Sony on Friday released an iPhone app to access its streaming Music Unlimited service, part of its efforts to expand its online platforms to devices from rival manufacturers.
The app allows users to listen to and manage playlists and channels. The service is already available on Android phones and PCs, as well as the company's tablets, Walkman music players, home stereos and PlayStation game consoles.
The Tokyo-based company is emphasizing its online platforms as part of its turnaround plan, as it is the only major electronics company with its own major music and movie divisions. Music Unlimited is part of the Sony Entertainment Network, the Tokyo-based company's brand for its online music, movie, gaming and photo-sharing platforms.
Sony has begun to expand support for devices from other makers as part of the new effort. Its PlayStation Suite is a push to put its game platform on Android devices, for example. In other areas, the company still locks users into its ecosystem - the "nasne" digital media hub, to launch in July in Japan, streams to its computers, smartphones and game consoles but has little support for other devices.
Music Unlimited is a paid streaming music service that offers various music channels and the ability to create playlists. Its Android app also allows songs to be saved locally for offline listening.
Music Unlimited is available in 16 countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Spain and France. Registered users can access the service from anywhere in the world, unlike online music offerings such as Spotify and Pandora.
In the U.S., the basic plan costs US$3.99 and a premium plan is available for US$9.99. The pricier plan includes items such as easier access to individual songs and exclusive music channels.
The new app also works on the iPod touch, although it is not available on the iPad. It will be available from Apple's App Store from Friday.
Reliance Communications launches 3G data plans in the country - Economic Times
Netconnect is one of the most recognized and preferred brand in the mobile broadband space in India.
The new Netconnect 3G data plans now available across all 13 Reliance 3G circles, including Metros (Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata) offer 1 GB 3G data for Rs. 250 per month and 2 GB of 3G data for Rs. 450 per month.
The My Best Plan is a highly customer friendly with its innovative and usage adaptive feature i.e. it generates the lowest bill for any data usage by the customer.
The plan is ideal for a first time user who is not sure of his usage with the key benefit is "No bill shock" by billing upto 6 GB 3G data for Rs. 1250 and unlimited usage at no cost beyond 6 GB of usage.
My Best plan will save the customer Rs 4,200 pm on just 2.5 GB usage and saving will be much higher with higher usage. Reliance has the strongest unlimited 3G data plan portfolio starting at just Rs. 750 pm and is the only operator to offer unlimited 3G data on the prepaid platform.
Next-gen iPhone concept rendering looks like it could be the real thing - UberGizmo (blog)
M-Edge's SuperShell case will "bounce" your iPhone when dropped
Military-grade optics and apps add geotagging and night vision to the iPhone and iPad
Gizmon introduces three clip-on lenses for the iPhone
Seen at: itproportal 
Woman traces stolen iPhone after alleged thief's photos were uploaded to iCloud - Daily Telegraph
The alleged thief has now been placed on “administrative leave” and the phone will be returned to Miss McCaffrey as soon as the ship returns to port, Disney Cruises said.
A spokesman said: “We take these matters very seriously. We have a zero tolerance policy for this type of behaviour.
“We recovered the phone and we’ve been in touch with the guest.”
In later pictures, the suspect also took snapshots of his pregnant girlfriend, who is understood to be another Disney Cruise employee.
Miss McCaffrey captioned one image saying: “Uh, oh. [His] girlfriend does not look happy with him. I understand the feeling.”
The phone’s iCloud feature allows users to store data such as photos or music files on a remote computer server to free up space and so they can be downloaded to other gadgets.
The feature can be turned off with a simple on/off switch in the phone’s settings but as this was not disabled, the images captured after the alleged theft were automatically uploaded to iCloud.
Miss McCaffrey could also have used the service to trace the phone using its Find My iPhone feature, which allows the user to see their phone’s location on a map using GPS technology.
A British court heard yesterday how a mugger who snatched an iPhone from a commuter was caught when police used the feature to track him down.
Munya Chimutengwende, 21, snatched the Apple smartphone from the hands of David Landy as he checked his messages outside a Tube station.
When Mr Landy reported the theft to police an officer was able to use the Find My iPhon feature to trace the culprit.
It placed Chimutengwende at a mobile phone store in Wood Green, north London, where he had just sold the handset for £270.
He was arrested shortly afterwards in a nearby branch of McDonald's and jailed for 18 months at Snaresbrook Crown Court.
iPhone, iPad optics add night vision for covert missions - Macdaily News
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.]
No comments:
Post a Comment