Developer creates open source computer vision platform that lets ‘machines see

A Russian developer here has created an open source computer vision platform, in collaboration with Facebook and Google, that acts as a teaching machine and enables them “see”.

VisionLabs, a solutions developer in the field of computer vision, data analysis and robotics, and a Skolkovo IT Cluster resident have developed this as a global open-source computer vision project with the support of Facebook and Google, an official said.

VisionLabs integrated two popular libraries for developers – OpenCV and Torch. The joint project with Facebook and Google was launched last year. “The two IT giants became interested in the in-depth study of neural networks and artificial intelligence and hence extended their support,” the official told IANS.

The most popular tools for developers in this field are the OpenCV Open Source Computer Vision Library and the Torch Open Source Scientific Computing Framework with wide support for Machine Learning Algorithms. Each of them has thousands of users. VisionLabs initiated integrating the two libraries. Google and Facebook funded the work and tested the results.

Balmanohar Paluri, Research Lead, Facebook AI Research, said: “The project opens up the field of computer vision to a greater audience of developers. Our focus is making machines see. To do that, knowledge needs to be open.”

As a result of the work undertaken, a number of technological barriers the developers had faced within the fields of computer vision and neural networks were lifted. From now on, any start-up in this field can launch a project in a matter of days where it could literally take years previously.

Google, Facebook and VisionLabs do not consider this a commercial project – its purpose is developing the community and its aim is long-term prospects.

The idea of integrating the two popular developer “worlds” had been on the cards for some time. The creators of Torch and OpenCV had been discussing it. But, as is often the case, nobody actually set about making the integration happen, the official elaborated.

In the end, it was VisionLabs, one of the top three world leaders in terms of image recognition, that was willing to realise the project and use its own know-how to do so that had previously only been applied inside the team.

Alexander Khanin, General Director, VisionLabs said they “regularly communicate with the world scientific community and attend all the important international conferences.”

“We are already well-known and we are familiar with the research units of Google, Facebook, Twitter and other large-scale IT-companies. When the closed competition to become the project leader was launched, we put ourselves forward and, in the end, we were chosen. Google and Facebook financed our work, but I would like to reiterate that this is absolutely not a commercial project for us – all funds, that were in fact rather modest, were put to use,” he added.

Albert Efimov, Head of the Skolkovo Robotics Centre, said: “Integration of machine learning and computer vision in a unified development kit is an important step towards stimulating the creation of the new technologies and products in such strategic industries as robotics and artificial intelligence.”

A report on the integration of Torch and OpenCV with examples of the developed recognition software and fragments of source code was published recently in the torch.ch community that reaches 10,000-15,000 people a day.

iOS 9.3.3 jailbreak tool expected to be made public on 10 June

Apple’s WWDC event is just a week away and expectations are high for the company’s iOS 10 software. So far, rumours claim an expected redesign with more colors and even a new notifications system as well. Still then, the iOS jailbreaking community is far behind. The last official jailbreak that was made public is only available for iOS 9.0-9.1. While we did recently hear about a community member jailbreaking an iPod with iOS 9.3.3 beta on board, there is now a new update from team GSMagic who will be making their jailbreak tools public, just before WWDC on 10 June.

The team has put out a tweet claiming that they will make their jailbreak public (unlike the others) on 10 June at midnight. The jailbreak is expected to work on iOS 9.3.3.

While it may seem like a wasted effort with iOS 10 about to launched, Apple WWDC at first will only roll out the Developer beta of iOS 10 followed by the Public beta a month later. The final version is expected to arrive in September at the launch of the next iPhone. So there is plenty of time.

GSMagic is a new entry on the jailbreaking scene and so far things are not going too well with established jailbreakers (who have so far refused to share the new tools) taking jabs at the new guys.

Cloud storage vs local storage: Is the Nextbit Robin better than its Android counterparts?

Today, Swipe Technologies launched its new smartphone called the Elite Plus and it packs in some budget to mid-range specifications at an attractive price tag. But an additional feature did grab our attention, and that is the 100GB of cloud storage via its SwipeBox app. So can a cheaper Rs 6,999 smartphone take on the mighty cloud-storage-powered Nextbit Robin? Let’s find out.

First, let us have a look at the specifications. On the Robin, users get a 5.2-inch FHD display compared to the 5-inch FHD unit on the Elite Plus. Next up there’s the all-important processor. We get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 hexa-core chipset with 3GB RAM, while the Elite Plus gets a tried and tested Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core chipset with 2GB RAM. Indeed, the Robin gets an edge out here. Then there’s the storage.

