Army may decide not to Roll-their-Own JCB-Ps?

US Army Armed Smartphone & Tablet PC

Friday, July 29th, 2011 | Featured News, Science and Technology

US Army -For U.S. soldiers, the smartphone could be the equipment needed along with the boots, rifle and ammunition.

Smatphone For Army

The U.S. Army is currently undergoing a six-week program to test the resilience of the use of touch screen phones and tablets in battle. This pilot program began June 6 at White Sands and Fort Bliss training area in New Mexico and Texas.

Dry training has proved very encouraging and officials of US Army expect the first wave of soldiers equipped smartphones can be sent overseas later this year. Several members of the brigade was assigned to the tactical radio.

This device will not replace the radio but will be distributed more widely and ideally would operate alongside the older equipment, officials said. Infantry using smartphones to update text messages about the environment, send pictures with GPS locations, dragging the map, and quickly create reports.

“When the officer in trouble to reporting, they could return to the text,” said Army director of that program , Michael McCarthy. The young soldier grew up with this technology and they are familiar with it, he added.

Camera phones and GPS systems on the image which is also called ‘augmented reality’ is also in development, officials said. In the trial, are soldiers  collectively evaluated more than 300 Android, iPhone and Windows Phone, McCarthy said. In addition, they also carry a tablet Apple, Dell and Hewlett-Packard, he added.

Separately, another division of US army test special Android phone prototype device called the Joint Battle Command-Platform Handheld. “We take into account a variety of devices and all mobile phones that have tested the results are pretty good,” McCarthy said.

Still, he acknowledges some devices are proven problematic. One of the popular mobile phones from Samsung Electronics failed to connect the mobile network and has a bug in the operating system (OS) Android, said McCarthy.

Will Try Using Two Operation System In One Device

Initially, the army is have a problems while testing the iPhone in the desert. “AT & T does not provide service there,” said McCarthy. Then, the iPhone and Android could work very well, said army director accompanist program mobile devices Ed Mazzanti .

Mazzanti hope, the army will use two OS for official use. That way, the needs of software development can be minimized and can withstand cyber attacks targeted at specific types of OS. Army software engineers to develop a way so  the application could use in the two platforms, officials said.

Other applications are being coded as an optimized Web pages, he said. Google spokesman declined to comment on individual transactions with the organization of this company. Apple spokeswoman did the same.

Devices glass, metal and plastic is quite staggering, according to the army after the test. This device is already facing harsh conditions of a sandstorm, said McCarthy. US army can operate the touch-screen devices using special characters.

Invest In Research In Production More Economical

Do not expect sergeants would carry a basket full of electronic goods out of the store. Army officials say they do not buy commercially available technology but rather invests in research and production that is clearly more economical.

“It’s much cheaper than developing its own,” said McCarthy. Many products sold at Best Buy is more advanced than the tools that already exist in army. A smartphone is not a phone, Mazzanti said.

“It’s computers, display units, video-out unit. Because computer-based utilities in seven-ounce package, we began to realize there are a number of great potential, “he said. But the barriers are, these devices could be used to attack the troops because the software and the transmission is not entirely safe.

“Currently, we do not have the level of encryption that can bring this smartphone out of the country and fully integrate it within the mission of the command system,” Mazzanti said. However, there may be some limited spread of this year related to tactical radios that provide the required encryption.

Concurrent testing of smartphones and tablets, the army also testing equipment that allows operators to use emergency network. ‘Tower in a suitcase’ which is able to create a wireless network is limited to be used when the existing services can not be relied upon or the possibility of attracting unwanted listeners. – US Army

Yikes - Designed in USA

Motorola Titanium Coming To Sprint July 24th With Android 2.1 Éclair, What the?

It’s official ya’ll, as we reported earlier this month, the Motorola Titanium is coming to Sprint with a release date of July 24th and will be available for $149.99 with a new 2 yr agreement.  The device strongly resembles the Motorola Droid Pro and Sprint Xprt as it sports a front facing portrait qwerty, appealing to the Blackberry slave looking to leave his dungeon.  In addition, the device rocks a 3.1-inch display and Nextel’s Direct Connect service.  The device has been designed and tested to meet military standards making it a tough contender in the corporate playing field.  The device should be dust proof, shock proof, withstand heavy vibration, low pressure, solar radiation and extremely high or low temps.

