Category: Gadgets

Troops on Indian borders to be armed with guns and secure mobile phones

| March 16, 2016

While it may not seem strange to see weapons in a soldier’s equipment, smartphones are a new addition.

Union Minister Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary has now announced that troops who are deployed along India’s international borders and in areas hit by Maoist attacks will soon be receiving secure mobile phones as a part of their standard equipment.

Since even those whose deployments are to rather remote areas still receive cell service, this could be helpful.

The secure mobile phones will even be issued to security personnel who are located in areas that have only short-term occasional connections. Chaudhary explained that “We are planning to provide secure mobile phones to all security personnel deployed along the borders and Naxal-affected areas so that they can keep in touch with their family via 3G connection.” It would not be possible for the mobile technology to be intercepted, he said, because the telephone exchange would be carried by the battalions wherever they go instead of being kept in a fixed position as is the case with traditional networks.

The secure mobile phones have received the approval of an American company that has said the tech is ready.

Secure Mobile Phones - MilitaryA delegation from that U.S. based company met with Chaudhary, at which time the company claimed that it was prepared to provide the cell phone exchange within a portable box. That would make it possible for security personnel to access any of over 1,000 secure mobile connections per box.

When meeting with another delegation from yet another American company, Chaudhary also arranged to obtain blood testing equipment that would make it possible for blood tests to be taken and processed within a span of a handful of minutes, providing security personnel with a vital way to save time in this task.

This introduction and adoption of the new mobile technology is a part of a broader effort from the central government to prevent cyber crime as it becomes available through the evolution of the latest tech. Chaudhary pointed out that the laws in the country have yet to directly address the prevention of cyber-crime and that, beyond the secure mobile phones, the government has now launched a judicial process designed to create new legal regulations that will align with the advancement of technology.

Snapchat may soon be offering wearable technology in the form of glasses

| March 15, 2016

The company behind the popular app is reportedly hiring experts in the field of wearables.

Some of the latest reports about Snapchat are now revealing that the company has started hiring wearable technology experts not for the purpose of creating a mobile app, but that are instead focused on the creation of hardware.

This is interesting because it would take the company well out of the current limits of mobile software.

While the initial assumption had been that Snapchat was looking to create mobile apps that would be supported by wearable technology, the discovery that the hires they’re seeking are not necessarily focused on software, but that are actually in the hardware category, has changed this prediction altogether. This has sent the rumor mill spinning and many speculations are that the company is seeking to make its own device, more specifically in the form of smartglasses.

The Snapchat app is exceptionally popular and using it through wearable technology could be interesting.

Wearable Technology Future - Image of woman wearing glassesAt the moment, this social network boasts more than 100 million daily users that make up its user base. By adding wearables to the mix, it could break away from its current format in quite the unique direction.

Among the more notable hires that have already been made in the wearables hardware category are: Mark Dixon, who was a Microsoft HoloLens recruiter; as well as Eitan Pilipski, who had been a part of the Qualcomm Vuforia team that was focused on creating augmented reality computer vision tech. He was hired in January as the engineering director.

While this strategy by Snapchat is quite interesting and will be new to the company, it won’t entirely be a first in the social media world. Facebook did, after all, make the $2 billion acquisition of Oculus in 2014. Still, the willingness of Snapchat to take a new direction with wearable technology that remains primarily untested is quite a striking move and is one that is quite likely to keep the social app in the spotlight for quite some time. These rumors are further supported by indications that Snapchat would be making moves in the wearables market for some time now, through research and startup acquisitions.