Sensopia Raises $1.2 Million Series A For “Magical” Floor Plan Capturing Application, MagicPlan
Sensopia, a company which actually uncovered a practical application for augmented reality, has raised a $1.2 million Series A round for its floor plan capturing application called “MagicPlan.” The app allows users to hold up their phone and then scan the dimensions of the room around them in order to create an instant floor plan that can be exported to various formats, including DXF, PDF, JPEG and HTML, the latter for viewing the plan on the web.
To perform the scan, the app “sees” the room in the camera’s viewfinder, and then you tap on the screen to label things like corners and doors.
Participating in the new round were Partech International, Tekton Ventures, Normandy Ventures, and other private investors. The company says it will use the funding to accelerate growth and further develop the application, making the software easier to use and allowing for the capture of rooms in three dimensions.
The startup had released an updated version of the MagicPlan app around a year ago, which at the time had introduced an upgraded user interface, a full HD iPad version, and improvements to the “MagicPlan Cloud” service – a web service that allows for data-sharing with partners. Although consumers are, of course, welcome to use the app themselves for free (for non-commercial use), Sensopia’s revenue comes from its subscription plans and enterprise adoption.
The company had previously formed agreements with Seloger (France’s Zillow), RTV (Real Tour Vision – a provider of real estate tours in the U.S.), Moobz (the Century 21 technology provider), and Cocontest (a crowd-sourced platform for interior design).
This March, it rolled out version 3.0 of the MagicPlan software, and announced a key partnership with Home Depot. Through this agreement, users could share their floor plan with Home Depot and make an appointment with an associate who would then use the plan to better assist the customer while in the store.
To reach its preferred market (i.e., paying customers), Sensopia is also releasing its MagicPlan software development kit today, which will allow MagicPlan’s technology to be integrated into other applications. The first customer to launch using this SDK is Symbility, a software company that makes claims processing applications for insurance companies.
Symbility will allow its inspectors to create floor plans while on site, while completing a claims adjustment using their iPad.
“It would not be a stretch to imagine that, in the future, claim management data for smaller cases could be generated by consumers, rather than the adjusters, and sent to the insurance company directly,” says Richard Adair, President and COO of Symbility. ”This would, of course, lead to significant savings in both time and money,” he adds.
Until now, Sensopia had been operating as a bootstrapped company. CEO Pierre Gaubil explains, “we wanted to reach real traction before raising money.” Today, he thinks it’s there. The app now has over 4 million downloads and over 20,000 floor plans created per day, Gaubil also notes – up from a million when version 2.0 was released last April. He declined to provide revenue figures, but says growth is at 20 percent month-over-month.
MagicPlan is available in the App Store here.
Read More →Sila Games the gaming revolution
/images/resized//article_25988_615x0_proportion.jpg?1368814192
Sila Games wants to bring the concept of flat rate to video games.
Sila Games is a revolutionary new company that wants to change the way we see the gaming industry. You have a unique opportunity to be a pioneer in that change.
If we reach our goal of € 3,000 we’ll launch Sila Games platform, allowing further development for Web, mobile devices, Android, iPhone and internal infrastructure. It will help also to afford our first servers with security certificates. Also will help with legal advices, legal procedures and other bureaucracy.
Join the gaming revolution, join the Sila Games community!
Tags: crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, video-games
Read More →Routing Around Apple’s Restrictions, AppCertain & Others Bring Enterprise-Level Control To Consumers In The Interest Of Child Safety
In the interest of protecting children, a new iOS application called AppCertain has debuted a monitoring application aimed at parents. The app, whose goal is to alert parents about the nature of the applications their kids are downloading, involves the use of a “configuration profile” – special software Apple originally intended for enterprise use, not consumer-facing apps sold through its App Store marketplace.
But Apple reviewed the application – for longer than most, founder and CEO Spencer Whitman tells us – and subsequently approved it. For how long that will remain the case is, however, unknown.
“We think we are on a gray line with respect to Apple, but we don’t really know,” Whitman admits.
