Terrier: New Google For The Real World

A new search engine aims to allow web users to search the real world by trawling sounds and video from microphones and cameras.

Developed by a team based at the University of Glasgow with funding from the EU and help from technology industry giants, "Terrier" aims to answer questions about the real world in real time, such as "how busy is the city centre?"

By using information from cameras, microphones and social networks, the system will provide localised, relevant information. A member of the public could ask a question about traffic conditions in the city centre or their friends' favourite bars and receive useful results, something not currently possible via commercial offerings like Google.

"The SMART engine will answer queries by identifying sensors, then synthesising results from distributed sources in an intelligent way," said Dr Iadh Ounis of the University of Glasgow's School of Computing Science.

"This could be helpful for cities hosting big events like the Olympics, showcasing what satellite events are going on, or to help local government respond to traffic accidents or antisocial behaviour," he told The Telegraph.

The nine institutions and companies taking part in the project are receiving around two million euros funding from the European Commission.

Dr Ounis added that the project will contribute to the development of "smart cities", offering improved information services based on up-to-the-second data, currently being promoted by firms such as IBM, which is collaborating on the research.

"SMART builds upon the existing concept of ‘smart cities’, physical spaces which are covered in an array of intelligent sensors which communicate with each other and can be searched for information," he said

"The search results sourced from these smart cities can be reused across multiple applications, making the system more effective."

The University has been working on Terrier since 2004, and the team expects it to be tested in a real city by 2014.

Samsung: Nokia Takeover Bid, Groundless

Samsung Electronics has dismissed rumours that it is preparing to mount a takeover bid for Nokia as "groundless".

Rumours emerged earlier today from a Bloomberg News report citing an analyst note that speculated that the company may be about to receive a takeover bid.

"A lot of names have been mentioned as potential bidders," Bo Nordberg, an analyst at Canaccord Genuity told Bloomberg News. "I am sure someone is looking at it, but it is not particularly compelling.

Even among the analyst community the feeling is quite skeptical about the outlook for the company."

Nokia's share price jumped by 6 percent on the rumours. Samsung was also named as a possible bidder last June, but denied the rumours at that time as well.

Exane BNP Paribas said in a note that several companies have been suggested as a possible bidder, although Microsoft is the perennial favourite following its tie-up with Nokia in the smartphone market.

Nokia has however repeatedly denied that it is in any sort of merger or takeover talks with Microsoft. It was however rumoured last year that Nokia and Microsoft considered a joint takeover bid of their own, for Research in Motion.

Read more: Bloomberg News

Apple: Ban Samsung Galaxy S3 In US

Samsung will fight Apple's attempt to ban the Galaxy S3 mobile phone from being sold in the US.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 was launched in Britain at the end of last monthbut Apple is seeking an injunction against its sale in the US. The iPhone-maker claims that the S3 breaches two of its patents and says the handset is "not more than colorably different from the Galaxy Nexus", which has been the target of past disputes.

Apple filed its motion earlier this week. Samsung said it believed Apple's request to be "without merit". The company said in a statement: "We will vigorously oppose the request and demonstrate to the court that the Galaxy S3 is innovative and distinctive."

The patents in question relate to unified search and a system for recognising and performing actions on structured data. Apple says it is still trying to determine whether the S3 also breaches two other patents.

The Galaxy S3 is due to launch in the US on June 21. Samsung said: "We would like to assure customers that the US launch and sales of the Galaxy S3 will proceed as planned."

The dispute is the latest in a long round of lawsuits and counter-lawsuits between the two companies.

Apple alleges that Samsung’s Galaxy range of smartphones and tablets are “slavish” copies of the iPhone and iPad designs, and has sought injuntions to ban them from sale. The Korean firm, now the world’s biggest manufacturer of smartphones, has retaliated by claiming Apple has infringed its 3G technology.

Last year, Samsung released a tweaked version of its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer following legal action from Apple.

"We modified the model to reflect Apple's claims," a Samsung spokesman said at the time.

Microsoft, Samsung: Possible Nokia Buy-Out?

