Free shipping is a top priority for online shoppers, but many merchants are struggling to keep up with the costs.
Free shipping is a top priority for online shoppers, but many merchants are struggling to keep up with the costs.
When shopping online, you tend to run into the lie pretty quickly.
Today, Google’s Threat Analysis group disclosed a critical vulnerability in Windows in a public post on the company’s security blog. The bug itself is very specific — allowing attackers to escape from security sandboxes through a flaw in the win32k system — but it’s serious enough to be categorized as critical, and according to Google, it’s being actively exploited. As a result, Google went public just 10 days after reporting the bug to Microsoft, before a patch could be coded and deployed. The result is that, while Google has already deployed a fix to protect Chrome users, Windows itself is still vulnerable — and now, everybody knows it.
Google’s disclosure provides only a general description of the bug, giving users enough information...
So here it is, the future of the MacBook Pro, and it's full of adapters.
The new MacBook Pros exclusively feature USB-C ports, which means your old USB accessories and peripherals wont plug into the new MacBook Pro without an adapter.
We're not particularly fond of adapters. They're "extra" bits to worry about, and add extra cost to connecting our old stuff, which cost no money to connect in the past.
It'll take some time until everyone eventually replaces their old accessories with new models that support USB-C. Until then, we've found a few that could ease the transition.
Check them out:
SEE ALSO: 5 reasons why LG's new 5K displays work so well with Apple's new MacBook Pros
A single, clean, and simple USB-C to USB 3 adapter for the person who connects only one peripheral or accessory at a time to their laptop. You could also use it to plug in your regular multi-USB hub, too.
You could get a new monitor that has USB-C for the new MacBook Pros, or you could just get an adapter, which won't cost you as much.
The Multiport adapter, also from Moshi, has an HDMI port that will let you plug into your legacy monitor. Yes, monitors without USB-C are now entering the "legacy" status.
Satechi's Aluminum Multi-Port 4K HDMI Adapter gives you the three USB 3.0 ports, one HDMI port, one Ethernet port, one USB-C port, an SD card port, and a microSD card port.
With the Ethernet and USB-C ports, it gives the new MacBook Pro more ports than the previous MacBook Pros.
The pay TV industry is losing customers, but prices continue to climb.
In fact, for US cable TV in particular, price increases have outpaced inflation for every single one of the past 20 years, according to a recent FCC report surfaced by CordCutting.com. Every one!
In 1995, cable cost $22.35 per month, on average. In 2015, it was $69.03. And the climb has been steady. Here's a chart showing how prices have gone up:
Now, it does makes sense for prices to go up for goods like cable as long as there is inflation. But cable's increases are more than double that of inflation. On average, cable prices went up 5.8% yearly for the past 20 years. Inflation clocked in at 2.2% per year, on average.
Here's a chart that shows how that tracks to inflation:
Though there has been grumbling about the high prices of cable for quite some time, it has lately taken on a more serious air.
That's because there is evidence that the pay-TV industry is experiencing a hiccup — or the start of a long-term decline. The pay-TV industry lost 800,000 subscribers last quarter, according to the research firm SNL Kagan.
"About 82% of households that use a TV currently subscribe to a pay-TV service," Bruce Leichtman of Leichtman Research said in a statement last month. "This is down from where it was five years ago, and similar to the penetration level eleven years ago."
This fact is not lost of cable and satellite providers.
Some, like AT&T/DirecTV, are trying to get out ahead of a potential change in consumption patterns. One tactic is an investment in "streaming TV," which delivers channels over the internet. The advantage is you can access it wherever you are, using your phone, TV, tablet, and so on. (Someone still has to pay for the data, however).
The big news in this category has come from AT&T, which just announced that its DirecTV Now streaming service will give customers 100+ channels for $35, without a satellite dish, when it launches in November. That's a huge savings over your average DirecTV packages.
AT&T's thesis is that it can undercut the price of a normal pay TV package by getting rid of legacy equipment, and succeed in luring "cord-cutters" and "cord-nevers" back into the ecosystem. DirecTV Now will target the 20 million people in the US who don't have pay-TV, but the company plans for it to be the company's primary TV platform by 2020, according to Bloomberg. That would be a huge shift for the industry.
DirecTV Now will join current streaming TV leader Sling TV, which recently passed 1 million subscribers, and offers a low-cost package that gives you ~25 channels for $20 per month. Hulu, YouTube, and even Amazon are reportedly prepping their own streaming TV services.
The next few months will show whether these new packages kickstart growth for the pay-TV industry, and whether or not they cannibalize existing customers.
SEE ALSO: AT&T's new streaming TV service will give you 100+ channels for $35 a month
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CenturyLink has agreed to buy Level 3 Communications in a cash and stock deal valued at $34 billion, including debt.
In a statement Monday, the telecom company said its acquisition of the internet-service provider will give it an additional 200,000 route miles of fiber, and raise the number of on-net buildings it services to about 75,000.
"The digital economy relies on broadband connectivity, and together with Level 3 we will have one of the most robust fiber network and high-speed data services companies in the world," said Glen Post, CenturyLink CEO, in the announcement.
Level 3 shareholders will get $26.50 per share in cash for approximately 1.43 shares of CenturyLink stock for each Level 3 share they own. That implies a price of $66.50 per Level 3 share, a 42% premium to where they traded on Thursday before reports of the deal.
CenturyLink will fund the deal through a combination of cash on hand and about $7 billion in debt, financed by Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
When the deal closes, Post will be chief executive of the combined company.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley were CenturyLink's financial advisors, while Citigroup advised Level 3.
CenturyLink shares fell 8% in pre-market trading, while Level 3 gained 4%.
Here's the full statement:
CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) and Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) today announced that their Boards of Directors have unanimously approved a definitive merger agreement under which CenturyLink will acquire Level 3 in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $34 billion, including the assumption of debt. Under terms of the agreement, Level 3 shareholders will receive $26.50 per share in cash and a fixed exchange ratio of 1.4286 shares of CenturyLink stock for each Level 3 share they own, which implies a purchase price of $66.50 per Level 3 share (based on a CenturyLink $28.00 per share reference price) and a premium of approximately 42 percent based on Level 3's unaffected closing share price of $46.92 on October 26, 2016, the last trading day prior to market speculation about a potential transaction. Upon the closing of the transaction, CenturyLink shareholders will own approximately 51 percent and Level 3 shareholders will own approximately 49 percent of the combined company.
