Apple Pay and its introduction strategies

Apple Pay and its introduction strategies

Apple PayApple launched yesterday Apple Pay in Singapore, its sixth market to date, and prepares its next release, if everything goes according to the announcements made to date, in Hong Kong and in Spain throughout this year 2016.

The deployment in the North American market of Apple Pay took place on October 20, 2014, a little more than a month after its presentation. It was carried out, as had been announced, with the participation of the three main credit card issuers, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, some 220.000 stores and numerous participating banks. After two years and lack of official Apple data, which claims to maintain sustained and double-digit growth, some surveys speak of relatively discrete popularity rates in their use and others speak directly of a failure, although other sources claim that such an adoption profile in a product as a means of payment should not represent any concern to the company. About 18% of Americans use their mobile devices to make at least one weekly transaction, and about that number, 68% use Apple Pay.

After the launch in the North American market, where the iphone had at the end of last year with a market penetration of 39.1%, the company launched the service in the UK, where the iphone had a penetration of 38.6% of the market smartphone. The launch in a new market of such a service raises many specificities: for the UK, it is assumed that Apple has had to accept lower commissions from banks due to the limit to exchange rates, 0.3% for credit cards and 0.2% for debit, which imposes the European Economic Area. In addition, transactions are limited to thirty pounds (they were twenty at the time of launch,) it rose to thirty three months later) except in the more modern terminals that accept the standard consumer device Cardholder verification Method (CDCVM), and some important banks, like Barclays, took time to say yes, citing tensions in the negotiation of the commissions. Currently, British users can use most of their American Express cards, MasterCard and practice visa all of the most important banks, with a reasonable popularity derived especially from the greater penetration of contactless terminals in the stores with respect to the United States and of the adoption of very common uses like the payment in the public transport.

The following countries in the sequence were Canada and Australia, on 17 and 19 November 2015. Banking systems similar to Americans, cultural affinity ... and insights of 38.3% and 24.6% iphone were converted into habitual suspects. Here, however, the brand's strategy was to launch only with American Express, a strategy that is still held, several months later. In China, the next country on the list, it was different: for an obviously interesting and crucial country in Apple's strategy, but with a penetration of iphone minor, of 22.2%, the company launched last D18 of February by an agreement with the only partner with whom it could do it, union pay, the organization that groups all the banks and issuers of cards of the country , an association that has allowed it to be present in practically all of the industry, and potentially in the hands of any Chinese citizen with an iphone. necessary, logically, for a country that, in terms of banking innovation, has carried out a notable breakthrough that has led to Apple Pay meets very strong competitors and with great success in its implementation that come from Tencent (TenPay) and Alibaba (Alipay).

Finally, Apple launched Apple Pay yesterday in Singapore. An interesting market, with a high per capita income, with 38% of the smartphone market in the hands of the iphone, and in which he again repeats the strategy of launching with American Express, although in this case it is noticed on the page that the support for credit and debit cards of visa and of banks like DBS, UOB and Standard Chartered will arrive in the next months.

Hong Kong and Spain are, according to the company, the upcoming releases, and in both cases it is intended to be only for American Express cards. But in this case we talk about different markets: while in Hong Kong the penetration of iphone reaches 28.6%, in Spain is reduced to 9.1%, which makes the market a challenge. Many will say that 9.1% is not "any" 9.1% and that very possibly has a very powerful socio-demographic variable behind, but that is, a minority stake in a market widely dominated by Android devices. Moreover, to make the most interesting thing, the penetration of payment terminals prepared for mobile payments is one of the highest in the world, which could hypothetically allow for a reasonably fast adoption, which, for the moment, has not taken place with any of the previous systems.

What strategies will we see in this case? What movements will we see in the Spanish banks, and to what extent are they proactive in alliances to take the photo with the mark of the Apple? Will Santander move its machinery after the experience they have had in the British market, which will undoubtedly have served as a test given their important presence? Will BBVA, usually very active in terms of adoption? Will that decision affect the fact that several Spanish banks already have their own mobile payment applications working for both iphone and Android? How will Apple Pay be accepted in a country where the social phenomena of adoption are, on many occasions, surprising and especially active? Undoubtedly, the launch of Apple Pay in Spain we will derive interesting conclusions on the strategies of the banks, their level of proactivity, or the rates of adoption. Very soon, on your screens:-)

How to prevent you from being spied at home through the TV, speakers or webcam

How to prevent you from being spied at home through the TV, speakers or webcam

The arrival in our lives of the virtual assistants has turned many of the devices that surround us in habitual suspects of espionage. Not in vain, they collect personal information at all times and remain constantly listening to the waiting to receive that order that makes them start up.

