Touch - An Evolutionary Start by Ubuntu

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gcmartin

Touch - An Evolutionary Start by Ubuntu

#1 Post by gcmartin »

As you look for your next adventure in technology, you're going to love this one. ===> Ubuntu just blew the doors wide open. A 4GB RAM "personal assistant".

Also, some may already have notice Barry's enthusiam.

An article that discusses the evolutionary potential and its impact.

This approach offers many many advantages as we move into the future. The technology going into our "hands" will give great things for us, in so many ways: at home, at work, at stores, in car, while hiking/camping/fishing/etc.

Its practicality is becoming enormously apparent across the world.

FYI

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#2 Post by Q5sys »

The Edge was an inevitable failure

"Ubuntu Edge was always a solution looking for a problem." - Agree 100%

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#3 Post by Flash »

That article trashes a device that never existed, except maybe as a prototype which few people ever saw. How can he say the Edge was a "failure" when the only thing that failed was the attempt to raise the $32 million needed to put it into production? As a result of that failure, the Edge was never built. It might have been a tremendous success if it had been built. We'll never know.

gcmartin

#4 Post by gcmartin »

Business
The crowd sourcing effort was, I must admit, "adventuous". I think it caused a lot of uproar in the venture capitalist arena as well as other business models currently in place in the world. But, that's the business side of the effort.

Technology
I suspect we haven't heard the last of this kind of technology integration. And we can expect something of this kind to be forth-coming. Maybe as early as CES 2014.

Here's a hand-on test.

This technology holds a lot of promise for individual user usage.

A couple probably don't understand this and see this in a singularity. Sorry.

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#5 Post by jpeps »

gcmartin wrote:
This technology holds a lot of promise for individual user usage.

A couple probably don't understand this and see this in a singularity. Sorry.
We're not talking about promise to the user, we're talking about financial opportunities. Check out all the wonderful apps that now run in the background at your expense (data fees), gathering info and sending it to marketers. The most important business right now is marketing...convincing consumers that they need all this stuff. Ubuntu has a number of products in the works....for a reason, and it's NOT the free software movement..it's about licensing fees. That's not to say there aren't useful advances taking place, but it's in areas like the biotech industry, 3D printing, etc.

The Edge is a perfect example of using marketing to convince you there's something exciting about a product that has been outdated already by a laptop.

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#6 Post by rokytnji »

I'm still kinda peeved at myself when I did not take the chance and buy a

http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/products/smartbook.htm

before the company decided they were not going to sell to private consumers.

So in a way. Ubuntus idea was neat,but not new. Still waiting for a version of this to hit the market again.

gcmartin

#7 Post by gcmartin »

Yeah. The good thing, as this progresses, is the user has his total personal experience in his hand. His information can be anywhere, but his controls is in his hand (assume: "his" means any sex).

In the past, the Information industry continues to address transaction safety and information protection. They will continue to do such, lest, they will lose public confidence to their competition.

Our concerns will be met with solutions by the very vendors mentioned.

BTW, did anyone notice HP's newest touch Ultrabook? And "here come the Haswells".

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#8 Post by jpeps »

gcmartin wrote:Yeah. The good thing, as this progresses, is the user has his total personal experience in his hand. His information can be anywhere, but his controls is in his hand (assume: "his" means any sex).
hmm...sounds pretty "male" to me
In the past, the Information industry continues to address transaction safety and information protection. They will continue to do such, lest, they will lose public confidence to their competition.

Our concerns will be met with solutions by the very vendors mentioned.
Android OS is already posing a big security risk, since it's being targeted big time; certainly not like using an OS with a 1.25% user base. There's not much the vendors (whoever that is) can do about it. The devs recommend keeping your devices updated....okay...

My thoughts are keep your devices separate. My main business computer doesn't have any internet connection. I think of my cell phone kind of like a public toilet. ( the Edge comes with a scratch resistant stall). And yes, I use a firewall, virus protection, password protection, and encryption...and still wouldn't keep sensitive data on it for more than a few hours.