The combined company will have the ability to offer CenturyLink's larger enterprise customer base the benefits of Level 3's global footprint with a combined presence in more than 60 countries. In addition, the combined company will be positioned to further invest in the reach and speeds of its broadband infrastructure for small businesses and consumers.
"The digital economy relies on broadband connectivity, and together with Level 3 we will have one of the most robust fiber network and high-speed data services companies in the world," said Glen Post, CenturyLink Chief Executive Officer and President. "This transaction furthers our commitment to providing our customers with the network to improve their lives and strengthen their businesses. It is this focus on providing fiber connectivity that will continue to distinguish CenturyLink from our competitors. CenturyLink shareholders will benefit from the significant synergies and financial flexibility provided by the combined company's revenue growth and strong cash flow. For employees, this combination will bring together two highly customer-focused organizations and provide employees growth and advancement opportunities the companies could not offer separately."
"This is a compelling transaction for our customers, shareholders and employees," said Jeff Storey, President and Chief Executive Officer of Level 3. "In addition to the substantial value delivered to shareholders, the combined company will be uniquely positioned to meet the evolving and global needs of enterprise customers."
Strategic and Financial Benefits
Management, Board and Location
After the close of the transaction, Glen Post will continue to serve as Chief Executive Officer and President and Sunit Patel, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Level 3, will serve as Chief Financial Officer of the combined company.
The Chairman of CenturyLink's Board at the time of the closing of the transaction will continue to serve as Chairman of the combined company. CenturyLink has agreed to appoint four Level 3 Board members at closing, one of whom will be a representative of STT Crossing (a wholly owned subsidiary of ST Telemedia).
The combined company will be headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana and will maintain a significant presence in Colorado and the Denver metropolitan area.
Financing and Approvals
CenturyLink intends to finance the cash portion of the transaction and pay related fees and expenses through a combination of cash on hand at CenturyLink and Level 3, and approximately $7 billion of additional indebtedness. In connection therewith, CenturyLink has received financing commitments from BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC totaling approximately $10.2 billion for new secured debt facilities, comprised of a new $2 billion secured revolving credit facility and approximately $8.2 billion of other secured debt facilities, including the refinancing of indebtedness expected to mature prior to closing of the transaction. All existing indebtedness of Level 3 is expected to remain in place at Level 3 and Level 3 will not incur any incremental indebtedness or guarantee any indebtedness of CenturyLink to finance the transaction.
The companies anticipate closing the transaction by the end of third quarter 2017. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, including expiration or termination of the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, review by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, certain state regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The transaction is also subject to the approval of CenturyLink and Level 3 shareholders.
CenturyLink has entered into a voting agreement with STT Crossing (a wholly owned subsidiary of ST Telemedia), holder of approximately 18 percent of Level 3's outstanding common stock, pursuant to which it will vote its Level 3 shares in favor of the transaction.
CenturyLink and Level 3 Third Quarter 2016 Earnings Results
In separate press releases issued today, CenturyLink and Level 3 announced earnings results for the third quarter 2016. In light of today's transaction and third quarter earnings announcements, CenturyLink and Level 3 have both cancelled their previously announced calls for Wednesday, November 2, 2016 and Thursday, November 3, 2016, respectively. A joint presentation will be available at www.centurylink.com and www.level3.com.
Advisors
BofA Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC acted as CenturyLink's financial advisors, and Evercore provided a fairness opinion. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Jones Walker are acting as CenturyLink's legal advisors. Citigroup acted as financial advisor to Level 3, and Lazard provided a fairness opinion. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP acted as legal advisor to Level 3. Latham & Watkins acted as legal advisor and Credit Suisse acted as financial advisor to ST Telemedia.
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At 35, the personal computer is not only not dead, it has never been stronger or more attractive.
A version of this essay was originally published at Tech.pinions, a website dedicated to informed opinions, insight and perspective on the tech industry.
By all rights, it should be dead by now. I mean, really: A market based on a tech product that first came to market over 35 years ago?
And yet here we stand in the waning days of October 2016, and the biggest news expected to come out of the tech industry this week are PC announcements from two of the largest companies in the world: Apple and Microsoft. It’s like we’re in some kind of a weird time warp. (Of course, the Cubs are poised to win their first World Series in over 100 years, so who knows?)
There’s just something to be said for the large-screen computing experience that only PCs can truly provide.
The development must be particularly surprising to those who bought into the whole “PC is dead” school of thought. According to the proselytizers of this movement, tablets should have clearly taken over the world by now. But that sure didn’t happen. While PC shipments have certainly taken their lumps, tablets never reached anything close to PCs from a shipments perspective. In fact, tablet shipments have now been declining for more than three years.
After tablets, smartwatches were supposed to be the next-generation personal computing device. Recent shipment data from IDC, however, suggests that smartwatches are in for an even worse fate than tablets. A little more than a year and a half after being widely introduced to the market, smartwatch shipments are tanking. Not exactly a good sign for what was supposed to be the “next big thing.”
Of course, PCs continue to face their challenges as well, particularly consumer PCs. After peaking in Q4 of 2011, worldwide PC shipments have been on a slow, steady decline ever since. Interestingly, however, U.S. PC shipments have actually turned around recently, and are now on a modestly increasing growth curve.
The reason for this is that PCs have continued to prove their usefulness and value to a wide range of people, especially in business environments. PCs are certainly not the only computing device that people are using anymore, but for many, they remain the go-to productivity device, and for others, they still play an important role.
To put it simply, there’s just something to be said for the large-screen computing experience that only PCs can truly provide. More importantly, it’s not clear to me that there’s anything poised to truly replace that experience in the near term.
PCs have actually never been stronger or more attractive tech devices — it’s more like a personal computer renaissance than a personal computer extinction.
Another big reason for the PC’s longevity is that it has been on a path of constant and relatively consistent evolution since its earliest days. Driven in part by the semiconductor manufacturing advances enabled by Moore’s law, a great deal of credit also needs to be given to chip designers at Intel, AMD and nVidia, among others, who have created incredibly powerful devices. Similarly, OS and application software advances by Apple, Microsoft and many others have created environments that more than a billion people are able to use to work, play and communicate with on a daily basis.
There have also been impressive improvements in the physical designs of PCs. After a few false starts at delivering thin-and-light notebooks, for example, the super-slim ultrabook offerings from the likes of Dell (XPS13), HP (Spectre X360) and Lenovo (ThinkPad X1) have caught up to and arguably even surpassed Apple’s still-impressive MacBook Air. At the same time, to the surprise of many, Microsoft’s Surface has successfully spawned a whole new array of 2-in-1 and convertible PC designs that has brought new life to the PC market as well. It’s easy to take for granted now, but you can finally get the combination of performance, weight, size and battery life that many have always wanted in a PC.
