Three things Samsung learned from Galaxy Gear version No. 1

 

The Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch

(Credit: Andrew Hoyle/CNET) LAS VEGAS -- Samsung's first attempt at the wearables market hasn't gone so well, but it has learned some important lessons for the next time around, executives tell CNET. In September, the Korean consumer electronics giant unveiled the Galaxy Gear, a smartwatch that connects to a user's smartphone or tablet to provide alerts, take photos, make calls, and access certain apps. Samsung might have beaten Apple to the wearables market, but the early response has been tepid.

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Tech reviewers, including CNET, have criticized Gear for its high price tag, weak battery life, wonky voice command feature, and limited compatibility with other devices. And it's unclear just how many devices the company has sold. The belief is that return rates are high, though Ryan Bidan, director of product marketing for Samsung's US mobile business, said there aren't more returns than for other Samsung devices. The company believes the segment can become a huge business, and it's already working on future devices. That includes at least one sleeker smartwatch with a higher-quality screen that's slated for a March release, according to people familiar with the matter.
"Headquarters really understands what's going to drive further consumer adoption," Samsung's Curtis Sasaki told CNET, though he declined to provide specific details. [You can see CNET's thoughts here]. He oversees the head of Samsung Media Solutions Center America, the company's software and services business based in Silicon Valley.
"We know what we need to do," Sasaki said.

• How Samsung cranked out the Galaxy Gear: The inside story
• What Samsung needs to do to make Galaxy Gear a hit in 2014
• Behind Samsung's push to rule the world
• Why Samsung needs to woo developers
• CNET's take on the Galaxy Gear

Here are three major insights Samsung has gleaned from the Galaxy Gear, according to Bidan: People want to see more information on the smartwatch
One big insight is that consumers actually want to do more on Gear itself, rather than constantly reaching for their phones. The first version of the device alerted people if they had an e-mail but didn't let them read that message. A recent software update changed that, allowing users to see who had contacted them, as well as read the first paragraph or so of the message.
People want to talk to Gear more
Rather than using the touch screen to control the smartwatch, people want to do more using voice control.
Make a replaceable band
Gear comes with several color options for the band, but once a user has chosen, they're stuck with their option. A big reason for that is the camera built into the band. However, many people have asked that Samsung make the band switchable, Bidan said.
These are just a few of the things Samsung has learned from the many studies and surveys it has done from its first attempt in wearables. There's no guarantee it will actually implement these, but there's a good chance. We'll see what happens with Gear 2 (and 3 and 4 and so on).

Read more: http://www.cnet.com/8301-35284_1-57617026/three-things-samsung-learned-from-galaxy-gear-version-no-1/#ixzz2q0UusPxa

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India’s fastest internet speed to be 50% slower than global highest

NEW DELHI: India is eagerly awaiting the launch of Reliance Jio's 4G connection, which promises to offer average internet speed of 49Mbps on the go. This is over 12 times faster than the current average of 4Mbps on the country's 3G networks. In theory, Reliance Jio's 4G network will offer maximum speed of 112Mbps. 

Download speed of 49Mbps may seem astounding for those in India; however, the country will still lag far behind the leaders in the global internet race. 

When Reliance finally rolls out its 4G network, it will still be nearly 30% slower than the UK-based service provider EE's highest download speed of 300Mbps, the maximum internet speed on a mobile network in the world. EE promises average speed of 25-30Mbps across the UK, with speeds as high as 60Mbps in certain cities. 

According to latest data compiled by analytics website Speedtest.net, the US town of Ephrata, Washington DC enjoys average internet speed of 85.54Mbps. However, the national average internet speed of the US is 18.5Mbps. On mobile networks, the maximum speed in the country is 58.25Mbps (AT&T 4G, according to data by PCMag). 

Google Fiber, the internet titan's pilot internet project, promises maximum speed of 1Gbps (gigabits per second; 1gigabit = 1024megabits) in the US. However, actual speed delivered in Kansas City under this project is 49.86Mbps, the second highest in US according to Speedtest.net data. 

