Apple releases Mac app to store photos in iCloud

Apple’s iCloud Photo Library syncs photos across devices

Apple has released a new photo storage app for Macs, which can automatically store full-resolution images online.

The iCloud Photo Library syncs photos across devices while managing storage.

Users can opt to keep original high-res photos in the cloud with lower-res version on a Mac, PC or iOS device.

But critics highlight recent online photo security breaches and say Apple’s storage fees are much higher than some of its competitors.

The iCloud Photo Library app responds to how much storage is left on each device.

It automatically downgrades the resolution of images held on a device as its storage space starts to run out – starting with the oldest images first – while ensuring they are still of suitable quality to be viewed full-screen.

‘Targeted attacks’

If the user has a data connection and has chosen the online storage option for their full-res images, the app will download the larger original file as and when they need it. This could be for editing, zooming into the photo or for printing, for example.

Hackers stole celebrities’ photos from iCloud last year

Some experts wonder whether Apple’s users are ready to trust the company with their photos after about 500 private pictures, mainly of celebrities, were stolen from the iCloud platform by hackers last year.

Apple later explained that this had happened as the result of a targeted attack in which the intruders had successfully obtained or guessed users passwords to its service, rather than hacked the platform.

Last October, Apple issued another security warning to its iCloud users, saying: “We’re aware of intermittent organised network attacks using insecure certificates to obtain user information.” It said its own servers had not been compromised.

Martin Garner, mobile services expert at CCS Insight, said: “People are sharing enormous trust when they use services like these. It’s not just Apple – many other providers have also suffered breaches recently. But users will need to think about security and accessibility.”

‘Keep an eye on prices’

Many online storage providers offer cheaper plans for the same or more data to be stored online than Apple’s iCloud.

However, each offers different functionality regarding how it syncs with devices, and whether it works automatically or needs user intervention

Apple iCloud compared with other online storage providers

THE COST OF ONLINE PHOTO STORAGE
PROVIDER DATA PLAN PRICE
Amazon (Unlimited Photos plan)	Unlimited (Photos only) + 5GB	$12 (£8)/year
Google Drive (1TB)	1TB	$120 (£80)/year
Dropbox (1TB)	1TB	$144 (£96)/year
Box (Business)	Unlimited	$180 (£120)/year
Microsoft (Livedrive Pro Suite)	5TB /unlimited backup	$198 (£132)/year
Apple (iCloud Photo Library)	1TB	$240 (£160)/year

The iCloud Photo Library is the first to keep a lower-res image on the device while sending the original full-res image to the cloud.

Unlike a simple back-up or copying of photos, this means users can keep the images on their devices while maximising storage space.

However, many consumers may still prefer deals such as Amazon’s “Unlimited Photos plan”, which would cost a fraction of the price to maintain a large library.

“Apple will have to keep an eye on prices as the market in online storage is extremely competitive,” said Mr Garner.

“Many of its competitors, like Dropbox, have apps available on the iPhone, so it needs to be wary that users do have a good amount of choice.

“Some services like Microsoft and Amazon also bundle online storage with other services like software subscriptions or movie streaming, so Apple may need to consider doing likewise.”

Jawbone to start UP3 deliveries four months late

Jawbone’s UP3 tracker had been delayed after the firm struggled to make the band waterproof

Jawbone has said that it will begin deliveries of its top-end UP3 fitness tracker from 20 April, four months later than originally promised.

The US firm added that the device would not be fully waterproof as first advertised, just “splash-proof”.

Many people who had pre-ordered the wristband had complained on social media about the firm’s failure to explain the delay fully until now.

The delay has lost the firm sales to rivals such as Fitbit and Misfit.

“When we announced UP3 late last year we were confident we would start mass production of the device and begin shipping within a few weeks of the announcement,” the company said on its blog.

“However, as we began to scale our manufacturing process it became clear that, while most units passed our high quality bar, a proportion did not.

“Specifically, we were not achieving the level of water resistance we had passed in the design and initial production stages.

