Sony’ Pretty Smart – Watch!

Yesterday, Sony expanded its wearable computer lineup with the launch of a new smart watch.

The SmartWatch 2 is described by Sony as a second screen for your Android, but unlike your mobile phone, this device features a compact 1.6″ screen, and is both dust and splash-proof. A bluetooth connection gives the device a quick way to access your phone’s tools, including the ability to answer the phone, take photos, or adjust your music, all from your wrist. Users can even check their Facebook or Twitter feeds as quickly as they check the time. Sony boasts that the SmartWatch 2 will have the longest battery life of any other smart watch on the market, with up to six days of life from a single charge.

Though no price is currently set for the new device, the previous model retailed at one-hundred-and-fifty dollars, so consumers can expect to pay at least that much when the Smartwatch 2 is made available this September.

SK Goes Advanced

Korean network operator, SK Telecom just made a world’s first with the unveiling of their LTE-Advanced network.

The new service is expected to offer speeds of up to 150Mb/s, providing double the speed of older LTE services, and 10x the speed of a standard 3G network. The new connection is said to be so fast, that SK Telecom claimed a full movie can be downloaded from their network in less than a minute.

Service for the LTE-A connection will be available in 42 cities initially, with plans to expand to 40 more markets in the future at no increased cost to customers.
Instead, SK Telecom is hoping to make up for their network’s cost with the release of the a new device capable of using the network, Samsung’s Galaxy S4-A. For now, the S4-A is only available in Korea, where they will be testing a number of new multimedia-led services. In the meantime, it should be interesting to see which global operator will be the next to switch to LTE-A.

Go Team Venture!

In an attempt to recreate the success of Google’s Ventures program, yesterday Microsoft announced the formation of their very own capital investment arm.

Not only will Microsoft Ventures invest in small companies, but a big part of their stated goal is to offer tools, resources, expertise and the routes to market that smaller companies simply don’t have access to.

This program is not the first of its kind from Microsoft, as they’ve already had success with their BizSpark and Bing Fund projects. However, the creation of the Ventures program will allow Microsoft to do more for businesses in two useful ways. First, the change allows microsoft to unify their various efforts under one banner, and second, the re-organization gives entrepreneurs a single point of entry to work with Microsoft’s investing arm. Anyone with a great idea can benefit from the program, and the Ventures Accelerators program will be expanding to further locations around the globe.

We expect to see a hotbed of new ideas coming from Microsoft in the future, as they continue to increase their share of the venture capital market.

Mo’Zilla, Mo’Features

Mozilla is making some noise with the release of a new version of its Firefox Web browser. Starting today, Firefox will fully support in-browser 3D gaming, Skype-like video calling, and even a file sharing tool, all of which run within the browser without any plugins or third-party applications.

Firefox engineers justified the additions by pointing out that the increased use of multiple devices by people who want those features without needing to constantly install software.

The new Firefox achieves much of this using a supercharged subset of JavaScript, as well as a Real Time Communications tool they’ve been testing since December. For now, Firefox isn’t the only browser to support some of these features, but they are the first to really embrace such a wide range of web-based tools, especially for the mobile version, which Mozilla expects, will open them up to millions of new users.

Branching out With Potluck

The team behind the social conversation platform Branch, have launched a new service called Potluck that’s the complete opposite of their other application.

Following the internet’s one percent rule, Potluck assumes that a very small minority of internet users ever create content of their own, and that small minority is exactly who this new application is for. So-called “lurkers” will use the tool to help share links without having to create an online persona, by emphasising what the content is, rather than who shared it. Links on Potluck aren’t accompanied by names or avatars, only the topic and the number of friends talking about it. It’s only when users join the discussion when the social aspect comes into play. Admittedly, the lack of social interaction isn’t catching on with those who appreciate the social aspect of sharing. However, Potluck CEO and co-founder Josh Miller says those people aren’t the ones he’s targeting, saying “Eighty-six percent of the Internet has not written a tweet or a blog post before, and doesn’t really want to.” Lurkers who want to check out the new service can try it immediately on Android, with an iOS version coming out in a couple of weeks.

Hangout…With The IT Guy

Google Hangout just got a huge update that now allows users to take control of another system using their web-based chat service.

Getting started with Hangouts Remote Desktop is fairly basic, working as an app that can be installed in the hangout itself. Once the user enables the service, the other party can choose to either accept or reject the invitation, enabling the user to immediately begin clicking around the other person’s screen.

Remote desktop applications are nothing new in the computing world, especially considering that most operating systems already come with one pre-installed, but the obvious benefit to Hangouts is that most people already have a Google account. Remote tech support will no longer have to walk people through the process of diagnosing over the phone.

Now, all they need to do is login to Gmail, and remote desktop support is a single click away.

And that’s all for today’s news. For this and more, be sure to follow us every weekday on NewsDesk with Kristin Feledy.

photo credit: Hosam AL-Hwid via photopin cc
photo credit: The DEMO Conference via photopin cc
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writing credit: Andrew E. Lowe