A fire at a factory in China could make all your gadgets more expensive this year

Everything from smartphones to laptops to tablets could get a little more costly due to a fire this week at a Korean firm’s factory in Wuxi, China, where a substantial portion of the world’s memory chips are made. The Sept. 4 inferno at SK Hynix’s fabrication facility sent the price of benchmark 2-gigabyte Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) up 19% to a three-year high.
High demand from Chinese tablet and smartphone manufacturers has already caused a spike in DRAM prices this year, with prices nearly doubling from November to May. The cost of the industry standard 2-gigabit DRAM jumped 30 cents to $1.90 the day after the fire, and rose another $.10 to $2.00 on Friday.
Market research firm TrendForce said it would take half a year for SK Hynix to rebuild, leading to higher prices throughout the fourth quarter. The firm’s customers include Apple, Lenovo, Dell and Sony, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, not to mention Samsung—its main rival in the DRAM business, along with US chipmaker Micron. SK Hynix’s market share stands at about 30%, compared with 32.7% for Samsung and 28.1% for Micron, according to Trendforce. About half of SK Hynix’s DRAM chips are made at the Wuxi facility, equivalent to about 10% of world supply.
The company, whose shares fell sharply in the wake of the fire, insisted that the damage was not severe. “We expect to resume operations in a short time period so overall production and supply volume would not be materially affected,” the company told Reuters. It is still investigating the cause of the fire.

Source : http://qz.com/121893/a-fire-at-a-factory-in-china-could-make-all-your-gadgets-more-expensive-this-year/

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Samsung Officially Announced Galaxy Note 3

Samsung finally unveiled the much-awaited phablet of the year, the Galaxy Note 3 at the IFA 2013 trade show in Berlin. It is the successor of the extremely popular Galaxy Note II and also the first phablet to ship with the latest Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) Operating System. The new Group Play on Galaxy Note 3 not only allows you to play the same music, games and share documents, but also share videos and play content together with their friends simultaneously.

JK Shin, CEO of IT & Mobile Division at Samsung Electronics, said,
“We introduced the original Galaxy Note in 2011 and launched a whole new smart device category. The undeniable success of the Galaxy Note strengthened our conviction that consumers want higher quality features for smart devices and they want those new features to make their lives better. Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is a powerful, original approach that enables users to tell the stories of their lives through dynamic and seamless expressions of their passions across work, play and life experiences.”

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 features a 5.7 inch Full HD Super AMOLED display, sporting a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, 2.3 GHz quad-core processor / 1.9 GHz octa-core processor, Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean) OS, TouchWiz UI, 13 megapixel auto-focus camera with smart stabilization, LED Flash and Zero Shutter Lag, full HD (1080p) video recording and playback, 2 megapixel front-facing camera for video calls and more.
Apart from that, it packs 3 GB RAM, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, GPS, NFC (Near Field Communication), Bluetooth 4.0, 3.5 mm headset jack, FM Radio with RDS, 4G LTE Connectivity, 32 GB/ 64 GB internal memory, MicroSD card slot, 64 GB expandable memory, S-Pen, S Note, S Planner, Samsung Hub, Samsung KNOX, Samsung ChatOn, DLNA, Wi-Fi Direct and a 3200mAh battery. This handset will be available in Marble White and Titanium Gray colors.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will be available in Jet Black, Classic White and Blush Pink colors. Samsung will also offer exchangeable back covers in dozens of additional colors. This device will go on sale from September 25 in more than 140 countries around the world. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 will also be available in the U.S. later this year on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular.

Source :http://techie-buzz.com/mobile-news/samsung-galaxy-note-3.html

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How The Gambling Industry Is Betting On Big Data

Banks, retailers, Google, the NSA, they all lover their data. But one of the more intriguing use cases for Big Data involves the gambling industry, a sector that’s so reliant on number crunching and intelligent prediction that it’s been left with little choice to grab a hold of its masses of data and exploit it to the max.
The first adopters of Big Data in the betting game were, unsurprisingly, the bookies themselves. UK bookmaker Paddy Power‘s experience is one that mirrors that of many leading betting sites, when the rise of online gambling meant that it was accumulating hundreds of terabytes of data that it had little idea what to do with.
“We had a start-up culture. [In BI], we managed more than we thrived,” Conor McMenamin, Paddy Power’s business intelligence manager, explained to ComputerWeekly.
The problem with online gambling is that it’s a hugely dynamic business, with odds constantly evolving in real-time. This makes standard data warehousing techniques redundant, as bookies need to be able to access their data instantaneously. Paddy Power got around the problem by adopting QlikView’s business intelligence solution for live data based on Microsoft SQL Server and SQL Server Integration Services with Excel-based clients.
“It was about putting in place a scalable platform that we could develop on quickly, and not be constrained by legacy issues,” McMenamin adds.
Paddy Power’s self-service BI model meant that its decision makers had wider access to the company’s data in way that keeps its IT managers in control of governance and data structure, whilst affording managers more time to focus on their strategic goals.

