Smartwatch to offer built-in camera

22 August 2013 Last updated at 00:45 ET By Leo Kelion Technology reporter

Omate Truesmart - a smartwatch with a built-in five megapixel camera - is set to go into production after hitting its crowdfunding target.

The device raised more than $100,000 (£63,760) of pledges on fundraising site Kickstarter, guaranteeing it will get the cash.

Another watch, Pebble, secured a record $10.2m via the funding site last year.

Omate's achievement comes ahead of the much-anticipated launch of a smartwatch from Samsung.

The South Korean firm has confirmed it is working on the product and has filed patents for possible designs.

It has not announced when it will unveil the product, but its next scheduled event is at Berlin's Ifa consumer tech show in a fortnight's time.

Working prototypes

Unlike many of the smartwatches already on the market, Omate says the Truesmart can be fitted with a micro-Sim card to make use of its 3G chip.

This will allow it to make voice calls and send social media messages without having to be paired with a smartphone or tablet - although that is also an option.

Other details announced by New York-based team include:

• Google's Android 4.2.2 operating system will power it, allowing it to run apps including fitness activity trackers
• The touchscreen will be 1.5in (3.9cm)
• It will be water-resistant, allowing it to be worn while swimming, but not if diving
• It will offer GPS location support
• It can be operated via gesture controls
• Its 4 gigabytes of internal storage can be boosted by up to an additional 32GB using a microSD card

One of Omate's three co-founders told the BBC that the project had been in development for one-and-a-half years and that they already had a factory in Shenzhen, China ready to go into production.

"We already have working prototypes, but not the final design," said Nick Yap.

"Most of the functions are there but we still need to add voice and gesture controls.

"There will be a swipe-based touch function and another when you move, like Nintendo's Wii games control. For example you will be able to flick your wrist to show the clock."

He added that his company planned to make samples of the finished product next month and to ship the first watches to customers in October.

The planned retail price is $299 (£190)

Luxury smartwatch

Omate is not the only new firm teasing a camera-equipped smartwatch.

Earlier this month Geneva-based Hyetis announced plans for Crossbow - a product with a 41 megapixel camera in its side.

The developer said that it intended the device to be able to interact with iOS, Android and Windows 8 handsets and added it would cost $1,200.

It said that it intended to ship the product by the end of the year, although one tech journalist has suggested that may be an over-ambitious target.

"This strikes me as a start-up with a big idea," wrote Mike Elgan.

"I doubt they'll ship this year, and it's possible they may never ship. Still, it's an ambitious effort.

Tech consultancy Gartner predicts the global wearable computing market could be worth $10bn by 2016.

However, one of its analysts had doubts about the products being proposed by Omate and Hyetis.

"The whole point about the camera in Google Glass [eyewear] is that you can take a photo just by looking at somebody," said Carolina Milanesi.

"With these watches you'd have to position your hand and extend your arm to take a picture. The idea of including a lens seems like a gimmick and not something that people would want to use in that kind of way.

"But the idea of letting them be used underwater is a big thing because fitness trackers like the Nike Fuelband and the Jawbone Up can't currently go in the swimming pool."

Sell outs?

Pebble - whose smartwatch features an e-paper display to reduce power-use, but no camera - has been the most successful start-up of its kind so far.

The California-based firm revealed in July that it had received about 275,000 pre-orders for its device. The $150 product has since gone on sale at Best Buy stores in the US.

But Ms Milanesi said Gartner expected that it would be more established firms that would ultimately triumph in the sector.

"Pebble has helped kick off the whole idea, but I think for a lot of these companies it's about being bought out eventually or at least selling their assets.

"I think consumers are really looking for something from the key players - such as Samsung, Google and Apple - or maybe one of the established brands that already make watches."

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Ubuntu Edge campaign misses target

22 August 2013 Last updated at 11:13 ET

The 30-day crowdfunding campaign to raise $32m (£20.5m) for the Ubuntu Edge smartphone has failed.

Developer Canonical raised almost $13m from 27,488 funders, surpassing the previous crowdfunding record of more than $10m set by Pebble smartwatches' Kickstarter campaign.

It had wanted to manufacture 40,000 handsets with its free operating system for qualifying backers by next May.

But all pledges will now be returned after it failed to reach its target.

"We realised that it is very difficult to crowdfund for both the development and the production costs together," Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth told the BBC.

"That's why the costs have escalated here. That's a new insight," he added.

Mr Shuttleworth said that in a future campaign Canonical would "try to find a different source for the development costs and have that secured" before launching a crowdfunding campaign to manufacture the handsets.

Chose 'fixed funding'

Programs on the proposed smartphone would have looked like standard mobile apps when the handset was being used as a standalone device.

But they would have changed their user interfaces to that of a desktop application when the phone was docked with a monitor, Canonical had said.