Configuration profiles, for those unfamiliar, were designed for the enterprise environment, allowing I.T. departments to manage the iPhones and iPads used by a company’s employees. They’re typically employed by Mobile Device Management solutions, for example, which use the software to configure, track and/or restrict a number of system-level settings like Wi-Fi, VPNs, app settings, permissions, and more.
But more recently, a handful of startups have started using these same profiles to work around Apple’s App Store’s restrictions in order to accomplish tasks which wouldn’t otherwise be possible. Apple is aware this is happening, and seems to be handling each app submission on a one-off basis for now.
We’ve seen mobile data compression utilities like Onavo and Snappli take advantage of the technology to intercept, re-route, and compress web data in order to save users’ bandwidth, for instance. Social search engine Wajam also uses a configuration profile to inject its own search results into Safari, though this is done outside of the Apple App Store.
Onavo is still live on the Apple App Store today, though Snappli has since disappeared. (We reached out to the company for details, but have yet to hear back. It’s possible that Apple simply didn’t care for the fact that Snappli had publicly shared data showing how iOS users were dumping the then newly-launched Apple Maps application.)
But frankly, it seems odd that Apple would knowingly ever let these types of applications into its consumer-facing app store in the first place, given the security risks they could pose. If used unscrupulously, a malicious configuration profile could remote control a user’s device, manipulate user activity, and hijack their sessions, or so explained security researchers at Skycure back in March.
AppCertain isn’t a malicious developer, though, and its intentions are not to control or restrict how an Apple device is used, which would then be stepping on top of Apple’s own, built-in Parental Control features. Instead, it only monitors app downloads and reports back to parents via email that an app was downloaded, explaining what the app does, as well as what sorts of permissions it requests, and more.
The idea is to alert parents about the apps their child uses, including whether or not they have educational value. It doesn’t prevent the child from actually downloading or installing apps.
The service, staffed by a number of Carnegie Mellon University alumni, first launched to the web in February after being incubated by seed and studio fund Birchmere Labs.
Whitman explained at the time that the company wanted to help busy parents, who often have a hard time keeping up with what their children are installing and using. It’s not only a problem that affects tech novices, he had said. Even savvy parents often forget or get too busy to keep a close eye on their children’s devices. And these devices, little mini-computers that they are, are not without risks.
Parental Controls Outside Of Apple’s Control
While AppCertain is trying to go the official, Apple-approved route with its creation, another company, a small German app consultancy called Mocava, is not. Its new Parental Control application is an over-the-air install only, knowing that Apple would never approve it for App Store download.
Mocava owner Vinh Phuc Dinh says that he created the app to address a situation he found himself in all the time. “I have many nephews, and would pass on my device for them to play,” he tells us. “Unfortunately, there is no easy way to restrict access on the iPhone and save the desired preferences. So we built it ourselves.”
What he means is that though Apple offers parental control features, it’s not the right solution for those who only need controls on occasion. With his Parental Control App, you can quickly turn on restrictions without having to reconfigure them from scratch them each time you hand your phone or iPad to a child. Even if Apple’s restrictions are turned off, the tool will remember your settings.
You can restrict certain default apps from being accessed or certain content from being viewed. You can disable in-app purchases, or specify that an App Store password is always required, and more. To get started, you configure your settings on the web, then download the profile the company provides.
The mere fact that this app and AppCertain even exist speaks to one of the problems with Apple’s strict control over its OS. Unlike on Android where apps like KIDO’Z, Kytephone, Play Safe, Kid Mode and others allow parents more granular control and insight, Apple’s settings are cumbersome. If you turn on age restrictions, for example, the child can’t watch Netflix. You can disable the web browser, but not whitelist websites, and so on.
These devices are computers, and while parents may disagree on what level of involvement is necessary, it’s fair to say that as with “real” computers, children – especially young children – shouldn’t be given free rein with no parental oversight. Too many parents think of iPads as toys, blindly typing in passwords every time their kid begs for a new app. They perhaps put too much trust in Apple’s “family friendly” policies – just because apps are rated and ranked, pornography or gore-free, that doesn’t make everything appropriate for a every child.
