Apple is being sued, not really news. Apple being sued by fans, however, is news. The issue is the memory claims for the Apple devices being 8GB, 16GB and so on. The problem is that up to around 23% of the memory can be taken up by the operating system restricting how many media files and applications it can support. iOS 8 takes up quite a bit of memory and will not even fit on some older devices. Not sure the claimants will get away with this one but it does make an interesting point and highlight how bad any iDevice is that does not support plug in memory cards.
The Chinese technical giant Xiaomi made a good haul in pre-tax income last year and sold 61 million smartphones. Not bad for a company that started out in April of 2010. This will be one to watch in 2015.
Sales of music, video and games increased in 2014 in the UK with a fairly even division between digital and physical formats. This builds on growth during 2013 and highlights the value in both formats and how those bemoaning piracy and the lack of sales might be overstating their case.
After scouring the web survey site W3Techs, according to “Google developer advocate” Anthony Ferrara more than 78% of all PHP installations are running with at least one known security vulnerability. The problem is non-updated PHP versions running on servers all over the planet. The worst version is 5.2, then 5.6.x, followed by 5.4. The latest versions of 5.4 through 5.6 are supposed to be secure so it may be time for an upgrade. Adding unsecure apps compounds the issues.
When it comes to music processing in general, Android trails well behind Apple devices. According to IK Multimedia, that will change for Android 4 or later users after the upcoming NAMM event where they will release near zero latency digital audio interfacing and processing. I will be interested to see what they have come up with. On this subject, the Line 6 AMPLIFi Modelling Amplifiers finally support Android for setting up sounds instead of iDevice-only support.
Microsoft Office apps are ready for download for Android tablets, as part of their preview program. You can get Word, Excel and Powerpoint if your screen size is between 7 inches and 10.1 inches and are running version 4.4 or later. Given that my tablet is a 10.5-inch Galaxy Tab S I guess I’ll miss out on this round but given that the basic Office functionality will be free then when it finally gets to release perhaps then I’ll finally get to play with it myself. If you do happen to give it a try Microsoft would appreciate your comments on their Google + page.
Microsoft is also taking aim at the lower end of the phone market and at a proposed US$29 (950 baht) I do mean the lower end. The device will be internet ready but not a smartphone as such. The Nokia 215 is more of a first mobile device with support for Facebook and the like running Opera Mini. They can’t use IE for a number of reasons but mostly because it runs on Windows Phone and the Nokia 215 will run on the older Series 30+ platform. The device will also make calls, play MP3 files, have a low res camera and supports microSD cards up to 32GB. Take that Apple. It should have a 20 hour talktime and 29 day standby, not too shabby. There will even be a dual SIM version but at a slightly higher price.
The EU is in the process of preparing a new set of copyright legislation. Such laws could be up to 10 years away according to Iain Connor of Pinsent Masons, a legal expert. In an interesting twist the first reviewer of the new laws will be Julia Reda, the only EU member of the Pirate Party. I’m guessing that her report will be to not descend on personal pirates like a ton of bricks, though I could be wrong.
Remember my comment on the reanimation of the old Elite game? Funny thing it turned out the servers for Elite: Dangerous could not handle the demand over the holidays. The no longer standalone version re-release is basically unplayable with loads of bugs, saves being lost, sold goods reappearing in the holds and others not being able to sell anything at all.
According to the FBI analysts the Sony hack was indeed from North Korea, or at least from North Korean IP addresses.
Finally for this week, following on from my earlier prediction Formlabs, the company that makes the Form 1+ 3D printer, has announced that 3D printing will cost less, be faster and use less material. They also claim that with better software comes more diversity and to prove it they printed a speaker that had everything except the copper wire and magnets.
James Hein is an IT professional of over 30 years’ standing. You can contact him at jclhein@gmail.com