Special Operations Apps/System for Optical Attachments – also known as [SOA]2 – can allow geo-tagging in the standard Military Grid Reference System in frame-stamped high-definition video, geo-located and accurate within seven (7) meters. The integrated smart device can be attached permanently or temporarily to optics, weapons, or equipment, according to K. Dominic Cincotti, founder of SOA and its affiliated company, MW Research and Development, Inc.
Generation III night vision devices, long-range day optics, infra-red imaging systems, and laser range finders, among others, can now be configured with commercially available smart devices – including the iPhone 4S and the New iPad – from the [SOA]2 cluster of newly patented and patent-pending hardware and software.
To produce [SOA]2, Cincotti’s companies led the program development with proprietary solutions, including an intellectual property cluster for attaching mobile smart devices onto weapons. Cincotti established a Joint Teaming Alliance (JTA) with US Night Vision, Hoodman USA, and Jonathan Springer, the US Army captain who created the critically acclaimed Tactical Nav App that has been soldier-deployed in the fiercest combat zones.
“This is the Dream Team for optics, US Night Vision hardware, and software, and a chance for us all to help customize the future,” Cincotti said, “and with the US Army’s announced intention to issue smart devices to soldiers, [SOA]2 is the best use of the newest technology and the army technology already in hand.”
US Night Vision’s vice president of sales and marketing, Chris Byrd, said “With [SOA]2 and USNV Hardware, warfighters can use their smart devices as a calibrated, heads-up display for optics to improve situational awareness. No longer will they have to squint through a scope and close one eye – or be locked into goggles.”
“We are taking military-grade optics and turning them into mobile high definition data-recording navigational and analysis systems,” Byrd said, “while still maintaining the integrity of the original optics that have already been purchased in previous acquisition cycles.”
Tactical Nav’s developer, CPT Springer, said in the release, “Bottom line up front, this joint teaming alliance is about integrating the best uses of technology we have right now and putting this technology into the hands of our combat soldiers downrange.”
“The soldier already knows these mobile smart devices,” CPT Springer said, “it’s already in his pocket, and he’s already an expert at using it.”
[SOA]2 completed testing earlier this month in North Carolina, Cincotti said, and at SOFIC the Special Operations community, law enforcement, government security agencies, and major defense contractors will have the opportunity to schedule meetings for field demonstrations and to discuss inclusion in the [SOA]2 program.
“We do our best to answer and anticipate the needs of special operations,” Cincotti said, “and we are looking forward to continued input from the operators and SF soldiers as [SOA]2 progresses to adoption and deployment.”
[SOA]2 comprises a cluster of interlocking intellectual property, including issued patents, patents pending, and proprietary IP. SOA and MW R&D have been issued two patents already this year, executed three patent filings addressing mobile devices on weapons, and filed more than a dozen US and international patents in the last five years. US Night Vision has a patent pending, and Hoodman USA has a patent on their products.
Special Operations Apps/System for Optical Attachments [SOA]2 includes:
• Multi-use Optics Case Integrator
• Adapter Rings machined from Ultem 2300, which is virtually unbreakable and super-lightweight
• Hoodman System Accessories, now modified for mobile devices for [SOA]2, including Day/Night Solutions to reduce glare and light bleed
• A proprietary software platform that includes a range of Special Operations-specific tactical navigation apps, integrating various optics hardware and mobile-device capabilities
Future iterations of [SOA]2 now being developed by Cincotti’s companies are expected to deliver Facial and Object recognition and advanced targeting, on smart phone platforms, as well as on iPads and tablets. The Tactical Nav App will feature tracking of a unit, or an individual within a unit, and a “John Madden-style” tool that allows for mark-up.
US Night Vision, founded in 2001 and located in Roseville, CA, has been providing federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as the US Military, with advanced night vision, thermal imaging, infrared and lasers. The company handles the exportation of night vision systems following U.S. Department of State, ITAR guidelines. In addition to the exclusive line of US Night Vision products, manufactured and assembled at the Roseville facility, the company is also a national distributor for L3 ETO (Electron Tube Operations), FLIR GS (Government Systems), FLIR CVS (Commercial Vision Systems), Laser Technologies, Inc., and a point of sale for L3 Warrior Systems, Laser Devices Lasers and other related optics and accessories.
Hoodman USA, founded in 1986 and headquartered in Torrance, CA, manufactures digital camera tools, including Glare Fighting LCD Loupes, Ratcheting variable angle viewers, the fastest, longest lasting CompactFlash memory cards and the world’s first steel-plated, ruggedized SDHC memory card line. Hoodman has more than 500 dealers in the US and around the world.
CPT Springer, while a Battalion Fire Support Officer in Afghanistan with the 101st Airborne, began developing what would become the Tactical Nav App. He spent more than $30,000 of his own money to create the app, now available for download on the iTunes App Store.
For MW R&D/SOA, Dave Mullins, a veteran operator with experience on four continents, leads in-house subject matter experts, along with Mark Tocci, a veteran Ranger and a patent-pending inventor.
The Special Operations Apps/System for Optical Attachments in-house team included Sam Thompson, physicist, veteran of NASA’s Mars Rover project, and a patent-pending inventor; and Ronnie Medina, veteran special forces operator and project consultant.