“We would like to apologise to customers who may have pre-ordered UP3 on the basis that it would be suitable for swimming. Customers who wish to cancel their pre-order will, of course, be able to do so with no charge.”

‘Perilous’

Until now, the only explanation the firm had given for the delay was in an interview chief executive Hosain Rahman gave Fortune magazine in January, in which he blamed a “sealing” problem.

The same article had noted that Jawbone’s manufacturing partner Flextronics had recently sued it for breach of contract, describing the fitness firm’s financial position as “perilous”.

The case was ultimately settled out of court.

A subsequent report in February by the Financial Times suggested Jawbone’s finances were “deteriorating” as it sought out new investors, causing some to question if the UP3 would ever be released.

But the firm has said the device is now in “mass production” and that it would start deliveries to customers who had pre-ordered on 20 April.

Customers should receive the bands no later than mid-May, Jawbone added.

The UP3 is now “splash-proof” rather than fully waterproof

Posts to the firm’s own community forum and Facebook page, however, suggest that a significant number of users had already cancelled their bookings.

“I have lost all faith in Jawbone and their communications,” wrote one.

This is not the first time that Jawbone has run into manufacturing difficulties.

In 2011, it pulled the original UP wristband from sale after the initial batch of bands stopped holding their charge.

Posts to its forums also suggest that many owners of its more recent UP24 bands have complained that the devices stop working after several months of use – something the firm has handled by offering replacements.

Bioimpedance

The UP3 attracted much interest when it was first announced in November because of its use of a technique called “bioimpedance” to track its owner’s pulse.

This involves passing an imperceptible electrical current through the body to measure its resistance to the signal.

The process is already used by several specialist medical devices to measure heart rate, body fat, fluid levels and other body composition readings.

But Jawbone was the first to use it in a mass-market wristband.

Its biggest rival Fitbit tracks users’ heart rates by shining LED lights into their arms to detect changes in blood volume beneath the skin.

This kind of technology can sometimes have problems obtaining accurate readings from users with darker pigmented skin, however.

Jawbone previously suggested that another advantage of bioimpedance was that it was less battery intensive.

HBO takes on Netflix and Amazon with US streaming service

HBO, the US network behind hits such as Game of Thrones and The Sopranos, is launching an online streaming service that will weaken its relationship with cable TV providers.

Called HBO Now, the service will be available in the US from April for $14.99 (£9.90) a month.
The firm, part of media giant Time Warner, was one of the early pioneers of cable television.
However it must now contend with online rivals such as Netflix and Amazon.
Such services offer big-budget, original programming similar to HBO shows for monthly fees that are substantially cheaper than cable TV packages.
Cable TV providers fear that more customers will cancel subscriptions if they are able to access premium channels such as HBO online.
HBO has a streaming service – HBO Go – but it is is only available to customers with an existing cable TV subscription.
HBO Now will only be accessible through Apple devices for three months before expanding to other platforms.

HBO announced the new streaming service at the Apple Watch launch event

Outside the US, HBO programmes are available through various subscription services – both online and on pay TV platforms.
The company did not confirm whether HBO Now would be rolled out internationally. It could be some time coming to the UK given that the rights to HBO programming are owned by Sky for its Sky Atlantic channel.

TED 2015: Google boss wants self-drive cars ‘for son’

The director of Google’s self-drive car project has revealed his motivation for ensuring that the technology is standard on roads within five years.

Chris Urmson told delegates at the Ted (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conference that his eldest son was 11-years-old and due to take his driving test in “four and a half years”.
“My team are committed to making sure that doesn’t happen,” he said.
He also laid out Google’s commitment to fully automated cars.
Some automotive firms have opted to introduce driver-assist functions in cars in the hope that the technology can gradually win over the many sceptics who would be uncomfortable in a fully automated car.
By contrast Google’s own car – a prototype electric pod revealed in December – will have no steering wheel or conventional controls although for early testing, extra controls will be fitted so one of Google’s test drivers can take over if there is a problem.