The Robin gets 32GB of internal storage with no expandable memory option, but 100GB of cloud connected storage (for life). The Swipe Elite Plus comes with 16GB of internal storage that is expandable to 64GB via a microSD card and packs in 100GB of cloud storage space via its SwipeBox app. For a minute there, one may think that Swipe just one the battle, but more on this later.

We have a similar camera setup on both devices (at least on paper). The Robin packs in a 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front-facing unit, while the Elite Plus packs in a 13MP camera and an 8MP front facing unit. You get single SIM setup on the Robin versus the Dual SIM LTE support on the Elite. And then there’s the battery where the Nextbit loses again, with Elite Plus sporting a larger 3050mAh unit.

We recently reviewed the Nextbit Robin. It was a great smartphone that features a fresh design and a fresh new concept of an always connected cloud storage. The cloud storage unlike the Google apps in your Android smartphone, will back up not just your photos and videos to free up space, but apps as well. Unused apps will automatically backup to the Robin’s 100GB of allotted cloud storage and will be downloaded (within minutes) when you want to use them.

The process has not been perfected yet, and the feature may not be feasible in India since data is expensive and networks aren’t exactly fast, so apps do take some time to appear on to your smartphone. Additionally, at no point in time do you have any clue as to what all has been backed up to your cloud storage. This may prove to be tricky if you want to reset the data on your smartphone as all the data on your cloud account may just disappear with no way to access the same through a web app. You can contact Nextbit if you lose your smartphone, but it is a lengthy process and there’s little that you do to get data back. Moreover, data is not duplicated like you can with Google Photos app, so the photo is either on your smartphone or on the cloud.

Coming to the Swipe Elite Plus, you get specifications similar to the older Motorola Moto Turbo and X Play models. You will get to decide what to back up to your smartphone and you do get an additional 32GB (thanks to the MicroSD card slot) that you can locally back up and switch, if you heading into zone with limited connectivity. In fact with the remainder of your cash savings (Rs 13,000) you could get plenty of microSD cards, pen drives and a 2TB hard drive to hook up to your Elite via USB OTG (obviously it’s not available in your on the Robin). You could buy another Swipe Elite Plus if you wanted to. And this applies not just to Swipe, but any other budget Android smartphone out there that sells in a similar price range (Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, LeEco Le 1s Eco, Motorola Moto G4 etc.).

While many may love the Robin, in India (its stock sold out even before its first sale), it makes little sense thanks to expensive cellular data, network performance and of course limited local storage. The Robin’s cloud connected storage offers little benefits compared to locally stored data and all of that app, photo and video juggling to save storage space will leave you stranded when you need to access something quickly. In this unusual showdown of a cloud-connected smartphone versus a standard Android smartphone that can access the cloud, the Elite is the clear winner, with Robin getting plus points for design and its powerful processor.

Google may scoop up cloud companies Namely, Shopify and a host of apps: Report

As Google readies itself for the next frontier to take over the enterprise, it can’t help but prepare its arsenal in the cloud and app domain. According to reports, the search giant is looking to buy its way into the enterprise with a list of possible acquisitions in the pipeline.

Re/code has reported that Google might scoop up a large number of startups which include Metavine — an automated app services startup; Shopify which is a Canadian e-commerce public company and Namely — a payroll and health benefits services provider startup. The list might also include CallidusCloud and Xactly, adds the report.

However, sources revealed in the report that the approaches are still in its preliminary stages and there have been no formalities done yet. The news site also shared that most of the companies including Google, Shopify, Namely and Metavine declined to comment on the matter while Xactly and Callidus did not return their requests for comment.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai’s inclination towards cloud is no surprise. Late last year, Google hired VMware co-founder and industry veteran Diane Greene to run its cloud business. Along with the hire, Google had bought Greene’s startup bebop Technologies Inc, a development platform that helps build and maintain enterprise applications.

Pichai has made selling cloud storage space to enterprises a growing priority for the company to take on rivals Amazon.com and Microsoft. “Every business in the world is going to run on cloud eventually,” he had said in October last year. Amazon’s cloud business is now its fastest-growing business, while Microsoft is banking on cloud computing to make up for slowing sales of personal computers.

Greene, a Google director for three years, was roped in to lead a new role combining the company’s cloud business including Google for Work, Cloud Platform and Google Apps.

CarDekho parent company Girnar Software has funding from Google Capital

Girnar Software, the parent company to Indian auto portals CarDekho.com, Gaadi.com and Zigwheels.com, recently received an investment from Google Capital with participation from existing investor Hillhouse Capital.

