Tuesday, 23 July 2013

Apple hiring SmartWatch talent

HIRING BOOM: Sources claim Apple is looking for help in getting its first wearable technology device ready for a 2014 launch. — ©AFP/Relaxnews 2013 HIRING BOOM: Sources claim Apple is looking for help in getting its first wearable technology device ready for a 2014 launch. — ©AFP/Relaxnews 2013
Sources claim Apple is looking for help in getting its first wearable technology device ready for a 2014 launch.

An article in the Financial Times claims that Apple has been encountering "hard engineering problems that they're unable to solve" and as a result is set to start recruiting new blood with wearable technology experience in order to get the so-called ‘iWatch' project back on track.

According to sources quoted by the publication, Apple is aiming to get the product out by the end of 2014.

Most rumours surrounding the highly-buzzed device have pointed to a 2013 launch date as have similar reports focused on Apple's closest competitors, i.e., Microsoft, Samsung, Google and, to a lesser extent, LG, all of which have been officially or unofficially confirmed as developing similar devices for a 2013 launch.

If the report turns out to be accurate — and the FT has a pretty good track record, being one of the first publications to report on iTunes radio and the obstacles it was encountering — Apple will also have the benefits of seeing what the competition is up to and tweaking its device to suit.

However, with the current rate of consumer technological advances, the wearable computing may already be mainstream by the time the iWatch launches.

Speaking at the opening keynote debate about wearable technology at this month's VentureBeat MobileBeat 2013 conference, the consensus was that Google Glass is just the beginning and that devices would be inserted inside the body within the next ten years.

Jef Holove, chief executive of Basis Science, maker of the Basis wrist-worn health tracker said: "We're in the Palm Pilot stage of wearables," meaning that the device category is yet to have its iPhone moment and that when it does, the industry will explode, in much the way the smartphone market did when Apple launched its first phone back in 2007.

Many are convinced that a consumer-ready version of Google Glass could be this gateway device, while others believe that as with the iPhone, the Apple iWatch will be the gadget that legitimises wearable technology and makes body-worn computers desirable.

However, during the discussion, which also featured Samsung's chief strategy officer, Young Sohn, and Gary Clayton, the chief creative officer at voice recognition firm Nuance, Holove also stressed that an iconic device is just one part of the puzzle.

"We have to start with concrete use cases that solve real problems," he said of wearable devices.
— ©AFP/Relaxnews 2013.

Kes Liwat II: Muhammad Shafee ketuai pasukan pendakwaraya


Kes Liwat II: Muhammad Shafee ketuai pasukan pendakwaraya
PUTRAJAYA:  Peguam kanan Datuk Seri Muhammad Shafee Abdullah telah dilantik oleh Peguam Negara sebagai pendakwa untuk mengetuai pasukan pendakwa dalam rayuan terhadap pembebasan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim daripada pertuduhan liwat.

Muhammad Shafee memaklumkan panel tiga hakim Mahkamah Rayuan hari ini bahawa beliau telah dilantik untuk bertindak sebagai pendakwa dalam rayuan, secara "fiat" mengikut Seksyen 376 (3) Kanun Prosedur Jenayah (CPC).

Selepas prosiding berakhir, Muhammad Shafee memberitahu pemberita surat pelantikannya ditandatangani Peguam Negara bertarikh 2 Julai tahun ini dan beliau menerima surat itu pada 11 Julai lepas.

Rayuan itu dijadual untuk pendengaran hari ini dan esok tetapi panel Mahkamah Rayuan dipengerusikan Hakim Datuk Ramly Ali menanggguhkannya dan menetapkan 1 Ogos untuk pengurusan kes bagi menetapkan tarikh pendengaran selepas peguam Ram Karpal Singh memaklumkan mahkamah peguam utama pasukan pembelaan Karpal Singh sedang dirawat di hospital.

Hakim Ramly bersidang bersama-sama Hakim Datuk Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat dan Hakim Datuk Mohd Zawawi Salleh.

Ram Karpal sebelum itu memohon kepada mahkamah untuk menangguhkan rayuan itu kerana Karpal Singh telah dimasukkan ke wad Ortopedik dan Traumatologi Hospital Kuala Lumpur pada Sabtu.

Beliau turut menyerahkan kepada mahkamah salinan surat pengesahan Karpal Singh, 73, dimasukkan ke hospital bagi sakit belakang.

Sementara itu, Ram Karpal memaklumkan mahkamah pihak pembelaan membantah  pelantikan Muhammad Shafee sebagai pendakwa tetapi Hakim Ramly meminta beliau mengemukakan perkara itu pada tarikh pendengaran akan datang.

Ram Karpal kemudiannya memberitahu pemberita pihak pembelaan membantah atas alasan ia mungkin tidak sesuai bagi beliau (Muhammad Shafee) mewakili pihak pendakwa kerana kes Anwar bermotifkan politik dan beliau (Muhammad Shafee) pernah dilantik mewakili Umno dalam beberapa kes mahkamah sebelum ini.

Muhammad Shafee berkata berikutan keadaan kesihatan Karpal Singh, adalah tidak beretika untuknya membantah permohonan penangguhan itu.

Beliau bagaimanapun memohon mahkamah menetapkan tarikh baharu bagi pendengaran secepat mungkin kerana menurutnya beliau telah membaca 25 jilid rekod rayuan dan mahukannya segar dalam ingatannya.

Pihak pendakwa merayu terhadap keputusan Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur pada 9 Jan tahun lepas yang melepaskan dan membebaskan Anwar, 64, daripada pertuduhan meliwat bekas pembantunya Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, 26, di unit kondominium  Desa Damansara di Bukit Damansara antara 3.10 petang dan 4.30 petang, 26 Jun 2008.


- BERNAMA via Astro Awani