The Special Operations Forces Industry Conference (SOFIC) is an annual event, bringing together more than 7,000 attendees from government and industry and featuring more than 350 exhibiting companies.
Special Operations Apps is a privately held company based in Wilmington, NC, strategically situated between Fort Bragg and Camp Lejeune and convenient to Virginia Beach, VA.
More info via Special Operations Apps’ website here.
[Attribution: TUAW. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Lynn Weiler" for the heads up.]
Nokia and Symbian still number one in China - The Register
Android may have an insurmountable lead in the Chinese smartphone market, but when it comes to internet-connected mobiles Symbian and Nokia are still number one according to new stats from search giant Baidu.
The company’s latest quarterly Mobile Internet Development Trends Report for Q1 2012 measured only internet-connected phones which have browsed the web through Baidu.
Discarding the category of ‘other’ which came out tops on both counts, the breakdown by brand shows Nokia in the lead with 22 per cent, counterfeit or shanzhai products with 16.1 per cent and Samsung third with a share of 10.4 per cent.
Apple is fourth with 5.9 per cent, which tallies with Analysys International’s estimates that iOS had a smartphone market share of 5.7 per cent by the end of 2011.
The times they are a-changing, however, with Nokia at risk of losing that impressive lead if it doesn’t innovate and produce more smartphones that appeal to users, said Baidu.
It may need more than the recently launched Lumia 800C and the planned 610C to do this, especially given the fierce competition in the smartphone market.
One strategy would be to target the entry-level, which is set to provide great growth opportunities for handset makers in China. In fact, with domestic giants such as Huawei, ZTE and Lenovo all set to launch in that area, the days of shanzhai manufacturers could also be numbered.
“Nokia’s mobile market share continues to drop, with 5.8 [per cent] decrease month-by-month and 18.4 per cent drop year-on-year. Shanzhai phones’ market share is also steadily decreasing, with 4.3 per cent decrease month-by-month and 10.3 per cent drop year-on-year,” said Baidu.
Over on the platform side, Baidu hasn’t broken the results down in English but TechInAsia has a handy translation.
Android is surprisingly down in fourth place with a share of 14.4 per cent, despite an overwhelming lead in the pure-play smartphone market of around 70 per cent, according to Analysys International stats.
Discounting ‘other’ again, number one spot goes to that old classic Symbian S60, with 17.2 per cent of the Baidu-surfing market, followed by MTK – an OS favoured by shanzhai handset makers – with 16.7 per cent, and then the nondescript ‘feature phone’ with 16.1 per cent.
Apple’s iOS is fifth with 5.8 per cent, just a percentage point higher than Symbian on the S40.
All of which proves that while the smartphone market is where most Chinese users are headed, the majority are still on much more basic handsets, according to IDC research manager Ian Song.
“The biggest thing to consider here is that China is still predominately a feature phone market. Based on our sell-in numbers, feature phones made up 75 per cent and smartphones made up 15 per cent of the total PRC mobile phone market in 2011,” he told The Reg.
“Going forward, IDC believes that feature phone brands and OSes will speed up in decline as smartphones becomes cheaper and more useable in China.” ®
Nokia is giving away 1,000 Lumia 800 devices to app developers - Silicon Republic
Varty said the apps Marketplace on Windows Phone is developing fast and as of April there were 70,000 apps in the Marketplace, with 300 new apps being added every day.
“The pace in terms of the number of apps that are coming to the platform is really positive," he said. "All the big-ticket apps are there, like Angry Birds, LinkedIn, Facebook, Groupon, Twitter, etc. But the message we need to get out to top development talent is to get developing."
Varty was recently in Dublin where he met with 20 of Ireland's top developers.
Lust for innovation
“It strikes me that developers are looking for something else and in most cases having already developed for iOS are looking for something new and that's not necessarily Android."
The key strategy Nokia is employing is to make it easier for developers to develop for Windows Phone.
“Developers and designers are inspired by the Metro interface. It's unique, it's fresh and contemporary. Plus Windows Phone is a very context-based operating systems for starters. A lot of developers are looking for something that inspires them and for ways for content to be seen and heard."
Varty said Nokia is taking a very hands-on approach to working with developers to the point of working with them on where and how they target and sell content within Windows Marketplace.
He said that as part of a joint programme with Microsoft, there is a maelstrom of activity taking place in terms of bi-monthly coder camps, student workshops, and faculty programmes.
“We have created a number of resources where you can go and collect vital tools and SDKs from the App Hub, or general tools around learning to code.
“We are also ceding more than 1,000 devices over the course of 12 months into the developer community. Developers who can demonstrate that they are working on an app via Visual Basic and that they are serious about the product they are creating will be issued with a Lumia 800."
Varty added that in terms of sales and marketing tools, Nokia is running a pilot called Marketing in a Box, which was launched at the GSM Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, earlier this year. The resource kit includes strategies on how to market apps via Facebook and Twitter, create videos on YouTube and develop banner ads.
“It's all about giving the developers the marketing tools to make their apps successful. We are currently running another pilot in the UK called Appvertise, where we are giving a selection of publishers and developers free advertising space on Marketplace with a view to marketing their new apps," Varty said.
John Kennedy 
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