A major part of the new funding will be used to further bolster technology, R&D and expansion within and outside of India. Having launched its services beyond Indian borders with the launch of CarBay.com in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia, Girnar Software will be looking to consolidate its presence in India as well as other emerging economies in Asia and the Middle East.

Speaking on the investment, Amit Jain, co-founder and CEO, Girnar Software, commented, “Google Capital is one of most respected growth equity investors in the world, and brings to us the resources and expertise from the one of the most valuable technology companies on the planet. Having them on our shareholder roster encourages us to keep raising the standard of our tech offerings as we create the premier automotive digital destination for the emerging markets.”

Explaining their decision to invest, David Lawee, Partner, Google Capital, said, “We’re very excited to be investing in Girnar Software, the parent company of India’s leading auto portal, CarDekho.com. The team is led by savvy entrepreneurs with a strong product orientation, who have positioned the company perfectly in a rapidly growing market. We hope that through our investment and ongoing support, we’ll help them cement their position in India, as the destination for all car related information and transactions, and grow into new markets regionally and globally.”

The latest investment for Girnar Software follows a $50 million funding round led by Hillhouse Capital, with participation from Sequoia Capital and Tybourne Capital. HDFC Bank, and Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, have also invested in the company.

The Rainmaker Group (TRMG) acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Girnar Software for this transaction.

Intel mastermind Andy Grove dead at 79

Andy Grove, the Silicon Valley elder statesman who made Intel into the world’s top chipmaker and helped usher in the personal computer age, died on Tuesday at age 79, Intel said.

The company did not describe the circumstances of his death but Grove, who endured the Nazi occupation of Hungary during World War Two, living under a fake name, and came to the United States to escape the chaos of Soviet rule, had suffered from Parkinson’s.

Grove was Intel’s first hire after it was founded in 1968 and became the practical-minded member of a triumvirate that eventually led “Intel Inside” processors to be used in more than 80 percent of the world’s personal computers.

With his motto “only the paranoid survive,” which became the title of his best-selling management book, Grove championed an innovative environment within Intel that became a blueprint for successful California startups.

Grove, who was named man of the year by Time magazine in 1997, encouraged disagreement and insisted employees be vigilant of disruptions in industry and technology that could be major dangers – or opportunities – for Intel. In doing so, he could be mercurial and demanding with employees who he thought were not doing enough and in 1981 required the staff to work two extra hours a day with no extra pay.

Grove’s overhaul of Intel’s business – switching from digital memory to processors – was an early example of his obsession with detecting major shifts in business and technology and staying flexible enough to move quickly and make the most of them.

“It’s not that you shouldn’t plan but you should not regard your plans to be anything more than a baseline model of what might happen,” Grove said.

While Intel founders Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore proposed much of the chip technology that helped created the semiconductor industry, Grove was the stickler for detail who turned their ideas into actual products. He was responsible for driving growth in Intel’s profits and stock price through the 1980s and 1990s.

NAZIS, COMMUNISTS

Grove, who was Jewish, was born Andras Grof in Budapest in 1936. Nazi Germany occupied Hungary in his youth, and after the Soviets followed, Grove sneaked into Austria in 1956 and then emigrated to the United States, where he learned English and earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley.

Grove went to work in 1963 at Fairchild Semiconductor, where he researched technology that would eventually be used to make microchips. At Fairchild, he also met chip visionaries Noyce and Moore, who left to found Intel in 1968. Grove quickly joined them, running research and manufacturing.

He became Intel’s president in 1979, CEO in 1987 and chairman and CEO in 1997. He gave up his CEO title in 1998 and stayed on as chairman until 2004.

In its early years, Intel focused on making DRAM memory chips. When Japanese competition soared, Grove made the fateful decision to reinvent Intel as a manufacturer of microprocessors – the brains at the center of personal computers and other electronic devices.

As the personal computer industry took off in the 1980s, Intel supplied its processors to IBM and then to Compaq and other manufacturers making “IBM clone” PCs.

Intel’s chips, along with Microsoft’s Windows operating system, quickly became an industry standard in the exploding PC industry, with Grove funneling profits into research and development to create faster and faster processors. Under his stewardship, the Pentium brand and “Intel Inside” logo became widely recognized by consumers.

Intel remains one of the world’s leading semiconductor companies but the PC chipmaker is wrestling to adapt to trends toward smaller gadgets like smartphones and tablets.