In addition, the operating system could support apps written in the HTML5 web language, albeit at slower speeds.

The Ubuntu Edge campaign raised nearly $3.4m in the first 24 hours.

But the pace of fundraising slowed after that.

The campaign had offered the first 5,000 backers the chance to buy one of the new smartphones for $600. After that, contributors would have had to pay $830 for their smartphone.

Later in the campaign, Canonical reportedly introduced additional pricing tiers - of $625, $675, $695 and $725.

In an interview with the BBC last week, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth said many lessons had been learned over the course of the campaign, and he would rethink the strategy of offering a discounted price to early funders.

Canonical chose to use Indiegogo's "fixed funding" campaign, under the terms of which all the money pledged must be returned if the campaign does not reach its funding goal.

The company could have selected a "flexible funding" campaign and kept most of the funds, after paying a higher percentage to Indiegogo for missing the target.

Canonical planned to make money by charging for support and training for Ubuntu and taking a share of online sales from handset makers who adopted its software.

Indiegogo's current funding record of $1,665,380 was set by Scandu Scout - a scheme to build a Star Trek-style Tricorder medical scanning device.

Other independent fundraising campaigns have attracted larger sums, such as Cloud Imperium Games, which has gathered more than $15m by soliciting contributions directly on its website. It raised more than $2m in a separate campaign on Kickstarter.

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Desktop 3D scanner goes on sale

22 August 2013 Last updated at 13:39 ET

A desktop device that can quickly scan objects so they can be replicated using a 3D printer has gone on sale.

The Makerbot Digitizer, which costs $1,400 (£900), will be shipped to the first buyers in October.

Demand for the machine appeared to overload the company's store when it went on sale on Thursday evening.

The Digitizer is the latest product looking to bring 3D printing to mainstream technology users - but experts are sceptical.

The machine is designed to allow the replication of objects without any need for the user to learn any 3D modelling software or have any other special expertise.

It works by pointing several lasers at the object and detecting contours in the surface.

It also allows users to upload their 3D designs directly to Thingiverse, a website where 3D designs can be shared.

No hamburgers

The time it takes to scan an object varies, but one demonstration involving a small gnome was said to take around 12 minutes.

"The MakerBot Digitizer is for early adopters, experimenters, and visionaries who want to be pioneers in Desktop 3D Scanning," the company says.

"This includes, but is not limited to, architects, designers, creative hobbyists, educators, and artists."

However, Makerbot has made it clear that the scanner is not suitable for intricate designs and that users should not expect "too much" from the machine.

"Expectations should be realistic," the machine's FAQ page reads. "You will not be able to, for example, scan a hamburger and then eat the digital design."

It adds that objects that are shiny, reflective, and fuzzy are not well suited to scanning.

Despite the industry's hopes that 3D printing will be hugely popular in the near future, others have dismissed home 3D printing as something of a gimmick.

"Appearances have become completely unhinged from reality when it comes to the mania created in so-called '3D Printing' stocks," warned influential investment analysts Citron Research.

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Baidu launches app preview service

23 August 2013 Last updated at 06:40 ET

Chinese search engine Baidu has said it will allow people to preview mobile apps without needing to download them.

Baidu's free Light App platform will run other apps, giving users a chance to access them without having to install them first.

The service would help less well-known apps get more visibility, the firm said at its annual Baidu World event.

Analysts say the move can be seen as an effort by Baidu to expand its reach in China's mobile internet market.

"The traditional app store model has a fundamental flaw because it only benefits a few popular apps, while a huge number of small developers are finding it hard to survive," Baidu chief executive Robin Li said, according to the China Daily newspaper.

He added that only a few hundred apps - which reportedly make up just 0.1% of the apps available - made up 70% of all downloads.

But the chief executive said the Light App would provide exposure to "low frequency" apps, which a user might need to use only occasionally.

Developers of these less popular apps would still earn revenue through the conventional channels - adverts within their app or through downloads.

Baidu has said it plans to add other services, such as online payment systems, travel guides and music to the Light App platform, China Daily reported.

In a rapidly expanding mobile internet market in China, some correspondents say the country's largest search engine must be more innovative to stay ahead.

In July, Baidu bought China's largest mobile app store, 91 Wireless Websoft, for nearly $2bn (£1.3bn).

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Ebay users hit by site problems

23 August 2013 Last updated at 07:25 ET

Ebay users are reporting issues using the auction website following scheduled maintenance carried out earlier today.

Some users are complaining of log-in failures or problems using the service once they have accessed their accounts.

A spokesperson for the site told the BBC issues had been occurring since around 08:00 BST but added that they were "intermittent".

Site users had been warned in advance that the maintenance would cause disruption, he added.