However, not only are virtual butlers integrated into modern loudspeakers or mobile phones threatening the privacy of users. With the internet of things, multitude of sensors surround us in the day to day arranged on devices ranging from the TV to the refrigerator. That not to mention the classics, like the dangerous ' webcam ' of laptops or their microphone.

For all those who are jealous of their intimacy and who prefer to walk with some prudence when enjoying the supposed advantages of these and other intelligent devices, it is still possible to prevent households from becoming a branch of the dreaded Big Brother.

What you sign

They can be long and written in a jargon that is hard to understand, but delve a little into the terms and conditions of certain services can be of vital importance when figuring out what personal data they collect and what they use them for. Without going any further, Google clarifies in the frequent doubts of your home that the device hears a number of seconds indeterminate in search of the popular "OK, Google" and saves them on the device itself.

However, in order to avoid the immense effort involved in reading the legal texts, it is advisable to use platforms such as terms of service; Didn't read. This initiative offers an extension for browsers capable of classifying the texts of terms and conditions of a myriad of services from Class A to Class E, depending on how abusive they result.

In addition, it summarizes the most controversial points and adds to each Web a label following the chromatic range of the traffic lights to warn of a visual form of the dangers of each service. Thus, any user who does not feel comfortable with any of the points of the contract he or she will sign may decide not to do so. I'm sure it's possible to live without that smart fridge that makes us buy.

Eliminates tracks

In case you have already accepted, some of those services and devices that do spy times can be configured to stop playing James Bond or, at least, remove from your privileged memory the data you have stored on our lives.

Is what happens in the case of any device in the family of Google. Whether it's a ' smartphone ' Android, a Chromecast or even a Google home, much of the information that collects the device appears on the page of your activity. While this site is a kind of gallery of horrors that shows what you do with your mobile, what applications you use with your Chromecast and even what your voice is, from it it is also possible to delete all that data (which Google ensures that only you can see, but they also keep) and, also, you can ask to stop registering some.

So, Google can stop storing your youtube searches or, more importantly, your voice, something the company keeps in order to improve its recognition system. If you prefer the Mountain view not to have something so personal, disable here. The same applies to echo of Amazon: The user profile gives access to the deletion of all the data that the wizard has stored. In addition, the physical device has a button with which it is possible to disable the constant listening of the device, always in search of a command that commands some action.

 

With other devices, such as the computer, plugging the camera or the microphone can prevent the company owning some ' software ' (or some cybercriminal) from leaking into the very room where we sleep. However, the most reliable method to prevent a technological device from sending private information to a company is to deprive you of the Internet connection. Although in most cases this is not possible (or is,) (as little, absurd), in some situations it is useful: if you have a smart TV and a Chromecast or an Apple TV, disconnect the TV from the WiFi network and access the Internet from one of your accessories.

A secure network

Another way to protect as much as possible our privacy while enjoying the advantages of these devices is to make them connected to the Internet in such a way that some of your personal data does not travel. To do this, it would be enough to resort to a router that has its own VPN, which would mask enough information about our habits and location to enjoy some privacy: all data would be transmitted in a encrypted way.

However, the ' firewall ' of some routers already allows to establish certain restrictions to those devices of the Internet of the things that do not cease in their attempt to send personal data. Just configure the router for it and, of course, keep the ' firewall ' as up-to-date as possible to have the greatest protection.

If this were not enough, some specific ' firewalls ' have been created, precisely to put doors to that field called the Internet of Things. This is the case of Cujo, a small device that offers a ' firewall ' designed for all connected devices that allows to protect them from cyber.

Your data may go to the company that offers you a service, but what less to avoid that intimate information ends up in the hands of a cybercriminal.

 

Will the smartphone be replaced by the computer?

Will the smartphone be replaced by the computer?

The presentation yesterday of the Samsung S8, apart from the known drip of specifications and images, he left a very interesting detail: the proposal to locate the smartphone in a cradle or docking station, called Dex, which serves both to load, and to connect to a set of screen, keyboard and mouse and use as a desktop computer.