It will be interesting to see how far Apple allows these companies to push into this new territory, before it decides to crack down or otherwise change its policies.
AppCertain is available for download here on iPhone and iPad.
Read More →Quickoffice In The Browser: The Reason Why Is Microsoft Suddenly So Scared Of Google’s Productivity Tools
We’re just a few days away from the start of Google I/O, the search giant’s annual developer conference, and while we actually know very little about what Google plans to announce during its massive, 3-hour keynote on Wednesday, there is something brewing in Mountain View that has Microsoft’s Office division on edge. Over the course of the last week, Microsoft started a very negative anti-Google Docs campaign that fits the mold of its more general Scroogled anti-Google ads. But why the sudden focus on Google’s productivity tools? That reason, I believe, is Quickoffice in the browser.
Quickoffice, which Google acquired last June, allows users to read and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the iPad, iPhone and Android. Unlike Google Docs, which remains a relatively limited productivity suite when compared to Microsoft Office, Quickoffice does a very nice job at allowing you to open and edit Office files without losing the document’s layout and other advanced features that Docs can’t currently handle. Just last month, Google brought Quickoffice to Android and the iPhone and introduced the new Chrome Office Viewer for displaying Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Google doesn’t say so explicitly, but it’s a fair assumption that this tool uses some of Quickoffice’s magic as well (it was previously only available for Chrome OS).
When it comes to editing Office documents in the browser, Microsoft’s own Office Web Apps are an underrated gem in the company’s lineup and right now, Google doesn’t have anything in its repertoire of web apps that comes even close.
Quickoffice, however, is coming to the web. When Google introduced the Pixel Chromebook in February, it also dropped a hint that it was porting Quickoffice to Chrome, using its own Native Client technology. At the time, Google’s Sundar Pichai said that many people love Google’s productivity apps, but in the business world, Microsoft Office is still the de facto default. Having Quickoffice available for Chrome and on Chromebooks, he said, “completes the story for a lot of users.” During the February event, Google said that it would take about three months to launch the browser-based version of Quickoffice with full editing capabilities – and that puts the launch date almost exactly in line with next week’s I/O.
Microsoft knows that the competition in the online productivity space is about to heat up and may just put it on defense. For many potential Office 365 and Office Web Apps users, a full-blown Office-compatible productivity suite in the browser from a company like Google presents a very viable alternative to using Microsoft’s tools. It’s no surprise then, that the folks over in Redmond are launching their anti-docs marketing campaign now.
Read More →Quickoffice In The Browser: The Reason Why Microsoft Is Suddenly So Scared Of Google’s Productivity Tools
We’re just a few days away from the start of Google I/O, the search giant’s annual developer conference, and while we actually know very little about what Google plans to announce during its massive, three-hour keynote on Wednesday, there is something brewing in Mountain View that has Microsoft’s Office division on edge. Over the course of the last week, Microsoft started a very negative anti-Google Docs campaign that fits the mold of its more general Scroogled anti-Google ads. But why the sudden focus on Google’s productivity tools? That reason, I believe, is Quickoffice in the browser.
Quickoffice, which Google acquired last June, allows users to read and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on the iPad, iPhone and Android. Unlike Google Docs, which remains a relatively limited productivity suite when compared to Microsoft Office, Quickoffice does a very nice job at allowing you to open and edit Office files without losing the document’s layout and other advanced features that Docs can’t currently handle. Just last month, Google brought Quickoffice to Android and the iPhone and introduced the new Chrome Office Viewer for displaying Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Google doesn’t say so explicitly, but it’s a fair assumption that this tool uses some of Quickoffice’s magic as well (it was previously only available for Chrome OS).
When it comes to editing Office documents in the browser, Microsoft’s own Office Web Apps are an underrated gem in the company’s lineup, and right now, Google doesn’t have anything in its repertoire of web apps that comes even close.