South Korea, widely acknowledged as the most 'connected' nation in the world, has highest broadband internet speed of 53.3Mbps and average speed of 13.3Mbps, according to Akamai. On mobile networks, telecom operator SK Telecom in November claimed that it has achieved maximum internet download speed of 225Mbps on its LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network. LTE-A is a new technology that allows 50% faster data download over mobile networks. 

The speed of 225Mbps has been achieved for a demo, while the commercial rollout of the service will be done in the second half of 2014, around the same time when Reliance rolls out its 4G network. This will, in effect, render Reliance's network nearly obsolete in the global race. SK Telecom also plans to offer download speed of 300Mbps on mobile connections, though it has not given a time frame for this. 

In Hong Kong too, it's a similar story, with peak speed of 65.1Mbps (the highest in the world) and average speed of 10.8Mbps. The average 4G mobile download speed in the country, according to Akamai, is 20Mbps. 

Akamai's data dates back to the July-September quarter, and it is likely that the internet speeds may increase in by the time Reliance's network rolls out. 

Another network operator offering 4G in India is Bharti Airtel. The company's network is currently available in cities like Pune, Kolkata and Bangalore and is not available on mobile phones. It offers average download speed of 40Mbps via USB dongles, with theoretical highest speed of 100Mbps. 

Thus, it is easy to see that India's fastest consumer internet network will not stand anywhere close to that of mature markets and will even remain far behind upcoming networks in terms of pure download speeds. 

Also, the 3G flopshow in India, where only 107 million users (out of an estimated 919 million) use 3G internet on mobile devices, does not bode too well for Reliance's soon-to-be-rolled-out 4G internet. Pricing has been one of the major hindrances for the penetration of 3G, along with patchy network. Thus, Reliance would not only have to maintain a reliable network for its 4G users, but will have to also regulate pricing to promote mass adoption.

With India's growing smartphone market, many a users are likely to spend on high-speed internet on mobile devices for a better user experience, especially since video viewing is expected to be the next big data consumption medium in the country.

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Amazon teams with Samsung, studios on ultra high-definition TV

LAS VEGAS Tue Jan 7, 2014 5:33am IST

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A women looks at the world's first curved UHD TV 55'' 4K screen at the booth of Samsung during a media preview day at the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin, September 5, 2013.

CREDIT: REUTERS/FABRIZIO BENSCH/FILES

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Foggy Winter

Fog envelops parts of India during the winter season.  Slideshow 

• Republic Day rehearsals
• U.S. deep freeze
• Acrobatic feats
• Mount Sinabung erupts
• German igloo village

» More slideshows

(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) is teaming up with Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) and major media corporations including Warner Bros and Lionsgate (LGF.N) to popularize "4K" ultra high-definition television.

Amazon, whose Instant Video service serves up thousands of movies and TV programs in direct competition with Neflix Inc (NFLX.O), did not outline specifics on their collaboration in a Monday announcement.

But Samsung and other consumer electronics makers are hoping that 4K TV - so-called because they are said to offer four times the resolution of conventional high-definition images - will take off as a format and recharge sales.

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the South Korean tech giant said in a separate statement it also will work with other content distributors, including Netflix and cable operators Comcast (CMCSA.O) and DirecTV (DTV.O), on promoting 4K TV.

Amazon, for its part, has been investing heavily in digital media, hoping to draw traffic and drive new sales as consumers increasingly spurn traditional TV offerings in favor of on-demand content.

Ultra high-def TV has been slow to take off, partly because of the high cost of the new-fangled displays and insufficient content. High-definition television took years to become mainstream, after TV prices came down and content became more widely available.

Netflix has said the second season of its popular political drama "House of Cards" was shot and will be available in ultra high-def, becoming one of the first major TV series to take advantage of the technology.

"There are a number of elements that need to work together to create a true 4K experience for customers," Bill Carr, Amazon vice president of digital video and music, said in a statement.

"You need great content and compatible devices, but you also need a service that can deliver that content to your devices so that it plays beautifully."

