Big Tech Stories of 2015

        2015 will be an amazing year, and the amount of turmoil we will see likely will make 2014 look tame by comparison. Scandals, robots, elections, and the emergence of a variety of new technologies should define this space. As crazy as 2015 will be, 2016 is likely to be even crazier.

We'll have robots, self-driving cars, armed autonomous drones, the professional proliferation of head mounted cameras, some scandals, and some interesting political implications.

Wireless Everything:

          In 2015, we will begin to talk about the implementation of a number of technologies we saw previewed in 2014 and that will be introduced at CES next week. One of the biggest is resonance charging, which allows you to put a device in the vicinity of a charger and have it charge wirelessly. This will show up first for cellphones and tablets, and then later for laptops.

Mu-MIMO, which was announced this year, provides networking performance in line with gigabit switches. We'll move to 10 gigabit products in 2015, showcasing how incredibly fast this technology is advancing.

        We'll also move to shared WiFi hotspots more aggressively, so you can automatically connect to a WiFi network in a house or business that is part of the same network you already subscribe to. Oh, and while 4G has been talked up a lot this year, next year we'll start hearing more and more about 5G. Just as 4G made 3G look like crap, 5G will do the same to 4G. 5G is going to make a mess of WiFi and Bluetooth as well, because we are the tech market, and we like to mess with your heads.

Another Nail in Passwords' Coffin

We'll see biometrics move much more broadly. Already in a number of phones (mostly Apple), it will move aggressively into tablets and PCs. We should see a shift from fingerprint scanners to facial recognition as the way to get into our accounts.

We'll likely still need at least one more element -- a cellphone, tablet or PC -- to make sure we are who we say we are. The Blackberry solution of using the cellphone as a token also will become more widespread, since it provides an even more secure way to ensure we are who we say we are.

Sony RIP?

      Sony just showcased the extreme and powerful benefits to doing this and now this behavior will likely spread like wildfire. I expect the escalation will result in the release of emails and other internal documents that highlight just how badly some folks in power behave.

I also expect a lot of executives will be virtually unemployable when all the dust settles. There is even a possibility that the damage to the Sony brand will be unrecoverable, because its behavior likely will be showcased as the cause for the resulting mess. This is another reason Sony likely should have separated the content business from the rest of the company some time ago.

Glass vs. Sapphire

       A lot of the coverage of the scandal surrounding the failure of the Apple supplier to create the screens for the iPhone 6 seemed to revolve around implications the company was incompetent. In 2015, we'll likely better understand why sapphire just doesn't work as well as hardened glass.

Phones flex, but crystal doesn't, making it totally unacceptable for phones. However, we will see this battle recur over and over again in the coming year. 

Robots :

       Robots are advancing at an amazing/alarming rate. From robots used to drive cars to robots for manufacturing lines to robots flying armed aircraft, we will see a lot of amazing stories in 2015. Amazon replaced a large number of full time workers with robots in 2014, and it and other firms likely will accelerate this in 2015. I think we'll be surprised at how capable these machines will become and just what jobs are at risk.

On the other hand, we'll likely see far safer workplaces, safer roads, and safer skies as a result of this -- at least initially -- until Skynet goes live and they take over the world.

Head-Mounted Cameras and Displays

While Google has effectively killed Google Glass, due to really bad husbanding, it did effectively launch this class of hardware. There is now a massive amount of pressure to put cameras on police officers, and because head-mounted devices see what the officer sees, they likely will emerge as far better for both the officer and the citizen than those mounted on a shirt or car.

There have been huge successes in trials for doctors, technicians, assembly workers, and other professions in which it's beneficial to share what is being done with remote folks who can help, as well as see manuals while keeping hands free. 

Bad Analytics Stories:

         We've been rolling analytics platforms into the market and into companies and government agencies aggressively in 2014. Most of this stuff hasn't properly vetted the data going in. Nor have the efforts ensured that the executives who need the answers know how to use these systems.

I think that is going to result in stories about the massive amount of waste and bad decisions that resulted from these systems being implemented improperly and incompletely.

Windows 10

        This product has been far better than anything I've seen from Microsoft in years in terms of addressing the problems that kept people from buying or appreciating Windows 8. It works far more like Windows 7 and Windows XP did, but better. Though it still works better than those products did with touch, it doesn't require it.

        I think we'll be surprised how popular this platform will be, especially in business, which seems to have a love affair with it. This could be the closest thing Microsoft has to a Windows 95 moment since, well, Windows 95.

Google in the Headlines:

         Google, for good or bad, increasingly will be a news magnet. It is the company most of us are afraid of when it comes to someone developing a hostile AI. It is being forced out of some European countries, and the EU is talking about breaking it up.