However the work had taken longer than anticipated, eBay said in a statement.

"We are sorry that intermittent problems with eBay have continued for longer than planned. We are working hard to resolve the issue, and will provide a further update soon," the firm said.

Hundreds of individuals and businesses have been tweeting about the service disruption.

"Anyone else having problems with eBay this morning? Keeps telling me my ID is incorrect (it isn't) and not allowing me to log in. Grrr!" said author Anne Mitchell.

"Anyone else having problems with eBay today, First it's down & then it's up, then logins fail or pages don't work," tweeted hockey shop owner Ken Abbott.

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Getting your tweets via ticker tape

23 August 2013 Last updated at 08:47 ET By Zoe Kleinman Technology reporter, BBC News

A web developer from Cumbria has built a modern version of a 19th Century ticker-tape machine which prints out tweets.

The 'twittertape' device was built from scratch using second-hand parts from clocks and other sources, said creator Adam Vaughan.

The wooden base hides a thermal printer and a micro-controller, he added.

Share prices were traditionally distributed via telegraph lines and printed out on ticker-tape machines.

They were invented in 1867 and some original machines are now considered to be high value antiques.

"I have a keen interest in history and have always been fascinated by ticker-tape machines as a design piece," Mr Vaughan told the BBC.

"One day I thought it would be nice to have one sat on your desk and started to think about what information it could produce. Twitter is perfect."

Mr Vaughan spent three months assembling his version of the machine but admits a lot of that time was devoted to finding the right parts.

"I'm a web developer by trade so actually building stuff is quite new to me," he said.

"I built it all from scratch after finding some examples online."

The device connects to a computer via an ethernet cable and pulls data from Mr Vaughan's Twitter account every 30 seconds.

Any future versions could include a control panel so that the owner could programme the machine to print from a particular hashtag or from multiple accounts, he added, but his project has hit a snag.

"The main issue is that Twitter has updated its API and restricted access to third party developers," Mr Vaughan said.

"There is a work-around but it has complicated things a bit."

He admitted that he had been surprised by interest shown in his "twittertape" invention, especially from the steampunk community who share a passion for Victoriana and technology.

"I built it as a curiosity piece," said Mr Vaughan.

"Nowadays things are built for function and I feel something has been lost.

"When I first pitched the idea to friends and family they all hated it."

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Star Wars cinematographer dies at 99

23 August 2013 Last updated at 13:25 ET

Gilbert Taylor, the veteran British cinematographer of Star Wars, The Omen and Dr Strangelove, has died aged 99.

According to his wife Dee, he died on Friday with his family at his bedside at his home on the Isle of Wight.

Born in Bushey Heath, Hertfordshire in 1914, Taylor entered the film industry in 1929 as a camera assistant, working at Gainsborough Studios in London.

His many credits include Ice Cold in Alex, the Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night and Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy.

He also worked with Roman Polanski on such films as Repulsion and Cul-de-Sac, for which he received back-to-back Bafta nominations in consecutive years.

According to his wife, Taylor "turned down a Bond picture" to work with Polanski, "because he thought Roman was a very interesting guy".

"The three of us became very firm friends, and we've been friends until this day."

'Sheer magic'

Taylor had a hand in the special effects for 1955 classic The Dam Busters and was director of photography on the 1980 fantasy Flash Gordon.

To many, though, he will be best remembered for his contribution to the first Star Wars film, on which he worked under the auspices of director George Lucas.

"George avoided all meetings and contact with me from day one," Taylor would later tell American Cinematographer magazine.

"So I read the extra-long script many times and made my own decisions as to how I would shoot the picture."

Taylor would have happier memories of his time photographing Ken Adam's famous War Room set for Doctor Strangelove, Stanley Kubrick's 1964 Cold War satire.

"Lighting that set was sheer magic," he later recalled. "I don't quite know how I got away with it all."

Taylor's distinguished career included six years with the Royal Air Force during World War II, shooting the results of night-time raids over Germany at the request of Winston Churchill.

He went on to become a founder member of the British Society of Cinematographers, which presented him with a lifetime achievement award in 2001.

Taylor also worked on television, shooting episodes for such 1960s series as The Avengers and The Baron.

Continue reading the main story

There was nothing he couldn't do"

End Quote Dee Taylor

He stopped making feature films in 1994 but continued to shoot commercials while turning his hand to painting.

Speaking to the BBC News website on Friday, Gilbert's widow said their life together had been "a Technicolor dream".

Dee, a script supervisor, was 23 years his junior. They met on the set of the 1963 Tony Hancock film The Punch and Judy Man and married four years later.

They continued to work together for the rest of their lives. When the British film industry went through hard times in the mid-1970s, they set up a dairy farm with 250 cattle.