In Monday's announcement, Amazon also named 20th Century Fox (FOXA.O) and Discovery (DISCA.O) among its media partners. It added that it will film all original series slated for 2014 in 4K ultra high-def. (Editing by Ken Wills)

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More than 1 billion Android devices to ship in 2014 - Gartner

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PICTURE GALLERY

Foggy Winter

Fog envelops parts of India during the winter season.  Slideshow 

• Republic Day rehearsals
• U.S. deep freeze
• Acrobatic feats
• Mount Sinabung erupts
• German igloo village

» More slideshows

(Reuters) - The number of smartphones and tablet computers shipped with Google's (GOOG.O) Android operating system will break the 1 billion barrier this year, research group Gartner said on Tuesday.

Android, which is installed on products made by Samsung (005930.KS), HTC (2498.TW), Sony (6758.T) and many other manufacturers, is forecast to reach 1.1 billion users in 2014, up 26 percent on last year, with the strongest demand in emerging markets.

Apple's (AAPL.O) iOS and Mac OS operating systems are expected to be in 344 million new iPhones, iPads and Macs this year, Gartner added, representing a 28 percent jump on the number of devices shipped in 2013.

"There is no doubt that there is a volume-versus-value equation, with Android users purchasing lower-cost devices compared to Apple users," Gartner analyst Annette Zimmerman said in a statement on Tuesday.

Microsoft's (MSFT.O) Windows operating system, which dominates the PC and notebook segments, is forecast to be in 360 million new devices, up from 328 million in 2013.

Growth in the PC and notebook segment has been hit by the popularity of tablet computers, sales of which are forecast to increase by 47 percent this year to 263 million, according to Gartner.

"Users continue to move away from the traditional PC as it becomes more of a shared-content creation tool, while the greater flexibility of tablets, hybrids and lighter notebooks address users' increasingly different usage demands," Gartner research director Ranjit Atwal said.

Sales of mobile phones are expected to continue to increase, but at a slower pace, with the focus moving away from top-end premium devices to mid-level products, he added.

Gartner said it expects combined global shipments of all devices to reach 2.48 billion units this year, up 7.6 per cent on 2013.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by David Goodman)

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Malware delivered to thousands via ads on Yahoo.com

Malicious ads served through Yahoo’s ad network delivered malware to thousands of site visitors, according to researchers at Fox-IT, but Yahoo subsequently blocked the attack.

Fox-IT’s post said that visitors who saw the ads in their browsers were redirected to a “Magnitude” exploit kit. “This exploit kit exploits vulnerabilities in Java and installs a host of different malware,” Fox-IT said, including ZeuS, Andromeda, Dorkbot/Ngrbot, ad-clicking malware,Tinba/Zusy and Necurs. The security company’s investigation dated the start of the infection to December 30 but it said it might have begun earlier.

Yahoo confirmed the infection and said it had taken action to remove it. “At Yahoo, we take the safety and privacy of our users seriously. We recently identified an ad designed to spread malware to some of our users. We immediately removed it and will continue to monitor and block any ads being used for this activity,” a spokeswoman said via email on Saturday.

Using a sample of traffic and a typical infection rate of 9 percent, Fox-IT said that the malware infected about 27,000 clients every hour. The countries whose users were most affected were Romania, the U.K. and France, according to Fox-IT.

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10 Ways To Become A Good Programmer

1. Developing Basics – A good understanding of the concepts is critical for attaining success. Without a strong base, one can never become a good programmer. It is the core concept that assist in designing and implementing the best solutions in the best possible manner. In case you feel, there is a gap you can always go back and review the basics. 

2. Begin putting question tags (how, what) with each set of code written by you – You must have an enthusiasm for knowing what and how things are happening. Although at times there may be time restrictions that may not permit you to test your code and assume that it will work. It is never a bad idea to try out or research as much as you can to ensure that your code is performing well. 

3. Learning more by helping others – You must participate in forums for advice not only when you are in a crisis but also in normal circumstances. You can learn more by doing this habitually than simply for getting your problems solved. You must also help others in your team in solving their problems. This will only make you a better programmer. 

4. Writing simple, comprehendible but logical code – You must write logical and simple codes to avoid complexity. As per experience, simple but logical codes always perform better and lead to lesser issues and are more extendable. 