Grove also was a champion of keeping manufacturing within the United States, arguing outsourcing the manufacturing of electronics products – like batteries or televisions – meant U.S. companies missed out on gaining experience necessary to make technology breakthroughs.

Intel still makes most of its chips in U.S. plants.

During his time at Intel in the 1990s Grove was treated for prostate cancer and later wrote an influential cover story in Fortune magazine, criticizing the medical establishment’s treatment of the disease as inefficient compared to scientific standards applied in semiconductor research.

In later life, Grove donated tens of millions of dollars for research on Parkinson’s disease, a condition he suffered from. He also regularly criticized government and medical researchers for making slow and inefficient progress beating that disease compared to accomplishments made in the chip industry.

Grove and his wife, Eva, who married a year after meeting while working at a resort in New Hampshire in 1957, had two daughters.

Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad Pro is the ultimate PC replacement? Hah

Last night during Apple’s event, Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of World at the technology giant announced that the 9.7-inch is the “ultimate PC Replacement“. Well, to that I’d say, “Rubbish!” Citing the “600 million” PC users still stuck on five year old PCs, Schiller said, “That’s sad.”

I’ve got a five year old PC and it’s running perfectly fine! So, thank you very much. 2011 was the year Intel launched its stellar Sandy Bridge platform and it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say that there’s been nothing like it since. There’s no way I’d exchange my Intel i5 for an iPad.

But what’s up with Apple? Why the sudden push towards a Pro platform and this talk of the iPad, of all things, as a PC replacement?

Tablet sales have been dwindling these last few years and I think that decline can be attributed to the fact that tablets are no longer the media consumption device of choice. When we’re already doing all we want on the phone, why would we need a tablet?

In its heydays, tablet computers offered a browsing experience that was unfettered by the shackles of the mobile web. Five years ago, developers were still learning how to deal with the mobile browsing experience and concepts such as responsive design were still relatively new. Many websites today still struggle in that department, but they’re a vanishing minority. At the time, cheap laptops were underpowered and bulky, phones too slow and screens too small.

Any kind of media was just better on a tablet, except maybe music, and I remember getting myself my first iPad (the third generation one) just for media consumption. Back then, I was overjoyed with the device. The gorgeous, 9.7-inch retina display (still unmatched by most displays), the pleasure of browsing the “desktop” web on the go and the ability to watch videos without squinting was exactly what I wanted.

Today’s web is very mobile friendly and there’s literally an app for everything. A screen size of 5-inches and above is more than enough for video and phones aren’t really lacking in the power department either. Editing photos or 4K video is as easy on a phone as on a tablet.

It wasn’t long before my iPad started gathering dust and I sold it soon after. A brief stint with an Nvidia Shield and Surface Pro also didn’t do much to convince me of the need for a tablet. If anything, the Surface Pro not only showcased just how good a Windows laptop could be, but also how bad a Windows 10 tablet experience can be.

This is just me of course, but as a person that detests laptops for their fiddlesome touchpad and bulk, I’d love a tablet type device that could replace it. Sadly, there’s nothing in the market to fill that void just yet. The iPad Pro is powerful for what it is, but it can’t beat something like, say, the Surface Pro in terms of sheer power or Windows for flexibility. Android? I just wish it would make up it’s mind with regards to tablets (but maybe Android N  will fix that).

The 9.7-inch iPad Pro is not cheap (Rs 49,900), has “good” speakers, requires a Rs 10,000 keyboard, has a “task-switcher” and can display two windows side-by-side. Oh, and it runs Microsoft Office.

Rs 60,000 will get you a MacBook Pro with a 13-inch screen, an i5 CPU, 500GB HDD and all the power of OS X and you can open as many windows as you’d like. That same Rs 60,000 will get you any number of similarly specced Windows devices. Both of these run Microsoft Office and any number of other, feature-rich and more importantly, productive applications.

In what context is the iPad Pro (12.9-inch or 9.7-inch model) a viable PC replacement?

How WhatsApp, Facebook, Gmail drain data when you’re not even using them

A new app-usage finding, conducted through millions of Opera Max users, shows that on average over 30 percent of all data is used by apps running in the background. Facebook Messenger and Gmail are the most data-hungry apps this way, with some 73 percent of their total data usage happening in the background.

Google Drive and WhatsApp showed more than 50 percent background data usage. Google Hangouts uses 39% background data.

Why is background data usage a problem? Background data is all the internet traffic that goes on when you’re not actually using an app: email syncing, pre-fetching ads, news articles or feeds – even though you may never read them.

