For Virtualization,Cloud Computing,Mobile Knowledge share, If you want? Go get it!! http://www.upaper.net/flychoi
2010년 5월 10일 월요일
Control an army of slugs...? You can do that!
Slug Wars from Republic of Fun is a goofy strategy/tower defense game that is addictive and fun. [Click here if you got here from newsletter, and looking for Cat in the Hat]. The premise is pretty simple: Spawn slug forces to take the opposing side of the battlefield, while stopping the enemy from doing the same. There are 3 slug battle lanes, and various slug fighter types (infantry slug, tank slug, kamikaze, etc.). Each has it’s own special fighting ability, and an utterly mindless need to advance and tear opposing slugs to ribbons. Slug Wars, recently named a “Hot New Game” in the iTunes store, is available for only 99 cents (iTunes link above). The game has it’s moments…mostly the sometimes laughable battle cry of the different slug types as you send them into the fray.
As soon as the fight begins, you have your hands full keeping new slugs marching into battle, as the enemy will quickly mobilize and overwelm you. The first slug teams you fight with are typical armor and infantry units, but as you advance to new levels, newer slug weapons types will be added. Tank slugs cost more and are slower, but shoot down other slugs at a distance, whereas infantry are faster. The infantry slugs are more vulnerable though, as they have to get to close quarters in order to rip into the enemy. I found staggering an armor unit behind an infantry unit seemed a good strategy. Flowers appear on the battlefield, and getting to them gives your team extra points (to put more slugs in the field).
The game starts up with a tutorial featuring a commander slug yelling at you like in basic training, which is pretty funny. The graphics are decently rendered, but nothing fancy and sound effects are pretty good as well. The game is refreshingly simple overall and not badly done. Only a mere 15.7MB in size, it’s both a fast download and install. I added it to my 2nd Gen iPod touch running 3.1.3 firmware and had no issues. Remember to always reset your unit after adding new software.
Slug Wars features 3 play modes: Campaign (advance through levels against computer-controlled enemies); Skirmish (single battle against computer); and “Slug-It-Out”, which offers head-to-head action against another player. I can’t tell from the game options if this includes any Bluetooth integration, but if not, that should be on a list of feature updates for future versions. The only option I could find was to turn on/off sounds. A few other suggestions came to mind while playing. The spy slug, being the only character which can attack across adjacent battle lanes, would be even cooler if he had an option to switch lanes as well. I wish more units had this ability, and would make strategy aspects a bit more interesting--or maybe just add an expanded ability to attack/shoot across lanes for more unit types (i.e. game logic that stated a slug should attack straight ahead first, and then right/left when waiting in line, etc.). I would also like to have more slug unit integration or grouping capability. In higher levels, the field could be expanded in size, and instead of deploying single slugs, you could create and deploy slug fire teams instead. Anyway, enough armchair quarterbacking. I recommend Slug Wars for anyone who wants a quirky addition to their tower defense collection, and especially to anyone with kids who enjoy cartoons and a good virtual slugfest (never met a kid who didn’t)! Get it in the App store at the link below.
http://www.iphonelife.com/blog/97/control-army-slugs-you-can-do
Is HP Launching a Tablet With Palm's webOS?
The new tablet, to be possibly introduced in Q3, is code-named Hurricane and will run on Palm's mobile operating system. HP bought Palm for $1.2 billion last month.
With the iPad selling over a million in less than a month, an alternative would at least get an interested examination by the public. Whether the webOS will translate into a usable tablet is another story. The Windows 7-based tablet was apparently a juice hog in the extreme.