5. Invest more time in analyzing the problem for fixing it – You must invest more time in understanding and analyzing the problem and creating solutions for it. Designing can be as simple as looking at the sky, it does not have to imply using modeling languages and tools. 

6. Before others you must analyze and review your code – This may be slightly difficult but you can try to break your code before anyone else does. Over time, you will master the art of writing bug-free code. You must do a close and unbiased review of your code and take others view on your code. 

7. Stop feeling dismayed by looking at changing technology world – Change is inevitable. Working with new tools APIs, frameworks and others means coming up every day makes the programming easier and quicker. This will go on in the technology world. The point worth noting here is that the core and basic technologies changes happen at a much lesser pace compared to frameworks, tools and APIs surrounding it. 

8. Work-arounds don’t work for longer time – On several occasions, software programmers come up with work around solutions. With passage of time, these work around solutions at all times result in the code getting corrupted, leaving it to become less extendible and maintainable and a huge amount of time wastage at a later time. 

9. Reading Documentation – A good habit of a good programmer is reading documentation that may range from, JSR, API documents, tutorials etc. This helps in making that important foundation based on which you can program in the best possible manner. 

10. Learning from others code as well – You must read other codes and refer to it from time to time in your daily work. This not only satisfies your knowledge of the basics but also helps in gaining knowledge of the best ways to write good programs. 

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How tech will revolutionize work and jobs

The concept of 'work' has been at the heart of both the industrial as well as the information society, along with 'jobs' and 'growth' and that most rapidly outmoding term, GDP (expect a new metric to emerge here, soon, along the lines of 'gross national well being' ).

But what will work mean in a knowledge society, or indeed in some form of an 'experience society'? What will happen when merely maximizing efficiency and productivity becomes the chief domain of machines, rather than humans?

Most of us used to work because we needed to earn a living. Those that didn't work in the traditional sense such as some artists, spiritual leaders, rich heirs and the independently wealthy, dropouts or those that were somehow unfit to work, were looked upon as a burden to society since their contributions were not measurable by conventional metrics.

Does an artist or an inventor or an author 'work' in the same way as an engineer or a factory labourer? Hardly. Yet, these 'right-brain'- dominated occupations may be the destination that many of us may be headed in, soon.

The distinction of 'having work' or not will change very soon as 'work' in its traditional sense will be increasingly hard to come by in the near future; technology is rapidly automating every single job that has any machine-like component.

This is an inevitable trend that will change our society at the core. In less than seven years, it will not take some 337 low-skilled workers to assemble an iPad in China — it will take 20 smart robots and 20 workers running them.

Imagine a time in the not too distant future when Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered services file our taxes for us or plot our physical exercise according to our actual needs and body readiness at that very moment. In the past, many data-crunching tasks such as accounting were handled by real people using computers to find answers that made sense to humans.

Most of this is sure to vanish as machines become truly intelligent, and as interfaces go from type to speak to gesture to blink to 'think'. The term 'work' itself may soon become quite useless and I propose a new term: workupation, better suited to describe our future because whatever we will be occupied with is very likely to become our new work, monetised in a myriad of new ways, many of which are inconceivable today.

Just take a look at how Flattr is proposing to pay people for their journalistic contributions, and how social reputation is already metered on platforms such as Klout or Peerindex. We are rapidly becoming a truly 'networked society' and 'work' is one of those core disruption zones that is impacted by the exponential advancements in 'big data' technologies, machine intelligence , robotics and overall automation. Crowdsourcing, tele-working and the globally overall dissolving barriers between industries are additional trends that impact the future of work.

We must also consider that the global trend towards mobilization, the rampant consumerization of IT and the total empowerment of consumers that goes with it. Recent studies have confirmed that many of us now work 10-20 % more than before we had smartphones and social business-networks . It is already hard to say if what we are doing at any given moment is 'work' or not.

It is simply 'what we do' and often what we feel passionate about - and this trend will only get stronger in the future as we are leaving the menial data-driven and somewhat mechanical tasks to smart machines and move on to focus on our human-only capabilities. This, to me, defines the shift from work to workupation — we will be occupied with projects and issues that really matter to us rather than those that require machine-like skills or (worse) machine-thinking; and of course, machines will beat us hands-down at being cheaper, faster and more reliable on 99% of those tasks, as well.