The view from Google’s self-drive car and its computer during tests

The fact that people are driving more and getting stuck in traffic jams for longer were two other good reasons to roll the technology out as soon as possible, he said.
But, most importantly, self-drive cars could drastically reduce traffic accidents, he said.
“Some 1.2 million people are killed on the roads around the world each year. That number is equivalent to a jet falling out of the sky every day.”
The incremental changes some car-makers are introducing are not enough, he said.
“That is not to say that driver-assistance cars won’t be useful but if we are really going to make changes to our cities, get rid of parking lots, we need self-drive cars,” he said.

AI developments

Google’s retrofitted self-drive cars have undergone extensive testing, racking up more than 700,000 miles on the road, and in 2013 were given to one hundred employees to test.
Mr Urmson shared with the Ted audience some of the more unusual traffic situations that the fleet of Google self-drive cars had encountered, including a child driving a toy car in the road and a woman in an electric wheelchair chasing a duck.
“There is nowhere in the handbook about how to deal with that situation,” he said.
But, he added, the car slowed down and reacted appropriately in each case.
Some urge caution on the development of fully-automated cars.
Sven Beiker, executive director of the Center for Automotive Research at Stanford, has said that driverless cars may still require human input in extreme circumstances and that people may forget how to operate their vehicles if they do not do it regularly.

AI debate

Mr Urmson was one of several speakers in a Ted session entitled “Machines that learn”.
The head of Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Lab Dr Fei-Fei Li spoke about her project to develop visually-intelligent computers.
Using a database of millions of images taken from the internet, her team has taught a computer to both understand a picture and generate a short audio description of that image.
The Ted audience also heard two differing points of view on the growing debate about how damaging AI will be for humanity.
Philosopher Nick Bostrom urged those involved in building super-intelligent systems to make sure AI’s “were motivated to pursue our values”.
But Oren Etzioni, chief executive of the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence maintained that just because we are developing intelligent machines did not necessarily mean that they would operate autonomously.
“AIs will empower us and help us tackle the real problems that face humanity,” he said.

Is fibre optic cable key to Africa’s economic growth?

In the developed world fibre optic cables like this are what keep many people connected

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The elite of Kenya’s much-heralded entrepreneurship revolution work in an ultra-modern. co-working space overlooking the bustle of Nairobi.

Their businesses are reliant on the high-speed internet available here.
The Nairobi Garage is one of a limited number of work spaces in the city boasting a dedicated 25 megabits per second [Mbps] fibre internet connection.
Fibre is definitely not the norm in Kenya – a country viewed as a leader in African technology innovation. In financial terms, fibre internet is way beyond the grasp of most entrepreneurs and small businesses.
A 25Mbps connection costs in the region of $4,000-$5,000 (£2,700-£3,380) a month.

Nairobi Garage is one of the tech hubs that have made the Kenyan capital a technology powerhouse

Pulling together

“Tech is taking off in Kenya thanks in large part to the arrival of fibre internet – unfortunately the cost of this to companies is still extremely high.
“Large companies like banks can afford the prices of corporate internet, but for start-ups and SMEs [small and medium sized enterprises] the costs are crippling,” says Hannah Clifford, general manager at Nairobi Garage.
Over 100 small businesses have started out life in the communal work space, which currently accommodates 30 start-ups all using the stable high-speed internet connection offered at a subsidised cost.
“Through shared work spaces like Nairobi Garage, which is aimed at supporting the start-up sector, young businesses and entrepreneurs are able to get internet access as part of their office space at very affordable rates.
“High-speed, reliable internet is vital for these young businesses to compete with the likes of Silicon Valley,” she says.