Mrs Taylor remembered her late husband as "wonderful, kind, funny, amusing [and] terribly talented in every aspect".

"There was nothing he couldn't do," she told the BBC.

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Wozniak: Microsoft resting on laurels

26 August 2013 Last updated at 04:33 ET

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Apple "found the formula" to remain innovative despite its size

Apple's co-founder Steve Wozniak has said that rival Microsoft has been "resting on" the markets it built up a "long, long time ago".

He added that Steve Ballmer's time as the chief executive was not as significant as that of Bill Gates.

Mr Wozniak told the BBC that one of the key reasons for the success of Apple was that despite being a big firm, it had remained nimble and innovative.

He also gave his backing to Apple's current chief executive Tim Cook.

"Steve jobs had very strong feelings about what makes a company great, what makes products great. He more-or-less chose Tim Cook to be in that role, in that position," Mr Wozniak told the BBC's chief business correspondent Linda Yueh.

He said that those who had been criticising Apple for not coming up a great new product needed to understand that "great advances for mankind don't happen every year".

'Fight for Apple'

Continue reading the main story

Samsung had great marketing prowess. They also had distribution channels in so many markets of the world that Apple was not in"

End Quote Steve Wozniak Co-founder, Apple

Apple is one of the pioneers in the smartphone and the tablet PC markets. The success of its iPhone and iPad devices has been a key driver of its growth in recent years,

However, the company has been facing increasing competition in the two segments, especially from Samsung.

The South Korean firm has gone on to become the world's biggest smartphone maker and has been increasing its share of tablet market rapidly.

Mr Wozniak said that while Apple had great products and technology, the firm had found it tough to take on the reach of Samsung, especially in emerging markets.

"Samsung had great marketing prowess," he said. "They also had distribution channels in so many markets of the world that Apple was not in, because Apple more-or-less grew up under the Macintosh, which had a low world market share.

"You are going up against people that already have the connections, the business strategies, the business methodologies of those other parts of the world.

"It is going to be a fight for Apple and a worthy fight," he added.

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App gives bathers pollution alerts

24 August 2013 Last updated at 11:38 ET

An app that gives bathers and surfers real-time warnings about pollution incidents on beaches has been launched.

The free service sends alerts or text messages about discharges of sewage and storm water at almost 250 beaches in England and Wales.

It was created in response to concerns about a rise in sewage spills, which can cause illnesses for beach-goers.

It was developed by the charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and funded by the Environment Agency.

Last year's washout summer led to a rise in UK beaches failing to meet minimum standards for water quality, while the number of bathing spots which met the highest levels for cleanliness fell.

The app can be downloaded for use on iPhone or Android smartphones.

It accesses data from water companies on combined sewer overflows, which allow untreated sewage and storm water into the sea in periods of heavy rain to prevent sewers backing up.

Stomach bugs

The service works by sending out alerts or text messages to users when pollution reaches dangerous levels and the information is posted online.

SAS hopes the alert service will help beach users bathe at their favourite spots safely, without fearing illnesses such as stomach bugs, skin, ear, eye and chest infections, or sore throats, and even hepatitis.

The app also allows bathers to send a "must try harder" message to water companies and report pollution incidents to the Environment Agency's hotline.

The sewage alert service was tested on three beaches in Cornwall, and a poll of 591 people, conducted by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) found that 94% of people who received information about short-term spills took action to avoid them.

SAS campaign director Andy Cummins said: "This truly is an innovative concept, achieved thanks to years of campaigning against secretive combine sewer overflow sewage discharges from water companies."

Environment Minister Richard Benyon said it would help people make well-informed choices about where to swim.

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Big web firms hit by Amazon glitch

26 August 2013 Last updated at 05:16 ET

Software problems at one of Amazon's data centres has knocked out several high profile web services.

Users of Instagram, Netflix, Vine, Airbnb and several other services reported problems getting through to the services for several hours late on Sunday.

All of them rely on servers that are part of Amazon's cloud-based network.

The problems were traced to a data centre in northern Virginia that was struggling to keep up with demand.

Also caught up in the network problems were cloud software firm Heroku and web automation service IFTTT.

Instagram was the first to acknowledge that access to its services was intermittent via Twitter and other services put out warning messages soon after.

The problems for Americans began about 16:00 Eastern time (21:00 GMT) and continued for several hours. During this time access to the web services was intermittent with many people reporting that login pages were hard to reach or pages were taking a long time to update.

On the status page for its web services, Amazon said it was investigating a series of problems at the Virginia data centre. The problems hit databases, software that spreads queries across servers as well as the code controlling the core computers underlying the whole service.

After the problems were resolved, Amazon said the glitch was caused by the "partial failure of a networking device" but added no further details.

The short-lived problems come less than a week after Amazon's North American web stores went offline for about 30 minutes.

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