Daily Bits

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iPhone Bows to Android Phones

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It seems that predictions by some experts in the past are coming to life. According to statistics released by Nielsen, smartphones using the Android OS are being used by more people than iPhones. They released the following graphs, which were published by The New York Times yesterday.

As you can see, for quarter two of this year, the number Android OS users has surpassed the number of iPhone users. Indeed, the numbers have been steadily going up since quarter four of 2009, but it was only in the second quarter of this year that the tide truly turned. More from the report:

By the end of 2011, there could be more smartphones in the United States than the less advanced feature phones, according to a report released Monday by the Nielsen Company, a market trends monitor.

The report also notes that the Google Android platform continues to show rapid growth and over the past six months has edged past the Apple iPhone platform with new subscribers.

As the report said, though, in spite of these numbers, it seems that the iPhone is still more sought after than any other kind of mobile phone in the market. The brand and the hype look to be stronger assets than any other set of features out there. Indeed, other stats point to more people switching to the iPhone in the future. However, the fact that this handset is tied to a single carrier just might contribute to declining sales.

Do you think this is the beginning of the end for the iPhone? Are Android phones really better?

The CIA and Google Team Up to Predict the Future

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Remember the movie Minority Report? Yeah, that was a pretty cool movie, but we all know that it’s “just” science fiction. There is no way that it can happen in real life, right?

Think again. It seems that the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States and Google are planning on creating something that will make the possibility of predicting events as reality. There’s this company called Recorded Future, and this is what they do (from their web site):

1. Scour the Web
We continually scan thousands of news publications, blogs, niche sources, trade publications, government web sites, financial databases and more.

2. Extract, rank, and organize
We extract information from text including entities, events, and the time that these events occur. We also measure momentum for each item in our index, as well as sentiment.

3. Make it accessible and useful
You can explore the past, present and predicted future of almost anything. Powerful visualization tools allow you to quickly see temporal patterns, or link networks of related information.

In short, the company monitors the information that can be found online – as much of it as they possibly can – using what they call a temporal analytics engine.

How is this different from what Google and other search engines do now? The key is in the linking of information. What the temporal analytics engine does is to find patterns and relationships amongst documents, web sites, files, etc. Related names, entities, and events will be connected via the engine, and people can analyze the data and connections to somehow piece that past together or even predict the future.

Naturally, the project – and the entities involved – has drawn various reactions. There are those that are quite excited about the possibilities, and there are those who are afraid of the potential dangers this kind of technology brings.

Personally, I think that the dangers are definitely there, but that we really can’t stop the CIA from engaging in this kind of activity.  We do need control and transparency, and we can only hope that it will be so. You?

Go Fast and Accurate with Dragon NaturallySpeaking

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Speech-recognition programs used to be a thing for the future, but I guess we’re in yesterday’s future now. There have been programs promising to deliver in this regard, but the latest from Nuance seems to hold a lot of promise.

Nuance Communications recently launched an updated version of their speech-recognition program with bold promises:

  • 15 percent improvement in accuracy
  • 3 times faster than typing
  • Faster execution of voice commands.

Reading those promises, one can’t help but be excited – if you are into using speech-recognition software. However, not everyone is that impressed with the announcements. David Pogue from the New York Times unenthusiastically says:

This upgrade follows the same philosophy as the last few annual updates. It’s full of nips and tucks, all welcome, all well-executed, though none killer — and the annual improvement in dictation accuracy.

Nuance says the new version is 15 percent more accurate. Which is fine, if barely noticeable (how much better is a 15 percent gain when you’re already getting 99.6 percent accuracy?). More interesting is how it got there.

He does have a point about the gain in accuracy, doesn’t he?

In any case, you can check out a demo video below.

You can purchase the new program – it has several versions – from Nuance’s web site. The cheapest comes in at $99.99 (Home).

Jailbreak Away with DCMA Revision

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Jailbreaking, unlocking mobile phones, and ripping DVDs/CDs – these are activities that common decent people do on a regular basis. Yes, even if they are technically illegal. With the recent developments in American law, however, you can now engage in these activities with impunity – with certain qualifications, of course.

The Library of Congress has just announced a ruling paving way for unlocking cell phones so that they can be used with other networks for one. The Copyright Office of the Library of Congress reviewed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA), which is supposed to be reviewed every three years. The result is something that is making the general public happy. [Read more…] about Jailbreak Away with DCMA Revision

Antenn-aid: The Band-Aid for Your iPhone

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It all started out as a joke. You know how some people respond to an irritatingly serious problem with humor? Well, these guys did just that.

We’ve all been hearing about the antenna problems of the iPhone 4, and even the press conference that Apple held has not really given concrete solutions. Instead of banging their heads against the wall (like some people you may know), Szymon Weglarski and Jon Dorfman decided to have some fun.

The two designers designed and created Band-Aid looking things that fit exactly onto the bottom left part of the iPhone 4. Dubbed, Antenn-aid, the product is being sold on Etsy, where the designers opened a store about a week ago. Little did they know how much of hit their product would be!

Since they opened the Etsy store, they have been swamped with orders. Indeed, if you check the store now, you will see that they have announcement to the effect that they are behind 4 to 5 days in delivering orders. It’s but understandable as they are not following a mass production set up.

So what is the Antenn-aid for, aside from an intended joke? The colorful bandages can actually improve the signal performance of your iPhone. In spite of its being the coolest most magical phone out there today, it seems that the only solution for now is to put the Antenn-aid at the bottom left. At least you have several color choices. 😉

Buy the Antenn-aid for $4.99 (6-pack).

15 Things You Didn’t Know About Steve Jobs Infographic

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I have been spending a lot of my time discovering infographics, courtesy of a co-writer whose posts on Forever Geek opened up this world to me. When I ran across an infographic on Steve Jobs, I knew I had to post it.

We all know who Steve Jobs is, of course. Anyone who hasn’t been living under a rock or in a cave in the past 5 or so years would know all about Apple, iPods, the iPhone, and the iPad. The messianic character behind the company – Steve Jobs. [Read more…] about 15 Things You Didn’t Know About Steve Jobs Infographic