Quickoffice, however, is coming to the web. When Google introduced the Pixel Chromebook in February, it also dropped a hint that it was porting Quickoffice to Chrome, using its own Native Client technology. At the time, Google’s Sundar Pichai said that many people love Google’s productivity apps, but in the business world, Microsoft Office is still the de facto default. Having Quickoffice available for Chrome and on Chromebooks, he said, “completes the story for a lot of users.” During the February event, Google said that it would take about three months to launch the browser-based version of Quickoffice with full editing capabilities – and that puts the launch date almost exactly in line with next week’s I/O.
Microsoft knows that the competition in the online productivity space is about to heat up and may just put it on defense. For many potential Office 365 and Office Web Apps users, a full-blown Office-compatible productivity suite in the browser from a company like Google presents a very viable alternative to using Microsoft’s tools. It’s no surprise then that the folks over in Redmond are launching their anti-docs marketing campaign now.
Read More →Apple Supplier Pegatron’s Hiring Spree Further Fuels Speculation About A Cheaper iPhone
Once again, news from a supplier is fueling rumors about Apple’s future product roster. This time it’s manufacturer Pegatron’s announcement that it will increase its number of workers in China by up to 40 percent in the second half of this year. The hiring blitz at the company, which produces iOS devices, has led to new round of speculation that a cheaper iPhone is in the works.
Suppliers have told Reuters that Apple is developing a cheaper iPhone in order to target emerging markets such as China and India. The less expensive version of the smartphone is expected to launch by the third quarter.
Pegatron’s financial performance is closely tied to the Apple products it makes. Just yesterday the company forecast its biggest drop in consumer electronics revenue in six quarters due to falling demand for the iPad Mini. Pegatron said its second quarter revenue will decrease 25 percent to 30 percent from the previous three months.
Other signs that Pegatron is expecting orders for a cheaper iPhone is chief financial officer Charles Lin’s disclosure that more than 60 percent of the company’s 2013 revenue will come from the second half of the year. Pegatron president and chief executive officer Jason Cheng said earlier this week that revenue from communication products will contribute up to 40 percent to the total in second half of 2013, compared to 24 percent in the first quarter.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said last month that the Cupertino company will start rolling out new products this fall and throughout 2014, including devices in “exciting new product categories.” Though its unclear exactly what Apple will be unleashing in a few months, many analysts believe that it will launch a cheaper iPhone instead of a larger-sized “phablet” that would compete with Samsung’s Galaxy Note.
A less expensive handset will allow Apple to compete with cheaper devices running on Android in emerging markets, but analysts’ opinions on how much of an effect a less pricey iPhone would have on Apple’s earnings vary widely. The company posted its first year-over-year earnings decline since 2003 in the second quarter, reporting $43.6 billion in revenue (up from $39.2 billion in the year-ago quarter) along with $9.5 billion in quarterly net profit.
Enders Analysis’ Benedict Evans said “a blockbuster new Apple phone that almost doubles unit sales and blows a hole in the middle of the Android market might only add 5 percent to Apple’s gross profits.”
On the other hand, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty believes a cheaper version can potentially add another 20 percent to the 10 percent market share iPhone currently holds in China. “Even in a scenario of low 40 percent gross margin and 1/3 iPhone cannibalization rate (flattening legacy iPhone shipment growth, which we view as conservative, the iPhone Mini adds incremental revenue and gross profit dollars,” she wrote in a recent investors note.
Read More →Beyond Verbal Gets A $2.8M Seed Round To Develop Voice Recognition That Decodes Emotions
With the introduction of Siri on the iPhone 4S in 2011, voice recognition, not exactly a new innovation, suddenly took center stage with consumers. But before that, and especially since then, there has been a rush of developments to meet the demand for ever better, more responsive technology across smartphones, tablets, computers, phone services and whatever else will come next. Beyond Verbal, a startup based out of Israel, claims that it has developed a way to take computer-based voice recognition one step further, by creating software that is able to detect not just the words, but the emotional nuances of a voice to decipher how a person speaking is feeling. Today, it’s announcing its first round of funding, $2.8 million led by the newly-launched Genesis Angels, to roll out its patented technology commercially.
As part of the investment, Kenges Rakishev, investor and co-founder of Genesis Angels, is joining the board.