Maybe the Hurricane will be as fast as its namesake. Or maybe it will just blow through and leave a mess behind.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/is_hp_launching_a_tablet_with_palm_os.php
클라우드를 향한 여정, 보안이 핵심
기업들은 ‘클라우드 컴퓨팅’이 가져올 변화에 귀추를 모으고 있다. 이는 현재의 IT 인프라스트럭처가 비즈니스의 성패를 좌우하는 정보관리, 운영 기능을 제대로 발휘하지 못하고 있기 때문이다. 하지만 보안문제가 해결되지 않는다면 클라우드는 신뢰할 수 없다. 따라서 보안은 기업이 보다 신뢰할 수 있는 클라우드가 되는데 중추적인 역할을 담당한다.
오늘날 기업들은 ‘클라우드 컴퓨팅’이 가져올 변화에 귀추를 모으고 있다. 이는 현재의 IT 인프라스트럭처가 비즈니스의 성패를 좌우하는 정보관리, 운영 기능을 제대로 발휘하지 못하고 있기 때문이다. 특히 기업에서 정보의 양이 급격하게 늘어나고 정보의 내용 역시 복잡해지고 있는 상황에서 IT 인프라스트럭처는 운영, 관리, 유지보수 비용이 상당히 늘어났지만 상대적으로 성능과 유연성은 높지 않아 기업 업무 전체의 생산성이 낮춰졌다.
이와 반대로 클라우드 컴퓨팅은 기업이 사용한 만큼의 비용만 지불하게 만든 구조(pay as you go)이다. 즉 우리가 집에서 한 달 동안 사용한 수도, 혹은 전력만큼만 세금을 지불하는 것과 같은 방식이다. 이는 그 동안 어마어마한 규모의 IT 투자를 했던 기업들에게 매우 매력적인 방식이자, IT의 새로운 진보라 할 수 있다.
클라우드 컴퓨팅이 IT의 대세가 됨에 따라 전 세계 유수 기업들은 클라우드를 적극 도입하려는 움직임을 보이고 있다. 그런데 문제는 상당수가 ‘본격적인 도입’ 단계에 진입하지 않았다는 것이다. 미국 월간지 ‘CIO 매거진(CIO Magazine)’이 실시한 ‘요즘 CIO들의 현안(State-of-the-CIO)’ 설문조사에 따르면 51%의 CIO들이 보안상의 문제 때문에 클라우드 도입을 주저하고 있다고 한다. 클라우드로 옮겨진 정보가 예기치 못한 사고나 공격을 받을까 불안해하는 관리자들의 걱정을 확인할 수 있는 부분이다.
보안문제 해결이 클라우드의 신뢰성 높여
‘보안’은 모든 컴퓨팅 환경에서의 우선 고려 대상 중 하나이다. 과거와 달리 예기치 못한 사고나 공격, 혹은 시스템 내부 결함의 발생률이 높아지고 이를 악용하는 사람들의 숫자가 증가하며 보안의 중요도도 점차 커지고 있다.
그렇지만 보안 문제를 적재적소에 해결할 수 있는 현명한 방안들을 조기에 찾고 이를 구현한다면 기업은 보다 신뢰할 수 있는 클라우드를 마련할 수 있을 것이다. 그렇다면 비즈니스의 미래 성패를 좌우하는 정보를 안전하고 유연하게 관리할 수 있는 클라우드를 구축하기 위해서는 어떤 보안 활동들이 필요할까?
무엇보다도 보안에 필요한 다양한 컴플라이언스, 정책들이 물리적인 영역뿐 아니라 클라우드 컴퓨팅 환경에서도 동일하게 반영되어야 한다. 물리적 환경 내 자원을 모두 클라우드로 자연스럽게 옮기기 위해서는 ‘가교’ 역할을 담당할 기술이 필요한데 ‘가상화’가 바로 이상적인 방법 중 하나이다. ‘가상화’는 클라우드에 필요한 ‘효율성 증대’, ‘민첩성 향상’, ‘데이터센터 내 안전한 보안 기반 마련’을 가능하게 하기 때문이다.
