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MEET APPLE’S ‘SKYNET’ – THE iOS 7 FEATURE THAT COULD ‘CHANGE EVERYTHING’: Apple’s mundane-sounding Multipeer Connectivity Framework attracted little attention during its quiet rollout for iOS 7. But following the recent release of the quirky FireChat app, which uses the Framework to connect users who don't have direct access to Wi-Fi or a data connection, the feature’s significant disruption potential is beginning to raise eyebrows.
The technology is called mesh networking. “It’s going to change everything,” Mike Elgan writes for Cult of Mac, comparing the technology's potential impact to “the Internet itself.”
Here’s how it works: Using the same inter-device connections that power Air Drop file transfers, Apple devices within range can connect to each other, acting as relay nodes in a device network running separately from the Internet. Apps like FireChat use the mesh network to relay data from device to device, until they find a device with Internet connectivity to bridge the gap.
“Apple is a leader here with its Multipeer Connectivity Framework,” notes Elgan. “But it appears that Google is also going big with consumer-level mesh networking.”
Eighty-five percent of Apple's mobile devices currently run iOS7. (Cult of Mac, Wired)
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Mesh networking is like Skynet [the fictional computer network from Terminator], except it can be used for the forces of good like more efficient routing of wireless bandwidth, or a robust communication network during a natural disaster.” –Blog of Open Garden, creators of FireChat
NEW DATA SHOWS APP USE OVERTAKING MOBILE WEB: Mobile analytics firm Flurry measured overall time spent on U.S. iOS and Android devices to find that app usage now takes up 86% of mobile time spent. That's up from an 80% share in 2013. Growing app usage comes at the expense of the mobile Web, which now makes up just 14% of mobile time spent. In total, the average U.S. mobile user spent 2 hours and 42 minutes per day on their device. (Flurry)
MOZILLA BOARD SHAKEUP: In the wake of Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich’s March promotion from CTO, half of the Mozilla board of directors has resigned. The Wall Street Journal cites sources claiming that board members Gary Kovacs, John Lilly, and Ellen Siminoff had been in favor of recruiting from outside the company’s ranks. Mozilla’s VP of communications Leslie Nakajima has also resigned, saying that the timing is “coincidental” and unrelated to the recent outcry over records showing a 2008 donation from Eich in support of Proposition 8. (WSJ, Holmes Report)
PEBBLE HITS TARGET SHELVES: Pebble smart watches are now being sold in bricks-and-mortar Target stores in the U.S. as well as on Target's website. Pebble had only been made available in the U.S. at Best Buy locations and at AT&T retail fronts. Pebble sold 400,000 smart watches last year through its website, Best Buy, and AT&T. (Pebble)
STUDY – MOBILE TAKES ONE-THIRD OF ALL ONLINE SALES: A new study finds 32% of all online purchases are made over mobile devices. “Making mobile payments faster and easier is a big driver for the types of mobile technology that are being developed,” says Electronic Transactions Association CEO Jason Oxman. (Payments Cards & Mobile)
Blackberry dumps T-Mobile in the wake of T-Mobile's ad belittling the struggling handset maker. (Ars Technica)
Watchmakers rebuff Apple’s iWatch overtures. (MacRumors)
Following similar price cuts from Amazon and Google, Microsoft slashes Cloud services rate. (ZDNet)
FCC opens unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi, increases available bandwidth by 15%. (GigaOM)
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