Frankly, PCs have actually never been stronger or more attractive tech devices — it’s more like a personal computer renaissance than a personal computer extinction. The fact that we’ll likely be talking about the latest additions to this market later this week says a great deal about the role that PCs still have to play.
Bob O’Donnell is the founder and chief analyst of Technalysis Research LLC, a technology consulting and market research firm that provides strategic consulting and market research services to the technology industry and professional financial community. Reach him @bobodtech.
Apple and Microsoft have both announced new computers this week built for professionals, and while the companies' hardware may be very different, the way they're selling these new devices is eerily similar. Check out the MacBook Pro overview from Apple above, then watch Microsoft's introduction for the Surface Studio. Okay, so one has a Jony Ive voiceover and the other has a dramatic cover of "Pure Imagination," but the general arc of the videos — the narrative they're trying to tell the consumer — is the same.
We start with the camera lingering on polished, machined surfaces; gleaming chrome and impregnable aluminum. The inner components break apart as if in zero gravity, giving us a chance to see how each individual part fits...
The hacker who obtained access to the Apple and Google accounts of more than 100 well-known celebrities — including Jennifer Lawrence and Rihanna — has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, the Guardian reported.
Ryan Collins, a 36-year-old from Pennsylvania, tricked his victims by sending them fake Apple or Google emails asking them to provide their username and passwords. He accessed more than 100 accounts, many belonging to female celebrities.
However, it appears that Collins might not be "OriginalGuy," the 4Chan user who dumped his massive collection of nude celebrity photos online in August 2014, causing mayhem. That person remains unidentified.
Collins sometimes used a software program to download the Apple iCloud backups on his victims' accounts, the US Attorney office said. Investigators identified over 600 victims in total — Collins also ran a modeling scam where he got victims to send him nude photos directly.
The sentencing comes after a two year investigation by the FBI which began following a particular online post that became known as "Celebgate" — a collection of almost 500 private pictures of over 100 mostly-female celebrities — on the internet forum 4chan. Victims included Avril Lavigne, Kim Kardashian, Kirsten Dunst, Aubrey Plaza, Winona Ryder — as well as Jennifer Lawrence and Rihanna.
However, the US Attorney said: "investigators have not uncovered any evidence linking Collins to the actual leaks [in Celebgate] or that Collins shared or uploaded the information he obtained".
He was sentenced for his sophisticated scheme to obtain usersnames and passwords — which officials said he engaged in from November 2012 until the beginning of September 2014. The official conviction was on "felony violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act".
Collins pleaded guilty to the computer hacking felony back in May, on one count of "unauthorised access to a protected computer to obtain information". Illinois man Edward Majerczyck, 28, also pleaded guilty to the same felony, months later. Like Collins, federal authorities said they had found no evidence linking him to actual public circulation of any of the photos to which he gained access.
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Third-party USB-C hubs are notoriously a disaster. They overheat, are missing crucial ports, or the ports they have are underpowered, and on many of the ones we’ve tested, the SD card readers consistently fail to work.. If you can't tell, I own a 12-inch MacBook, and I, along with a few other Verge coworkers who own the laptop have used just about every viable USB-C hub to date, with less than stellar results.
Apple's multiport adapter is the best option — but only by default. It works fine, but only has three ports, no SD card reader, no MiniDisplay port, and no extra USB-C ports. It's not exactly pushing the world of USB-C peripherals forward and its overpriced for what it offers. But! We may finally have a decent option hitting the...
Delta's RFID tags are just the start of a push toward better bag-tracking tech.
Delta's RFID tags are just the start of a push toward better bag-tracking tech.
Anyone who flies on a regular basis is likely to have a luggage horror story, whether it's a crucial missed connection, a mistaken suitcase, or a bag left on the tarmac as the plane leaves the gate.
But it is still the sixth straight profitable quarter.
For three straight quarters, Amazon posted a new record for profits, shooting fear into competitors who have mocked it for not making money. Well, the streak is over.
Jeff Bezos’s company did post a profit in the third quarter — $252 million, or 52 cents per share — but it was both below analyst estimates of 78 cents a share and well below the record quarterly profit of $857 million that Amazon reached in the second quarter.
The company’s forecast of fourth-quarter operating income of between $0 and $1.25 billion also is below analyst expectations, even at the top end, according to the earnings cheat sheet from RBC Capital’s Mark Mahaney. The company’s shipping costs rose 43 percent in the quarter as Amazon continues to speed up delivery times with offerings like the one-hour delivery service Prime Now.
Amazon’s stock was trading down 6 percent in after-hours trading.
In a call with reporters, Amazon Chief Financial Officer Brian Olsavsky noted that Amazon typically posts a smaller profit in the third quarter as it spends more money to prepare itself for the demands of the holiday fourth quarter. To that end, Olsavsky reminded reporters of the 18 new warehouses that he previously announced were going to open in the third quarter to handle the holiday rush. The company’s previous record for quarterly warehouse openings was 11, he said.
“There are certainly cost penalties to start up new warehouses,” he said.
Amazon’s CFO also reiterated that the company has been spending more on acquiring and producing video content that it streams to Amazon Prime and Prime Video members.
On the bright side, Amazon did meet revenue expectations with $32.7 billion in net sales for the quarter. Revenue in the Amazon Web Services business, which leases computing power and data storage to internet companies, grew 55 percent year over year to $3.2 billion. The AWS division continues to be the company’s most profitable, with operating income of $861 million in the quarter.
The third quarter also marked the sixth quarter in a row that Amazon has registered some profit.
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Apple's newest computer, the MacBook Pro, looks pretty great: It's got fast chips, a good screen, MacOS, and a new kind of touchscreen keyboard it's calling the Touch Bar.
But I'm personally worried that buying the new MacBook Pro will doom me to carrying around various dongles for years, or as long as I'm in Apple's ecosystem. And you should be worried about that too.
In the company's zeal to move to next-generation connectors and future-proof devices, Apple's created a morass of different cords, dongles, and standards.
Take a user who has an iPhone 7 and new MacBook Pro. That's Apple's core customer: someone with disposable income who wants the best computers.
This person needs to think hard about what cords they are going to carry from day to day. The iPhone and MacBook Pro use different chargers, so that person would have to carry both. iPhones use Apple's proprietary Lightning charger. The new MacBooks use the relatively new open USB-C standard.