So what will happen when smart machines and AI take over 30-50 % of our jobs? How will we cope with what we now call 'unemployment' of over 50%? This will be nothing less than a total redefinition of work , jobs and employment, itself, and maybe those of us that have been lucky enough to consider their work to be what they would do even if they did not have to do it - or would not get paid for it, those that have found their true calling regardless of remuneration, can show us the way towards this future.

A future that will measure the value of our work not by 'units' that we have turned out, not by our contribution to increasing the GDP/GNP by merely increasing consumption or profits. A future that will measure our contributions wider, deeper and ultimately in a more human way.

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Online training courses for entrepreneurs

Koenig Solutions, an information technology services trainer, is introducing a new course to help entrepreneurs sharpen their internet skills and capabilities.

The New Delhi-based firm was recently in the news for providing software training in 2010 to Edward Snowden, who exposed the large-scale global surveillance by the United States government. The company expects a number of web-entrepreneurs to choose this new course that will be delivered from its Delhi and Dubai offices.

"Despite IT training being a mature industry, we are discovering that there are many unmet needs especially of non-IT people," said Rohit Aggarwal, CEO and founder, Koenig Solutions. At a time when two startups are founded everyday in India, institutions are seeing an opportunity to train budding entrepreneurs.

Bangalore-based coworking space Jaaga will soon launch a one-year formal course called Jaaga Study to add required technical skill sets to entrepreneurs, for a fee of 1.2 lakh.

Launched earlier this week, Koenig's course costs $5,900 (Rs 3.65 lakh) and will cover fundamentals of web designing, Adobe Photoshop, and web marketing concepts such as Search Engine Optimisation and Pay-per-click, the company said.

As a part of the course, the entrepreneur can host the website on Koenig server and create a $500 Google AdWords account, the company said.

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Reliance Jio tests 4G network at IIT Mumbai fest

MUMBAI: Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd today tested its 4G network at the Techfest event in IIT Mumbai campus by running trials of video calls and Jio television service, among others.
Jio television has a feature that eliminates the need for recording content.
"LTE is about Learn to Earn. More than 78 per cent of Indian content comes from outside. We must work towards shifting content to India. We should look at creating Health Exchanges to create affordable Healthcare supported by broadband," RJIL's president for strategy and products, Mathew Oommen said at the event.
RJIL is country's only pan-India 4G spectrum holder.
The company also deployed WiFi network at select locations in the campus. Visitors will be able to experience benefit of high speed wireless connectivity for hand held devices (smart phones and tablets) over a blend of LTE and Wifi networks.
A company executive while explaining products at the event said RJIL services are under trial and will be substantially refined as Jio gets ready for "its commercial launch".
Jio will also be using the Techfest to conduct trials of some consumer 'beta' testing experience so as to improve the commercial product through the feedback they receive from customers.
The company at the event demonstrated Live TV and video on demand, with HD viewing experience. Live TV has 16 HD channels and total 101 channels. Video on demand has more than 400 movies.
Talking about Jio Television service, an executive said: "Catch-up TV with 7 days of stored content for each channel complements the viewing experience and eliminates the need to remember to record your favourite show.
The company at the event also demonstrated 3D TV experience and Ultra HD Video Experience on its 4G network. PRS KSR

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Samsung top executive ‘confirms’ Galaxy S5 launch date

NEW DELHI: Samsung's Galaxy S5 is the hottest upcoming model in the smartphone, but there is still some confusion about its launch date. While the tech community agrees that the smartphone will be launched in the first quarter of 2014, there is still some confusion about exactly when it will be unveiled.

Until now.

Doon-hoon Chang, Samsung's vice president of design strategy, has cleared the air on the launch date of Galaxy S5. At a press event in Seoul, Chang answered several questions about the soon-to-be-announced model. When asked whether the Galaxy S5 will be showcased at Mobile World Expo in February and whether its variants will have metal body and flexible screen, Chang answered with "about right."