가상화 과정을 완벽하게 거치고 나면 기업 IT 환경은 신뢰성이 높은 정보에 대한 접근 권한 체계를 마련할 수 있다. 이는 향후 기업 IT 환경이 다중 사용자 간의 정보 접근에 대한 권한 제어를 할 수 있는 기반이 되기 때문에 보안성이 탁월한 클라우드 구축을 가능하게 한다.
이후 본격적으로 안전한 클라우드 구현을 위한 가상 환경 내 컴플라이언스, 정책 적용은 다음 네 가지 단계로 구성된다.
가장 먼저 기업 IT 시스템 내 중요도가 낮은 인프라스트럭처 혹은 위험도가 낮은 애플리케이션의 가상화 작업이다. 여기서는 가상화 작업 중 필요한 보안 요구사항들이 거의 없기 때문에 애플리케이션, 인프라스트럭처 가상화를 통해 가상화 툴에 익숙해질 수 있는 기회를 경험할 수 있다.
VM웨어가 실시한 통계조사에 따르면 많은 조직들이 아직까지는 현 단계 수준의 가상화 작업이 주로 진행되고 있으며 전체 서버 중 25%에 해당한다. 그 다음 단계는 중요도가 높은 애플리케이션의 가상화이다. 여기서는 이전단계보다 더 많은 보안 요구사항을 필요로 하지만 전체 환경 내 인프라스트럭처의 확장성과 유연성을 한층 높일 수 있다. 여기서 한 가지 간과할 수 없는 것은 가상화 이후 정보 보안을 위한 규정 준수 체계가 가시적으로 보일 수 있도록 해야 하는 것이다.
세 번째 단계에서는 기업 내부에 클라우드를 구축하고 가상화된 애플리케이션, 인프라스트럭처를 유틸리티로 운영할 수 있도록 준비해야 한다. 이 단계에서는 애플리케이션 워크로드가 정책 및 서비스 레벨로 운영되는 가상 자동화 데이터센터로 구성된다. 세 번째 단계를 거치면 기업은 향후 물리적인 인프라스트럭처, 나아가 가상화 인프라스트럭처에 영향을 줄 정책, 규정들이 적재적소에 반영될 수 있도록 해야 한다.
그런데 여기서 중요한 것은 다양한 서버, 네트워크 등이 한데 통합되기 때문에 정보 접근에 대한 권한 설정이 명확하게 이루어져야 한다. 특정 정보에 대한 접근이 여러 곳에서 발생할 경우 충돌이 일어나거나 혹은 시스템 내부 문제가 발생하기 때문이다. 따라서 시스템이 접근 권한 제어에 대한 변경사항을 바로 확인할 수 있도록 수시로 모니터링 할 필요가 있다.
마지막으로는 다중 사용자 간의 충돌 없이 정보에 원활하게 전달할 수 있도록 가상화 인프라스트럭처를 외부 서비스 공급업체에게 맡겨야 한다. 여기서 외부 서비스 공급업체의 역할은 고객(기업) 내부 클라우드에 필요한 모든 정책, 컴플라이언스들이 반영될 수 있도록 모든 규정 준수 관련 이벤트들을 철저히 관리하는 것이다. 이는 다중 사용자 간 정보가 섞이게 될 경우 클라우드 내 정보 관리, 운영상에 일관성의 문제가 발생하기 때문이다.
클라우드는 IT역사의 새로운 패러다임
경우에 따라서는 2명 이상의 사용자들이 정보의 기밀 유지나 혹은 관련 비즈니스 업무의 명확한 분리를 위해 동일한 물리적인 시스템 상에서의 정보 접근을 원하지 않을 수 있다. 이 경우에는 물리적인 영역과 가상 영역을 적재적소에 연결할 수 있는 방법을 고안할 필요가 있는데 그 중 하나는 가상 시스템이 적합한 하드웨어 시스템 상에서 운영되고 있는지 검증할 수 있는 하드웨어 루트를 활용하는 것이다. 이 때 하드웨어 루트는 사용자가 신뢰할 수 있는 성능을 보여야 하고 가상 시스템은 하드웨어 칩 수준에서 적합한 하드웨어를 사용하고 있는지 확인해야 한다.