A decent internet connection is vital to the success of many start-ups

‘Human right’

Companies such as Liquid Telecom are working to make fibre internet a reality across Africa. By the end of the year it will have spent about $500m (£337m) laying more than 18,000Km of fibre cable on the continent, making it the owner of the largest fibre network in Africa.
It has also started working on providing fibre-to-the-home – a service now beginning to be enjoyed by some customers in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Chief executive Nic Rudnick is convinced that fibre roll-out is a human right as well as a business necessity. He says the “backbone” Liquid is laying will contribute to Africa’s economic growth.
“Liquid Telecom was founded based on a conviction that telecoms connectivity is now a basic human right. We’ve devoted a tremendous amount of time, strategic thinking and good old-fashioned hard work to create the largest and fastest single fibre network across Africa,” says Mr Rudnick.
“Traffic comes onto it from across Africa and from other continents. Access is not limited to just our direct business and retail customers. We sell capacity to other operators.
“I firmly believe that the small businesses of Africa need access to affordable broadband to grow. Fibre is key to the future economic prosperity of Africa.”

Liquid Telecom chief executive Nic Rudnick believes internet connectivity is a human right

The company is working hard to increase its cable infrastructure

In the ether

However, not all believe that fibre is the right solution for Africa.
Alan Knott-Craig, founder of South Africa’s Project Isizwe, believes wireless technologies are the way forward. He aims to bring free internet to everyone in South Africa by installing wi-fi hotspots in low-income areas across the country.
“Fibre is not the future for Africa. The distances are too big, the existing footprint too small. Wireless is the future,” he says.
According to Mr Knott-Craig, satellite and microwave technologies will dominate African transmission networks in the future, while wi-fi and 3G will provide connectivity over that last mile to the home or office.

Workers haul part of a fibre optic cable onto the shore at the Kenyan port town of Mombasa in 2009

One reason for this, he believes, is that wi-fi is the most suitable form of connectivity for mobile devices – Africa’s breakthrough technology – and as such, is the best way to achieve universal internet access.
“Wi-fi is the only economically feasible technology. Not only is it robust, but most families already have access to a wi-fi-enabled device,” he says.

Satellite nation?

Not surprisingly, satellite connectivity provider, Gilat Satcom, agrees.
The company points to the fact that fibre laying in Africa has mostly been restricted to big cities. But World Bank data estimates that only 37% of Africa’s population actually live in these urban areas.
Satellite is the therefore the most effective way to reach rural areas, and thus the majority of the population, Gilat believes.
“In the smaller cities, towns and rural areas, wireless broadband and satellite are still the only practical options,” says Dan Zajicek, Gilat Satcom’s chief executive.

Project Isizwe aims to bring free internet to all in South Africa by installing wi-fi hotspots in low-income areas

“Despite a few predictions that demand for satellite would start to drop away as the amount of operational fibre in Africa increased, the opposite has occurred,” he says.
As demand for satellite connectivity is expected to take-off, providers such as Gilat are racing to improve their technologies so that costs can come down.
“We think that rural Africa will continue to depend on satellite capacity over the next few years,” says Mr Zajicek.
“The good news for people and businesses in Africa is that we expect a significant fall in prices as a new generation of satellites are being launched to replace old satellites.
“Improvements in compression techniques used by the smart satellite providers will also reduce costs passed on to end-users.”
A standard unlimited 1Mbps satellite package for a small business will start from $50 (£34) per month, says Gilat.

Join the dots

One thing everyone agrees on is that widespread internet access can have a profoundly positive effect, particularly on small businesses and in lower-income areas.
“The most immediate impact is making it easy to find jobs online and apply electronically,” says Isizwe’s Mr Knott-Craig.
“There are job seekers that have been recorded at 1am on a Monday morning searching for jobs,” adds the projects chief operations officer, Zahir Khan.

Mobile phones are one way to get rural communities online using 3G or 4G technology

“We have students and learners that are using the services daily for research to improve the quality of their assignments and report submissions,” he says.
Another point of agreement is that the cost of internet must come down if this impact is to be felt.
“3G is virtually ubiquitous in Africa, provided you have money. If you are poor the internet is inaccessible because 3G data rates are simply too expensive. The need and the highest impact is in low income communities,” Mr Knott-Craig says.
In the meantime, technology hubs remain a lifeline for small business in much of Africa.
“It’s great to be able to provide fast internet in a continent that is still seen by many outsiders as being behind – and because of this, mobile and web businesses will be the future of Kenya’s success, that, I’m sure,” says Nairobi Garage’s Hannah Clifford.
“It’s really inspiring to see these changes happening.”