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#9 Post by Q5sys »

Flash wrote:That article trashes a device that never existed, except maybe as a prototype which few people ever saw. How can he say the Edge was a "failure" when the only thing that failed was the attempt to raise the $32 million needed to put it into production? As a result of that failure, the Edge was never built. It might have been a tremendous success if it had been built. We'll never know.
That's kinda my point. It only was an idea. So when I say it failed... I mean that in the same way as the market says the Ubuntu TV failed.
Ubuntu, sadly, has some bad track records with promising alot and delivering little.

The idea itself is intriguing, I think there are some major pitfalls that have not been address properly in the concept yet, but I'm sure they will be.
I'm sure this concept will in time become normal and commonplace, but at this point I dont think there's a market for it. Take the Apple Newton. The Tablet/PDA was a great idea, but no one was ready for it. It took years going by before the idea could become viable. And when it did become viable, it exploded in popularity.
I think this single device to do everything is something that the populace just isnt ready for.

As for the claims that it's great for Enterprise. I thought the same way, until a friend of mine who works in enterprise sat me down and gave me a few things to think about why it wouldn't be good for enterprise. Here's his basic points.

1) Loss hazard. (obviously)

2) Depending on the market... There are also PCI compliance issues to take into account. I'm not aware of any solutions which will work on BOTH android and Ubuntu.

3) Some matters can be resolved with Encryption, but full system encryption on Android doesnt exist at this point (that Im aware of). Also whatever full encryption system you would use would also have to be able to work under Ubuntu as well. Since the data would need to be visable to both.

4) If the device EVER comes in contact with medical data... there are HIPPA Concerns as well. Is there a version of something like WebSense for Android/Ubuntu?

5) Backups. My buddy's company has daily backups of all company devices. Now a laptop on a corporate network isnt an issue. How will you do backups of a smartphone? It has no Ethernet, so you're doing it over wifi or over 3g/4g. Those costs will run crazy not to mention it'll be painfully slow.

6) Most companies dont have to worry about people leaving with a laptop or desktop computer, but a cell phone that's that expensive is likely to walk alot eaiser if a person leaves or is fired.

7) Phones are lost alot eaiser and are damaged alot eaiser. This means the company will have the expense of replacing lost or damaged units. Since this now IS the employees work system, its not like they can just sit down at their home computer or another office computer and get back to work quickly.


Can those issues be address, in time I think they will be. But right now, All we had was a promise of a shiny device that hadn't even been made yet.

gcmartin

#10 Post by gcmartin »

Yes. And all the items you mentioned are already being addressed, not just in medicine, but other industry/corporation areas where they perceive productivity increases in operations.

My big question is whether this technology is going to come down or rise in individual's costs.

We'll have to see what the industry delivers....next.

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#11 Post by Q5sys »

gcmartin wrote:Yes. And all the items you mentioned are already being addressed, not just in medicine, but other industry/corporation areas where they perceive productivity increases in operations.

My big question is whether this technology is going to come down or rise in individual's costs.

We'll have to see what the industry delivers....next.
If you are aware of examples of the industry working to address the matter of full system encryption on Android, PLEASE provide me with a link to it as I've been looking for a viable solution for a while.

If you are aware of examples of the industry working to address the matter of PCI compliance on Android Devices, PLEASE provide me with a link to it as my friend has been looking for a solution for this for his company. He has been unable to find any viable solutions. His company is searching for this solution.

If you are aware of examples of the industry working to address the matter of HIPPA compliance on Android Devices, PLEASE provide me with a link to it as my friend has been looking for a solution for this for his company. He has been unable to find any viable solutions. His company is searching for this solution.

If you are aware of examples of the industry working to address the matter of remote incremental backup solutions on Android, PLEASE provide me with a link to it as both myself and my friend has been looking for a viable solution for a while.