That’s as rugged as it gets folks.  Furthermore, you get an 1820 mAh battery allowing for all day heavy use.  What more can you ask for or pack into this little guy?  Oh yeah, and did we mention it sports Android 2.1 Eclair?  Yeah, I know.  Though I’m trying to be optimistic here, I’ll leave off saying good luck ever receiving an update for this device.  Hit the break for the full press release and to check out Motorola’s product fact sheet, which is chock full of info on the device.  Feel free to rant about the handset in the comments below.

Press Release And Fact Sheet

Motorola Titanium, First Android 2.1 Smartphone
with Best-in-Class Nextel Direct Connect,
Available Beginning July 24 for $149.99

Motorola Titanium™, America’s first Android 2.1 (Éclair) smartphone with best-in-class Nextel Direct Connect™ for Push-to-Talk, goes on sale in Sprint Stores, online at www.sprint.com, Telesales at 1-800-SPRINT1 and Sprint Business Sales beginning Sunday, July 24, for $149.99 with a new line or eligible upgrade and two-year service agreement, after $100 mail-in rebate.

As the successor to the popular Motorola i1 launched by Sprint in 2010, Motorola Titanium is sleek and attractive, yet durable. It features a full QWERTY keyboard and 3.1-inch touchscreen display for a feature-rich, business-class experience. Built military-grade tough, Motorola Titanium is designed to meet Military Specification 810G for dust, shock, vibration, low pressure, solar radiation, high temperature and low temperature.

Additional key features of Motorola Titanium include:  Support for Nextel Direct Connect Services, including Direct Connect, Group Connect^®, International Direct Connect^®, DirectSend^SM, Group Messaging and NextMail^®

• Android Market™ for access to more than 200,000 applications, widgets and games available for download
• Google™ mobile services such as Google Search™, Gmail™, Google Talk™, Google Maps™ with Navigation, syncing with Google Calendar™ and YouTube™
• Corporate email (Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync^®) and personal (POP3 & IMAP) email, calendar and contacts
• 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with camcorder, 4x zoom and LED flash
• Wi-Fi b/g/n
• Stereo Bluetooth^®
• GPS navigation
• microSD slot, with a 2GB memory card included, supporting up to 32GB
• 1820 mAh Lithium-ion battery

With more than 17 years of expertise, Sprint is the industry leader in Push-to-Talk, serving the world’s largest Push-to-Talk community with millions of Nextel Direct Connect subscribers on the fastest national Push-to-Talk network. Nextel Direct Connect has set the industry standard for Push-to-Talk worldwide. More U.S. workers communicate in less than a second with Nextel Direct Connect than with any other Push-to-Talk service.

More info: Titanium fact sheet

Annual Smartphone Sales Could Reach One Billion by 2016

Smartphone Sales One Billion by 2016

from All Things Digital by Ina Fried

2 people liked this

Although the smartphone market continues to grow, the division between market winners and losers is also growing.
A new study from IMS Research predicts that smartphone sales this year will total 420 million units, making up 28 percent of the total handset market. With cheaper models on the way, smartphone sales could top one billion units a year, or one out of every two phones sold.

