In The Life's Retina

Revolution vs Production

Almost overnight, our technology revolution is shaking up entire industries and remaking society. Don’t get caught up in the small stuff, though: Tech really is changing how we think about our ideas.

We’ve used ideas to sculpt the globe since the Industrial Revolution, thanks largely to the way we handle intellectual property. When machines, and machines to make identical machines, mass-produced reliably identical goods, it was because people understood the same set of instructions.

Mass-produced books, music and movies were possible, too. Like machine-making instructions, these items were made reliable and protected with laws of copyright, patent and trademark.

Now, according to people involved in the business of protecting ideas, all of that is set to change. Software, lashing together thousands of computer servers into fast and flexible cloud-computing systems, is the reason. Clouds, wirelessly connected to more software in just about everything, make it possible to shift, remix and borrow from once separate industrial categories.

 

“Products are taking on a lot more functionality, like cars that have touch screens, streaming video, and WiFi and LiFi antennas,” said Russell E. Levine, a Chicago-based partner at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis who specializes in patent infringement and licensing. “Car makers are used to thinking about the I.P. around brakes and exhaust systems. Now they need to think about who owns what technology in all kinds of products.”

Mr. Levine works with a lot of smartphone companies. In that business, it’s not just that an app-rich, cloud-connected phone may be at one moment a chessboard, then an Internet browser. Smartphones are an example of connected products that are intended to sell by the hundred million, standardized across a hundred countries. The cross-licensing of ideas across that many borders is almost as complicated as the global cloud itself.

“These are things we never thought about, as industries get connected to each other,” said Pamela, president of the Licensing Executives Society, an intellectual property trade group. “There is a huge amount of complexity in software-driven converged devices, with I.P. at the center of the development. You add in wireless and globalization, that just adds more complexity.”

So far, this sounds like full employment for the lawyers, and an intensification of business as usual. Looking at the long-term direction of tech, however, it could spell the opposite.

There are over one million servers in each of the big clouds of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, executives at those companies say. For new entrants, one limit is that capital spending costs more than $1 billion a year. Another is engineering know-how; how the future works will be in just a couple of thousand heads, at most.

Everything, be it software and networking or power, is different when so many computers are spread across the globe. The pace of innovation is so quick, and the number of players so small, that in some cases, the players elect not to patent inventions, wary of what they’d disclose about themselves in the application. 

A number of other big players are still trying to come at the proprietary hold of these giants, and to do it, they’re using open-source software, a license-free method of creating a product, fast, by distributing the work as widely as possible.

“Open source isn’t just a way to give back to the community. It’s a way to blow up the other guy,” said Bill Hilf, who oversees Hewlett-Packard’s work on OpenStack, a kind of open-source, cloud-computing software. 

Hoping to build a product better than Amazon’s cloud, HP has over 400 paid engineers working full time to help a community of thousands create this free software. It has also donated enormous amounts of valuable software, like networking and automation tools. It even indemnifies its OpenStack customers against patent lawsuits.

“That gives our lawyers ulcers,” Mr. Hilf said. “They have to protect a product that is being changed all the time by people who don’t work for HP.” Still, the corporate donations to cloud-based open source seem unstoppable. Mr. Hilf noted that Linux, an open-source operating system “took 15.8 years to get 180 companies contributing. OpenStack took 1.6 years to get 160 companies. It’s insane.”

 

Last month, Facebook, Google, Walmart’s online operation and others announced a consortium with a goal of enabling new versions of software to be released multiple times a day. They used to come out every few years.

Hoping to move even faster against his competitors, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, three years ago took the unusual strategy of open-sourcing not software, but computer hardware. In June, this produced a networking switch, or a gear that helps direct data traffic over large computer networks. Hardware and software of all kinds may further change with 3-D printing. Designs there can be widely shared and modify in a computer, to an extent that originals are hard to recognize.

2.
Historical perception of Apple products has always been that there is an inherent cost differential between them and their competitors, coined by Tony Bradley at Forbes in a recent article as the “Apple Tax.” 