Beyond Verbal offers its technology as a API-style cloud-based licensed service that can be integrated into bigger projects: the sky’s the limit for what these services might be, but you can imagine emotion detection used in all kinds of scenarios, from customer services to games, dating services (maybe to help people figure out if someone is really interested in them) and, yes, personal assistants like Siri.
Interestingly, while we tend to think of voice recognition as a customer-focused service, one potential application can actually be to help customer services representatives improve their own performance. “We can even tell if an agent is losing his temper. We can tell if you are losing your ‘sales perfect’ intonation,” said CEO Yuval Mor in an interview. Indeed, the premise of Beyond Verbal’s service is that a lot of the voice recognition services on the market today only give part of the story:
“It’s not just what people say but how they say it,” he says.
Beyond Verbal also provides analytics and diagnostics that helps customers track different emotions picked up through their applications. Beyond Verbal has yet to announce any customers, although the first is likely to come in the next few weeks, according to CEO Yuval Mor.
While the idea of voice recognition brings to mind companies like Nuance and True Knowledge (whose Evi we reported last month appears to have been acquired quietly by Amazon), which are able to parse natural language into actionable commands on a handset, Beyond Verbal is also touching on another trend in this area: the idea that these software-based services will become ever more human-like over time.
This is something also being developed by Affectiva, a startup spun out of the MIT Media Lab that takes facial recognition one step further by being able to detect emotions.
In the case of Beyond Verbal, Mor says that the system has been created with algorithms that can detect changes in vocal range that indicate things like anger, or anxiety, or happiness, or satisfaction, and cover nuances in mood, attitude, and decision-making characteristics. “To understand these three things is to understand emotions,” is how Mor puts it.
Given that many voice recognition systems — from Google Glass to IVR-based customer services — don’t actually work particularly well, I’m guessing that dissatisfaction may be one of the more highly calibrated of the emotions that Beyond Verbal can track.
Beyond Verbal, of course, is not the first to claim that it is able to read emotions in a voice recognition service. But it claims that it’s providing something different from what is on the market today. Nice, for example, also says that it can track emotions, but it uses speech analytics and word choice and volume to gauge levels of emotion. But without including intonation, Tor says such a solution is “very limited.”
Beyond Verbal is the first funding announcement to come out of the $100 million Genesis Angels fund, which was launched specifically to focus on early-stage investments in artificial intelligence and robotics.
Read More →RunKeeper For Pebble Arrives, Bringing Run, Walk And Bike Ride Progress Tracking To The Smart Watch
So far, the Pebble smart watch has done little besides offer up watch faces for users to tinker with, but the apps are starting to come in, and today marks the much-anticipated debut of early marquee partner RunKeeper. RunKeeper was an early player in the smartphone-based activity tracker market, and continues to be an industry leader. It was a natural partnership for both Pebble and RunKeeper, and now consumers get to see what the two can do together.
The new Pebble RunKeeper integration works with both Android and iOS apps, and provides the same functionality for both. RunKeeper CEO Jason Jacobs says that his company is very interested in the wearable tech market, and he believes that the key to cracking open a much broader audience for fitness and health tracking tech could be gadgets like the Pebble, which make it even easier to access and use information gathered by tools like RunKeeper.
“What’s really exciting for me is that what people were expecting was that it just makes it easier to have a RunKeeper controller on your wrist,” he said, describing the experience of the Pebble integration’s early beta testers. “But what they’re finding is not only can it do that, but it’s actually more powerful than an app because it’s starting to change the way they’re interacting with the data, it’s more seamless to their experience, it’s not disrupting their flow.”
Jacobs says RunKeeper’s thesis as a company is that that’s exactly what needs to happen in order to help this kind of activity tracker technology find wider purchase among a mainstream audience. “The data needs to be more actionable, and it needs to be proactively given to you so that you don’t need to hunt and look for it,” he said. The Pebble is a good way to achieve that, since it can surface any data that a smartphone, either Android or iPhone, can gather on its wrist-mounted display.