(That's not a big deal, although it's worth pointing out that if this person had a Google Pixel phone instead of an iPhone, their phone and computer could use the same charger. That's not very elegant, Apple.) 
Things get worse when you consider headphones. The new MacBook Pro has a headphone jack, so you can plug basically any pair of headphones into it. The iPhone 7, as you've probably heard, does not.
Customers can use the dongle that comes with the iPhone 7 to use their laptop headphones with their iPhone. But if someone wants to use the Lightning Earpods that come with the iPhone 7, there's no way to plug them into your laptop, unless Apple makes another dongle — some kind of male USB-C-to-female-Lightning adapter.
Of course, what Apple wants you to do is buy its new AirPods, which cost $159, and need to be charged too. AirPods haven't gone on sale yet because Apple says they're not ready.
And finally, just try to charge your phone from your laptop using the cord that comes with your iPhone. You can't — unless you have yet another adapter (this one USB-C to USB), which Apple will sell you for $19. A USB-C to Lightning Cable costs $25.
Apple's insistence on using Lightning as its proprietary standard on its phone makes its choice to commit to USB-C on Mac a confusing one.
I understand that ports change and technology has to change with it. But the whole reason to adopt open standards like USB-C is so things can be standardized. And USB-C can do a lot of different things, like power a monitor — so it can certainly charge a phone, handle headphones, or anything else Lightning does.
It's madness. Apple's head of design Jony Ive said last month that "we believe in a wireless future." But my immediate future — deciding whether or not I buy a new MacBook Pro — looks to be full of different cords and dongles.
#AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/ECpJ1dwEOK
— Arvid Bräne ✌️ (@Kodagrux) October 27, 2016
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Apple has unveiled the new MacBook Pro and the most interesting part of it by far is the Touch Bar — a strip of touch-sensitive, context-aware display that replaces the function keys above the keyboard. Buttons on the Touch Bar change depending on the software you're using, so that when you're in your mail app, for example, it'll show you a button for deleting emails, whereas in a photo app it'll let you crop or rotate an image.
The most useful keys will stick round in most contexts (that includes brightness and volume controls on the far right, and the escape key on the far left), but the rest will change based on what you're doing, with third-party developers able to add their own functionality. There's going to be a lot you can do...
By Dana Mattioli and Dana Cimilluca, Dow Jones Newswires
CenturyLink Inc. is in advanced talks to merge with Level 3 Communications Inc., a deal that would give the business-telecommunications companies greater heft in a brutally competitive industry.
A deal could be announced in the coming weeks, according to people familiar with the matter. As always, there is a possibility the talks could fall apart.
Terms of the deal couldn’t be learned. As of Thursday afternoon before the Journal’s report of the talks, Broomfield-based Level 3 had a market value of $16.8 billion. CenturyLink, based in Monroe, La., was worth $15.2 billion.
Shares in Level 3 were up 11 percent at $52.28, while CenturyLink shares were up 8.3 percent at $30.58 on Thursday afternoon after the Journal’s report.
CenturyLink gets about two-thirds of its revenue from business customers, while Level 3’s comes entirely from that segment.
Level 3, which traditionally focused on so-called enterprise customers, was one of the biggest telecom operators to survive the dot-com bust. The company runs one of the largest internet backbones in the world but has turned its focus increasingly to small and midsize business in an attempt to reverse slowing sales growth in its core business.
Year to date, the company’s stock had fallen more than 14 percent before the talks were reported. Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. is Level 3’s largest shareholder, with 18 percent of its stock, according to FactSet. Level 3 is scheduled to report third-quarter earnings next week.
CenturyLink, traditionally a rural local-phone-service provider, has sought to upgrade its network with fiber-optic lines in a bid to compete with AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and rivals in the cable industry. The company has also branched into hosting and cloud services, though lately it has been looking to sell some of its data centers. CenturyLink operates more than 55 data centers, according to its website.
The so-called wireline business of running telephone and internet lines has suffered from brutal competition over the past 15 years, hurt by plummeting prices for network bandwidth and high capital costs.
The possible deal also illustrates both companies’ dwindling acquisition opportunities in the sector after years of consolidation.
Both companies have historically been acquisitive. In 2014, Level 3 bought TW Telecom for about $6 billion. In 2011, it bought rival Global Crossing Ltd. for roughly $2 billion.
CenturyLink, formerly called CenturyTel, has also been a voracious acquirer. In 2011, it bought Qwest Communications International for $11 billion and Savvis Inc. for about $2 billion, two years after it purchased Embarq Corp. for about $6 billion.
There has been a wave of deal making among technology, media and telecom companies in the past couple years, with more than $750 billion struck globally just this year, according to Dealogic. While that lags behind the tally up to this point last year, which represented a high mark for mergers and acquisitions across the board, it is more than in any other year since 2000.
On Thursday, semiconductor company Qualcomm Inc. agreed to buy NXP Semiconductors NV in a $39 billion deal. It is the largest chip merger to date and the second-largest marriage of technology companies, after Dell Inc.’s recent acquisition of EMC Corp. for $67 billion.
Overall deal volume is down from last year, but the gap is closing as a number of blockbusters have been agreed to in the past week, including AT&T Inc.’s $85 billion plan to buy Time Warner Inc.
Drew FitzGerald contributed to this article.
Samsung’s mobile operation has taken a big hit of late, with profits plunging 30 percent in the last quarter in the wake of the Note 7 recall. But today, the company is announcing an acquisition of a wireless enterprise startup that speaks to how it wants to grow other areas of its business to offset setbacks like this, as well as the larger overall slowdown in handset sales… Read MoreMicrosoft just debuted its first desktop PC — the Surface Studio. An extremely thin computer with a touchscreen display, the Surface Studio is designed for high-end computing and can bend up and down to adapt to how the user wants to use it.
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On Wednesday, Microsoft held an event in which it showed off a whole bunch of 3D software baked into Windows 10, a new Surface PC that competes with the iMac and an interesting new device for the Surface line of PCs called the SurfaceDial.
This is a dial device that you use in addition to a mouse, a digital pen and a touchscreen. It lets you manipulate the images on your screen, so you can do things like bring up new color palettes, adjust volume and screen brightness, or even scroll through a big document.
Now add in Microsoft HoloLens, its augmented reality device that will cost about $300, and all the cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) services Microsoft is offering developers, and you've got a company that is truly impressing people with a new wave of innovation.
