Glass will not hit markets before 2014, confirms Google

There were rumours that Google could be planning an early shipping date for the company’s Glass wearable computer later this year. Computer World now says that Google has gone on the record to say that the wearable device will not be shipped before 2014.

According to the report, sources close to the company had earlier said that Glass would be available in 2013. Contradicting that, a Google spokesman has now said, "We're always adjusting and readjusting timelines. The most important thing that we do is focus on building a great product for users whenever that might be launched."

The spokesman went on to clarify that the earlier information given by some company employees at the May conference contradicted statements made by Google headhoncho Eric Schmidt. In April, Schmidt had told a BBC reporter that Glass was about a year away from hitting markets. At the time, the Google chairman had said, "It's fair to say there will be thousands in use over the months and there will be changes made based on feedback. But it's fair to say it's a year-ish away."

Google Glass will not be shipped before 2014

Analysts, however, feel that this decision may come from wanting to avoid problems if the shipping date of the device does extend beyond 2013. Patrick Moorhead, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy, told the source, "I'm pleased Google has the discipline to hold Glass back until they think it's perfect. Typically, Google will throw products out before they're ready, like the Nexus Q. Glass is a new category of devices and it's important that it works well. [If not], it could stunt the growth of these kinds of devices."

Another analyst with ZR Research, Zeus Kerravala said, "That's interesting, but not surprising. Glass has so much hype around it that it's more important Google get it right than get it out early or on time." Another point of view for this situation comes from Dan Olds, an analyst at Gabriel Consulting Group. According to him, it is possible that Google is focusing more on marketing the Google Glass as opposed to thinking about its technology.

Rationalising this, Olds said, "Google hasn't said anything about the slip or why it's happening. If I were to speculate, I'd say it's more marketing related than technical. Just the specter of Google Glass has caused a lot of buzz in both the tech world and with consumers. Businesses have banned them preemptively and there have been lots of discussions about how this device impacts privacy.”

The discussion around Google Glass has intensified in the last few days following several privacy and government bodies raising a lot of security and privacy concerns about the wearable device. The main point is the fact that Glass can be used to secretly take photos and videos of people. In response, Google has promised not to include facial recognition technology into the device till strong privacy settings are put in place. Certain businesses like Caesars Palace and Seattle’s 5 Points Cafe and Bar have already placed bans against the use of the wearable device on their premises.

These controversies are not stopping the company from steadily distributing the device to early adopters, developers and critics through its Explorer programme, though. Thus, it looks like the company is planning on sticking to its schedule for the Google Glass. So far, developers who want to get their hands on the device will have to shell out $1500 (Rs 95,070, approx), although there is no word on what the offical price of the device will actually be.

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First batch of Jolla Sailfish smartphones sold out, follow-up campaign a possibility

Finnish startup Jolla has now closed the first batch of orders before the general release of the Sailfish OS-sporting smartphone. The team, which was assembled from Nokia's abandoned MeeGo experiment, is now looking at planning a follow-up campaign.

Back in May, Jolla launched its “Other Half” pre-sale campaign to understand the demand for its Sailfish OS smartphone. It also hoped to find committed buyers ahead of the launch of its first device. Jolla is not giving out the exact number of devices that were pre-booked due to “customer confidentiality”, according to ZDNet. However, a spokesperson for the startup has said that the normal size of a production batch for a mobile device vendor is 50,000 units.

Consumers in the European Union as well as Norway and Switzerland were earlier offered a deal wherein they could make a €100 ( Rs 8,610 approx) down payment to get a €100 voucher off the overall €399 (Rs 34,230 approx) price of the device as well as "priority pre-order status".  

Jolla has closed the booking orders for the first batch of its Sailfish OS running smartphone

While the actual number of pre-orders is still unconfirmed, Jolla has said that both consumers and “selected sales channels” have bought out the first batch. The smartphones are stipulated for delivery by the end of the year. The startup has also claimed that it received pre-orders from 136 countries. This is up from the 118 countries that were earlier reported.

It should be noted that the €100 down payment option was only open to consumers in the EU, Norway and Switzerland, though. Consumers from outside these countries had the option of booking the device without a down payment, according to what a Jolla spokesperson told the source. 

So far, the only carrier that has committed to sell the smartphone once it is available is DNA, one of Finland’s largest operators. The startup is looking at expanding its carrier support, but the spokesperson would not expand on what the startup meant by "selected sales channels". The spokesperson did say that Jolla was in talks with "several other operators in various countries".

The startup’s CEO, Pienimäki, has given disappointed fans who may have missed out on the first batch some hope, though. According to the source report, the Jolla headhoncho said, "For those, who missed the first opportunity, we are now doing our best to offer a second chance, a new batch of Jolla smartphones later in the autumn. I encourage everyone interested in Jolla to sign up at jolla.com and be the first to know about any new developments, such as the opening of the next pre-sales campaign."

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Round Table: Will Apple’s budget iPhone be a runaway hit?

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US soldier Manning gets 35-year prison sentence in Wikileaks case

Bradley Manning, the US soldier convicted of the biggest breach of classified data in the nation's history by providing files to Wikileaks, was sentenced to 35 years in prison on Wednesday. Judge Colonel Denise Lind, who last month convicted Manning of 20 charges including espionage and theft, could have sentenced him to as many as 90 years in prison. Prosecutors had asked for 60 years.