On the Pebble, RunKeeper will display pace, speed, and distance travelled and offer workout start and stop features. It can work with runs, and also bike rides and walks, and does everything most will need to get a lot more out of their smartphone supported workouts right away. It offers RunKeeper a way to compete with wearables like the Nike+ GPS sport watch, all the while allowing them to focus on the tech they do best, leaving hardware to more specialized partners.
“The software is really hard, and we think it’s a really big opportunity, and we want to be the best at the software piece,” Jacobs explained. “Part of that is pushing the phone’s capabilities so that you don’t need hardware, but part of that is also playing nice with all the best of breed hardware that comes out. In terms of being that best of breed hardware ourselves, it’s not in our roadmap or aspirations. It is in our road or aspirations to be a good neighbour.”
This version of RunKeeper for Pebble is just a start, Jacobs says, noting that during the development process they realized they could add in much more, like setting pace on the smart watch, setting distance targets and more. RunKeeper also worked closely with Pebble to get this particular integration developed, and says we’ll see similar UI elements used as other fitness tracking apps come on board. Future work could go into helping RunKeeper differentiate its experience further as the development ecosystem for Pebble progresses.
Jacobs leads me to believe that RunKeeper will be opportunistic about partnerships with hardware companies and other software efforts operating in the same general space, and this Pebble partnership is just one part of a larger strategy to try to find the key to cracking the mainstream market with a product that, while successful, has had more niche appeal up until now. The Pebble is also arguably a niche product, but taken together, it’s possible two things aimed at a very specific audience could combine in just the right way to attract a much broader following.
Read More →T-Mobile Targets Small Businesses With New Business Connect SaaS Phone Service, Partnering With Stealth ChooChee
T-Mobile, fresh from the completion of its merger with MetroPCS and new NYSE listing, is now sharpening its focus on new customers and new products, beginning with small businesses and cloud-based, software-as-a-service phone deals. We’ve been passed a letter that T-Mobile is sending out to a selection of small companies (copied below), targeting those with 20 or fewer employees and offering them free business phone service for the remainder of 2013, with half price on phone services in 2014. The plan, called Business Connect, also has a dedicated website.
This looks to be a direct competitor to other hosted services like those offered by 8×8 and RingCentral, which effectively offer small businesses a cloud-based solution that gives them telephony features like voicemail, CallerID, conference bridges and other features that have been hallmarks of services for larger companies.
From what we understand, this is being developed in conjunction with ChooChee, whose site, if you visit it, still indicates it is in stealth mode but also notes that it is working “in close partnership with one of the world’s largest global telephony providers”. Our source tells us that ChooChee has in fact been quietly acquired by T-Mobile. (We have reached out to the company to confirm this, plus the news about Business Connect. In any case, someone last year created a profile on CrunchBase called Deutsche Telekom/ChooChee, which points to them at least working together.)
From what we understand, what’s going out to select users today is an early beta, and that there will be a soft launch later this year, with a bigger launch later in the year. This could be part of a bigger strategy targeting SMBs: just last week (prior to the MetroPCS announcement) T-Mobile also announced a new plan for small businesses called “Simple Choice.” This is effectively the business equivalent of the “un-carrier” deals that T-Mobile has been selling to consumers. In this case it’s low-cost mobile plans for unlimited talk, text and mobile web access without an annual contract, along with offers for smartphones at discounted prices. On top of that, T-Mobile is also selling additional services like IT support and billing automation in a new “Business Extras” plan.
The Business Connect service, however, appears to be separate from this and aimed at a converged fixed/mobile phone service.
T-Mobile, even with the added heft of MetroPCS, is still the U.S.’s smallest mobile carrier, with 43 million subscribers, compared to Verizon at 109.8 million subscribers, AT&T at 103.9 million subscribers and Sprint at 55.8 million subscribers.
T-Mobile has been slowly turning things around. In its last quarterly earnings, it reported its first customer growth since 2009, with numbers up 0.6%, and now it’s finally carrying the iPhone on its network, as well as building out its LTE network. Services like this show that it’s also looking to try to grow by being innovative and shifting the playing field — it looks like this might be the first SaaS telephony offering of this kind from one of the major U.S. carriers.