Google announces budget-priced Chromebits and Chromebooks

Asus will begin sales of the Chromebit computer-on-a-stick later this year

Google has announced new Chrome-powered computers, which are set to target budget-conscious consumers and schools.

The range includes a new type of device called the Chromebit, which looks like an oversized memory stick, and turns monitors and TVs into computers when plugged into their HDMI ports.
The tech firm also revealed the cheapest Chromebook laptops to date, costing $149 (£101).
The move is likely to intensify competition with Microsoft.
The announcements came less than a day after Microsoft revealed plans to sell a new entry-level tablet-laptop hybrid of its own.
Its Surface 3 costs more -$499, and £419 in the UK for the basic model – but provides access to a wider range of software made for the Windows platform.

“This is a booming sector of the market at the moment,” commented Chris Green, a tech analyst at the Davies Murphy Group consultancy.
“With the falling cost of hardware, schools are looking to families to equip kids with their own computers – the idea of BYOD [bring your own device to class].
“This has prompted manufacturers to create low-cost entry-level laptops that parents then buy for their children as well as themselves.”
Google has pledged not to display ads to children that use the education-related software it provides for its Chrome platform, and does not charge manufactures to use its operating system.

Microsoft’s Surface 3 costs more but can be used with a touchscreen pen and run Windows software

But one expert said the company still hoped to financially benefit in the long-term.
“The key goal here for both Google and Microsoft is to put their brand and services out there in front of kids to build loyalty at a very early age,” said Ronan de Renesse, a consumer technology expert at the Ovum consultancy.
“It’s also a good way to to see whether or not to extend these types of devices to emerging markets, where they could be used outside education by people with very low disposable incomes.”
For now, Google says the new Chromebooks and Chromebits will be limited to the US.
“We hope to make these widely available in the future, however we have nothing more to announce at this time,” said a spokeswoman.

Stick computers

Chrome OS runs web-based software via the firm’s Chrome browser and recently gained the ability to run a limited number of Android apps . The platform is designed to store most of its users’ files in the cloud.
More than five million Chromebooks and Chromebase desktops were sold across the world last year, according to market research firm Gartner.
It forecasts that figure will grow to close to eight million units this year, and 16 million in 2018.
The Chromebits will be made by the Taiwanese manufacturer Asus.
Google said they would cost “less than $100″ and go on sale before the end of the year.

Intel announced its rival Compute Stick in January

The search firm has already had success with the Chromecast, a media streaming dongle with a similar form factor.
In recent months both Intel and Hannspree have launched Windows-powered “PC-on-a-sticks”, albeit at a slightly higher cost.
Such devices require their owners to provide displays, keyboards and other peripherals, but the idea is that many people will already own them.
“People seem to love the idea of having a working computer on something no bigger than a dongle that lets them do web browsing, media streaming and other tasks on a big screen, but can be out of sight, out of mind when needed,” said Mr Green.

Great expectations

The two new laptops have already gone on sale.

The Asus Chromebook Flip will also go on sale shortly

The Haier Chromebook 11 is exclusive to Amazon while the Hisense Chromebook is being sold via Walmart.com.
Both feature an 11.6in (29.5cm) screen and between 8.5 to 10 hours of battery life, but keep their costs low by restricting themselves to 16 gigabytes of storage and 2GB of RAM.
Google also announced a slightly higher priced model, the Asus Chromebook Flip, whose touchscreen can be turned around. It will cost $249 when it goes on sale.
“The [ultra low-cost] sector is still a relatively small part of the entire PC market, but is growing fast, so is important,” commented Mr de Renesse.
“What’s key is to offer some of the lowest prices. But that has to be balanced against the fact that the US is a market with very high consumer expectation, even within schools.”