Contrast this with the company previously known as the monarch of innovation: Apple. Apple is the company that brought us the iPod, the iPhone, the tablet, the first verbal digital assistant, Siri. On Tuesday, after reporting its first decline in revenue since 2001, with shrinking shipments across all products, an analyst asked Tim Cook the unthinkable question: Was the company now just a follower of other's innovations? (Cook was none too pleased with the question, or the implication.)
None of this was lost on people watching Microsoft's event. One thing people tweeted over and over again during the event: Microsoft is now officially more innovative than Apple.
Microsoft is officially more innovative than Apple. Keep It up, I love the products launched. Amazing #MicrosoftEvent
— Abhishek Pratap (@AbhishekPrtp) October 26, 2016
Ok. Break time is over. @Apple needs to get back to being hungry. I hope they’re watching this #MicrosoftEvent
— Ish (@ishabazz) October 26, 2016
I'm an Apple shill and the #MicrosoftEvent is giving me an existential crisis.
— Ramsey Yunis (@SirRamsalot) October 26, 2016
OMG *drool* a 28″ Tablet you can draw with stylus on… if only I could get that from Apple…#MicrosoftEvent
— Cocoanetics (@Cocoanetics) October 26, 2016
Pretty sure Jonny Ive stolen by Microsoft and now internally trolling Apple. Explains switch in design leader #SurfaceStudio #MicrosoftEvent pic.twitter.com/VHYlXPD6Bn
— Ryan Daws (@Gadget_Ry) October 26, 2016
Microsoft is beating Apple at courting the professional and creative market.
Microsoft is becoming cooler than Apple. #MicrosoftEvent
— Richard Padilla (@chadvictory) October 26, 2016
it seems all the "wow" factors have moved from Apple to Microsoft this year #microsoftevent
— Duk Dik (@dukeydickey) October 6, 2015
And, just for kicks, here are the tweets from two former Microsoft outsiders that Microsoft bought to help spur innovation, Javier Soltero, the co-founder and CEO of Acompli now running the Outlook team.
This machine is amazing. The combination of touch & Surface Dial is a genuinely new and intuitive way of interacting with a computer. https://t.co/vywCYFTYHW
— Javier Soltero (@jsoltero) October 26, 2016
And Nat Friedman, the co-founder of app-development platform Xamarin, now owned by Microsoft.
Surface Studio: the size of the screen and the "drafting table" angle are just amazing. pic.twitter.com/nmKit8RH7O
— Nat Friedman (@natfriedman) October 26, 2016
Here's Microsoft's 90-second recap of the event and all the stuff it showed off.
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Despite an early start, Apple is playing catch up to rivals like Google and Amazon when it comes to gadgets infused with artificial intelligence such as Amazon's Echo home speaker.
But while Amazon's Echo has proven popular with consumers, Apple CEO Tim Cook doesn't think home speakers are the future.
The reason: A home speaker isn't with you all the time.
During Apple's quarterly earnings conference call on Tuesday, Cook said the phone will remain the primary device with which consumers interact with the new breed of virtual assistants.
"I think that most people would like an assistant with them all the time," Cook said. "I think the advantage of one on the phone will likely be much greater... we've shipped more assistant-enabled devices than probably anyone out there."
Still, Cook didn't totally dismiss the category of assistants in the home, calling it a "nice market." Apple has been developing its own Siri-powered competitor, according to Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, but it's unclear if the product will ever launch.
Cook also reiterated Apple's stance that AI should still be useful without compromising privacy.
"It's a false tradeoff that you have to give up privacy in order to have AI do something for you," Cook said. "We don't buy that."
It's a fair point, but Cook's argument falls flat, at least for now. Siri continues to be panned for not being as capable as the competition, despite launching five years ago.
On its first try, Google launched an amazing assistant called Google Assistant on the new Pixel phone. You can read more about that here, but the main reason it's so good is because it's able to tap into your data stored in all of Google's services like Gmail, search, Photos, and Calendar.
However, Cook hinted that Apple may be able to improve Siri, saying it would "take a different kind of work" in order to maintain privacy.
SEE ALSO: How Google embarrassed Apple
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NOW WATCH: We got our hands on the Home — Google’s answer to the Amazon Echo
Earlier this year, Delta introduced new RFID luggages tags to let airports and passengers more accurately track and identify bags. Now, the airline has updated its app to take this feature one step further — letting users track their bags on their mobiles. "From the moment our customers drop off their bag, we want them to know we’re looking out for it every step of the way and working to take the stress out of flying," said Delta's SVP of airline operations Bill Lentsch in a press statement. More importantly, the company thinks RFID tags will lead to a 10 percent decrease in misplaced baggage.
The tracking isn't as accurate as the GPS...
Step No. 1: Strong passwords.
Last Friday, major portions of the internet shut down after an attack seized control of hundreds of thousands of internet-connected devices that were then weaponized to route hundreds of gigabytes of junk traffic at once to Dyn, a popular domain name service provider. It was more than Dyn could process, and websites like Twitter, the New York Times and Netflix were offline for hours.
Hackers were able to commandeer internet-connected devices that failed to properly password protect their connection or continued to use the easily crackable factory-default password after installation.
While the onus of securing electronics primarily falls on the hardware and software manufacturers — as well as federal regulators — responsible for bringing products safely to market, there are steps device owners should take to make sure their home machines don’t become part of a malicious bot-army.
The first line of defense against hackers is to password protect your Wi-Fi router. The factory-given password isn’t good enough. Create your own unique passphrase, a sequence of words that’s likely to be much stronger than whatever alphanumeric password you may typically use across accounts (an ill-advised practice).
Also, change your router’s network ID name from the default given with the device, which will make it harder for attackers to know the kind of hardware you use.
Don’t buy internet-connected devices that don’t allow you to password protect the connection. And as soon as you install a new device, change the factory-set password immediately.
Routers more than a few years old should be replaced. And don’t use the router provided by your Internet provider, as they are notorious for having security flaws.
Turn on your router’s encryption — WPA2 is a trusted standard in most router settings.
If any of your devices signal that it’s time for a software update, do not delay. Install the updated software immediately in case any security vulnerabilities were patched.
Disconnect your devices from the internet when they’re not in use or if you have no need for that level of networking. Many devices only need to connect to other devices on your home network and don’t require full access to the world wide web.
Some devices, though, do require internet connectivity, which is fine. Just make sure they’re properly locked down.
Elgato is releasing the first in-wall light switch with support for Apple’s HomeKit. The device replaces a standard light switch and can be used to control either smart light bulbs or any normal bulbs that happen to be screwed into the outlets it controls.
