Category: Science and Technology

Business and Finance, Law, Science and Technology

Landmark ‘Right to be forgotten’ ruling against Google

by renaissanceidealLeave a Comment on Landmark ‘Right to be forgotten’ ruling against Google

Larry Page Google 

(Larry Page, CEO of Google)

A landmark ruling against Google will give people the ‘right to be forgotten’.

The American company Google has launched a service which is available from Friday. It would allow Europeans to ask Google to censor links that hold personal data. Personal data would be able to be removed from online search results. This follows the landmark EU ruling where the court gave individuals the ‘right to be forgotten’. This means that ‘irrelevant’ links and outdated data should be removed if requested, the court ruled this on the 13th May. The case concerned a Spanish man who complained that an auction notice of his repossessed property which was on Google results, infringed his privacy.

Google has said that people who wish to remove their personal data from online can do so by an online form. People who wish to remove their personal data would need to provide links they want removed, the country they are from and the reasoning behind their request. In addition to this, individuals will have to provide a valid photo identity.

In an interview with Financial Times, Larry Page (see picture above) warned that the court’s ruling could restrict innovation and strengthen repressive governments who restrict online communications.

Mr Page said Google will comply with the ruling and promised to be involved in the privacy debate “I wish we’d been more involved in a real debate . . . in Europe,” he said. “That’s one of the things we’ve taken from this, that we’re starting the process of really going and talking to people”.

Larry Page also said the company will try to ‘be more European’.

Science and Technology

Welcome to the world, Moto G

by renaissanceidealLeave a Comment on Welcome to the world, Moto G
Welcome to the world, Moto G

Moto-G

The latest product from Motorola (which is owned by Google) went on sale this month. The, Moto G, is Motorola’s anticipated smartphone since the company’s acquisition by Google.

The mid range smartphone will aim to undercut its rivals on price. It is on sell for £135 or $179. It offers a 4.5  high definition screen, 1.2 GHz processor, Android 4.3 and a choice between 8 or 16 GB storage. Although 16 GB is the maximum storage, there is an option of 50GB online storage for two years. Moto G is available in Latin America and parts of Europe, and would then spread to the US, Middle East and Asia by January.

Motorola seems to be targeting customers who want a smartphone like the iPhone but for less money. Its specifications does certainly cover this. Similar to the iPhone it offers a slow-motion video. Additionally, the device offers a 5MP camera. The company believes that half a billion people are looking to buy smartphones for less than $200. Currently, many do face the choice of low end smartphones or phones that came out some time ago. The £400+ smartphones are simply out of their range. However, it looks like Motorola have understood the market and are now targeting customers who wish to spend less.

It seems that Moto-G was built to compete with the iPhone and other smartphones like Samsung Galaxy S4.

Mr Woodside, the chief executive said “The Moto G solves that problem  for one fifth of the cost of an iPhone 5s. We really built this to compete with the iPhone: it’s got a 25% per cent bigger display than the 5s, Qualcomm’s latest quad processor, 18 different combinations of backs and a guaranteed update to the latest Android experience”.

There is the question of whether Moto G will turn around Motorola’s disappointing fortunes in the smartphone market. Motorola lost nearly $250 million in the third quarter and analysts say that the sales of the Moto X range are mediocre. Nevertheless, the Moto X is only in sale in the US, where it is hard to break the stronghold of Samsung and Apple. The Moto G may gain interest in developing countries, where some people rely on their phones to do mobile banking where access to financial services may be hard. Motorola offering a high performance phone at an affordable price is a great strategy in welcoming those with little to spend.

Will Moto G be a success? It is yet to be seen.

Business and Finance, Science and Technology

Samsung takes over apple

by renaissanceideal2 Comments on Samsung takes over apple
Samsung takes over apple

 

Samsung Galaxy & Apple iphone 5

Look around the bus and look on the train. Does it give you a good sense of what mobile everyone is carrying? Nowadays it is either a Samsung or Apple Smartphone. As for me, I am still with Blackberry. Recent figures are showing Samsung is taking over Apple as the world’s most profitable mobile maker. Samsung has an estimated profit of $5.2 billion in the second quarter of this year beating Apple’s profits of $4.6 billion.

The reason for this is mainly because of the strong demand for Samsung phones particularly in the Latin and Asian markets. Samsung is dominating the phone market with 107. million phones shipped worldwide.

There have been many suggestions for why Apple has fallen behind Samsung. One suggestion has been the prices of the latest iPhone-iPhone 5. There is a healthier demand for the the iPhone 4, which has reduced the selling price of the latest iPhone. Neil Mawston at Strategy Analytics said ‘Apple is now under intense pressure to launch more iPhone models at cheaper price-points or with larger screens to fend off the surging competition and recapture lost profits in the second half of 2013’.

To succeed taking over Samsung, Apple will need a strategy in producing budget conscious phones.  According to  Strategy Analytics, Apple’s smartphone market share has fallen from 17% to 13%, whilst Samsung is 33%. Samsung has sold 76 million phones, more than double than Apple. Neil Mawston said ‘With strong volumes, high wholesale prices and tight cost controls, Samsung has finally succeeded in becoming the handset industry’s largest and most profitable vendor’.

Stay Blessed

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