신뢰성을 확보한 하드웨어 루트를 활용하면 물리-가상화 영역 사이를 유연하게 연결할 수 있을 뿐만 아니라, 보안 프로필이나 규정 준수 요구사항이 유사한 시스템 풀을 생성하여 워크로드 최적화를 위한 동적 할당이 가능하다. 이와 같은 역량을 갖추면 기업 IT 환경은 신뢰성이 높은 클라우드 전용 리소스 풀을 가동시킬 수 있기 때문에 클라우드에 유연성을 부여할 수 있다. 그리고 기업은 인프라스트럭처가 보고하는 모든 가시적인 결과들을 확인할 수 있기 때문에 미리 보안 태세를 평가하고 감사 인력에 대한 규정 준수 상태를 실시간으로 확인할 수 있다.
이러한 네 단계의 여정을 거치면 클라우드의 ‘블랙 박스(black box)’로 불렸던 하드웨어 및 가상화 영역은 규정 준수에 대한 검토와 분석, 보고 작업이 가능한 클라우드의 최상위 애플리케이션 서비스 계층으로 변신할 수 있다. 따라서 기업은 이전보다 훨씬 수준 높은 인프라스트럭처 레벨단의 정책들을 유연하게 제어할 수 있고 클라우드 공급업체는 이를 가시적으로 보여줄 수 있는 서비스를 구현할 수 있다.
구텐베르그(Gutenberg)의 인쇄술이 인류의 ‘기록의 역사’에 중요한 한 획을 그린 것처럼 오늘날 클라우드 컴퓨팅은 IT 역사에 새로운 패러다임을 가져 올 혁신으로 등장했다. 클라우드는 기업 내 다량의 정보를 인터넷 공간으로 옮겨 저장 공간의 효율화만 가능하게 할 뿐 만 아니라 시간과 장소의 제약 없이 원활하고 일관된 비즈니스 프로세스가 진행될 수 있도록 할 것이다.
신뢰받는 클라우드의 핵심은 ‘보안’
여기서 보안은 기업이 보다 신뢰할 수 있는 클라우드가 되는데 중추적인 역할을 담당한다. 보안은 정보 자체와 다중 사용자 간의 정보 접근, 관리, 운영에 필요한 모든 보호 체계를 제공하기 때문에 정보는 가상화를 통해 위치에 관계없이 동일한 컴플라이언스, 정책을 적용 받을 수 있다.
이와 같은 장점들은 정보보호의 더 나은 발전을 가능하게 할 것이고 클라우드는 이를 제공하는 방식 자체를 뒤집을 것으로 예상한다.
곡식을 얻기 위해 집에서 기르던 가축과 물물교환하던 방식이 이제는 신용카드, 수표, 나아가 채권, 주식과 같은 금융수단으로 바뀌었다. 이와 같은 물물교환 방식은 당장의 재화가 눈에 보이지 않을 뿐만 아니라 남용될 소지가 매우 높은 것이 특징이다. 그럼에도 우리가 이를 매일 사용하는 이유는 무엇일까? 그것은 바로 보이지 않은 화폐에 대해 ‘신뢰성’을 부여했기 때문이다.
클라우드 역시 마찬가지이다. 지금 당장은 보안, 비용, 기술적인 이유 때문에 부담스러울 수 있다. 하지만 보안이 기존 IT 인프라스트럭처의 혁신을 일으키고 궁극적인 비즈니스 가치를 재고시키는데 필요한 ‘터닝포인트가’될 것으로 확신한다.