While a light switch isn’t necessarily the most exciting new product, this is a pretty meaningful addition to the HomeKit ecosystem. HomeKit has plenty of smart light bulbs, but you’ve (largely) been stuck turning them on and off through an app. For something that’s supposed to be “smart,” that’s pretty inconvenient — sometimes, it’s just much, much easier to flip a light switch on or off.
A smart switch may be more important than a smart light
That’s now possible in a natural way,...
It’ll go on sale next year to Google apps customers for “under $6,000.”
Google’s newest gadget is for your office: Today, the company is announcing Jamboard, a new cloud-connected digital whiteboard that hooks into its “G Suite” of apps for corporate customers.
The Jamboard itself is a Google-designed, 55-inch 4K touchscreen display that runs Android and a new app for whiteboarding.
It includes a built-in camera and speakers and can recognize up to 16 simultaneous touch inputs. (It can also tell the difference between human fingers and its no-batteries-or-Bluetooth-pairing-necessary stylus and eraser accessories.) You can mount it to a wall or wheel it around on a custom stand. Google will start selling the device next year, starting at “under $6,000.”
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Google
But like most of Google’s suite of business apps, the real point is the software and its collaborative cloud service.
As you might expect, inside a “Jam” session, you can draw, type, import and scribble on images and Google Docs, search the web in a mini-browser, communicate with colleagues via Google Hangout and keep a digital record of your work in Google Drive. Teams using multiple Jamboards can work together on the same project in real time, as long as there’s internet access.
There’s also a full-featured tablet app for iOS and Android (so others can participate without a Jamboard) and a simpler version of the app for smartphones. Companies can test the concept just using these apps, though Google (obviously) thinks the huge touchscreen is a big part of the equation. It has been testing the software and devices with about 30 teams internally and with external partners including Netflix and Spotify.
The move comes as Google is trying to play a deeper role as a software-tools provider for organizations — ranging from its popular corporate version of Gmail to newer, cloud-based infrastructure services — and diversify its business from web advertising, which still represents 90 percent of its revenue.
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Google
Google is particularly proud that it designed the hardware and software in tandem.
That’s a concept that has historically been more associated with, say, Apple, or even increasingly Microsoft, one of its chief rivals in business services. Microsoft offers touchscreen “Surface Hub” displays, also marketed as tools for teamwork, in 55- and 84-inch models.
But Google is increasingly playing this game — see its recent Home speaker device or its high-end Pixel smartphones — and doing an impressive job. The Jamboard is certainly memorable, covered in a luxurious-feeling, matte, soft-touch plastic. (The team had considered fabric as a cover material, to fit in with conference rooms, someone who worked on the device told me. That would have been interesting.) And while it’ll be available in blue or gray options, the company will be pushing a bold, bright red version as its main color.
Google unveiled the device at a small press event yesterday in San Francisco, linked via real-time Jamboard session and Google Hangout to a team in the company’s New York office. The software generally seemed to work without any major lag or bugs, though some things drawn remotely showed up as a tad jerky on the receiving end. In a brief hands-on demo, the display itself looked fine, if a bit harsh on the eyes. And from my seat across the conference room, the screen’s glossy front coating reflected a little more ceiling light than I’d like.
Still, it seems like an interesting option for teams that seek to collaborate more visually in meetings — especially those split among multiple offices or with remote teammates.
Don’t miss: Google’s cloud and enterprise boss Diane Greene will speak next month at our newest Recode conference, Nov. 14-15 in San Francisco. Click here to learn more and to register.
Google is moving into office hardware today with Jamboard, a new 4K digital whiteboard. Just like Microsoft's Surface Hub, Google's Jamboard is a 55-inch 4K touchscreen, but Google is using Android and a new whiteboard app to power its giant display. It's a direct move for Google's continued competition with Microsoft in businesses and the enterprise, and the Jamboard is designed for businesses who already use Google Apps.
Google's screen supports up to 16 simultaneous touch inputs (compared to 100 on the Surface hub), and includes a stylus, built-in camera, and speakers. The Jamboard will let Google Apps users create "Jam" sessions to collaborate on documents, and draw, type, or modify them as teams over Google Hangout calls.
Logitech is releasing a new Alexa skill that will allow you to control your Harmony Hub through the Amazon Echo and other Alexa-powered devices. The new feature will allow users to turn on TVs, control DVRs, and start apps like Netflix using simple voice commands, if your devices are connected through the Harmony Hub or the Harmony Elite remote.
This means you could walk into your living room and say "Alexa, turn on the TV" or "Alexa, turn on Netflix" and your entertainment system will spring to life. It's one more step toward that smart home of the future, or the end of the world, depending on your perspective. The Harmony Hub isn't limited to controlling your entertainment center either; it can also control your...
The internet is facing an unprecedented threat from toasters — and calls are mounting for governments to step in and fix things.
A massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack was to blame. A DDoS works by using a swarm of hacked computers (a botnet) to overwhelm a target with malicious traffic; legitimate users can't access it and the victim is overwhelmed, knocking it offline.
But what was unusual about the recent attack, which targeted internet service provider Dyn, was the botnet. It wasn't traditional home computers that were hacked, but internet-connected devices — webcams, smart TVs, smart fridges, toasters and so on — and it was made possible by terrible security practices by the manufacturers.
This wasn't the first such attack, and it won't be the last. And as a result, there are increasing calls for the government to get involved — either to regulate for stronger security, or even to take the nuclear option, and hack back.
Last Thursday, I sat down with Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer for F-Secure, to talk about the state of security in the Internet of Things, or IoT. (Short answer: It's truly terrible.)
We spoke before the Dyn attack — but after security reporter Brian Krebs had come under an unprecedented IoT-powered DDoS — and what we discussed equally well applies to the more recent attack.
Hypponen's verdict: Don't expect consumers or security-lacking manufacturers to change their ways as a result of this.
"People have said this is the wake-up call for IoT security — no it’s not. This is not gonna change anything. Why? Because people don’t care if their television is launching a denial of service attack," the Finnish exec said.
"They don’t care, even if you tell them: 'Hey, your TV is shutting down websites on the other side of the planet.' They say: 'Yeah okay, cool, I don’t care. I can watch TV, it works.'"
Security simply isn't something that people look for in a home appliance, meaning there is no economic incentive for product makers to up their game.
"The core of the problem is that when you go and buy an appliance, security isn't a selling point. You go and buy a toaster or washing machine ... clearly price is number one. Number two: colour. Security doesn't even enter the discussion, which means the vendor making these things will invest the minimum amount of money possible into security," Hypponen said.