Both that article and other independent cost comparisons, however, fail to justify that perception. For comparable products of similar quality and functionality, the numbers make it clear that this alleged up charge is all in the minds of those consumers with a conditioned expectation of an elevated price point. Those trend setters willing to pay the price to have the cutting edge of technology in order to maintain their status have been getting a bargain in actuality.

A comparison of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus against the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, similar devices and progressions, found that they also had similar pricing. The features and quality were comparable, and all fell in the $800-$925 price range. There is no evidence of an “Apple Tax” simply for the prestige and perception of the name.

Laptops vary widely in features, construction materials, and capabilities, and it is easy to find PC products which are functional that retail for a significantly lower price than the Apple offerings. Evaluation of those differences tend, however, to justify the price gap according to Bradley. Another comparison recently published found that when not bargain hunting, and comparing a nearly identically equipped MacBook Pro with a Dell XPS M1730, the Apple computer was matched point for point with the PC and even had a slight advantage in terms of gaming functionality for the exact same price. 

Neither the up charge nor the superior technology was anything more than a product of customer expectations. A similar comparison of a MacBook Air to the Envy 133 from VoodooPC actually showed the Apple to be a less expensive machine, even with an upgrade to match functionality, than the PC. For nearly identical packages, the idea of paying more for the Mac name was nothing more than a false impression.

With respect to the watch products compatible with smart phones, the comparisons are more difficult to make. There is a significant price difference in the Apple Watch line and the Samsung Gear products. The Samsung watches are around 150 dollars less expensive, but provide far fewer features. The only area where they are ahead of Apple is with respect to durability. 

The Samsung has a better rating for water and dust resistance. It also has the advantage of being immediately available where the Apple will not be available until early 2015. Given the differences in features, the price difference does not really appear to be an inflated “tax” as much as representing an actually superior product.

The prevailing thought is that the lack of third-party devices which are compatible, in particular devices constructed to a lower standard offered at a lower price point as is the case with PC products, gives an impression of exclusivity and quality which accounts for the perception of an “Apple Tax” on their devices. Upon closer inspection, however, it just is not there.

Despite the fact that it may seem a little premature to talk about the next iPhone, since the iPhone 6 just hit the shelves, there are many speculations about the iPhone 7 already.

The first big question is the name of the next iPhone. Apple has traditional naming conventions and if it sticks to it, then it is quite possible that the 2015 iPhone will be called iPhone 6S and not iPhone 7. However, some rumors suggested that Apple is considering to drop the ‘S’ naming convention, because it is starting to be perceived negatively and it makes it look like it is not a completely new device, but more of a stepping stone to the next iPhone.

Some reports are suggesting that the upcoming device will weigh 129 grams, just as much as the iPhone 6, but it will look more like a phablet than a regular smartphone. However, since Apple usually keeps the same design for two generations of the iPhone, the new, lighter, rounder and slimmer design of the iPhone 6 is expected to be carried over to the iPhone 7 too.

It is expected that the iPhone 7 will have a screen size of at least 4.7 inches, as that is the size of the iPhone 6. It is highly unlikely that the tech giant will go back on its decision to make a bigger iPhone, so it will most probably stick to 4.7 inch.

More interesting is the fact that the rumored iPhone 7 could come with gesture controls, which have already been exhibited in Samsung’s Galaxy S5. This feature allows an individual to use his device without the need to actually touch it.

Furthermore, because of the concerns about the iPhone’s battery life, it is also speculated that Apple will use solar power and that the phone will be charging all throughout the day with the solar cells on the display of the iPhone 7. That means that walking under the sun will help increasing its battery life.

Due to the recent reports about the bending problems of the iPhone 6, Apple is rumored to be using sapphire glass in order to make a handset, which will be intentionally flexible. Besides that, several reports are suggesting that the Apple is making a body, which takes on the form of phones such as the LG G Flex.

Since there is an expanding range of smartphones, which are water-resistant, like Xperia phones from Sony and the Galaxy S5 from Samsung, Apple is being expected to come up with a waterproof device, with which the entire phone, including the main circuit boards, will be protected from water.