“Most apps are made to give a great user experience, not to save data. If you fetch background data through your data plan, it’s like throwing away $1 out of every $3 you spend on your mobile data plan,” says Sergey Lossev, Product Manager at Opera Software.

“Most people are not aware of this background data drain and may not have authorized it, nor do they know how to stop it from happening,” adds Lossev.

Samsung Galaxy S7: The next flagship from Samsung to launch tonight

It’s that time of the year when the news from the world of mobility increases in frequency. Not only is it the run up to Mobile World Congress, the mainstream event for mobile devices and mobility technologies, it also happens to be the time South Korean giant Samsung decides to launch the next iteration of the Galaxy series – Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge.

There have been a series of leaks over the past few months. From what we do know about that, the Samsung Galaxy S7 is supposed to have a 5.1 inch display. In contrast, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is expected to have 5.5 inch display. The two devices are expected to have a QHD array offering 2560 x 1440 pixels. In addition, there were also rumours of a Galaxy S7 Edge+, but there are no details available as yet.

Recent leaks also suggest that the two flagship devices are expected to be powered by an Exynos 8890 processor. Some reports also hinted at a Snapdragon version with the 820 chipset. But we’d know for sure early 22 February.

As far as leaks go, as ever, Evleaks posted an image with the Galaxy S7.

In terms of the camera, the device is expected to have a 12 or 13MP rear snapper. However, considering that most recent flagships tend to go higher, this could be improved.

According to a recent promotional ad campaign that was run by Samsung, the device is expected to be waterproof, and would support wireless charging as well.

Samsung is livestreaming the Unpacked event from Barcelona where it is expected to launch the devices at 1800 hrs local time. This translates to 2330hrs Indian Standard Time.

Facebook rolls out Live Video functionality globally

Facebook is making good on its promise to roll out its Periscope-like Live Video feature to user around the world. As noted by Engadget, the social networking firm has now confirmed it’s begun rolling out the feature globally. The company started testing Live Video with a small percentage of U.S. celebrities, verified profiles and other users last December.

“Facebook expects its iOS rollout to take a couple of weeks but remains quiet on when Live Video will come to Android,” said Engadget.

To check if your account has become eligible for this feature, select Update Status at the top of your News Feed and tap the new Live Video icon, if present.

Users can also discover Live Videos from their friends and public figures in their News Feed. While watching a Live Video, you can tap the Subscribe button to get notified the next time the broadcaster goes live.

Upon starting a live-video session, the users can see related stats such as the number of live viewers, the names of friends who are tuning in and a real-time stream of comments. When you end your broadcast, it will be saved on your Timeline like any other video, which you can then delete or keep for your friends to watch later.

Now’s your time to shine.

Liven up your tweets and direct messages on Twitter with animated GIFs

The next time you tweet out an update or message someone on Twitter, try adding a little flair to your tweets or direct messages in the form of animated GIFs.

Earlier in the week, the micro-blogging startup announced it’s integrating a dedicated GIF search button in its mobile apps and on twitter.com to help you add that viral kitten GIF to your posts without leaving the compose window.

Twitter’s partnered with Giphy and Riffsy to help you find the right GIF animation to express your mood. You can search GIFs by keyword, or browse categories of different reactions like Happy Dance, Mic Drop, YOLO and more.

The new GIF button is located between the photo and polls options, or to the right of the photo button in direct messages, in the mobile Twitter app. It’s also available on the web at twitter.com. As I said, you can search for GIFs by entering various keywords in the search box, or you can look through the auto-displayed categories to choose a GIF.

The GIFs are coming! Get ready to search and send GIFs in Tweets and Direct Messages: https://t.co/uk75stt1zN pic.twitter.com/1dDD1B4CW2

— Twitter (@twitter) February 17, 2016

Animated GIFs cannot be included in tweets with multiple images as the service allows only one GIF animation per tweet. Anyone with the link to a GIF shared in a direct message will be able to view the content.

Animated GIFs can be up to 5MB in size. Tags cannot be applied to animated GIFs. For those wondering, Twitter supports looping GIFs. “If your animated GIF doesn’t loop and plays a single time, it will display as a static image,” cautions the company.

Searching for a GIF may not be available if your device is experiencing poor cellular connectivity. “If you find you cannot search for a GIF through the media library, you can still upload a GIF that is saved to your phone’s photo library,” according to Twitter.

This is a staggered release so not all users will see this option at once. For its part, Twitter says that GIF search will roll out “over the coming weeks to everyone around the world” on iOS, Android and on twitter.com.