Lenovo reveals smartglasses prototype that apes Google Glass, seeks hardware partners

Michael Kan

Lenovo showed off a smart glasses prototype on Thursday, part of a push to attract developers and other hardware manufacturers to a new partner program.

The wearable device looks similar to Google Glass, but has its battery attached down at the user’s necks. More details will be announced in October.

Lenovo is also looking for partners to help it develop products ranging from wireless routers to air purifiers for its home market of China. The PC maker wants to team up, and even invest in tech companies that work on products beyond PCs and smartphones.

To that end, Lenovo has established the “NBD” platform. If it wants to address a broader market, including connected devices that make up the so-called Internet of things, Lenovo can’t just build the hardware independently, and hope it sells, company executives said to journalists on Thursday.

“Right now there are too many kinds of devices you can develop for the Internet of Things. It’s too rich. Not one company can do it all,” said Chen Xudong, Lenovo senior vice president.

MICHAEL KAN

The NBD platform, which in Chinese stands for “new bench,” can offer funding, manufacturing, hardware research and other logistical support to partners. It’s currently geared for the Chinese market, but Lenovo could use it to jumpstart products for international distribution.

“We hope to use Lenovo’s advantages to combine with innovators,” Chen added. “This platform can help them quickly start selling products, and create a supply chain for the market.”

In addition to Lenovo’s own smart glasses prototype, the vendor is partnering with U.S. smart glasses maker Vuzix to bring its own product to China. The M100, which uses Android 4.0.4 and a 1GHz dual-core processor, will first go on sale to developers for 8,000 yuan ($1298) in August or September, and is meant for business users.

German company Luftmed is working with the NBD program to sell an affordable air purifier in China that can be controlled via smartphone. The New Air X330 is meant to offer cleaner air and more accurate statistics than competing products.

Also on display Thursday was a wireless router, developed in partnership with other Chinese companies, that can be managed remotely via a mobile device.

As it branches out beyond PCs, Lenovo has typically introduced new product categories in China, before deciding whether to sell them internationally. It took this approach with smartphones, tablets and smart TV products.

Other Chinese companies are also seeking to extend their influence through partner programs. In April, the country’s leading search engine, Baidu, announced its own projectto attract hardware makers to build smart devices using the company’s technology.

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Robin Williams' $30M vineyard estate

Previously owned by Robin Williams, this California vineyard estate includes amenities from an infinity pool and tennis courts to stables and hiking trails.

Apple welcomes back top Bitcoin wallet app

Apple banned Blockchain and other Bitcoin wallets from its App Store earlier this year. But Blockchain is back.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

The world's top Bitcoin wallet program, Blockchain.info, is back on Apple's App Store.

The software lets people receive and spend the increasingly popular digital currency Bitcoin. Blockchain.info's popular app was kicked out of Apple's system in February. At that time, Apple turned its back on all Bitcoin-related wallet services.

Although Blockchain.info's 100,000 users on iOS could still use their app, no one else could download it.

Related: What is Bitcoin?

But Apple (AAPL, Tech30) recently reversed its antagonistic stance toward Bitcoin and has started to allow a few Bitcoin wallet apps to trickle back in. On Saturday, Apple notified Blockchain.info it could return. The British startup republished its app on Monday.

The app should appear in the App Store as soon as Apple's computer servers update their systems.

"This represents a pivotal change for Bitcoin," said Blockchain.info's CEO, Nicholas Cary. "When Apple banned the last app, they told thousands of developers around the world their time and energy wasn't worth anything. I think this will be a shot in the arm for the whole industry."

Those computer developers instead turned their energy toward Android. Google's(GOOGL, Tech30) mobile operating system has become a hotbed for Bitcoin-related wallets and trading services. Bitcoin developers have also received millions of dollars of support from venture capital firms such as Andreessen Horowitz.

Cary thinks Apple didn't want to miss out on the opportunity.

Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Related story: New York unveils Bitcoin license rules

Blockchain.info's number of digital wallets has grown from 950,000 to 1.9 million since the start of the year. The startup's attorney, Marco Santori, expects Apple's decision to quickly push that number past 2 million.
Jose Pagliery is also the author of Bitcoin - And the Future of Money, available in bookstores on Sept. 1 (Triumph Books, Chicago).

Intelligence Officials Present Evidence for How Malaysian Plane Was Shot Down

(U.S. intelligence community)

Senior U.S. intelligence officials presented evidence today that they say makes a “solid case” as to why the U.S. believes a Russian made SA-11 missile fired from separatist-held eastern Ukraine shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 last week.

While the leading theory is that Russian separatists brought down the plane, the U.S. intelligence community still cannot determine who pulled the trigger or why. The officials pointed the finger at Russia for having “created the conditions” behind the shoot-down and labeled as “not plausible” new Russian claims that the plane may have been brought down by a Ukrainian fighter jet.

In a briefing with reporters, senior intelligence officials pointed to a variety of evidence, including the detection of a surface-to-air missile launch from a separatist-held area of eastern Ukraine. They cited Russian training of separatists in air defense systems, though not necessarily the SA-11, and Russian separatists having used other air defense systems to bring down 12 aircraft in recent months.

They also noted images posted on social media showing an SA-11 missile system near the area of that launch and one system headed towards Russia missing at least one missile in the hours after the shoot down.

Though the images are not independently verifiable, the officials say they complement their intelligence. The officials also pointed to postings to social media in which separatists bragged about the shoot-down and which were quickly deleted.