“But despite the higher margins for smartphones, and the seemingly insatiable consumer appetite for converged devices, it is clear that not all (handset makers) are equally positioned to capitalize on this market trend,” IMS analyst Josh Builta said in a statement. “For instance, LG, despite being the third largest (manfuacturer) in the world, has offered a fairly limited smartphone portfolio in recent years, a factor that resulted in the company reaching less than three percent share of the total smartphone market in 2010.”
Nokia is another company not benefiting from the dramatic growth in smartphone sales, with second-quarter smartphone sales of 16.7 million units, down more than a third from the same quarter a year ago.
“Clearly one of the key dynamics of the mobile handset competitive environment in recent years has been the inability of many traditional market leaders to recognize and adjust to the growing smartphone tier,” Builta said. “The reasons for these failures vary and include everything from poorly designed and manufactured devices, unsatisfactory user interfaces, and portfolios that don’t offer products with a differentiating feature. These lapses have created opportunities for newer entrants to the market, which they have aggressively pursued.”
The beneficiaries — companies such as Apple, Samsung and HTC — are no surprise.
And while LG and Nokia are trying to bolster their position, they face steep competition in the short term from the current leaders, Builta said.
“Apple, they are going to get another boost in momentum here when they release the iPhone 5,” Builta said in a phone interview, adding that HTC and Samsung are also building on their strong positions. Android, Builta said, should be the dominant operating system through 2016, thanks to its widespread adoption by multiple phone makers.

JBC-P Goes to the field... with FBCB2/BFT

Army's upgraded force tracking system heads into the field

New system offers advanced network access, data encryption and situational awareness tools

• By Defense Systems Staff
• Jul 22, 2011

The Army has launched its next-generation tracking system, Force XXI Battle Command Brigade-and-Below/Blue Force Tracking (FBCB2/BFT), in the field with five brigade combat teams, according to an Army press release.

The Joint Capabilities Release – a reference to the system’s interoperability with the Marine Corps – has advanced network access, data encryption and situational awareness tools, and the interface is simpler to master, though soldier feedback, most of which has been positive thus far, will impact the final design, the release said.

The upgraded JCR, along with the FBCB2’s Joint Battle Command-Platform (JBC-P), will take the place of its predecessor, while using the hardware and units already in the field in an effort to be cost-conscious and to lessen the transition on soldiers, the Army said.

Army's on-the-move connectivity draws closer

WIN-T passes test, driving more interest from developers

• By Terry Costlow
• Jul 25, 2011

The movement to give military forces connectivity to any network node while they’re on the move is advancing rapidly. 

The Warfighter Information Network-Tactical (WIN-T) network, which provides continuous network connectivity even as vehicles speed through remote regions, is seeing more interest from developers as it continues to fare well in testing.

As the Defense Department adopts more network-centric operations, WIN-T will provide another method of meeting DOD’s goal of delivering as much information as possible to squads and individual warfighters in the field. The system will pull in signals from many sources, such as satellite communications, line-of-sight and terrestrial signal types.

The latest version of the program, WIN-T Increment 2, is designed to provide high-bandwidth connectivity that can automatically switch between ground-based and satellite connections. When a vehicle is moving rapidly across an area covered only partially by cellular links, it will automatically switch to a satellite connection.

Similarly, when the vehicle enters a city and buildings block line-of-sight signals, it will seamlessly switch to satellite mode. WIN-T Increment 2, which provides such on-the-move capabilities, recently got the go-ahead for continued development.

General Dynamics finished the initial phase of system testing. Pending a successful operational test event and full-rate production decision by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Army intends to begin fielding WIN-T Increment 2 systems in fiscal 2013.

“Fieldings will continue until all 54 maneuver brigades and 10 division elements have been fielded" by the end of fiscal 2018, said Pat DeGroodt, deputy program manager for WIN-T Increments 2/3 at the Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical (PEO-C3T). Its predecessor, WIN-T Increment 1, is fielded to more than half of the Army and will be fully fielded by mid-2012.

Increment 2 is beginning to see more support from developers, who are addressing many technical aspects of the communications scheme. “The ability to do comms on the move in austere environments — that’s taken some significant legs now in terms of development of things like antennas,” said Army Col. William “Chuck” Hoppe, project manager of the WIN-T system at PEO-C3T.

As deployment gets closer, this increased interest from manufacturers raises the likelihood of further performance improvements and cost reductions. One major focus is antenna technologies.

UAV for $400?

ArduCopter Quad - The Full Featured UAV Multicopter!

http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/

The DIY Drones development team is proud to bring you the ultimate open source quadcopter and helicopter UAV!