Text of the email sent out to businesses below:
Read More →T-Mobile Business Connect
************************************************
SAY ‘CHEERS’ TO A BUSINESS PHONE SYSTEM
YOU WON’T REGRET IN THE MORNING************************************************
[xxx],
Why do phone companies still make business phone
systems so complex?************************************************
Good question. We’ve selected your company to be one of the first
to get a new business phone system built for a world that expects
even powerful technology to be easy to use. And you can try this
new system without paying one penny.************************************************
That’s right, you’ll pay nothing for a brand-new phone system,
including service through 2013.************************************************
T-Mobile Business Connect is what a phone system should be,
and it’s ready for your landlines, mobile phones, tablets,
computers and just about anything else. No special equipment
needed. No gotchas, no surprises, no kidding.************************************************
We’re only offering this unique program to 200 specially
selected businesses, so grab your spot now.***********************************************
– The T-Mobile Business Connect Team
***********************************************
GET A COMPLETE PHONE SYSTEM, ON US.
Space is limited. Claim your spot today and get complimentary
business phone service for the rest of 2013, 50% off for all
of 2014 and a desk phone, on us.GET STARTED >>
http://www.tmobilebiz.com
With New Service, Any Device Could Run Almost Any Program From Anywhere
In the near future, the only difference between a smartphone, tablet, and a laptop will be the size of the screen. Hardcore gamers could play 3D intensive games in a smartphone, and Michael Bay could render “Transformers 4″ from his iPad. Otoy, an LA-based software company, has discovered a way to stream any application to any device, completely through a web browser. It’s difficult to overestimate the potential disruptiveness of Otoy, as a breakthrough streaming service could, in the near future, end the need for app stores and computer upgrades (see a demo below).
Otoy has a habit of impressing the tech press with its surprising ability to stream 3D intensive graphics to devices that shouldn’t be able to run them. Since Otoy’s 2009 demo, there’s been a rush of companies in the ever more crowded “cloud” services industry, such as Onlive’s streaming video gaming. Up until now, video games were shackled to certain consoles, mobile apps to particular app stores, and software to particular operating systems. If we didn’t own an iPhone, Windows, and or an Xbox, we couldn’t use a lot of cool applications.
But, every device runs Internet browsers, and specifically, the JavaScript which Otoy utilizes to render the software. Soon, the monopoly that iOS, Windows, and Xbox wields over users will end, and the freedom to use any piece of software on any device will become the norm.
Even cooler, we may no longer need to shell out $3,000 on a high-end laptop to run games or graphics software. At Otoy’s media event with Mozilla and Autodesk at San Francisco headquarters, we saw the graphics-hungry first person shooter, Unreal, run seamlessly on an iPhone. In essence, Otoy brings a supercomputer to your phone or tablet.
“That’s going to have huge implications in my business” said celebrity talent agent and Otoy investor, Ari Emanuel, who sees the ability of more filmmakers to make movies in less time and for less money. Currently, it takes an entire day to render movie-quality scenes. With Otoy, globally distributed teams could work in real time (some at the beach) without having to stagger their work for an entire day between revisions.
So, how much will it cost if Otoy completely replaces my computer needs? About $300, estimates Urbach, based on 8 hours of use per day for consumer applications (Otoy charges by computing power and is currently targeting artists).
There is one more implications of note: Otoy could dramatically reduce Internet congestion. Cellular networks are overloaded, in part, because multimedia takes up a huge chunk of the available bandwidth. Netflix, alone, hogs an estimated 32% of total U.S. bandwidth during peak hours. Otoy and Mozilla estimate that the enhanced streaming technology could reduce the total bandwidth needs by a sizable 25%.
In order for Otoy, or any cloud rendering service, to completely service all our computing needs, the Internet must get much more reliable. At the demo, a standard 4G cell network could stream a video game. But, spotty coverage around cities, on airplanes, and in rural areas will be a serious bottleneck for Otoy. Additionally, it’s unclear whether current U.S. bandwidth could actually handle everyone moving to the cloud.
So, while we don’t know the implications in the short term, the implications a few years down the road are very exciting.
Read More →