One of the officials said photographs taken at the crash site show damage to the plane’s skin that is “consistent” with that seen from shrapnel from a surface-to-air missile system.

Another official said the evidence made “a solid case it was an SA-11 fired from eastern Ukraine under conditions created by Russia.”

The leading theory is that Russian separatists were behind the launch, probably by mistake by an “ill-trained crew,” officials said, they are still trying to determine precisely who fired the missile.

“We don’t know the rank, we don’t know the name, we don’t know the nationality of the individual who pulled the trigger or why they did it,” said the official.

The U.S. intelligence community is still trying to determine whether the trigger-puller was a Russian, a separatist trained by Russia or possibly a volunteer familiar with the missile system from the Ukrainian military and who may have joined the separatists.

The officials discounted as “not plausible” a new Russian narrative released Monday that presented the possibility that a nearby Ukrainian SU-25 fighter jet may have downed the airliner.

One official said the fighter is a ground-attack aircraft not equipped with air-to-air missiles and was flying too far away from the plane at the time.  The official added that the plane would have had to travel a great distance to track the plane and then would have had to persuade Russian separatists to brag on social media that they had shot the plane down. The official described the Russian narrative as “a classic case of blaming the victims.”

The officials acknowledged that U.S. intelligence did not know until the day of the shoot-down that Russian separatists were in possession of an SA-11 system. The U.S. was aware that separatists had received air defense training at a large training facility in southwestern Russia outside of Rostov, but it was not specific to the SA-11 system.

Vin Diesel On Completing ‘Fast & Furious 7’ Without Paul Walker: It’s The ‘Hardest Movie’ I’ve Ever Made

GETTY IMAGES

After the sudden death of Paul Walker, Vin Diesel said "Fast & Furious 7" became the most challenging project of his career to date.

"It was, needless to say, the hardest movie I've ever done," Vin told Access Hollywood's Liz Hernandez at the junket for his latest movie, "Guardians of the Galaxy." "I remember when the tragedy happened, my mother said to me, 'It's not fair that you have to mourn in front of the world.'

"What's even harder is to mourn and simultaneously that the person is next to you, so every time you turn to whoever's sitting in that chair you see not Paul," he said.

PHOTOS: Paul Walker - A Look Back

The 47-year-old star said finishing the film with other actors filling in for his late co-star/friend was strange, but did help the cast gain a sense of closure – and made for an amazing final product.

"It's very, very weird," he said. "The good thing is, because we took all the time, the movie is a true testament to everyone coming together and wanting to honor both the saga and our brother, and there's something very beautiful about that.

PHOTOS: Sexy Superheroes

"I think 'Fast 7' wins Best Picture, whether we want to or not!" he added.

Vin is also excited about his newest role as Groot in "Guardians" – a character he found therapeutic in the wake of Paul's tragic death.

"I'm really fortunate that I have both of these movies and there's something very, very healing about playing a character like Groot that celebrates life after a tragedy like the one that happened," he said.

"Guardians of the Galaxy" hits theaters on August 1. "Fast 7" is due out on April 3, 2015.

-- Erin O'Sullivan

More at: http://www.accesshollywood.com/vin-diesel-on-completing-lsquofast-and-furious-7rsquo-without-paul-walker-itrsquos-the-lsquohardest-moviersquo-irsquove-ever-made_article_96851

What is sapphire glass and why is it in the next iPhone?

It seems all but certain Apple will be making the switch to sapphire glass for the iPhone 6 screen, a radical departure from the hardened Gorilla Glass it has been getting from Corning since the first iPhone came out in 2007. Until now, sapphire glass was only used on the camera lens of Apple’s devices, but the technology now exists to make it a viable options for the entire front panel. It’s probably not going to be cheap, but sapphire glass could become the next must-have feature in smartphones.

When you hear the word “sapphire,” you’re probably thinking about a shiny blue stone that costs a bundle of money, but that’s not quite what sapphire glass is. In other words, it’s going to be expensive but not that expensive. A stone can technically be a sapphire and have none of the characteristic blue coloring. As with most precious gems, the color is the result of impurities, in this case mostly chromium and titanium. The sapphire used for glass has none of that.

Of course, no one is digging stones out of the ground to make into phone screens. The glass on the upcoming iPhone 6 will be produced in a lab.

Sapphire is the third hardest mineral in existence — it scores a 9 on the Mohs hardness scale right behind diamond at 10 and moissanite at 9.25. Sapphire is still very durable compared to most materials you might use on a touch screen. Sapphire glass isn’t just hard to crack, it’s also very difficult to scratch. That’s probably a more common issue with phones than a completely shattered screen.

Does that mean it’s all good news for sapphire glass phones? Well, there is the issue of mass. Sapphire glass has a density of 3.98 g/cm3, which is 67% higher than Gorilla Glass at 2.54 g/cm3. So for the same thickness of glass, the sapphire panel would weigh quite a bit more. Screens actually account for more of the weight than you’d think — a sapphire screen could add over 100g to the mass of a larger iPhone. So users might be surprised by the heft when they pick up the iPhone 6. Cost might also be a concern, but Apple wouldn’t be going ahead if it didn’t have the supply chain sorted out.

Everyone (or almost everyone) seems happy with the resolution of screens these days, so maybe sapphire glass is the next step. After all, that screen won’t look pretty when it’s covered in a spiderweb of cracks. [via Geek]