibly long event took us from the Android “L” release to Android Auto to Android TV. We saw smartwatches, smart TVs, and a brand new UI on the stage. There were countless amazing ideas on display today, but now Google has to nail the execution. We might all be using Android on our TVs and in our cars next year, but it’s possible the whole idea will crash and burn. Can Google really pull off these huge promises? I’m not confident.
Updated @ 1:35pm Android TV brings the full Android experience to the living room. Movies, music, and games all work on this platform, and a full 10-foot UI is built into the Android “L” SDK. The big TV makers are signed on, so Smart TVs might actually see a boost in quality later this year.
Updated @ 1:25pm Android Auto is here at Google I/O in full force. Navigation, music, and communication apps were shown off live on the stage. The Android Auto SDK is available for devs, and it seems like a solid first attempt. Will it be able to compete with the CarPlay juggernaut, though? With over 40 partners, Android Auto certainly has a shot.
Updated @ 1:15pm Android Wear seems really interesting. Round and square screens are both supported, and developers can take full advantage of all screens. Even better, smartwatches will be available to order on Google’s store later today. Apple better get rolling with the iWatch.
Updated @ 12:55pm We’ve been hearing all about the Android “L” release today. We don’t know what it’s called, and we don’t know the release numbers either. You can install the preview starting tomorrow, but who knows when it will be formally released?
Updated @ 12:00pm Here we go! The event is starting. Are we ready for a new Android revision? Will we see self-driving cars? Who knows what Google has in store for us? Watch the stream live, or follow along with our liveblog. We’ll have all of the highlights right here.
Today, at 12pm ET (9am Pacific, 5pm UK) Google will be delivering the keynote for its 2014 I/O conference. The event will be streamed out live, and we’ll be covering the keynote with regular live blog updates. The live video stream from the event is embedded below.

Google I/O 2014 live video stream

New, security-minded Blackphone is ready to ship, and it’s packing Nvidia hardware

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One of the lasting impacts of the Snowden revelations last year has been a renewed focus and interest in smartphones that can actually secure user data from various prying eyes. The Blackphone purports to be one such device with a custom Android fork, dubbed PrivOS, and a collection of default applications that give the user a great deal of control over how information is used. Many of the tools are available from the Amazon App Store or on Google Play, but the Blackphone includes a two year subscription to Silent Circle’s Friends and Family privacy services (Silent Circle is an encryption communication provider).
Ars Technica has a full review of the device and its capabilities, and they come back impressed — for a first-generation device, the Blackphone is well-secured and neatly buttoned up with only a minimal attack profile to begin with. The staff wasn’t able to hack the device or convince it to turn over any information that would enable them to do so — the only thing they were able to pick up was that the phone was connecting to Silent Circle’s servers.
What’s also interesting about the Blackphone is that it’s the first device (or one of the first, at least) to be based on Nvidia’s Tegra 4i. The Tegra 4i was announced 18 months ago, but was held up almost indefinitely due to manufacturing delays and then modem validation issues. Details have been extremely scarce regarding the fate of the product, so it’s interesting to finally see some shipping silicon.

Google finally proves it won’t pursue military contacts, pulls leading robot from DARPA competition

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When it comes to fully functional humanoid robots with versatile real-world dexterity, there are basically only two big games in town: ATLAS, a stompy kill-bot created by Boston Dynamics, and SCHAFT, a more abstract but well-balanced man-bot created by a Japanese company of the same name. If you pay much attention to industrial robotics news (and why wouldn’t you), you’ll know that both of these companies were recently purchased by Google, which has made a rather abrupt overall turn toward robotics research. Though the search giant had nothing to do with actually designing either platform, Schaft’s decisive first place and ATLAS’ strong second-place finish in the first leg of DARPA’s Grand Challenge are now basically Google’s by corporate marriage. That’s a problem for DARPA, since Google has vowed not to pursue any military contracts in the future — and this week, that policy finally came into effect. Google has withdrawn the Schaft robot from DARPA’s competition, robbing the challenge of its strongest competitor.
DARPA and Google have two competing narratives as to why this happened. The story favored by DARPA spokespeople is that Google simply wants to focus on the technology’s consumer applications first and foremost. This does make some sense, since Google definitely got into the robot business to corner the home robot market early, and Schaft’s mastery of domestic challenges like stairs and ladders makes it well-suited to that purpose. DARPA’s statement almost seems to imply that in this case, corporate greed is overriding the fine and noble intentions of the people at DARPA, who of course only want to create life-saving technology in line with their humanitarian mission statement.
On the other hand, Google has been very open about its feelings on military funding: it doesn’t want any. Keeping the Google team working to win the DARPA challenge would have meant receiving indirect funding from the Pentagon and (hopefully) prize money, too. DARPA, of course, hates this analysis, since its whole strategy with the Grand Challenge has been to claim that totally non-violent civilian applications are the one and only aim of this competition. This is supposed to be about building robots that can burst into burning American homes to save American lives; any resemblance these actions may bear to the sorts of military maneuvers that are DARPA’s actual raison d’être are purely coincidental.
This almost insultingly obvious falsehood has been so thoroughly swallowed and regurgitated by the mainstream media that a slew of new international teams are about to be announced as new competitors. Think about that: some of these teams will almost certainly be receiving subsidies or tax-breaks from their own governments to do research that will help American dominance in military future-tech. Whatever you think of their goals or motivations, you have to sit back and admire the sheer audacity it takes to try — let alone pull off — something like that.