His unofficial confirmation is consistent with several rumours about a February launch for Galaxy S5. The Mobile World Congress industry expo is held in Barcelona every year and is scheduled for February 24-27.

It is rumoured that the Galaxy S5 will have plastic body, while Samsung will use the metal body for the upcoming Galaxy F smartphone. The Galaxy S5 is said to have a 5.25 -inch screen with 2K resolution and 566ppi pixel density. Other rumoured Galaxy S5 features include 16MP rear camera, eye scanner and diamond coating on the back.

A Samsung device with model number SM-G900F device, believed to be Galaxy F (the higher-end variant of S5), has earlier appeared on AnTuTu benchmarks. The device that showed up on the benchmark results is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 chip and has 3GB of RAM. The Krait processor part of the chip had been clocked at 2.5GHz.

The phone was detected as having 1080p display, though it's possible that Samsung locked the resolution to that particular resolution (Galaxy S5 is said to sport a 2K display). The device was running Android 4.4 KitKat and featured a 16MP camera.

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Skype's social media accounts hijacked by Syrian Electronic Army

Skype said its social media properties were targeted, with a group styling itself as the Syrian Electronic Army appearing to claim credit for the hacks.
”You may have noticed our social media properties were targeted today,” Skype said in a Twitter message late Wednesday. “No user info was compromised. We’re sorry for the inconvenience.”
Skype’s Twitter account, blog and Facebook page appeared to have been attacked by the SEA, a group that supports the Syrian government, according to reports. The Skype blog was still inaccessible late Wednesday and redirected users to the Skype homepage.

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Lenovo launches four new phones, one of which doesn't seem horrible

In a flurry of budget also-ran device releases from Lenovo, the just-unveiled Vibe Z stands out. Not only is it the company’s first LTE-compatible phone, it also boasts some quality mobile innards to boot.
Most US consumers are probably only scantly aware that Lenovo, the Chinese-based manufacturer best known for laptops, even makes smartphones. And there’s a reason: The company’s mobile offerings haven’t been anything special, and only a handful have actually made their way to the US market.
The company’s disappointing line of Android-powered Yoga tablets couldn’t even be salvaged by an Ashton Kutcher endorsement.
Lenovo has no stated plans to introduce its latest round of smartphones into the US market, which is unfortunate. From a spec viewpoint, that new Vibe Z is right up there with other marquee handsets.

For example, The Vibe Z boasts a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 display at 400 ppi. While not an exact apples-to-apples comparison (excuse the pun), the 4-inch display of the iPhone 5s only measures in at 1136 x 640 with 326 ppi.
Among its fellow Android models, the Z’s LCD screen is only slightly less resolute than the 1920 x 1080 displays found on the Nexus 5’s 5-inch display (445 ppi) or the HTC One’s 4.7-incher (469 ppi).
The Jelly Bean 4.3-fueled Vibe Z is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 800 2.2Ghz processor, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. It also comes with an impressive 13-megapixel rear shooter, and a 5-megapixel front camera.
Overall, while the Vibe Z isn’t on the bleeding edge of mobile, it certainly is on the cutting board—at least until the 2014 generations of handsets make their debuts.
To reiterate: the Vibe Z will only be available in a few Asian markets at launch. Of course, even if the Vibe Z were to attempt to compete in the US, its hefty off-contract $549 price tag would have to come down, as top-shelf handsets like the Moto X see their price tag fall under $400 .

And the rest

In addition, Lenovo announced three lower-spec (and lower-cost) non-LTE handsets that the company didn’t even bother bestowing with a proper, non-industrial name.
The S930 and S650 will be available off-contract for $319 and $229 respectively. Both the 6-inch 1280 x 720 screen’d S930 and 4.7-inch 960 x 540 display’d S650 are powered by the MediaTek quad-core processor and run on Android 4.2.
Meanwhile, the $219, the A859 has a 5-inch screen with a 1280 x 720 display and is powered by a MediaTek 6582 processor. Like the S-series phones, the A859 offers dual-SIM cards for greater cross-border mobility.