And as costs go down, and the IoT spreads, this problem risks intensifying.
Hypponen said: "We have people [who say] 'IoT sucks, I'm not gonna buy any IoT devices.' That's not going to be possible, that's not the way it works ... you will be part of the IoT revolution whether you want it or not ... In five years time, you go and buy a toaster — regardless of the toaster you buy, even if there's no IoT features, it's still going to be an IoT toaster. It's still going to call home to the manufacturer, and the reason this is going to happen is it's going to be so goddamn cheap to put in one chip and have it call home."
So does Hypponen think it is time to for government to force vendors to change?
"I'm really divided on what I think about regulation, but if it's needed somewhere, this might be it ... we're regulating things on appliances anyway. They should not be able to give you an electric shock, they should not catch fire, they should not leak your WiFi password either — I think that would be a good thing."
Not everyone agrees with this. Rob Graham, hacker and security researcher, calls for a more decisive action: A proactive strike from the NSA (National Security Agency) to knock compromised IoT devices offline.
He pointed out that even if some nations did legislate against insecure IoT devices, it would do little to affect those sold in other jurisdictions — which could then be used for attacks.
"Morons think U.S. should pass a software liability law that will somehow affect Chinese devices sold to Ukraine," he wrote on Twitter.
"All that would do is stop you/your friend getting rich [with] a brilliant IoT Kickstarter idea — won’t stop the [vulnerabilities]. The proper response would be to task the NSA to brick all the freakin’ devices — nothing says software vulnerability like getting bricked. Would my solution solve this problem? Yes. Would yours? No."
Others, however, concurred with Hypponen’s sentiments.
Joseph Cox, a reporter for Vice’s Motherboard, tweeted: "H**y shit IoT security needs to get regulated."
"We need laws that allow civil and/or criminal penalties for companies that sell systems this insecure," said Wall Street Journal tech columnist Christopher Mims.
Meanwhile, SwiftOnSecurity, a popular Taylor Swift-themed cybersecurity Twitter account, called on retail companies to do more to crack down on rogue products and vendors.
"I call on Amazon to refuse to sell devices with proven security problems that are being used to criminally target American infrastructure," they wrote. "Amazon refuses to sell USB cables that can fry smartphones, there is no reaso they should sell IoT devices used bring down our country."
And Mikko Hypponen tweeted simply: "IoT is a clear and present danger for the internet."
The US government isn't sitting on its hands during all of this. Reuters reports that the Department of Homeland Security is working on a set of "strategic principles" to secure IoT devices. But there's nothing settled upon. (XiongMai, a Chinese manufacturer whose webcams were exploited in the attack, has also issued a recall.)
Perhaps the most frightening part of the Dyn attack is that it wasn't particularly sophisticated. It exploited baked-in default passwords on devices, using some open-source software called Mirai that anyone can download for free. So unless governments swiftly implement a strong response — whether regulatory or offensive — then the Dyn attack won't be last time this happens.
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NOW WATCH: Astronomers reported 234 mysterious signals in space — and yes, it could be aliens
Apple has created "mockups" of its iMessage app for Android, suggesting that the company has seriously considered at some point porting the service to non-Apple products.
"I’ve heard from little birdies that mockups of iMessage for Android have circulated within the company, with varying UI styles ranging from looking like the iOS Messages app to pure Material Design," Apple-focused writer John Gruber wrote on Monday.
Material Design is the official design language Google's apps use.
"Messages for Android may never see the light of day, but the existence of detailed mockups strongly suggests that there’s no 'of course not' to it," he continued.
iMessage is one of Apple's most important services. For many people, messages are the most used app on their phone. The genius to Apple's "hidden social network" is that it replaces the text app: if you're texting someone who has an iPhone, it automatically turns into an iMessage, and turns the message from a green text bubble into a blue text bubble.
There are countless stories of people who have switched to Apple products exclusively so that they can join iMessage groups or send blue bubbles.
And in the recent update to iOS, Apple spent a lot of time improving the iMessage experience, adding new stickers, apps, and features.
iMessage only runs on Apple products, including the iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and an Android port been rumored several times in the past. Apple doesn't make many Android apps; Apple Music is the most notable.
But an Android version of iMessage still doesn't made sense — Apple makes the vast majority of its money when people buy its products. iMessage is a strong reason to continue buying those products. There are also security implications if iMessage were to run on Android, given that the system uses Apple hardware to help its encryption.
As a "senior executive" told the Verge earlier this year:
When I asked a senior Apple executive why iMessage wasn’t being expanded to other platforms, he gave two answers. First, he said, Apple considers its own user base of 1 billion active devices to provide a large enough data set for any possible AI learning the company is working on. And, second, having a superior messaging platform that only worked on Apple devices would help sales of those devices — the company’s classic (and successful) rationale for years.
Still, it sounds like Apple assigned someone internally to answer the question: If iMessage was ported to Android, what would it look like?
SEE ALSO: APPLE EARNINGS: What's expected from Apple tonight
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NOW WATCH: A hacker reveals a simple way to come up with a strong password that's easy to remember
To sum up the story of current Denver Broncos starting quarterback Trevor Siemian's football career, you have to look back — all the way back to Nov. 8, 2014.
That's when Siemian was a senior at Northwestern on the verge of upsetting Big Ten rival Michigan at home. It was Siemian's first year stepping into the limelight, finally grabbing ahold of a starting job he'd spent the previous two years platooning with fellow quarterback Kain Colter, a player more famous for attempting to unionize college athletes than for his gridiron exploits.
More about Northwestern University, Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos, Trevor Siemian, and Nfl
Apple reports its September quarter earnings tomorrow and analysts are expecting CEO Tim Cook to report another decline in iPhone sales. But analysts are already looking forward to next year. Cowen's Timothy Arcuri and his team believe iPhone sales are set to explode when Apple introduces the successor to iPhone 7, which they believe will be called "iPhone 10":
"iPhone 7 is proving an effective 'bridge' to the iPhone 10 super-cycle in '17, where a powder keg of a dramatically aging installed base lurks just under the surface such that C17 Street revs/EPS are 10%+ too low. Raise target to $135, which even still seems too low."
Arcuri's theory is that over the next few quarters, 43% of iPhone users will be using a device older than two years, and will be ready for an upgrade.
BMO Capital Markets has a chart illustrating the upcoming iPhone "super-cycle":
Cowen's theory suggests that weakness in sales for iPhone 7 will actually end up helping next year's new iPhone, which is expected to feature dramatically improved features and functions. Users are holding onto their older phones because they really want "iPhone 10," not iPhone 7.
