Management that “doesn’t understand software” blamed for Samsung’s poor mobile performance
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There are a lot of things that could be blamed for Samsung‘s poor mobile performance in recent years – arguably it’s a industry-wide shift rather than one targeted at Android’s largest manufacturer – but it appears interviews with former and current Samsung employees point to a common weakness within the company: management that “inherently doesn’t understand software”. As many of you will know, Samsung is one of the premiere hardware manufacturers in the world, but it seems that distrust of software as a consumer-facing marketing opportunity has lead to Samsung struggling to stay ahead and canning many software projects after only brief tenures – remember Milk Video and ChatON?
In an example of perhaps how chaotic the situation was internally, one manager recalls that the strongest opposition to a new hands-free app for the Galaxy S4 they were developing was from within Samsung itself. There are signs of change, of course, with Samsung’s executives calling for a change in culture if the Korean tech giant is to stay alive in this cutthroat industry – and some analysts believe that if Samsung is unable to change, it will be out of the smartphone business in as soon as 5 years.
It’s pretty startling to hear accounts like this from employees of Samsung’s, and while we’ll have to assume that there is another side to the story, it’s hard not to see that this reluctance to develop strong software platforms has cost Samsung dearly. What do you think about these accounts from within Samsung?
The post Management that “doesn’t understand software” blamed for Samsung’s poor mobile performance appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Homemade laser lightsaber is as risky as it looks
It’s clear that there are a lot of Star Wars fans these days, but one of them just took that adoration to a decidedly geeky new level. Styropyro (he of laser shotgun fame) has built a lightsaber using a heavily upgraded 7W blue laser — it’s several times more powerful than what’s needed to blind someone. While the beam isn’t contained like the “real” thing, it’s strong enough that it can burn through wire and other household objects. You probably don’t want to build this at home unless you’re exceptionally careful, then.
And don’t worry if 7W doesn’t sound impressive. Styropyro is teasing progress on a laser bazooka that would combine multiple 40W lasers. It won’t be nearly as portable as the lightsaber, but it could put on an even bigger show.
Source: Styropyro (YouTube)
Google toots own horn with links to apps on homepage
If you have a new smartphone or tablet, whether Android or iOS based, Google hopes you will consider installing and using some of their apps on your device. In case you have not noticed, Google has recently taken to unbundling several of their services and platforms, possibly as part of a strategy to counter arguments they are using their lead position in search in an unfair manner. However, in a bit of an unusual move for Google, the landing page for their primary search service currently includes a couple links to help promote their own apps.
Google usually shies away from self-promotion like this on their homepage. Even in cases when they do include links other than search or “I’m Feeling Lucky” it is usually to help promote some worthy cause that they are supporting. With so many new devices in the hands of consumers though, it probably makes sense to strike while the iron is hot.
The link for “the best of Google” for Android users leads to the Play Store and a group of ten of Google’s own apps. They range from basic apps like Gmail or YouTube to more narrow ones like Snapseed for image editing.
The choices for iOS users are much more extensive. The link leads to the Apple iTunes store where users will find apps divided between those for iPhones and those for iPads, though there is quite a bit of overlap. In all, there are 62 iPhone apps and 47 iPad apps, representing the entire library of Google apps on the platform.
There is no telling how long Google may keep the links up for quick, direct access to some of their apps. Hit the source link if you want to check them out and get more details or give one of the apps a spin.
source: Google
via: MobileSyrup
Come comment on this article: Google toots own horn with links to apps on homepage
North Korea’s version of Linux is extremely oppressive
It’s no secret that North Korea has its own Linux distribution, Red Star OS, that limits you to a government-approved view of the world. However, researchers have just taken an in-depth look into how Red Star works — and it’s clear that software is as authoritarian as the country that created it. Besides its known tendency to watermark files on USB sticks (to track people shuttling contraband material), Red Star is paranoid about modifications. It not only has extra safeguards around key system files, but will immediately reboot the PC if it detects changes to those files.
It’s also evident that North Korea is determined to keep as much technology in-house as it can. The included antivirus software and web browser point to internal servers, and even the encryption is custom-developed (possibly to prevent foreign agencies from inserting back doors). You’re not going to run Red Star just for kicks, folks.
While there are some security benefits to Red Star, the researchers ultimately believe that the software is about keeping North Koreans isolated. You don’t dare modify the system to get around censorship, lest officials track you down. In that sense, the OS is a friendly reminder that open source software isn’t automatically a guarantee of freedom — it has to be written in a spirit of freedom, too.
[Image credit: Liu Xingzhe/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images]
Via: Motherboard
Source: Chaos Communication Congress
The Silk Road bust almost didn’t happen
Officials like to boast about taking down Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht (aka Dread Pirate Roberts), but it turns out that they almost didn’t get him at all. The New York Times has learned that the Internal Revenue Service’s Greg Alford spent months sifting through chat logs and other details to link Ulbricht to the online black market, but the DEA and FBI didn’t take the tax investigator’s work seriously. If it weren’t for his insistence on pursuing the case and reviewing evidence, Ulbricht might still be running the Dark Web service today.