ArduCopter's autopilot is based on ArduPilot Mega (APM), the most sophisticated IMU-based open source autopilot on the market. It provides full UAV functionality, with scripted waypoints, Ground Station and more.

See the Wiki manual linked above for full details and instructions.

Sample videos:

FPV flying with a hex frame:

GPS position and altitude hold:

See other incredible ArduCopter videos here!

ArduCopter Quad is just the first member of a complete Arduino compatible UAV platform for rotary wing craft.

• Order ArduCopter kits and parts here or buy them ready-to-fly here.
• The manual is here

ArduCopter Platform Feature List

• 6 Degree of Freedom IMU stabilized control
• Gyro stabilized flight mode enabling acrobatics (loops and barrel rolls)
• GPS for position hold
• Magnetometer for heading determination
• Barometer for altitude hold
• IR sensor integration for obstacle avoidance
• Sonar sensor for automated takeoff and landing capability
• Automated waypoint navigation
• Motor control using low cost standard PWM Electronics Speed Controllers (ESC's)
• On board flight telemetery data storage
• Mounted camera stabilization capability
• Wireless command & telemetry for long distance communication
• Capability to fly in "+", "x", quad, hexa and octo configurations
• Battery level detection
• User configurable LED flight pattern
• Capability to use any R/C receiver
• ArduCopter Configuration and Ground Control Software
• Realtime graphs of flight data
• GUI for configuration of PID and other flight parameters
• On Screen Display (OSD) integration
• Waypoint programming using Google Maps
• Mixertable view to auto configure "+", "x", quad, hexa and octo configurations

Garmin Sort of Working with Android?

Hey Guys!

I previously had a Windows Mobile phone and the contacts in that phone would show up perfectly in my Garmin Nuvi 765T. However, my Droid doesn't seem to work  I get a Bluetooth connection because the phone icon pops up and I can make a phone call by pressing the numbers on the Garmin screen but none of the contacts are there.

I know the Droid isn't officially supported on the Garmin website but neither were the other phones I had which did work  I'm hoping I'm just not doing something correct and others have been successful in being able to see their Droid contacts on their Garmin devices. Any luck out there and if so which model are you using (did see where one guy had a non Nuvi working)?

If it isn't something that currently works, is it something that is even possible with an app that when running could "port" the contacts correctly to the Garmin?

Thanks for any info or suggestions!


FYI, good news! This actually works right out of the box. I just missed a key step during the pairing process.

Right after the two "connect" there is a breif period where there is a little Bluetooth icon in the notification bar. Swipe this bar down to display the notification and then select the option to allow the Droid's contact list to be sent to the Garmin. If you miss this little step, I don't think you get the option again to do this. I ended up deleting the pairing then re-doing it and was then able to allow this option.

Anyway, just wanted to post back that at least the Nuvi 765T works great with the Droid so long as you don't miss that little notification!

Android Tablets for 0 to 30 Percent Market Share

Strategy Analytics: Apple iOS Captures 61 Percent Share of Global Tablet Shipments in Q2 2011

July 21, 2011 03:03 AM Eastern Daylight Time 

BOSTON--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global tablet shipments reached 15 million units in the second quarter of 2011. Apple maintained first position with 61 percent share, drifting from 94 percent a year earlier.

Peter King, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global tablet shipments reached 15.1 million units in Q2 2011, surging 331 percent from 3.5 million in Q2 2010. Consumer and business demand for touchscreen computers remains high. Apple shipped a record 9.3 million iPads and registered a healthy 61 percent global tablet market share during the second quarter of 2011. However, Apple has drifted down from 94 percent share in Q2 2010 due to a rising number of competing software platforms.”

Neil Mawston, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Android captured 30 percent share of global tablet shipments in Q2 2011. Multiple Android models distributed across multiple countries by multiple brands such as Samsung, Acer, Asus, Motorola and others are driving volumes. However, no Android vendor yet offers a blockbuster model to rival the iPad, and demand for many Android vendors’ products remains patchy. If Amazon decides to enter the Android tablet category later this year, that will bring fresh excitement and buzz to the Android community, but Amazon will need to deliver a truly standout offering if it really wants to make headway against the popular iPad.”