<글 : 김종덕 한국EMC RSA 정보보안사업부 지사장 (JD.Kim@rsa.com)>
http://www.boannews.com/media/view.asp?page=1&idx=20797&search=&find=&kind=1
Welcome To The Cloud, Microsoft
This guest post was written by Aaron Levie, CEO and co-founder of Box.net. Box.net was founded in 2005 with the goal of helping people and businesses easily access and share information from anywhere. He has a few suggestions for how Microsoft can better embrace the cloud.
In the coming days, weeks, and months, Microsoft will articulate and evangelize its cloud strategy. It will unveil its Office 2010 product line, and we’ll see if Steve Ballmer can stand behind his claim that Microsoft is truly “betting our company” on cloud computing. Honestly, I hope he can. Yes, my small company, Box.net, competes with Microsoft’s SharePoint product, but I believe that a more innovative, open, and user-centric Microsoft benefits the technology industry at large, not to mention its massive customer base. By rethinking its entrenched but rather stagnant product line and embracing the cloud, Microsoft has an immense opportunity for reinvention. And because the cloud becomes more compelling to businesses as mature platforms and meaningful integrations proliferate, Microsoft’s entry can be a boon for other vendors, partners, resellers and developers. But in order for its move to be a force for good, Microsoft needs to be serious about going “all in.” And if it is, there are some major challenges ahead:
Designing software for the web.
I’m going to make a blanket comparison here. In just over a decade, Google has amassed an army of web engineers and evangelists. In over 20 years, Microsoft has built a closed culture around a software model that is fast becoming extinct. They haven’t commercialized a single major web technology innovation that I can think of in the past decade (okay, maybe Bing, but even that is more evolutionary than revolutionary). Apple brought us a new generation of connected devices with the iPhone and iPad; Google brought us open mobile operating systems, a new breed of apps, and a scalable business model for the web; Facebook made social the underlying fabric of software; Salesforce.com commercialized SaaS.
Microsoft has some major catching up to do if it wants to stay relevant amidst the massive cultural and technological shifts underway. The company has a solid Enterprise brand, no doubt, but their users aren’t happy with the experience, nor are they drawn in by the story that Microsoft has been telling. Customers have been leaving for Google Apps, Salesforce,and other cloud-based alternatives in droves, and to prevent further exodus, Microsoft won’t have the luxury of their standard three-attempt approach. Nor does it own the underlying distribution channel anymore (the operating system). The web has produced a market that is highly democratic in how it decides the future, leaving Microsoft without any unfair advantages.
Suggestion: Design software specifically for the web, rather than retrofitting old single-tenant software to the cloud. Steve Ballmer insisted that “the goal can’t be to throw out all the world’s software and start again,” but in some cases, it will be necessary to start from scratch. Make your services more usable, social and people-centric, like you’ve done with Docs.com, and address long-standing problems with release cycles, operating system delays, and enterprise limitations. Redmond can be an insulating place. Encourage your latest generation of employees—and push on all those who’ve been around since Windows 95—to be scrappy, entrepreneurial, and up-to-date.
iPad Available Internationally May 28, Pricing Announced
If you live outside the U.S. and you’ve managed to avoid the urge to pay too much for a resold unit bought in the States, you won’t have to wait too much longer before you can get your hands on some sweet, sweet iPad action. May 28 is the newly announced international availability date, but it won’t be a worldwide release.
Apple’s staged release means either that it planned on selling far fewer iPads than have gone out the door, or that negotiating deals regarding content licensing and 3G wireless provision is taking longer than expected. A third possibility is that Apple is just making countries wait in order to drive demand up, but at this point I would think demand is well-stoked in most areas.
Pricing for certain areas was also announced, including Europe, the U.K., Australia, and Canada U.K. prices start at £429/£499/£599 for the Wi-Fi only models, and £100 more each for the Wi-Fi + 3G models, making them £529/£599/£699 for the 16, 32, and 64GB models respectively.