Facebook opens up Messenger to third-party apps

Mark Zuckerberg said Messenger had more than 600 million regular users

Facebook has confirmed that it is opening up its Messenger service to third-party developers, allowing them to add functions of their own.

It effectively completes the four-year-old software’s transformation from a“lightweight” chat app, spun off from the main Facebook site, into a fully-fledged “platform” of its own.
More than 40 new add-on apps have already been developed so far.
But one expert said there was a risk Messenger would become bloated.

Messenger users will be able to add new types of posts generated with third-party services

Messenger has already proved controversial with some users of the social network, who have complained about having to switch between two apps to stay in touch with their Facebook friends.
Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg announced the move at his firm’s F8 developers conference in San Francisco.
He said more than 600 million people already used Messenger at least once a month to express themselves, and that allowing other social networks and services to directly post to it would make “conversations better”.

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Media captionWATCH: Mark Zuckerberg goes through some of the plans for Facebook’s Messenger app

Among the new apps unveiled are ways to post:

• Looped animated images known as Gifs sourced from the sports TV service ESPN and elsewhere
• Still images from the picture hosting site Imgur
• Computer-generated animal cartoon messages with recorded audio via Talking Tom
• Forecasts from the Weather Channel service
• E-cards from the humour site Jibjab
• Audio files from the Sound Clip

It builds on a move to allow US-based users to send money to and from each other via Messenger, which Facebook announced last week, and the earlier inclusion of Voip (voice over internet protocol) calls and stickers.
Mr Zuckerberg also revealed plans to launch an associated service called Businesses on Messenger.
Using the app instead of email, the public will be able to hold conversations with companies from which they buy goods, or have other interactions with.

Businesses will be able to have conversations with their customers via Messenger

Facebook suggested this could include receiving delivery status updates, organising the return of an order and asking follow-up questions.
The company is far from the first to attempt to turn a messaging app into a wider platform.

WeChat allows users to buy cinema tickets and choose their seats

China’s WeChat service has gone even further by allowing its users to book taxis, pick cinema seats and find nearby restaurants among other actions.
But one expert suggested Facebook should be cautious about the rate at which it adds further facilities to Messenger.
“There’s a potential risk that they are going to overload Messenger with too many functions and none of them become that important – it really depends on how extensive they get with the features that they add over time,” said Brian Blau from the Gartner tech consultancy.
“We have seen something like that happen with Facebook’s Timeline, where you have all these different people competing for your attention.
“So, Facebook won’t want to over-bloat, but it could enable all kinds of interesting scenarios where you can integrate messaging with other apps and services.”

ANALYSIS

Richard Taylor, North America technology correspondent

Right now many of the Messenger apps look fun, if a bit gimmicky.
But over time these new interactions will give Facebook another source of rich information about a user’s interests – and thereby the potential to attract more ad revenue.
Facebook would have taken inspiration from companies like China’s WeChat and Japan’s Line, which have proven successful in building both content and business services atop their core messenger offerings.
But Messenger for Business is an ambitious plan.
It is asking users to supplant more tried-and-tested means like email.
Other communications behemoths like Skype tried – unsuccessfully – to become places to reinvent communications between businesses and their customers.
Will users be happy to shift their business interactions over to Facebook – a platform where, until now, they have been used to dealing primarily with friends?

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Media captionWATCH: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg shows off “spherical video” which will soon be supported on the site.

Other announcements made at F8 included:

• Spherical video – users will soon be able to interact with 360-degree videos in their Facebook News Feeds. These are the type of immersive clips that might have been made for virtual reality headsets. YouTube recently added similar functionality
• Share Sheet – third-party apps will be able to add a new feature that allows them to easily share their own content to Facebook’s various services
• LiveRail – a way for firms to target their video ads using Facebook’s demographic data about its users. Facebook bought LiveRail, which used to be an independent firm, in July for a reported $500m (£336m)