BMW's Self-Parking Tech Relieves Drivers From Circling the Lot

BMW is expected to highlight their recently previewed automated parking technology at the International CES in Las Vegas next month. The company will be demonstrating the new technology at the trade show in their electric i3 model. The Remote Valet Parking Assistant technology features 36-degree collision avoidance apart from environmental recognition and secure position.

The technology makes use of four advanced laser scanners, which have the ability to identify impediments such as obstacles and columns and can chart a route to a parking spot that is completely reliable. The technology also calculates the time it will take to return the vehicle to the driver at a given time, based on the total time it took the system to navigate and locate a parking spot. The added benefit of this parking assistant is that it is operable through a smart-watch as well.

Technology for controlled environment: 

The company has clearly suggested that it might take until 2020 for the complete implementation of the technology but still it is not something, which can be used on a daily basis on parking streets or lots. This will be limited to automation-friendly and very specialized parking structures.

It is a concept of combining a controlled environment with the technology to make a car react. Literally, this feature will be bonus for people with luxury cars and can be easily used at casinos and golf courses. According to telemetric program manager with Frost & Sullivan, Praveen Chandraskar, even though this technology meant for the controlled environment is easily 7-8 years away, what can cause a challenge is making the technology usable in the uncontrolled environment

Effortless parking: 

Even though parking assist technology is already a feature in many vehicles but at the moment it still requires a person to be in the driver’s seat. According to Michelle Krebs, industry analyst for AutoTrader.com, Ford and Lexus already have the parking assist technology added in their vehicles from quite a while. She added that we are taking steps towards making the parking assist to be fully automated but it might take some time for a car to Self Park.

According to Kerbs there are many insurance and regulatory issues that have to be addressed first. Another main aspect to be remembered is about creating trust among the customers about this technology. According to their survey, nearly 65% of the customers deemed the technology way too dangerous but are looking out for features, which has already been included in the technology.

What’s waiting for customers in future? 

Even though most of the customers are still not convinced about the technology, luxury car makers like Audi and BMW have already started using their own automated parking solution. BMW is a step ahead with their smart -watch-enabled control for Remote Valet Parking Assistant.

Smart-watch is currently the style statement and the company has used the same for added attraction. This technology to be used in public platform will require artificial intelligence hence as if now, the company has restricted to the used in the controlled environment.

The Federal Communications Commission Clarifies the True Meaning of Data Roaming

The FCC has agreed with T-Mobile about having clear wireless roaming rules and regulation. This clarification will mean that negotiation pertaining to the roaming deals between small operators and Verizon and AT&T will become much easier.

Advantages for the customers: 

For customers who are using T-Mobile and sprint, this will mean a considerable decrease in the prices and much better coverage for 3G and 4G services. Looking at this, if these companies are successfully able to provide services and better coverage through their roaming deal, it will definitely put pressure on Verizon and AT&T to lower the prices of their own service plans as well. FCC on Thursday gave ruling on a petition, which was filed by the T-Mobile earlier this year. The petitioner had asked the agency to explain the guidelines about defining reasonable rates for the data roaming.

Network Roaming: 

This can be defined as the network coverage of an operator that is used by wireless operators in an area of no coverage for them. Roaming services have been into existence since the wireless industry started giving more omnipresent coverage to the operators. However, as the industry started consolidating, nation’s two of the biggest wireless carriers, AT&T and Verizon, also started expanding their presence in the market. Apart from this these carriers also started resisting to strike any deal with smaller rival companies pertaining to 3G and 4G data services and networks.

FCC in 2011 had passed a regulation, which required all the carriers to provide roaming deals to their competitors at affordable rates. However, carriers like T-mobile filed a complaint with FCC stating that even though the regulation has been passed still, large carriers like Verizon and AT&T have been charging exorbitant rates to smaller rivals for using their network. Therefore, the company has asked FCC to clarify as to what they mean by reasonable rates.

AT&T has defended themselves stating that they have been following all the regulation followed by FCC and they decreased their rates over time and clarification from FCC will start encouraging companies like T-Mobile to strike deals as per their own terms and stop them from investing in their own networks.

The final Decision: 

FCC issued their decision on Thursday and stated that clarification is important. The agency has clarified that the current rates cannot guarantee and cannot lead to presumption that the prices will be reasonable in the future as well. Roaming fees paid in some other context are already given evidences in the reasonableness of roaming rates raised by T-Mobile in the formal dispute.

This decision was welcomed by all the smaller operators including T-Mobile. They have commended the decision stating that this will allow competition in terms of reasonable data roaming rates for all the other carriers. They have appreciated the formal guidance given by FCC on the reasonable roaming rates. As expected Verizon and AT&T are not happy with the decision of FCC as it will discourage investments in the wireless networks.

Microsoft Combats Tech Support Scammers with Lawsuit

Microsoft is currently trying to fight one of the biggest frauds in the recent days by means of lawsuits. What lead to this legal battle? There are people who have received calls from people claiming to be with Microsoft and informing that their computer has got affected by the virus.

They claim to fix the issue after the payment of a fee. On 18th Dec, a civil lawsuit was filed by Microsoft's Digital Crimes unit in the Central District of California. This lawsuit was filed against the company called as the Omnitech Support and other firms, citing the reason as "unfair and misleading business practices and trademark encroachment.

According to the blog pertaining to this lawsuit, Microsoft has charged Omnitech Support, a division of Customer Focus Services for misusing the Microsoft name, service and the trademark, with the ultimate aim of defrauding the customers out of their money and other personal information. They pretended that the customer’s PC was affected by a virus.