In Europe, pricing will start at 499€ for the 16GB Wi-Fi, 599€ for the 32GB, and 699€ for the 64GB. Add 100€ to each for the Wi-Fi + 3G price of each model. Australia‘s pricing starts at AUS $629/$759/$879 for Wi-Fi models, and AUS$799/$928/$1049 for the Wi-Fi + 3G. All Australian prices include GST. In Canada, pricing for Wi-Fi models is CAD $549/$649/$749, and $679/$779/$879 for Wi-Fi + 3G.
All international launches will also be accompanied by launches of the official iBooks app, as well, which will be available on the 28th as a download from the App Store. This is great news, considering all of the preview pages for the iPad on international Apple sites had the iBooks app curiously absent, leading many to believe licensing issues were preventing its availability anywhere outside the U.S. The shipping delay due to hardware shortages might even have been a boon in this regard, giving Apple time to set up international licensing rights with publishers and writers.
Pre-orders are still set for Monday, May 10 for international customers, which is only a few days away, so start your engines. Let’s hope continued high demand for the iPad doesn’t throw this release schedule off the rails. No word yet on international data plan pricing, but that’s sure to follow in the coming days.
http://theappleblog.com/2010/05/07/ipad-available-internationally-may-28-pricing-announced/
Verizon Customers Want iPhone, Can’t Have It
ChangeWave Research has released a survey (PDF) of some 4,040 customers of U.S. cellular service providers that is rife with opportunity for the iPhone, if only Apple would seize it.
According to survey respondents, more than 40 percent of Sprint/Nextel and T-Mobile customers would seriously considering buying an iPhone were it available to them, as would just over a majority of Verizon customers. Unfortunately, despite strong demand for a Verizon iPhone, at least one analyst is now asserting that won’t happen until 2011.
Computerworld spoke with BroadPoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall concerning an evocative theory regarding the iPad, the iPhone, and AT&T. According to Marshall, “AT&T was able to negotiate a six-month extension on the iPhone exclusive.” This was accomplished as part of a deal whereby AT&T would offer data plans for the iPad at breakthrough pricing of $15 and $30 without any contract or commitment.
If that scenario sounds like a dubious conspiracy theory, it probably is. Marshall has previously asserted that AT&T’s exclusivity agreement would expire this June, and that it was a “certainty” that Verizon would be offering the iPad. Setting aside the rationalization of analysts, looking further into the ChangeWave Research survey makes it seem inconceivable that Apple would continue the exclusivity relationship with AT&T at any price.
Of those surveyed, AT&T customers reported the highest rate of dropped calls among the four carriers, three times that reported by customers with the best-rated provider, Verizon. Of course, AT&T disputes this data. From DailyTech, AT&T counters the ChangeWave Research survey is based upon respondent “recollection,” while “quantitative results” from research firm GWS put AT&T “within just two-tenths of a percent of the industry leader.” Even if you are Luke Wilson and accept AT&T’s explanations along with the company’s checks, there’s another problem with the iPhone being exclusive to AT&T.
The iPhone no longer generates “switchers” like it used to. Last year, the iPhone 3GS received, at best, a slight bump in bringing people to AT&T. Worse, it appears the Verizon Droid may be the new iPhone when it comes to luring customers to a different carrier. It will be interesting to see if the rumored iPhone HD can reverse that trend, but it seems unlikely, which means it’s time for Apple to switch, or at least add.
Verizon, with more than 90 million customers, more than AT&T, would mean at least an additional 10 million iPhones sold per year. Those sales would have a cascade effect on development, too. As more people bought more apps, the combination of sharply rising hardware and software sales could help turn back the surge of Android phones like the Droid.
A month from now the next iPhone will almost certainly be introduced at WWDC. Let’s hope we hear about a new U.S. carrier, too, otherwise it may be another year of listening to Apple executives talk about the “significant progress” AT&T has made with its network.
http://theappleblog.com/2010/05/07/verizon-customers-want-iphone-cant-have-it/
Layar Introduces Layar Stream to Help You Find Popular Nearby AR Content
Using a proprietary algorithm, Layar Stream determines the most used AR content in a given geographic location and creates a list through which users can easily browse. Once users select a place of interest, they can then hold their phones up and see where it is located in 3D space around them. While generating a "top content" list is hardly a breakthrough of technology, Layar believes it may fundamentally change the way people use their application.