Betting firms aren’t the only one’s using Big Data in the gambling sector. Some services are also looking at ways in which data can be delivered to the gamers themselves, providing insights that enticing them to stick around and, presumably, increase their chances of cashing out. This is the promise of poker stats firm SharkScope, which recently deployed the TokuDB’s performance engine to optimize its database performance.
SharkScope claims to be the largest online poker tournament database in the world, and as such it accumulates vast amounts of data from millions of poker games played online every single day. The idea is that players can use SharkScopre to track their poker stats and improve their gameplay whilst avoiding the ‘sharks’ who’ll quickly eat up their cash. Until recently it got by with its old MySQL database, but in the fast paced world of online poker data needs to be accessible almost instantaneously. With some queries taking up to 20 seconds to process, this was clearly far too long, leaving SharkScope with choice but to find a faster solution.
Using TokuDB, Sharkscope’s MySQL database is now capable of ingesting data from over a million games every day, spewing out insights for a diverse set of requests in something that’s about as close to real-time as it’s possible to get – just under two seconds, according to TokuDB.
“TokuDB gave us faster search results, a much smaller database and fewer servers to manage,” said Steve Mayes, CEO SharkScope. “Because of Tokutek, SharkScope can continue to add new subscribers for the foreseeable future.”

Okay, so what if you could accurately predict the outcome in nine out of every ten English Premier League soccer matches? You’ll probably think you’re on the cusp of striking it very, very rich indeed, if only it were true.
Well, it might just be that your dreams really can come true if you’re a devoted soccer betting fan, with a new startup going by the name of Betegy confidently boasting that its capable of doing just that. Betegy’s site says that its able to successfully predict the outcomes of 90% of all English Premier League matches via its complex algorithm that considers every possible factor that might affect the game, from the coach’s birthday to the weather on the big data.
Based in Poland, Betegy actually offers forecasts for 21 different soccer leagues around the world, and claims a 76% success rate in its predictions. There are some leagues in which it does notably better however – such as England where this rises to 90%. In other leagues, its strike rate might be as low as 50%.
How does it do it? According to CEO Alex Kornilov, betegy uses two layers of data to predict the outcome of soccer matches. The first layer includes basic stats such as recent performances, history between the two teams in question, form and the average number of goals. The second layer goes deeper into it, taking into account factors like the weather and other details that may affect player’s motivation.
Betegy doesn’t claim to be perfect, but with only three possible outcomes in soccer – win, lose and draw – it’s 90% success rate stacks looks pretty tempting seeing as choosing an outcome at random would normally only result successful predictions 33% of the time.
So there’s every reason to play with Big Data if making money is your number one priority.

Source : http://siliconangle.com/blog/2013/08/20/how-the-gambling-industry-is-betting-on-big-data/?goback=.gde_40057_member_267405163#!

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Android KitKat Unveiled By Google And Nestle

Google has named the latest version of its Android mobile operating system after the KitKat chocolate bar.

The company has a history of naming software after confectionery and desserts - previous versions include Ice Cream Sandwich, Gingerbread and Jelly Bean.
Android software is the world's biggest mobile operating system, driving more than a billion tablets and smartphones, according to Google.
The news is a surprise to some technology watchers as the company had previously indicated that version 4.4 - expected in October - would go by the generic name Key Lime Pie.

The Android mascot features on special bars of the chocolate (Pic: Nestle)

A giant Android figure made from KitKats has now joined the Gingerbread and Jelly Bean 'statues' outside Google's California headquarters.
Sundar Pichai, head of Android, tweeted a picture of the creation.
"We now have over 1 Billion Android activations and hope this guy in front of the building keeps that momentum going," said Mr Pichai.
Some 1.5 million Android devices are activated every day, Google's chief executive Larry Page said last month.