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Apple releases iOS 7.0.4 to fix FaceTime problem

If you like your software fresh and up to date, then it’s time to pay a visit to your friendly neighborhood Settings > General > Software Update on your iOS device. iOS 7.0.4 has arrived bearing gifts.
While most of the update seems to concern unenumerated bug fixes and performance improvements, the one change Apple does call out is a fix for FaceTime calls that would fail for some users. And, of course, there’s the usual assortment of security patches that you’ll want.
Users of the fourth-generation iPod touch will instead find iOS 6.1.5, which fixes the same FaceTime issue as 7.0.4.
Both updates are, as always, free, and available from either the Software Update pane or via iTunes.

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Huge TVs. Steam Machine. A solar-powered car. CES 2014 will have it all.

To set the stage for this year’s International CES—the annual consumer electronics trade show that invades Las Vegas at the beginning of January and devours all in its path—let me tell you a little story about last year’s event.
At one point early on in that show—my first-ever CES—I was trying to get from an appointment at one end of the Las Vegas Convention Center to another meeting far, far away. I hadn’t counted on time, distance, and the crush of slow-moving humanity. In an effort to get from Point A to Point B, I put my head down and started zigzagging my way down aisles, across booths, and through doors. I wound up getting completely turned around, no closer to my final destination than before, and having to flag down passersby for some clue—any clue—as to where I was (other than quite possibly still within the city limits of Las Vegas). I was horrifically late for my meeting.

it’s easy to lose your way on the massive show floor at CES.

My point here is not to give you an opportunity to point at me and laugh—though if you’ve already started, by all means, continue. Rather, it’s to emphasize just how easy it is to get lost during CES—even if you never set foot on the show floor.
Depending on who’s doing the counting, more than 3200 exhibitors will clamor for visitors’ attention when CES opens its doors on Tuesday, January 7. In the days prior, companies will host a series of press conferences or show off their wares at a string of well-attended product showcases. All of this promotional effort will aim to convince people that the hardware, software, or service being touted is destined to become the Next Big Thing.
And you know what? It probably won’t be.
Some products that look good at a CES demo in January may lose their luster in the clear, sobering light of the rest of the year. Maybe the finished version won’t live up to the promise of the prototype. Maybe it'll fail to resonate with consumers. In more than a few cases, a hyped-up belle of the CES ball may never make it to market. These things happen more often than the breathless press releases coming out of Las Vegas every January would suggest.

A number of worthwhile things will come out of CES. You’ll just need to know what to listen for and remember not to get distracted by the shiny baubles being tossed around Las Vegas next week.

Lest this come across as some sort of blanket dismissal of everything CES, a number of worthwhile things will come out of the show. You’ll just need to know what to listen for and remember not to get distracted by the shiny baubles and credulity-straining claims being tossed around Las Vegas next week.
My TechHive and PCWorld colleagues are en route to Las Vegas. With the caveat that surprise developments are always possible, here’s what we expect to see—assuming none of us gets lost at the convention center again.

You’ll have a new gaming console to try

For major gaming pronouncements, you’ll likely have to wait until the E3 trade show in June. But gamers can look forward to at least one big news item at CES: Valve’s Steam Machine console, which promises to bring PC gaming to your living room.

Hardware manufacturers like iBuyPower have already given us a glimpse of what a Steam Machine gaming console could look like, but we expect Valve to reveal more details at CES 2014.

The Linux-based SteamOS debuted last month in beta form, and Valve has already shown off a prototype. (A select cadre of beta testers have prototypes in hand to put SteamOS through its paces.) Though a few tantalizing details about the Steam Machine prototypes have trickled out, Valve is saving the big news—including which PC makers will build the shipping versions—for next week.
Why you should care: Valve’s developmental work with its SteamOS and with the hardware it runs on is part of an ambitious effort to open a new venue for PC gaming. We’re ready to see how that effort takes shape in 2014.

You’ll have a new wireless plan to consider

We may find out during CES when the curved LG G Flex will reach the United States, but big smartphone announcements tend to happen elsewhere.