I had the opportunity to chat briefly with van der Klein Thursday via email about Layar Stream and the future of augmented reality in general. The following are some of the key questions and answers that emerged from our conversation.
ReadWriteWeb: How do you think this will affect the way developers create AR content on the Layar platform?
van der Klein: On the short term I don't expect any change on the content creation side. I do expect that developers will start to understand our algorithm and know how to get a higher ranking in Layar Stream. Something like Stream Engine Optimization. The biggest impact for publishers on our platform is that it will drive traffic to their layers.
ReadWriteWeb: Do you think AR is still too new to most people where the awkwardness of holding your phone up is a hurdle these applications have to overcome?
van der Klein: Augmented reality is a great interface to "consume" experiences that have a relation with the physical world. It is not the best way to understand or browse through large quantities of data. Therefore we chose to focus in the discovery phase on a list interface and handover to Augmented Reality when you have found something of your interest. I guess you can compare it with a TV guide (paper) as a way to find the TV programs you would like to watch.
ReadWriteWeb: Are there any plans to let companies pay to promote their data in the stream?van der Klein: Layar Stream is a great place of "screen real-estate" where we can offer our publishers a way to promote their layers. The coming months we will try out various solutions in specific test markets to find out how we can add these messages in a way that it actually makes sense for the user and the publisher.
ReadWriteWeb: You mention wanting to make AR more a part of everyday life. Are there any other ways Layar is trying to tackle this issue?
van der Klein: A crucial part are experiences that only work in Augmented Reality. Experiences that can not be ported to a map or a website. A great example is the Berlin Wall layer. Visitors of Berlin can now see the wall on the same spot where it used to be. The impact of such an experience cannot be transferred to a map. It is these kinds of experiences that validate this medium. Further we have learned from the web that people want to use the web to express themselves and connect to others. We now call this Social Media. We foresee that people will also use Augmented Reality for social purposes.
Layar has announced plans to expand beyond Android and iPhone onto Symbian devices in the near future. They are also currently in talks with handset manufacturers to bring their AR browser to other mobile platforms. Over 1.6 million people are already using Layar, and a community of 3,000 developers has created over 500 layers with reportedly 2,000 more currently in development.
The company also recently launched their AR content marketplace that allows developers to charge users a one-time fee to browse their content.
iPad Gets its First Spyware
Jailbroken Only
Before going any further, it's important to make one thing clear: this application is not found in Apple's iTunes App Store nor can it be installed on iPads that have not been jailbroken.
Jailbreaking, the act of hacking the iPad to run unapproved third-party applications, is not something the majority of iPad owners will do. However, power users often jailbreak their Apple mobile devices, a lineup which includes iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches, because doing so allows for more features and functionality. For example, on a jailbroken iPhone, you can turn your device into a Wi-Fi hotspot. You can also enable multitasking by allowing applications to run in the background and you can completely customize the look-and-feel of the device from battery indicators to icons.
The latest software for jailbreaking the iPhone and iPad is also incredibly easy to use - perhaps the easiest to have ever been released thus far. Within minutes, the process is complete and you have full control over your device.
Mobile Spy: Kids, Employees, Spouses be Warned!
With the new spyware software, dubbed "Mobile Spy," users can track the activities of anyone who owns an iPad once the app is installed on the device where it runs in stealth mode. Although the nature of this software makes its legality sound questionable, the vendor gets around this issue by explaining that it's ideal for tracking a child's Internet behavior, just like the numerous applications for Mac and PC that do the same. (Children, it seems, don't have the right to not be spied on by their parents.)