Apple will hope its new devices win back share from Android phones

The KitKat-Android marketing deal will also see buyers of Nestle's four-fingered bar able to win Android tablets by looking out for 50 million special wrappers.
The idea for the marketing hook-up was reportedly Google's, with Android bosses approaching Nestle about the idea in November.
Apple will be hoping to claw back momentum from Android-powered phones, which have a 79% share of the smartphone market, when it hosts a special event on September 10.
The company is widely expected to unveil the latest iPhone.
It is also rumoured to be launching a second, cheaper version of the device that could broaden its product range and help it tempt budget-conscious consumers.

Source : http://news.sky.com/story/1136830/android-kitkat-unveiled-by-google-and-nestle

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Sony Confirms Xperia Z1 Flagship Phone: 5-Inch 1080p Display, 21MP Camera & A Photo Apps Focus

Sony has named a new flagship in its Android-powered Xperia smartphone line up which focuses on beefing up camera capabilities.  The 4G Xperia Z1, roundly leaked under the moniker ‘Honami’ but officially confirmed today at Sony’s IFA press conference in Berlin, is a follow up to the 5-inch, quad-core Xperia Z unboxed at the start of the year at CES.
The Xperia Z1 has a 20.7MP camera on its rump (vs the 13.1MP on the Xperia Z) coupled with a 1/2.3-inch Exmor RS CMOS image sensor, Sony’s G Lens (27mm wide angle, f2.0 aperture) and Bionz image processing engine which Sony users in its standalone cameras. There’s also 3x “clear image zoom” — with Sony claiming its optical zoom delivers “zero distortion”.
Sony is making big boasts for this lens combo — claiming it offers “best in class imaging” and is the “world’s leading camera in a smartphone” (Nokia may however disagree; its Lumia 1020 smartphone has a 41MP lens). NB: Sony’s odd wording here — “camera in a smartphone” — can be explained by its simultaneous attempts to extend phone camera smarts via a hardware add-on lens system that clips onto any phone, including the Xperia Z1.
Sony is preloading a series of camera apps onto the Z1 to extend its camera capabilities on the software side — including Social Life, a camera streaming app to broadcast what’s going on around you to Facebook; a Timeshift burst mode to take multiple images so you can choose the best shot from several; a visual search app called Info-Eye to get more info on snapped products/landmarks; and an augmented reality app called AR Effect to overlay customised animations onto images.
Sony is clearly following in the footsteps of rivals’ strategy here, including Nokia (with its PureView imaging push) and Samsung, which has also focused on making its own suite of imaging apps for flagship devices such as the Galaxy S4. But as well as making its own apps, Sony’s hoping to get developers working for it on the camera front too. “It’s built with an open SDK and we’re already working with a talented group of app developers that will extend its capabilities,” it said today.
Elsewhere, the Xperia Z1 looks to be a slightly beefed up version of its earlier sibling, with the same size 5-inch 1080p display — albeit this time including newer Sony screen tech that it has also brought to the Xperia Z Ultra phablet. Sony’s Triluminos screen tech apparently supports a greater range of colours with natural shades. The Z1 also features Sony’s X-Reality technology for improving the viewing experience of low res video.
The Xperia Z1 runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean at launch. Under the hood it has a 2.2Ghz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chipset. There’s also 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage –expandable via a microSD card slot — and a 3,000mAh battery. Design wise, the Xperia Z1 shares the look and feel of the rest of Sony’s Xperia range — with clean lines and blunt edges, although Sony says it’s evolved the design, most notably by adding a one piece aluminium casing to all the plastic.

Oh and the Z1 is also waterproof, as is its predecessor. To ram that point home, Sony apparently thought it was a good idea to entertain IFA attendees by getting some ladies to cavort with some phones in some water. As sexist displays go, it’s pretty impressive — even by tech industry ‘booth babe’ standards — so well done Sony for alienating ~50% of potential buyers. It better hope the other 50% gets so distracted they end up buying two phones apiece.
On the size front, neither the Xperia Z1 or its numeral-less sibling is the largest handset Sony makes, although their five inch displays sits on the cusp of phablet territory. The Sony enormo-phone award goes to its palm-stretching Xperia Z Ultra: a 6.4 inch phablet that’s so large Sony sells a Bluetooth handset accessory for it so you can comfortably take calls.
Sony said the Xperia Z1 is due to hit shelves “starting this month”.

Source :http://techcrunch.com/2013/09/04/sony-confirms-xperia-z1-flagship-phone-5-inch-1080p-display-20mp-camera/

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