Nokia’s stock recently hovered hit a 15-year low (giving it a market capitalization of about US$4 billion), prompting new rumours of an imminent buy-out. Both Microsoft and Samsung’s names have been tied to these.

There were rumours a year ago which valued a deal at US$19 billion. According toThe Register, Microsoft considered a buyout late last year, according to “well-placed sources.” Talks advanced far enough that Microsoft was given access to Nokia’s books after which it “ran away screaming.” Microsoft could have made a move to keep Nokia from being bought out by a rival but it appears that none came forward. With neither company really interested, the deal went nowhere.

This is not to say that it might not resurface. Nokia is a much cheaper company today. It is still burning through cash reserves quickly and could run out of cash. At that point, it’s likely that Nokia would be even cheaper than it is today and might be a better acquisition target. Of particular interest would likely be its intellectual property portfolio and for a company like Microsoft, the years of experience working as Microsoft’s flagship OEM.

A second report suggested that Samsung also looked at acquiring Nokia. Rumours emerged last week, giving Nokia’s stock a jolt, but Samsung today denied that there was any truth to them. “Such reports are purely speculative and are not true,” the company said.

ASUS : Google tablet & Transformer Pad Infinity, Launch Late June

While this is not quite the same as an official company press release, an ASUS representative allegedly told Android Authority during Computex that the long rumoured Google tablet will launch at the end of the month. It just so happens thatGoogle I/O is scheduled for June 27^th to the 29^th.

While the representative shared little else except to promise that “it will be awesome,” past rumours have suggested that the Google ASUS Nexus 7 will be powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor and Android 4.1 (which may be none other than Jelly Bean). It will also come with a 7-inch HD (1280×768) display. Pricing is expected to fall in or around the US$200 mark.

The same representative added that the ASUS Transformer Pad Infinity (TF700T) will also launch at the end of the month. Both a Wi-Fi-only and an LTE model will be available with the latter to be offered by AT&T in the U.S. Pricing around the US$499 mark was mentioned but it’s not clear to which model this applies.

Lastly, the ASUS PadFone could make its North American debut with AT&T. ASUS has apparently been met with a lukewarm carrier response, possibly because this device does not require tethering for which carriers often charge extra.

Apple: 365 Million iOS Devices Sold, 140 Million iMessage Users

Apple has never shied away from taking a few shots at Android during its WWDC keynotes, and why would 2012 be any different.

Just before taking the wraps off iOS 6, Apple took some time to toss out a few numbers highlighting its spectacular sales and sizable user base. All told, by the end of March, the company had moved 365 million iOS devices, with the vast majority of them (80 percent) running iOS 5 — a point they made sure to drive home with a graphic comparing the install base of Android 4.0. But, sales alone mean nothing without an active user community.

Which is why Cupertino was so happy to report that 140 million iMessage users were sending more than one billion messages each day, for a grand total of 150 billion SMS and MMS missives. Push notifications have also clearly taken off in a big way, with 1.5 trillion having graced our notification screens.

Apple: Safari Now Packed With Unified Search, iCloud Tabs, Multi-Device Syncing And More

Apple’s fresh new hardware may have gotten the headlines thus far during Apple’s 2012 WWDC keynote, but there’s also some good news for browser aficionados, too. Safari has taken a page out of Chrome’s book by offering unified search for the web, your history and bookmarks. Additionally, Safari now syncs your web-browsing info across all your devices.

Called iCloud Tabs, the feature lets you see the tabs that you’ve open on any device simultaneously. That means you can surf the web on your iPhone while you’re out and about, and continue your web session seamlessly on that shiny new MacBook Pro when you get home by clicking the new handy dandy iCloud button.

Not only that, Safari’s picked up some new multitouch tricks, letting you swipe all the way out to tab view, then pinch on the page you want to dive back in.

Safari’s Mobile version has also gained the ability to upload images directly and it now has an Offline Reading List that downloads and caches anything you add. Furthermore, Safari can now provide a notification if there’s an app for the website you’re browsing.

Tapping the notification brings you to the App Store, and once downloaded, the browser pushes the URL to the app so you can pick up the content right where you left off.