Either you are aware of some of these solutions, or you are not, and thus would be unable to truthfully claim that the industry is addressing them. You've made the claim that you are aware of them, so I'm going to take your at your word. Please provide examples as I know people in the industry who are desperately searching for solutions for these matters.

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#12 Post by jpeps »

August 28, 2013
U.S. Government Issues Warning About Security on Android Phones

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/2 ... ones/?_r=0

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#13 Post by jamesbond »

Q5Sys, that's a very interesting observation. Once upon a time there was a fully-managed mobile device for the enterprise, and that company used to own the industry all by itself - Blackberry. But it has fallen out of favour to unmanaged devices like iP** and Android --- which was never designed as a managed/enterprise device to begin with; and now people are scrambling to add security and manageability to them - as add-ons. An odd fact, I mean, if PCI/HIPPA compliance were that important to begin with, why have the enterprise abandoned Blackberry - which has those in sight and in mind, as their main product design? (I mean, apart from the coolness factor, apart from bring-your-own-devices to the office stuff?)

As for convergence device, +1 to that. It may come someday but the time isn't right now (well the "industry" has promised us that in the last couple of years already ...). For me the reason is simple. A phone is a phone is a phone. It is no good as a phone if when I need to use it, the battery is already flat because I've used it as a (anything else but a phone). While a quad-core CPU + 4GB RAM phone looks appealing, it does no good if the battery can only last for 1 hour or if it weighs a ton.

Anyway, if anyone is really interested in these kind of stuff, there is no need to wait for "the industry to deliver". The industry never "leads". In fact, the industry (the sensible ones at least) usually listens and follows the cues and leads from "the market" --- which is us. We are the one to tell the industry where to go - not the other way around. An industry that takes no heed from the market will suffer bad consequences (Surface anyone? $1B write-off - and not even Ballmer is strong enough to face the ill-wind after that. An classic example of when the industry tries to lead where nobody wants to go). This day anyone with a little bit of extra fund can always go to China manufacturers and get stuff made with a lot less than what is needed to start a car-rental business.

As for Ubuntu Edge, though, I would not call it as a failure. It is a case of good sense - it is the very opposite of the Surface episode. I call it as a market survey; to see if there are interest for that kind of device. And the market has spoken - "yes there is interest but not as big as you think it is" ($12million pledge is nothing to sniff at but it is still less than half of $32million asked). Whatever happens after this depends on whether Ubuntu thinks whether it is worth to run after that market.
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Touch - An Evolutionary Start by Ubuntu

#14 Post by Monsie »

jamesbond wrote:
Once upon a time there was a fully-managed mobile device for the enterprise, and that company used to own the industry all by itself - Blackberry. But it has fallen out of favour to unmanaged devices like iP** and Android --- which was never designed as a managed/enterprise device to begin with; and now people are scrambling to add security and manageability to them - as add-ons
Although I am Canadian, I am not completely familiar with the story about Research In Motion, but there is a good Wiki article here. Actually, I think I am more knowledgeable about Apple... :shock:

In any event, I think the simple answer is that the market has changed... -drastically.

In Canada, Blackberry phones were an accessory for business people. Then when the iPhones came out about six years ago, followed by the Android phones a year later, suddenly, everybody had to have a smartphone... and a big part of that market was and is kids. I see this as a parent, and I see it as a teacher assistant in the public schools. While I got my first cell phone for my fiftieth birthday some years ago, most kids where I live are getting a smart phone for their twelveth or thirteenth birthday at the latest, and quite a few kids are younger than that now. (I'd be interested if there are any current statistics regarding such ownership).

Once the cell phone/smartphone became a mass consumer device, the market changed significantly. For companies to survive, they had to be able to appeal to the mass market and be able to innovate at a fast and furious pace to keep up with the changing demands of technological advances. Blackberry tried, but stumbled in the last few years, and its offerings seemed a bit too little and too late. Even last year, I saw a video review on-line about one of the Blackberry Bold models, and the jist was that the tech analyst gave RIM extremely low marks, because the device did not have a touch screen... While the Blackberry 10 may have given RIM some of the needed "coolness factor" again, it was late coming to the party, and the market has moved on already.

