Author: Amanda Giasson

AVG Technologies has announced its intentions to purchase Location Labs.

The Dutch anti-virus and internet security software company has revealed it has made a $220 million deal to acquire the California-based mobile security firm in an effort to improve its security offerings for mobile devices.

Many of the top mobile operators in the US market use Location Labs technologies.

At&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, and Telefonica use the mobile security company’s integrated platform to provide their Android smartphones with integrated security, which comes as a pre-installed service on the phones.

According to AVG, the acquisition will considerably widen its position as an internet security provider and will also speed up the expansion of its mobile security division. At the same time, by acquiring Location Labs, AVG stated it will not only gain access to personal security products of value, but could also form new partnerships with the four major US mobile operators.

“Location Labs has effectively cracked the code for mobile monetisation through its highly successful business model with industry partners. This acquisition significantly accelerates AVG’s mobile strategy in this area,” said AVG’s CEO Gary Kovacs. He noted that the company is not only unique in the market for providing secure mobile services, but it has also managed to do this in a way that generates money.

The deal gives Location Labs the chance to boost its mobile security offerings beyond the US market.

Tasso Roumeliotis, the founder of Location Labs, said that by adding AVG’s mobile products to their own “services and products will significantly enhance the innovation and support we can provide to our partners and to additional markets worldwide.”

Under agreement terms, AVG is to pay $149 million upfront and, based on performance levels and targets, an additional $80 million over the next two years. Before the acquisition takes place, it requires shareholder approval. However, if it is accepted, it is anticipated that the deal will close during Q4 2014.

Presently, AVG’s offerings for mobile security include AVG Zen, which is an app for both Android powered mobile devices and Windows PCs, as well as AVG AntiVirus for Android.

The new app for the head mounted wearable tech can make detections in real time.

Researchers, from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, have created a first of its kind application for Google Glass that has the ability to measure human emotions and can also determine a person’s gender and gauge their age.

The SHORE real time analysis and face detection software was adapted to work with Glass.

The Sophisticated High-speed Object Recognition Engine (SHORE) can detect a human face with the help of the integrated camera in Glass and gauge a person’s emotions, determining if they are happy, sad, surprised, or angry through a facial expression analysis. At the same time, the app can estimate their age or determine their gender, as well as other aspects about them.

According to the specifications of the product on the official site, the gender detection rate of the face that is being viewed is 94.3 percent. To help the software identify real faces it utilizes a database of over 10,000 annotated faces as a point of reference. All calculations that the technology makes is done in real time by the eye-wear’s integrated CPU.

That being said, the researchers have noted that the app cannot verify a person’s identity and prohibits users from being able to discover a person’s identity through it. In fact, to ensure privacy, the app developers have promised that no data or images that are collected are sent to the cloud. The image data never leaves the device.

The Google Glass app could benefit individuals with sensory processing disorders.

This application is much more than just a gimmick. It has real potential for acting as a communication aid. For instance, a person who has a sensory processing disorder, such as autism, may benefit from the application because it can help them detect a person’s emotions. Interpreting emotions via facial expressions is something many autistics finds difficult.

Furthermore, the technology can be advantageous for those who are visually impaired, as it can provide them with supplementary audio information about the individuals who are within their surroundings. In addition, aside from Google Glass, the software could also be used in other apps like market research or interactive games.