This year, it brought out products (Google Glass) that got users beat up, and it doesn't seem to be learning from any of this. So I expect Google will be in the news a lot in 2015. 

Applied Social Media:

         I think we'll see a lot more focus on applied social media.

From consumer services like Nextdoor (which currently is doing a good job of protecting people from package theft) to business services like Ombud (which connects purchasing agents to make sure vendors aren't taking advantage of them), this idea of creating a specific social network designed to focus on a clearly defined need is proving to be very valuable.

Ashton Kutcher as Lenovo's Steve Jobs:

          I've been suggesting that the magic Steve Jobs created at Apple could be recreated with a charismatic executive who has a love for products. Lenovo is the only company giving this theory a shot, and the only firm that has been able to get the idea of a celebrity executive partnership to work.

Kutcher is personally husbanding Lenovo's next generation of tablets to market, and they are stunning. Lenovo's Yoga offerings already represent some of the best in their product class -- but to break out, you need magic and Kutcher apparently plans to bring it.

This should all come together next week, and we'll then know whether you really can recreate some of the old Steve Jobs Apple magic at another company.

I should point out that the only reason this seems to be working is that Kutcher studied to be an engineer (so he talks the language), does have a passion for hardware (isn't just a paid shill), and has a chip on his shoulder because he was criticized for playing Steve Jobs in the movie so he has something to prove.

All of this will work into the stories of 2015. By the way, this is the Yoga version he had the biggest impact on.   

Apple Watch:

       Speaking of Apple, the wearable space still doesn't have a defined reason for being, and products are all over the map. The only vendor that has demonstrated it can pull the market together on an idea in recent years is Apple, and the Apple Watch should at least drive some focus into the market.

In addition, this will be the true test of Tim Cook, because this will be the first high-profile new segment product that will be launched under his leadership. Regardless, it undoubtedly will pull a lot of interest.

Nextbook Windows 2-in-1 Tablet

        Typically, products in this class that run full Windows 8, not Windows RT, hit price points above $750 -- and often are nearly twice that. This is at a price point below where netbooks played and Chromebooks play, and both of those products are crippled -- at least when compared to a fully featured product. The Nextbook even has an impressive seven hours of battery life and four processor cores.

I think this is going to break open products in this price range and both fuel a stronger response by Microsoft against the Google Chromebook and put a massive amount of pressure on the PC segment to reduce prices to never-seen-before lows.

Android 5.0 Lollipop release date, news and features..........

 
         It feels like a very long time since Google took the wraps of Android Lollipop back at Google I/O 2014. But now the wait is over: Android Lollipop has begun rolling out to select Nexus and Motorola handsets and tablets in the UK. The update itself is one of the biggest in Google’s history and introduces a raft of changes, updates, tweaks and optimizations.

Material Design

This is the BIG one, the face-slapper, the first thing you’ll notice when you boot up your phone –– providing it runs stock Android, of course. Material Design is Google’s new name for its radically altered design language. It looks great (as you can see below) and, importantly, it isn’t exclusive to Android. No, Material Design is coming to all Google services and apps across all major platforms and formats, including PC, Mac, iOS and the like.

Project Volta:

This is Google’s new initiative for improving battery life. It’s hardwired into Lollipop and runs deep inside the OS. At its core, Volta represents a concerted effort by Google to address one of the biggest problems affecting smartphones today: battery life. Using APIs like ‘Job Scheduler’, Volta makes your phone smarter about how it performs certain tasks and what it does when it’s not active –– i.e. sitting in your pocket or on your desk.
And best of all, it works too, as noted by the always-scientific ArsTechnica: “Installing the L preview on our Nexus 5 gave us two extra hours of runtime. These tests were done on a beat up, daily-driver phone, so the final numbers aren't necessarily indicative of what the L preview could achieve on a new device. It's the difference that matters.”
And as somebody who has long suffered with diabolical Nexus 5 battery issues, this is perhaps one of the best new features inside Android Lollipop. An extra two and a bit hours of juice effectively makes all my problems go away, more or less completely rekindling my love for last year’s Nexus.

Overview 

Multitasking in Android Lollipop has had a Material Design-inspired facelift and now goes by the name of Overview. Everything is now organized in stacks of cards and Overview gives you access to lots more in one setting than the previous version. Another cool feature of Overview is the ability to create multiple cards, so, if you’re writing an IM to one person in, say, Whatsapp, but have another conversation on the go, you can switch between the two in Overview.