The details suggest that US law enforcement still has a lot to learn about collaboration, especially in the internet era. On top of downplaying the evidence identifying Ulbricht, the other agencies didn’t even relay some of what they knew to the IRS — Alford could have pieced things together sooner if the bureaus were working together. Some of this stems from institutional biases toward dedicated law enforcement divisions (the IRS is relatively low on the ladder), but it’s clear that the government needs to share more data.
[Image credit: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Source: New York Times
The Silk Road bust almost didn’t happen
Officials like to boast about taking down Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht (aka Dread Pirate Roberts), but it turns out that they almost didn’t get him at all. The New York Times has learned that the Internal Revenue Service’s Greg Alford spent months sifting through chat logs and other details to link Ulbricht to the online black market, but the DEA and FBI didn’t take the tax investigator’s work seriously. If it weren’t for his insistence on pursuing the case and reviewing evidence, Ulbricht might still be running the Dark Web service today.
The details suggest that US law enforcement still has a lot to learn about collaboration, especially in the internet era. On top of downplaying the evidence identifying Ulbricht, the other agencies didn’t even relay some of what they knew to the IRS — Alford could have pieced things together sooner if the bureaus were working together. Some of this stems from institutional biases toward dedicated law enforcement divisions (the IRS is relatively low on the ladder), but it’s clear that the government needs to share more data.
[Image credit: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Source: New York Times
Samsung executives blame lackluster software for company’s problems
Samsung’s growth recently reached a stall, which caused the company to go back to the drawing board and redesign its products form the ground up. Lesser build qualities seemed to be the blame, but some current and former Samsung executives seem to disagree with this idea; they believe the real issue with the Korean giant is the lack of software expertise.
Samsung is great at making hardware, but these unnamed sources claim the company has done very little to differentiate itself from the competition, naming failed software attempts like ChatOn and Samsung Milk Video as proof of this argument.
“Samsung’s upper management just inherently doesn’t understand software. They get hardware – in fact, they get hardware better than anyone else. But software is a completely different ballgame.” -Anonymous Samsung former employee
It does seem like Samsung has been focusing more on hardware. Their big focus with the Samsung Galaxy S6 (and S6 Edge) was definitely build quality and design. And they have always been all about innovative technology like fingerprint readers, NFC, heartbeat monitors and the like.
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Furthermore, we do know that Samsung’s Android skin (don’t-call-it-Touchwiz) has always been one of the least popular in the Android universe. It can be sluggish, heavily customized and full of features you probably don’t use.
See also: TouchWiz tips and tricks for the Note 5 and Galaxy S6
The big question here is: how can Samsung make customers more loyal through software? If you were to ask me, I would say cleaning it up is about the best option. Take Motorola as an example. They cut down on their UI to make it look mostly stock, and the few features they tout are not so “straight in your face”, but they are compelling enough to make a positive difference. Voiceless Actions is my favorite, for one.
Samsung has made some progress, but they keep tackling problems that already have solutions. Samsung Pay is good, but both Apple Pay and Android Pay are already out there. SmartThings is a good product too, but there are plenty of IoT (Internet of Things) platforms out there. And the same applies to things like ChatOn and Samsung Milk Video – there’s plenty of good (and often better) solutions in the market.
I wouldn’t say that by improving software Samsung’s numbers will go back up in this mature tech market (everyone has been struggling, after all), but it would definitely be a big start. So far I have to say the only cool software introductions from the Korean manufacturer have been some of those gimmicky features on Galaxy phones… and many of you hate them.
But what do you guys think Samsung could do to improve its game? Should improving software really be the main focus? Should they do more with hardware? What would make you a more loyal Samsung user?
They clearly need to start doing something different soon. Their revenues are down and even CEOs are already suffering from it. As are we.
LG V10 International Giveaway!
Welcome to the Sunday Giveaway, the place where we giveaway a new Android phone or tablet each and every Sunday!
A big congratulations to last week’s winners of the Nexus 5X Giveaway! Adam B. (USA), enjoy your new smartphone!
This week we are giving away the LG V10!
With its larger display, fingerprint scanner, great design, durable build quality, camera that excels in video recording and high quality audio, the LG V10 is an incredibly solid offering that earned itself our Editor’s Choice Award!
Enter Giveaway
LG V10 International Giveaway!
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Frozen oil could be the key to shapeshifting materials
Those odd, glowing shapes may look like they’re straight out of a weird puzzle game, but don’t laugh… they may be crucial to a future of ever-changing materials. British and Bulgarian scientists have discovered that oil droplets will form octagons, triangles and other not-so-natural shapes if you slowly freeze them while they’re in a soapy solution. On top of that, they’ll revert to their original states if you warm them back up. The results are more than a little odd, as you can see here — they’re non-living chemicals taking on artificial shapes in a lifelike way.
It’s still early going, but the implications are huge. If researchers can find a way to produce specific shapes and make them stick, they could have shapeshifting materials whose properties change on the fly. In that sense, flexible devices could be just the first step toward gadgets whose very nature adapts to your needs.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: University of Cambridge, Nature
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