In principle, nothing points to the idea of Samsung to turn your smartphone into the soul of a desktop computer going to become a movement that takes mass adoption body, although some say that only with its release has already surpassed Microsoft with its continuum. But undoubtedly, it does reflect a question: the smartphones that we use today are no longer simply "mobile phones" but pocket computers, they are gaining in performance and memory to the point that they are already much more powerful than the computer that NASA manufactured to start sending men to the moon (and it is curious to imagine all those scientists doing their countdown and connected all of them ... to the smartphone that we carry today in the Pocket:-) and for the usual use that a lot of users give to your computer, such as using a browser or manage some programs of office automation, have more than enough benefits, even possibly loose.

Motorola Atrix LapdockLa proposal is not at all novel: some years ago, in 2011, Motorola put on the market the Atrix, a high-end smartphone that added the possibility of hooking it to a case or lapdock and use it as a complete laptop, with its screen, keyboard and trackpad, which an acquaintance of mine came to use without too many incidents during practically two courses of his engineering career. Now, after the "natural death" of that smartphone, the lapdock in question stores abandoned dust in a drawer of my house (the real geeks never throw our gadgets) waiting for one day to lift me with you want to solder and put me to connect to one of my Raspberry Pi that again give life to what is now a sad and inanimate body without a brain.

Apple patent application itself Apple recently applied for the registration of a very similar patent: a thin "brainless" casing in which a smartphone would be inserted to function as a laptop. The idea is, indeed, very similar to the previous ones, and clearly evokes the company's usual strategy: to take a concept that has been invented for several years but has not received special attention, and reinvent it to endow it with popularity.

In a sense, the trend is also framed in already known and proven movements like the Microsoft Surface or the ipad Pro Apple, which try to build a laptop from a device such as the tablet.

The possibility of using the smartphone as a practically unique device, able to serve as a computer in the pocket for tasks that we carry out when we are in motion but which is inserted in a docking station of some type to use as a complete computer could be surely very attractive, if you do not becomes a loss of benefits or a significant discomfort, within the world of corporate computing , which could be simplified and cheaper in a sensible way and, in addition, fit within the modern tendencies of untying the worker with a specific physical space in which is his computer, in which he glues his post-it and where he puts the photos of his children.

Does it make sense to replace the computer with a device like the smartphone? Are we, with the progressive increase of the performance of the smartphone, to an idea of convergence whose time is coming?

The ' ransomware ' has become the digital Black Plague

The ' ransomware ' has become the digital Black Plague

The virus that has left KO to Telefónica and half the planet is not an unknown in the world of computer security, nor is Telefónica the first company that falls under the attack of a ' ransomware '. In just five years, these viruses have been located in the top 3 of the worst computer threats. The apocalypse was seen coming and just happened: Someone has turned a ' ransomware ' into a ' worm ' that is propagated by the Nets only automatically.

Cybersecurity experts as respected as the Englishman Kevin Beaumont or Spanish Bernardo Quintero, creator of VirusTotal, endorse the thesis that we are before a ' worm '. In the case of Telefónica, it is confirmed that the initial infection was caused by a ' spam ' campaign, but the most worrying thing is that it was neither necessary. With this type of ' worms ', it is possible to infect thousands of computers without an employee misleading to click on an attachment in your email or plug a malicious USB into your company's internal computer.

Reality can now be more brutal. In this massive and global attack, very focused on Europe, someone would have launched ' worms ' with ' ransomware ' functions to the Internet. These functions would be: Encrypt the computers that are in their path and ask for a ransom of 300 euros for each one, in exchange for the key that decrypts them.

The hole that this worm gets into is a Windows vulnerability for which a patch exists; The affected companies did nothing

 

As for the functions of the ' worm ', these would be to walk through the networks autonomously to the search for computers that had a concrete hole, ' meddle ' by it, infect it and follow its unstoppable path. Only that one of these worms would have reached Telefónica's network, perhaps from Russia or Taiwan, where there have been even more massive infections than in Spain, would be enough to start this historic chaos.

The hole that this worm gets into is a Windows vulnerability that Microsoft reported on March 14 and for which there was a patch since then that, incomprehensibly, the affected companies had not yet installed, perhaps by having thousands of computers and non-exhaustive security policies. Or, also incomprehensiblely, they did not use antivirus, since most antivirus detected this ' ransomware ', according to data from VirusTotal.