In the meantime, a review of a dozen or so recent analyst notes shows Wall Street is expecting another decline in iPhone sales during the quarter ending in September, despite the implosion of Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 flagship.
UBS Asia Telecom analyst Jinjin Wang believes slowing demand for iPhones in China is one factor behind the weakness. She recently told her colleague Steven Milunovich that the improving strength and quality of Chinese brands plus their lower price has hurt demand for iPhone 7 in Apple's second largest market:
"... domestic brands are catching up as Apple's innovation has lagged—consumers are now not embarrassed to own Oppo, Vivo, or Huawei handsets. Apple this year is number five or six among the top 20 sellers."
"Domestic brands like Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo have been big winners against foreign brands like Apple and Samsung. The top ten handset brands in China today include only two foreign brand names, Samsung and Apple, with all others on the list domestic brands."
"... Typically a Chinese consumer buys Apple to 'pretend to be something,' because it’s a very high-end brand. Starting last year and continuing this year, it’s been the opposite. Consumers are looking at domestic brands like Huawei, Vivo, and Oppo as also being very high quality brands. They can buy similar functionality as iPhone at only 2-3k RMB, half of Apple. It's more value for the money."
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NOW WATCH: The story of Lisa Brennan-Jobs, the daughter Steve Jobs claimed wasn't his
Apple shipped 1.1 million Apple Watches in the third quarter of 2016, which is down 71.6% from the year-ago period, according to an estimate from IDC.
Last quarter, during this time, Apple shipped 3.9 million Apple Watches.
In the second quarter of this year, shipments were down 56.7% on an annual basis. It sold 1.6 million Apple Watches in the second quarter.
This trend towards lower sales is obviously a bad sign for Apple's smartwatch, but it is worth noting that Apple did not ship a new version of the device with GPS until September, towards the end of the quarter.
The well-telegraphed launch of Apple Watch Series 2 in September could have muted sales as customers waited for the new model.
Apple also redesigned the device's software and gave the original model a price cut to $269, which should help holiday sales. "With lower price points and improved experiences, Apple could be heading for a sequential rebound in 4Q16," write the IDC researchers.
Apple likes to compare the Apple Watch to the iPod, and suggests that the device should see strong seasonal sales as it makes for a good holiday gift. But Apple has never reported its own internal sales numbers, leaving shipment estimates like the IDC tracker as the best guide.
It's important to note that Apple still has the best-selling smartwatch worldwide, beating the likes of Garmin, Samsung, and Lenovo. And Google's own smartwatch project seems to be stuck in neutral.
But 71% drops in year-over-year sales is not good for any product no matter which way you slice it, especially for a new product without a clearly established market.
Here are the 3Q shipments stats, via IDC:
SEE ALSO: Apple's new watch will come just in time — sales dropped 56% last quarter
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NOW WATCH: Google just unveiled the Pixel — its first smartphone
ThyssenKrupp recently launched its use of Microsoft HoloLens technology in its elevator service operations worldwide. Currently, the global elevator service industry is valued at over $44 billion per year and more than 12 million elevators transport over 1 billion people each day.
The special mixed reality device is set to empower more than 24,000 of the company’s service technicians to do their jobs more safely and efficiently, and keep people and cities moving better than ever before.
Microsoft HoloLens is the first fully self-contained wearable holographic computer running Windows 10. It is completely self-contained–no wires, phones, or connection to a PC needed. Microsoft HoloLens allows you to place holograms in your physical environment and provides a new way to see the world.
See also: Is this autonomous tricycle what urban centers need?
Using HoloLens, service technicians will be able to visualize and identify problems with elevators ahead of a job, and have remote, hands-free access to technical and expert information when onsite – all resulting in significant savings in time and stress. Initial field trials have already shown that a service maintenance intervention can be done up to four times faster.
This solution follows the successful launch of MAX, the industry’s first predictive maintenance solution which is already connected with thousands of elevators. MAX collects and sends real-time data from connected elevators to the intelligent cloud.
Intricate algorithms calculate the remaining lifetime of each elevator’s key components and systems, determining which parts will require maintenance and when. Through the use of MAX, global service engineers and technicians receive real-time alerts for pre-issue repairs, enabling them to be more proactive with customers. This includes scheduling maintenance tasks ahead of elevator breakdowns and at times of minimal disruption within the building. In this way, engineers help building managers and users avoid the frustration and inconvenience of out-of-service elevators.
Sam George, Partner Director at Microsoft’s Azure IoT, added:
“The successful launch of IoT-enabled MAX was the first step in ThyssenKrupp’s journey to not only transform their business but also its 100-year-old industry. Predictive maintenance, powered by Microsoft Azure IoT, enabled thyssenkrupp to offer time savings to worldwide elevator passengers equivalent to 95 million hours of new availability per year of operation. Today, we are proud to have once again collaborated with thyssenkrupp to bring another game-changing solution to market together.”
Iconic buildings whose elevators are already cloud-connected through MAX include the One World Trade Center. The building has elevators that travel faster than Usain Bolt, capable of moving from the ground floor to the 102nd floor in just 60 seconds, and regenerative drives that convert energy produced when elevators decelerate into electricity that can be used to significantly reduce the building’s energy consumption. Now equipped with MAX and HoloLens, the tower is setting new standards for sustainability and building efficiency.
Andreas Schierenbeck, CEO of ThyssenKrupp Elevator, said:
“With elevators transporting over one billion people each day, the service industry has a critical role to play in keeping cities moving. We remain focused on leading the transformation in this industry; introducing the latest technologies, processes and training to enable technicians to do a better job with less stress and more fun. Our goal is to increase efficiency, raise elevator up times and speed up service interventions to ensure mobility equipment is always running as it should, providing each passenger with the safest and most comfortable travel experience possible.”
GeekWire reports that enterprise interest for HoloLens turned out to be a bit of a surprise, according to Chris Capossela, Microsoft chief marketing officer:
“We totally underestimated the commercial interest in this thing,” Capossela said. “The team who built it, a lot of them had their roots in Xbox. Alex Kipman and Kudo [Tsunoda]. And so they originally envisioned it as something more along those lines, but as we started to show it to people, we were blown away by the commercial interest.”
Indeed, the commercial applications for HoloLens are seemingly endless are are limited only by how fast companies can get their hands on the device. This is set to change industries such as construction, manufacturing and design.
The post Going down: Bringing AR to elevator servicing with HoloLens appeared first on ReadWrite.