Smartphones were little more than a sideshow at CES 2013, a trend likely to continue now that February’s Mobile World Congress, and company-hosted events by heavyweights like Samsung, Google, and Apple, have become more-popular methods for rolling out new hardware. That said, phones won’t be entirely MIA—after all, Sony’s Xperia Z smartphone arrived at last year’s CES. This year could throw us a curve—curved screens, specifically. Samsung and LG both ended 2013 by introducing curved smartphones, though only in South Korea. CES could be where the companies reveal their U.S. launch plans for the Round and G Flex, respectively—unless they decide to wait until Mobile World Congress next month.

Why is this man smiling? Because T-Mobile CEO John Legere likely has big news to share at CES.

Right now, the biggest smartphone news out of CES may have nothing to do with your power-packed gadget, but rather the wireless service you use with it. T-Mobile has a press event slated for Wednesday, January 8, that figures to introduce the latest iteration of the company’s “uncarrier” efforts, which have already seen T-Mobile introduce subsidy-free pricing plans, among other changes. T-Mobile’s next step, if widely circulating rumors are to be believed, could be to pick up the cost of rivals’ early termination fees in order to lure new customers.
Why you should care: New phone designs and features are always fun to debate, but revamped wireless plans from a carrier like T-Mobile directly impact your bottom line.

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New Year 2014: How the world welcomed the new dawn

People in different parts of the world on Wednesday marked the beginning of the new year 2014, with New Zealanders being among the first to celebrate.

People in New Zealand's Auckland city were among the first to celebrate. In Australia, hundreds of thousands gathered for a spectacular fireworks display around Sydney's Harbour Bridge, BBC reported.

East Asian cities were next to ring in the new year, with Beijing, Jakarta and Singapore all hosting celebrations.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people enjoyed watching fireworks over Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour.

In Japan, Shinto priests gathered at shrines, as Japanese traditionally visit shrines and temples to pray for their families at this time.

Dubai was aiming for a world record for the largest display. Dubai's fireworks display will be streamed live on the internet.

The show will feature a flying falcon made out of fireworks that will move across the emirate.

New Year's in Times Square an endurance contest

Crowds jammed Times Square on Tuesday to ring in 2014, braving bone-chilling cold and ultra-tight security for the chance to see Miley Cyrus, a final countdown from a U.S. Supreme Court justice and the drop of the shimmering crystal ball.

The sea of horn-tooting, hat-wearing humanity that filled the Crossroads of the World was part celebration, part endurance sport because post-Sept. 11 security measures force spectators into pens at least 12 hours in advance, with no food, no warmth and no place to go to the bathroom.

"We've got adult diapers. We're wearing them right now," said teenager Amber Woods, who came with friends from the New York City's suburbs to experience the event for the first time. They entered their corral at 10 a.m. For nourishment, they brought lollipops and popcorn. For the cold, they did a lot of jumping in place.

Putin breaks tradition, gives 2 New Year's talks

Vladimir Putin has added a twist to the stolid ritual of Russian presidential New Year's Eve address by doing two versions this year.

Russian leaders traditionally make short, prerecorded messages to be broadcast as the year begins in each of the country's nine time zones.

The address broadcast in Russia's Far East was typical, showing Putin at the Kremlin and calling for Russians to work together, according to Russian news websites. But an hour later, Putin came out with a different speech mentioning this week's suicide bombings in Volgograd that killed 34 people and vowing to destroy terrorists.

Putin made that recording, which was broadcast in other time zones as well, on Tuesday while visiting the city of Khabarovsk. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there wasn't time to get it to the Far East, according to Ekho Moskvy radio.

Wall Street ends best year since 1990s with moderate gains

U.S. stocks closed out their best year in more than 15 on Tuesday, with major indexes advancing throughout 2013 on the back of the Federal Reserve's massive stimulus and expectations for accelerating growth going forward.

Wall Street ended 2013 with its positive momentum intact, advancing in its final trading day of the year on the back of positive consumer confidence data.

The S&P 500 rose 29.6 per cent over the year, its best annual performance since 1997, while the Dow climbed 26.5 percent in its best year since 1995. The Nasdaq jumped 38.3 per cent, its best year since 2009.

Both the Dow and the S&P 500 finished the final trading day of 2013 at record closing highs.

Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/new-year-2014-how-the-world-welcomed-the-new-dawn/1/333854.html

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