One of the highly unlikely rumors is that the iPhone 7 will be allowing users to have holographic projections. Such a high leap in technology would most certainly excite the world of mobile users, however, Apple is not the company which would take on such kind of technology and integrate it into their mobile phones.

There have also been several rumors regarding the release date of iPhone 7. If Apple sticks to its traditions, people can expect the new iPhone to arrive in September 2015. However it is also possible that the tech giant will decide to start releasing new iPhones two times a year, in order to help it keep up with the improving and growing competition.

3.
Samsung is touting the idea of transferring movies between devices in seconds and the streaming of high-definition video as a reality that could be with us in 2015, as the Korean conglomerate has branded the 60GHz 802.11ad Wi-Fi standard as one that is now "commercially viable".

The company said that 802.11ad will allow for transmission speeds of up to 4.6Gbps, and with the elimination of co-channel interference, peak data speeds will be closer to the theoretical maximum. "Actual speed that is more than 10 times faster than that of 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi and LiFi technologies," Samsung said in its announcement over the weekend.

Operating with waves of a much higher frequency than other Wi-Fi standards has meant that data transmission is typically done through line of sight, with walls often severely diminishing the signal, but Samsung said that a combination of millimeter-wave circuit design, wide-coverage beam-forming antenna, and the world's first micro beam-forming control technology has unlocked the Wi-Fi standard. 

"Samsung has successfully overcome the barriers to the commercialisation of 60GHz millimeter-wave band Wi-Fi technology, and looks forward to commercialising this breakthrough technology," said Kim Chang Yong, head of the DMC R&D centre of Samsung Electronics.

"New and innovative changes await Samsung's next-generation devices, while new possibilities have been opened up for the future development of WiFi and LiFi technology." As Samsung pushes ahead with WiFi technology, it was revealed earlier this month that the Korean giant is paying in patent royalties to Microsoft for the use the Android. Microsoft and Samsung are currently in court to decide whether Microsoft's purchase of Nokia voided the patent agreement between the companies, as the Korean giant is claiming.

4.
Nepal army rescuers in helicopters spotted eight more bodies of trekkers along a mountain trail that was buried in avalanches and blizzards, raising the death toll to 20, while five more climbers were missing on another mountain, officials said Thursday. 

Improving weather conditions allowed rescue workers to recover the bodies of four trekkers two Poles, an Israeli and a Nepali -- from the Thorong La pass area on the Annapurna Circuit trekking trail on Wednesday, a day after they were caught in a blizzard.

In neighboring Manang district, an avalanche on Wednesday killed an Indian and four Canadian trekkers in Phu village, said government official Devendra Lamichane. Digging out the bodies would take days, he said.

The other dead included three villagers in the same district, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of the capital, Katmandu, whose bodies were recovered Wednesday.

Separately, five trekkers were missing after an avalanche hit Mount Dhaulagiri as climbers at the base camp were preparing to scale the 8,167-meter (26,800-foot) -high peak, the world's seventh tallest. 

Two of the missing climbers are from Slovakia and three are Nepalese guides, said Gyanedra Shrestha of Nepal's mountaineering department.

Police chief Govind Pathak said attempts were being made to recover the additional eight bodies from the Annapurna mountain range's Mustangdistrict. The death toll was likely to increase as officials reach other parts of the trail where the trekkers were caught by the deadly blizzard. At least 14 foreign trekkers have been rescued so far, including two from Hong Kong and 12 Israelis who were being treated at the Military Hospital in Katmandu.

Baburam Bhandari, the chief government administrator in the area, said dozens of people were still stranded on the route and were out of contact because of poor communication.

There are no roads there and the only way up is to trek in the snow-covered grounds to nearby villages.

Weather forecasters said the blizzard was caused by a cyclone that hit neighboring India several days ago. October is the most popular trekking season in Nepal, with thousands of foreigners hiking in the Himalayan mountains.

An avalanche in April just above the base camp on Mount Everest killed 16 Nepalese guides, the deadliest single disaster on the mountain. Climate experts say rising global temperatures have contributed to avalanches in the Himalayas.