I do think the Blackberry is a quality item whether it has the traditional keyboard or touchscreen today... but, at the moment I can only think of two "kids" who have one... :roll: Even worse, RIM has been losing a lot of its old customers, and laying off a lot of employees in attempt to stop the hemorrhaging... Last I heard, RIM aka Blackberry is up for sale... --is there anyone interested?

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#15 Post by jpeps »

Corporations have been relying on data centers to handle sensitive communication for quite a while now. Security conscious organizations ban cell phones on the premises.

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Touch - An Evolutionary Start by Ubuntu

#16 Post by Monsie »

jpeps wrote:Corporations have been relying on data centers to handle sensitive communication for quite a while now. Security conscious organizations ban cell phones on the premises.
I'm not able to find any definitive numbers on how prevalent such policy is currently. To the extent this is happening, it's bound to have an impact on the sales of smartphones for the enterprise, but to what extent, I do not know...

Certainly, many companies will have a cell phone usage policy that limits cell phone use rather than bans them, --that restricts employees from making personal calls, texts etc.-- and that seems fair, especially if it compromises worker productivity otherwise. It seems to me that cell phone use for business is still extremely important for effective communication. Maybe this begs the need for the kind of technology that provides a restricted smartphone network that allows for business communication only... kind of like an intranet for smartphones... --is this possible today?

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#17 Post by jpeps »

Monsie wrote:
jpeps wrote:Corporations have been relying on data centers to handle sensitive communication for quite a while now. Security conscious organizations ban cell phones on the premises.
I'm not able to find any definitive numbers on how prevalent such policy is currently. To the extent this is happening, it's bound to have an impact on the sales of smartphones for the enterprise, but to what extent, I do not know...
It covers them legally. On my end, I get a fax and usually an email with an attachment that lasts for 30 minutes. Requests for information come from a data center as well, which handles the documents. I'm using one myself for faxes. Security is an evolving issue. Email isn't secure, phone messages aren't secure.

Any organization that values security (i.e, where there is the possibility of a security violation) will screen for cell phones at the front door.

gcmartin

#18 Post by gcmartin »

Q5sys. The work has already been started where the IT departments in several Medical groups are underway. One of them is planning a mass replacement of their distributed tablets. Another will replace laptops.

While you ask good questions you can find those answers yourself. Yes there is efforts underway.

If you want specifics, ask your doctor friend to approach either Cleveland Clinic or Johns Hopkins.

Where they may not talk to you, they will to another doctor. And, in their cases, their IT departments have presented.

Addressing HIPAA challenges is nothing new.

Hope this helps you.

I have to ask, publicly, why do you find the need to constantly quote someone in your post??? You could have just as easily asked the community for comment. Then others may be more apt to share good useful information with you. Something you "may" want to consider as this is a forum. Most of us read and follow things reasonable well without the need to quote. I dont mean this in a "spirited" manner. Just an idea being presented for consideration.

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#19 Post by jpeps »

gcmartin wrote:
If you want specifics, ask your doctor friend to approach either Cleveland Clinic or Johns Hopkins.
I would guess they primarily use PC's, like every other doctor's office. Am I wrong on that?

gcmartin

#20 Post by gcmartin »

I think I would word that "they use technology to accomplish the same things, every doctor does, with patients."

They, along with other institutions dont care much about whether its a phone, a PC, a tablet or whatever. They look at IT solutions for the convenience and the efficiency derived versus cost. And, their solutions are usually tailored for the environment it will operate in. I say that to say that a receptionist in a hospital entrance will NOT get the kind of tools that would be provided a doctor/nurse. Nor will the front office necessarily have same tools as back office personnel.

But, I think this is rather obvious. And, it is occurring across the world, in Canada, in Brazil, across Europe, in Saudi, in Israel, in...

Am I wrong on that?

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