Improved Notifications 

Notifications look a lot different in Lollipop. But it’s not just a cosmetic change; accessing your updates and interacting with alerts from email, IM or your social feeds has never felt more intuitive. Android Lollipop also brings notifications to the lockscreen and lets you interact with them right there, so you can achieve, delete and flag updates without even unlocking your phone.

       And if you have notifications you don’t want appearing on your lockscreen, well, Android Lollipop has a solution for that too. Simply add them to your “redacted” list of private notifications you don’t want appearing on your lockscreen. Inside Notifications-proper, you can also expand and view messages, reply and set mute options for certain messages, say, Facebook updates, for instance.
Android just reclaimed its crown as King of Notifications.

ART-like Performance

Previously, Android used the Dalvik engine to run third-party and core Google applications. But in Android Lollipop, Google has switched over to ART. We won’t get into the details of ART here –– it’s rather complex –– but the basic premise of how it works is this: applications have a large install footprint and can, as a result, operate in an “always ready” mode, so when you select it the application will spring into life faster than it would with the old method.
Google says ART is 4x faster than Dalvik and will improve the performance of any Android handset it runs on. Nexus 5 users were given the opportunity to switch earlier on in the year, but once Android Lollipop drops for everybody within the next few months, more and more handsets and tablets inside the Android Kingdom will begin benefiting from ART.

New NFC Tricks  

Android Lollipop will re-download all the applications you currently use on your phone direct from Google Play when you sign in. This is a new feature and a welcome addition –– Apple’s had it for years. But, there is another way to bring content from your old Android to a newer model: NFC.
The feature is called tap and go and, as the name suggests, works by tapping two handsets together. Once you do this, a link is initiated, and the content from your old phone will begin transferring to your new phone. In our tests it worked great, but it didn’t switch the passwords across for obvious reasons.

Priority Mode 

Like iOS’ “Do Not Disturb” mode, Priority lets you setup an environment on your phone where you’ll only be served certain notifications when you’re busy working on something. It’s a method of streamlining what can and can’t come through to you so you won’t be disturbed, for example, by your Auntie’s incessant requests for you to join the FarmVille community.

        When you set up Priority mode, Android asks you which applications you’d like to allow in a handy drop down menu. It also lets you set up a timer for the mode too, so if you’re only busy for an hour, just set it for an hour and it’ll revert back to normal once that time is up. Priority is an awesome feature that lets you keep in contact with important stuff while blocking out all the usual guff your phone normally bothers you with.

Pin Apps

         If your family or friends are always asking to borrow your phone for whatever reason but you don’t want them going elsewhere in your phone, looking at messages and your pictures, for example, then you’ll love Pin Apps mode. This is a simple and very useful addition to Android Lollipop that lets you add an extra layer of security to your phone when somebody borrows. Below is an example of how it works in practice.
Your child asks to play a game on your phone, you agree, but before you hand it to them, you tap the pin on the application in Overview. Once this is done, they’re locked to that application, and if they want to go elsewhere, well, they’re going to need your passcode. And, guess what: only you know that.

7 awesome tools for creating TCP/IP packets....

Here are 7 awesome tools for creating TCP/IP packets.

1.Nemesis

Nemesis is a command-line network packet crafting and injection utility for UNIX-like and Windows systems. Nemesis, is well suited for testing Network Intrusion Detection Systems, firewalls, IP stacks and a variety of other tasks. As a command-line driven utility, Nemesis is perfect for automation and scripting. 

 2.Yersinia

Yersinia is a network tool designed to take advantage of some weakeness in different network protocols. It pretends to be a solid framework for analysing and testing the deployed networks and systems.

3.Scapy

Scapy is a powerful interactive packet manipulation program. It is able to forge or decode packets of a wide number of protocols, send them on the wire, capture them, match requests and replies, and much more.

4.packETH

GUI and CLI packet generator tool for ethernet. It allows you to create and send any possible packet or sequence of packets on the ethernet link. 

5.hping

hping is a command-line oriented TCP/IP packet assembler/analyser. The interface is inspired to the ping(8) unix command, but hping isn't only able to send ICMP echo requests. It supports TCP, UDP, ICMP and RAW-IP protocols, has a traceroute mode, the ability to send files between a covered channel, and many other features. 

 
6.SendIP

SendIP has a large number of command line options to specify the content of every header of a NTP, BGP, RIP, RIPng, TCP, UDP, ICMP or raw IPv4 and IPv6 packet. It also allows any data to be added to the packet.

7.Mausezahn

Mausezahn is a free fast traffic generator written in C which allows you to send nearly every possible and impossible packet. It is mainly used to test VoIP or multicast networks but also for security audits to check whether your systems are hardened enough for specific attacks.