Bradley Manning sentenced to 35 years in Wikileaks case (image credit: GettyImages)

Manning, 25, will be dishonorably discharged from the U.S. military and forfeit some pay, Lind said. His rank will be reduced to private from private first class. Manning would be eligible for parole after serving one-third of his sentence, which will be reduced by the time he has already served in prison plus 112 days.

In 2010, Manning turned over more than 700,000 classified files, battlefield videos and diplomatic cables to Wikileaks, the protransparency website, in a case that has commanded international attention. Defense attorneys had not made a specific sentencing request but pleaded with Lind not to "rob him of his youth."

Manning was working as a low-level intelligence analyst in Baghdad when he handed over the documents, catapulting WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange, into the international spotlight.

The classified material that shocked many around the world included a 2007 gunsight video of a U.S. Apache helicopter firing at suspected insurgents in Baghdad. Among the dozen fatalities were two Reuters news staff. WikiLeaks dubbed the footage "Collateral Murder."

The case highlighted the difficulty in keeping secrets in the Internet age. It raised strong passions on the part of the U.S. government, which said Manning had put American lives at risk, and anti-secrecy advocates, who maintained Manning was justified in releasing the information.

Reuters

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Only 15.13 million Internet connections in India are faster than 256 Kbps

While India may not have the fastest Internet speeds in the world, the number of broadband subscribers has been increasing at a steady clip. So despite the pathetic Internet speeds in many parts of the country, India has the third most Internet subscribers in the world.

According to TRAI, the total broadband subscriber base in India has increased from 15.09 million at the end of April 2013 to 15.13 million at the end of May 2013. That’s a monthly growth of 0.23 percent, but in comparison to the same period in 2012, this represents an annual growth of 5.75 percent. It must be noted that according to the government, broadband speed is 256 Kbps and above. So in essence, only 15.13 million Indians have a 256 Kbps or higher connection. The figures for the period ending May 2013 were released earlier this month by TRAI.

While the government is supposed to amend its benchmark for broadband speeds to 2 Mbps in the next couple of years, it is hoped that in the meanwhile, the national broadband plan is in the advanced stage of deployment. However, at present, the numbers do not make a good reading for a country, which Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said could miss out on the Internet revolution.

Bandwidth jam

Besides the increase in number of broadband subscribers, TRAI also said the number of telecom subscribers in India shot up to 900 million in May 2013. The wireless subscriber base increased from 867.2 million to 870.2 million. In urban areas, wireless subscriber base increased to 522.01 million, while the rural base rose to 348.19 million.

The latest report also says there are 161 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country providing broadband services. The top 5 in terms of market share are public telecom provider BSNL (9.96 million), Bharti Airtel (1.40 million), state-backed MTNL (1.09 million), Hathway (0.36 million) and You Broadband (0.31 million).

Airtel, with 21.79 percent share of the market, remained the largest mobile service provider, trailed by Vodafone with nearly 18 percent of the market and Reliance with a share of 14.35 percent.

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Killzone: Shadow Fall to have customisable multiplayer mode and free DLC

Developer Guerilla Games has released a trailer for PlayStation 4’s flagship FPS, Killzone: Shadow Fall. The trailer gives us a closer look at the game’s multiplayer offerings. The next-gen Killzone game will let players customise their multiplayer matches in a lot of ways. This includes options like setting the number of players, which can go up to 24, rules of the game, mission modes, classes, abilities and weapons.

The progression system in Killzone: Shadow Fall was also elaborated upon. According to Guerilla, instead of racking up XP by killing enemies, players will progress through the ranks by completing challenges. The game has more than 1,500 challenges for players to complete. Check out the trailer:

Guerilla won't get Killzone: Shadow Fall go too stale, either. The company has stated that it will continue to add new customisation options for players as well as expansion packs for free.

Back in July, the developers talked about some of the new features of the game, such as a combo system for melee attacks and the OWL drone that will be at players' disposal.

When asked about what the biggest change in the upcoming Killzone game will be when compared to the other ones, the company replied, “Obviously, we are keeping what is great about Killzone - we have a unique universe, iconic enemies and some great features like the hit-responses, first person cover and the melee system. But we’re also building on that, expanding and polishing those systems with things like drop-down melees and combo melee attacks."

There will also be the OWL attack drone, which has combat abilities that not only allow you to make more tactical decisions when it comes to attacking and flanking, but also helps you traverse through the environments by using ziplines.

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Continental AG, Google to work on self-driving cars

German automotive parts maker Continental AG is close to agreeing alliances with Google and IBM to develop autonomous driving systems for cars, a German newspaper reported.

Daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung cited unspecified sources as saying Continental aims to unveil the two pacts at the Frankfurt Car Show in September.

Self driving cars getting closer to reality now!

Continental is already in an alliance with U.S. network equipment maker Cisco Systems to work on systems for automated and driverless automobiles and on data transfer between cars. A Continental spokesman declined to comment. Spokespeople for Google and IBM in Germany were not immediately available for comment.

Google has been working on self-driving technology since 2010, including testing a fleet of self-driving cars along California roadways.

A raft of automakers including GM, Ford, Toyota and Volkswagen are developing computer-controlled features that help drivers avoid accidents.

Reuters

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