But software like this won't just be used as a parental control mechanism, says security researcher Graham Cluley, it will likely be used for more nefarious reasons too, like checking to see if a spouse is cheating or perhaps even criminal purposes.
However, at a price point of $99.97 per year, only the most serious of stalkers will likely install it on victims' devices. For everyone else, there's still the old-fashioned method of snooping - checking the web browser's history or simply reading through someone else's email.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/ipad_gets_its_first_spyware.php
Tagwhat Leaves Read-Only Augmented Reality Browsers Behind
While other augmented realtiy browsers, such as Wikitude and Layar, provide the user with information overlays over live video, Tagwhat allows users to create these overlays.
According to the company, its mobile and web application represents a paradigm-shift in augmented reality.
Tagwhat also marks an important milestone in the evolutionary path of AR technology, representing a shift from the static Web 1.0 world of AR browsers to the participatory interaction of Web 2.0. Tagwhat is 'create-and-share' mobile AR, and is the first mobile augmented reality distribution system where anyone, not just developers, can create their own AR content and share with their friends anywhere in the world, in seconds, for free.
The app, which is currently available for Android and coming soon to the iPhone, offers integration with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and allows users to create location-based content. This content is then viewable from within a Google Maps mashup on the website as well as from the video overlay browser.
The primary difference between Tagwhat and other AR browsers is the ability to create this location-based content from within the app. Layar and Wikitude deal with external content, such as nearby tweets, Wikipedia entries and Gowalla spots.
That's not to say that Tagwhat won't also have this content. At launch, Tagwhat will include "opt-in free and premium subscription channels and 'smart' advertising", including channels for restaurants, pubs and nightlife, Wikipedia articles, and a "fully functional implementation" of Foursquare.
The addition of creation is indeed an important shift in augmented reality, but we can't wait until it can be attached to content visually, rather than solely through GPS data. This is, of course, the next difficult step that we see being used in apps like oMoby, a visual search engine application. oMoby uses your smartphone's camera to take a picture of an object and then attempts to identify it. This sort of visual search technology would make it possible to tag your specific car, for example. Then, if someone using the same application were to view that car in the browser, they would be able to see your "tag" as well. Think Robocop or Terminator and you get the gist.
So while we like what Tagwhat is doing and hope to play with it when it comes out for the iPhone (the company says it has been submitted to the app store and should be available in the near future), it really does little more than integrate standard geo-tagging technologies with AR video overlays we see in existing AR browsers. The shift from simple location tagging to visual tagging is the next big step.
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/tagwhat_leaves_read-only_augmented_reality_browser.php
RWW Mobile Summit: What's Keeping Location-Based Ads from Taking Off?
It's obvious that small businesses would love to be able to provide customers with deals right on their mobile phones, but the hurdles for startups are in other areas. Actually building an advertising platform from the ground up is a very difficult process, and companies that have considered partnerships with newspapers may not be successful either. As one attendee pointed out, it is very difficult to bring legacy media corporations around to new digital campaigns. I can attest from personal experience that things can move very slowly in the media industry.
A startup I learned about while in Boulder this week, DuckDuckDeal, is taking a "built from the ground up" approach to the localized ad sector. They are starting very small by limiting their minimum viable product to businesses in Boulder. As I mentioned earlier this week, Boulder is the perfect place for such a venture, because the small community is littered with mom and pop businesses that are more than willing to lend a hand to the local startups.
Another speed-bump in the way of breakout mobile ad success is the task of figuring out how to get the users to actively engage with the platform. This is where the debate between push and pull comes in. Pushing advertisements based on location, a lot like the ads seen in futuristic movies like Minority Report, can become an annoyance and quickly ignored. Summit attendees seem to be in agreement that the user should pull the ads on their own via a check-in on a service like Foursquare, or by manually browsing a specific advertising application.
How can startups overcome these obstacles? Let us know what you think in the comments, and be sure to catch the live stream of the Mobile Summit right now!