Other findings from the research include:

• Microsoft captured a niche 5 percent global tablet share in Q2 2011, leveraging Windows 7 through partners such as Fujitsu;
• RIM and its QNX platform captured 3 percent global tablet share in Q2 2011. The first-generation PlayBook model experienced a lackluster launch due to product design issues surrounding native email support.

Exhibit 1: Global Tablet Operating System Shipments and Market Share in Q2 2011 ¹

Global Tablet OS Shipments (Millions of Units)		Q2 '10			Q2 '11
Apple iOS		3.3			9.3
Android		0.1			4.6
Microsoft		0.0			0.7
QNX		0.0			0.5
Others		0.1			0.1
Total		3.5			15.1
Global Tablet OS Marketshare %		Q2 '10			Q2 '11
Apple iOS		94.3%			61.3%
Android		2.9%			30.1%
Microsoft		0.0%			4.6%
QNX		0.0%			3.3%
Others		2.9%			0.7%
Total		100.00%			100.0%
Growth Year-over-Year %		N / A			331%

The full report, Global Tablet OS Market Share: Q2 2011, is published by the Strategy Analytics Tablet & Touchscreen (TTS) service, details of which can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/3zs57yr.

About Strategy Analytics:

Strategy Analytics is a global, independent research and consulting firm. The company is headquartered in Boston, USA, with offices in the UK, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea and China. Visit www.strategyanalytics.com for more information.

¹ Shipments refer to sell-in. Numbers are rounded. The definition of tablet does not include e-book readers.

Contacts

Mono continues to develop MoonLight/Silverlight apps for Android

RDN Express Blog

Blog archive

Mono for Mobile Is Back

Just as excitement was building around MonoTouch 4.0 for iOS and Mono for Android 1.0, Attachmate laid-off Novell's Mono development team in May and delivered what many perceived as the death knell for the existing Mono-based mobile SDKs.

MonoTouch and Mono for Droid are commercial toolkits based on the Mono Project, a cross-platform, open source implementation of the .NET Framework. The SDKs enable developers to use C# and .NET Framework technologies to develop native apps for Apple and Android devices in the MonoDevelop IDE and Visual Studio.

Never underestimate Miguel de Icaza. The founder of the Mono Project in June 2001 (prior to the release of .NET in 2002) and the former head of Mono development at Novell, which was acquired by Attachmate in April; de Icaza had to hand out pink slips on his way out in early May. Later that same month, he formed a new company called Xamarin and recruited many of the former Mono developers.

On Monday de Icaza announced a deal with SUSE, a business unit of Attachmate that provides enterprise Linux solutions. The agreement gives Xamarin "broad rights" to a perpetual license for the intellectual property for MonoTouch, Mono for Android, Mono Project and the Mono Tools for Visual Studio. Under the agreement, Xamarin will update and sell the mobile SDKs at its Xamarin store, according to de Icaza, who commented on the immediate product roadmap in his blog about the announcement:

Our immediate plan for both MonoTouch and Mono for Android is to make sure that your critical and major bugs are fixed. We have been listening to the needs of the community and we are working to improve these products to meet your needs. You can expect updates to the products in the next week.

Xamarin had already started to build its own mobile SDKs based on Mono called XTouch and Xdroid. Some of that technology will be introduced into MonoTouch and Mono for Android, initially through beta channels, according to the company's roadmap.

The company will also continue to work on Moonlight, an open source implementation of Silverlight for Linux developed during Novell's technical collaboration with Microsoft.Moonlight 4 was released in April.

The silver lining in this transition may be that de Icaza had wanted to spin off Mono from Novell because the mobile technologies did not fit with the former company's infrastructure strategy. Express your thoughts on the resurrection of MonoTouch and Mono for Android. Is this the best possible outcome for Mono, Moonlight and the mobile SDKs? Drop me a line at krichards@1105media.com.