Pattern of these scams

Most of the computer related scams follow a similar pattern wherein it starts with a phone call from someone pretending to be working with Microsoft or claiming to be the partner’s of Microsoft. They will give you some technical details about how they identified the virus on your computer. They will them convince the customer to install the remote control software on the PC and then take full control over the computer of the customers. They will use a scareware to show that there is a virus affecting your system and they can have it fixed after paying a certain amount of fee. If the customer agrees, they can now get additional details about the customer apart from the access to the customer’s credit card.

According to the information on the Microsoft Blog, the scammer have been able to create security issues as they have installed malicious software, which includes password grabbers to get all the financial and personal details of the customer.

Microsoft with the help of investigators has been able to back up their lawsuit by contacting the defendants’ names in the lawsuit. Each investigator contacted the defendant with a computer having no virus or malicious software but were convinced by the latter that there is a virus and need to pay a large sum of fee for them get that removed and get the corrupted windows work again. Many of the customers had contacted Microsoft stating that computer is not in good shape post the repair. According to Microsoft, around $1.5 billion each year is lost by customers due to these kinds of frauds.

Due to the action of the Omnitech Support, Microsoft has claimed that they lost their goodwill and looking forwards for claiming financial damages apart from permanent injunction on the actions. Microsoft has requested for a jury trial as per the details mentioned in the lawsuit. According to the Microsoft spokesperson, all the details pertaining to the lawsuit and the scam has been updated in their official blog but Omnitech Support denied to comment of any of these.For complaining to FTC

Lightning: The New iOS Standard Charger

For years, the vast majority of Apple products were compatible with the same type of charger, the standard 30-pin connector. This wide, flat input type provided a stable connection, but could only operate if inserted into the phone in a specific direction and often experienced problems with build quality over time – read more at iiNet.

To address these issues, Apple developed the proprietary Lightning charger, a new connection type designed to be faster and more reliable than the old charger style. The Lightning-type connection is required for all current generation iOS devices and is only available through Apple authorized retailers.

What’s the Difference? 

While the Lightning charger is still used for all of the same functions as the old connection type, including charging and managing content between an iOS device and a computer, several key differences help set this new connection type apart. The new Lightning charger is 80% smaller than a 30-pin connection, and is specifically engineered to be sturdier than its predecessor. Lightning chargers are reversible, meaning they can be inserted into a device while facing in either direction.

Why the Switch? 

Apple introduced the Lightning charger to iOS users for a number of consumer-focused reasons. Along with presenting a superior functional alternative to a 30-pin charger, the streamlined design of the Lightning charger allows the company to produce sleeker phones as the terminals for the connection take up less space internally.

Establishing the Lightning charger as an iOS standard also discourages 3rd party accessory use. Apple intends this measure as an effort at consumer protection, as a 3d party accessory could experience unexpected issues when used with an iOS device and even void the warranty with their use. As a result, most current generation iOS devices will display an incompatibility message indicating device rejection when a 3rd party accessory is used.

Adaptors

Apple makes 30-pin to Lightning connection adaptors available to enable some functionality with older Apple accessories. The 30-pin adaptor may affect the way the compatible device fits with cases, stands and other accessories, but nevertheless gives long-time Apple device owners a chance to get continued utility out of their older Apple accessories.

The move to the Lightning standard provides a substantial upgrade to a standard 30-pin connection in a number of technical aspects, but unfortunately makes older Apple accessories incompatible with newer iOS products. These efforts at innovation and consumer engagement are at the core of Apple’s legacy and represent a natural progression of the iOS experience.

“FacePile Read Receipts”- The Latest Feature in Facebook Messenger

When it comes to chatting, every millisecond counts. The lesser time is takes for the interaction, the more lively you feel in the chat room. However, when it comes to texting, concepts like hmmm, or nods have completely lost, there is no indication whatsoever to tell that the other person is listening to you.

Facebook’s Latest steps: 

Now Facebook messenger has taken a giant foot forward in terms of improvement in speed in their entire version apart from adding the new animation, which indicates the sender if their message is sending, sent, delivered, as well as read. According to the company, they have not followed the currently used concept of grey text indicating the information but the new animation will use the photo of your friend and indicate who is actually in conversation with you.

The company came up with the concept of Facepile design nearly 5 years ago and it was initially meant for a plug-in to show if your friend liked any website. It has now be modified for broader usage and to indicate as to which friend has seen and read your text messages. At present, the new messenger design will be rolled out in Europe and United States of America on Android and iOS platform. The company is planning for a worldwide release later on.

According to Lexy Fraklin, Product manager, they wanted a messenger, which will let the user feel Facebook messenger as the fastest and the most reliable mobile messaging product. In order to improve the efficiency of the application on all types of devices, the company has made lot of modification and put in lot of efforts towards minimizing the latency. As per Facebook’s new head of Messenger and former PayPal president, MarcusDavid, whether anyone agrees or not, speed is very important and everybody wants to feel the speed.

The FB is expecting to gain a competitive advantage with this new chat feature. When it comes to the slickest and the fastest chat application, KakaoTalk, WeChat, Kik and many among other are all racing together. Apart from messaging, Facebook have other global competitors in the form of Line’s stickers, Snapchat’s visual messaging, Twitter’s worldwide town square, and Google’s video chat. At present the company’s strategy is to focus on utility, which will drive lock-in to their completely social platform, while there competitors are still trying to pull out money from the direct messaging. The company has already been making lot of money from the number of ads that are being posted in the newsfeed.

What is more? 

The company has also launched “Stickered For Messenger”, which is an app for pasting stickers on top of photos before being sent. According to Franklin, the company has many things in their mind and working on more to make the user’s experience very cool. The first thing they have achieved is the fastest and clearest chat platform. Now the company is looking towards the newsfeed. The main aim of the FacePile was to ensure that you can check the message read as soon as possible and get on with work, rather then waiting for response.