KATHMANDU: A snowstorm in the Himalayan region of central Nepal has killed three foreign trekkers and a Nepali, while more than 100 other people remain out of contact, officials said on Wednesday (Oct 15).

In a separate incident, rescuers are searching for a 67-year-old French man who fell into a river on Tuesday while following the Manaslu trekking route, police said.

A total of 168 tourists had registered to trek in remote Mustang district near the highly popular Annapurna circuit this week, before the snowstorm hit on Tuesday, police official Ganesh Rai told AFP. "There has been heavy snowfall in the area, up to three feet (91 centimetres)," said Rai, who is in charge of the rescue effort. "Among the dead are two Polish trekkers and one Israeli. A Nepali was also buried by the snow," he said, without giving further details. 

Authorities rescued 13 trekkers stranded in the storm after the weather cleared on Wednesday, but the remaining 152 foreign tourists remain out of contact. "The phone network is not very good so we have not been able to get in touch with the missing, but we hope to find them later today," Mustang district official Baburam Bhandari said.

Thousands of trekkers visit the Annapurna region every October, when weather conditions are usually favourable for hiking trips. However, Mustang has seen unusually heavy snowfall this week as a result of Cyclone Hudhud, which struck neighbouring India's eastern coast at the weekend, killing 22 people and causing widespread devastation there.

The cyclone also sparked heavy downpours in other parts of central and western Nepal, including hilly Gorkha district, where the French trekker slipped and fell into the Budhi Gandaki river. "The accident happened around 9am on Tuesday ... we think it was because the track was slippery due to recent heavy rains. Rescue operations are ongoing," Gorkha police chief Ramesh Thapa told AFP.

The hiker was part of a team of 10 tourists heading up the scenic Manaslu route, named after Mount Manaslu, the world's eighth highest peak, and developed as an alternative to the crowded Annapurna circuit. The incidents come after the deadliest avalanche to hit Mount Everest left 16 people dead in April and forced an unprecedented shutdown of the world's highest peak.

The avalanche that tore through a group of sherpas - who were hauling gear up the mountain for their foreign clients before dawn - saw scores of expeditions cancelled. The effective closure of the mountain for the season dealt a huge blow to the poor country which is highly reliant on tourism revenues from climbing and trekking.

Blizzard Hopes faded on Sunday for survivors of one of Nepal's worst mountain disasters as villagers joined an intensive search by troops and government officials for as many as 40 people missing after an unseasonal blizzard killed 39.

More than 500 people have been rescued from a route popular with foreign adventure tourists that circles Annapurna, the world's tenth-tallest peak. The survivors included 230 foreigners.

Rescuers turned to villagers familiar with the rugged, snow-clad terrain to help look for stranded trekkers. The snow and avalanches were triggered by the tail end of a cyclone, which hit neighboring India last weekend.... continue to

"We are not clear where the missing people are and whether they are safe or not safe," Yadav Koirala, the chief of Nepal's disaster management authority, told Reuters in Kathmandu, the capital.

"We can only hope and pray that they are not dead.” Since Wednesday, rescue teams have recovered 30 bodies and identified nine more from the air. "The snow is very thick and the rescue teams are finding it difficult to pull the nine bodies out," said K.P. Sharma, an administrator in Dolpa, a district of glaciers and ravines.

Army helicopters searched for survivors on parts of the trail at an altitude of more than 5,000 meters (16,400 feet). Soldiers fanned out through some of the most treacherous terrain, where helicopters cannot land.

The dead include Canadian, Indian, Israeli, Japanese, Nepalese, Polish and Slovak trekkers. Survivors said many victims perished trying to descend from the trail's highest pass in freezing, whiteout conditions.

The incident was Nepal's second major mountain disaster this year. Sixteen guides died in an avalanche in April on Mount Everest, the world's highest peak.

This week's disaster was the worst since 42 people died in avalanches in the Mount Everest region in 1995, army officials said.

Eight of the world's 14 highest mountains are in Nepal. Income from tourism, including permit fees for trekkers, who made up more than 12 percent of its 800,000 tourists in 2013, accounts for 4 percent of its economy.