ATLAS

Probably the most oft-repeated and annoying mistake made with respect to these robots is that they could be used to help clean up places like Fukushima Daiichi — even though a lack of manual dexterity is in no way what has barred robots from delving deeper into that reactor. Sure, something like Schaft will probably be used to clean up dangerous spots like that in the future (once we have radiation-proof robotics) but the robot in question will come from companies like Toshiba or Google itself — not on loan from the US military.

Toshiba’s stab at a robot that can brave the heart of Fukushima Daiichi.

Bear in mind that existing contracts mean that the ATLAS platform, created by the now Google-owned Boston Dynamics, will still be used by four outside teams in the Challenge finals. Funding freed up by Schaft’s withdrawal should allow several other, smaller teams to come in, but this is still a major blow to the veneer of inoffensiveness that DARPA has created around this project. Schaft was awarded $1 million in extra funding because it won the Challenge’s first round, and now that winner will be absent from the finals.

Google’s Android L delivers enormous battery life increase

Normally, when software developers talk up battery-saving features in their operating systems, the gains are relatively modest. Microsoft spent a great deal of time telling everyone how Windows 8 would introduce a great many new features designed to save power and boost runtime, but follow-up tests demonstrated that the company still lags Apple by a huge amount — even after patching the Surface Pro’s firmware. Google, however, appears to be playing in a different field — the company’s Project Volta, which aims to boost Android battery runtime, is giving incredible results.
According to Ryan Whitwam over at Geek.com, the Project Volta update baked into Android L yields impressive battery life improvements by shifting how tasks are scheduled. Ars Technica recently took the OS for a spin and measured a huge increase at constant display brightness — the Nexus 5 went from 345 minutes to 471 minutes in the exact same battery test. According to Ars, that test involves reloading the same web page over and over until the WiFi battery dies.

FDA approves first ever personal exoskeleton

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The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved a first of its kind robotic device known as the ReWalk. As the name implies, ReWalk has the potential to help millions of people suffering from spinal cord injuries to walk again with a little help from modern technology. This is the first robotic exoskeleton approved for home use in the US, which works by physically moving the wearer’s paralyzed limbs. It’s an incredible example of robotics doing cool things that (presumably) can’t lead to a Skynet-style robot apocalypse.
The ReWalk works by strapping onto the user’s legs and upper body for support. At each hip, knee, and ankle joint is a motor that is controlled by an on-board computer. The articulating sections on the legs are stabilized by the additional straps around the midsection, which are also connected to a backpack that houses the batteries and computer that controls the whole apparatus.

8 Current Technologies That Will Shape Our Future

 Rick Chin is the director of product innovation at SolidWorks, where he develops new products and researches how technology will make us smarter, simplify daily tasks and seamlessly fit into our everyday lives.

In 20 years our technology will reach a level of personalization that will enhance every moment of our lives. We’ll be more physically comfortable with the furniture we sit on and the products we hold; only the most relevant and personalized information from friends and family will reach us; and our movement in the digital world will be near telepathic.
I foresee several of today’s technologies as relevant to this particular vision of the future. They will evolve to not only be more powerful, but also more integrated with one other.

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  1. Smartphones

  Smartphones, like today’s iPhone, are as much a computer as they are a communication device. Besides having a great multi-touch interface and fast CPU, they contain sensors like cameras, gyros, accelerometers, GPS and compasses. They allow us to calculate and communicate anytime, anywhere.
  In the future, they’ll evolve into personal mobile computers (PMC). Assuming that Moore’s law holds true, mobile CPUs with near super-computing speeds will be entirely possible. The number, accuracy and performance of sensors will grow, the combination of which will give the user a very powerful sense of her surroundings.
  Your PMC will move to your wrist and take the place of your watch. (Microsoft had this vision with SPOT, but the technology came too early and was too limited.) The device’s display will not need to be your primary user interface (UI), so the PMC can be a small, diverse fashion statement like today’s watches. The primary UI will become personal peripherals, like information glasses and headsets. You’ll be able to interact naturally in a visual and audible way.
  Your PMC and personal peripherals will become your interface to every other computer, device and machine you interact with. The only UI you will ever need to know is that of your PMC.
  Not only will your personal peripherals allow you to explicitly interact with the digital (and physical) worlds, but they’ll also provide subtle cues to your subconscious. While looking through your information glasses, a restaurant might emit a subtle, warm blue tint because it was reviewed positively by patrons. It will feel like a good place to eat. Are your spidey senses tingling?