The knowledge of this security hole we owe it to equation Group, one of the NSA's elite hacker groups, who ' enjoyed ' him for years, until another group of hackers, called Shadow brokers, stole this information and spread it to the world.

 

Like all the ' ransomware ' of today, this also collects its bailouts with the virtual currency Bitcoin. Tracing the Bitcoin addresses that the criminals have provided their victims to pay the ransom is proving that many of them are paying. As Lorenzo Martínez, technical director of Securízame explains, one of the keys to the success of ' ransomware ' is precisely that "there is a way to solve the attack based on paying a ransom that is affordable in price and that really fix it, it is not a hoax." According to Verizon, 64% of the victims end up paying.

 

70% of the attacks today

 

The possibility of an immediate economic achievement has made growing as the foam the organized ' cybercrime ' related to the ' ransomware ', creating even a business model: ' ransomware-like-service '. In this modality are offered different services to anyone who wants to start in this crime, know nothing about computers but have money to pay: there are those who will sell the virus, who will mount the collection service with Bitcoins, and even who will organize the infection.

Thus, the number of attacks of ' ransomware ' carries bending around the world since at least 2014, when it began to be a massive attack. The police can do little against these criminals, shielded in the ' cybercrime ' international, attacking normally to individuals and small businesses that have no own resources to fight against them, except the known police report.

 

There is already the ' ransomware-like-service ': You can sell the virus, mount the collection service with bitcoins and even organize the infection

With the passage of the years and the impunity of this crime, the amount of the bailouts has been increasing and its authors have dared with bigger ' fish ', like the system of transport of San Francisco and diverse hospitals. The attacks of ' ransomware ' are today 70% of all who are committed to viruses in the world, according to Verizon. We will see now, when the undertakings concerned are large and many, in an unprecedented planetary attack, if it is so easy for their authors to remain safe and sound in their hiding places, in the black caves of the underground.

 

Google reveals next version of Android: more battery and better notifications

Google reveals next version of Android: more battery and better notifications

Google has released the first beta for developers of its next version of Android, whose current name is O. Its main features are features that will improve the life of our battery, better management of notifications, picture-in-picture and Notifications counter in the 'apps' icons.
We still do not know everything that will come in this Android O, but it seems that will improve that eternal problem called battery. To do this, the new operating system will aggressively manage what apps can do in the background, as IOS has been doing for some time.
The new notifications will allow to be grouped in groups denominated 'channels' to manage them better, although it has not yet transcended what it means that. An interesting new option is the possibility to postpone them as when we give the 'snooze' button on the alarm clock to let us know later.
Together with these new functions it is expected that more secondary ones will arrive. For example, an improvement in the sound of wireless headphones thanks to new sound codecs. It will also allow application developers to create adaptive icons that change shape and appearance, which may mean that the new Android O will include new themes.
Do not leave because there's more, such as a 'picture-in-picture' mode for videos and a better Android operation on Chromebooks. When will the beta arrive? It is not yet known, but if we take into account that last year all the information was revealed during the May congress it is possible that this will be repeated in 2017.

The cybersecurity of the Spanish industry is a farce, and the attacks are being shot

The cybersecurity of the Spanish industry is a farce, and the attacks are being shot

From his home, hacker Amador Aparicio could open the floodgates that empty the retirement pond. or change the pool temperature of a luxury hotel. Spain is the fifth country in the world with more systems that control all kinds of installations and industrial processes connected to the Internet, most without any protection. The most sensitive, critical infrastructures, are being harshly ciberatacados, with an increase of 357% last year. And, according to experts, this figure is short.

Amador Aparicio usually lectures on cybersecurity. I was preparing one, about industrial control systems, when I ended up with the stuff I could do at a distance, how to start the crematory furnaces of a morgue, decide from what ambient temperature the heating of a higher school will start, or to disable the alarms that warn of excessive pressure in the boiler of a block of houses.

These cyber are also quite easy, says Amador: "If you want to locate unsafe industrial control systems, the first thing is to know the manufacturer and, with this data, go to a finder of devices connected to the Internet as Shodan". In seconds, Shodan displays a list of vulnerable systems, including its GPS location.

The following is to get the ' software ' management that uses the device you want to attack, to install it on the computer itself, so that the computer of the hacker and the attacked device "speak the same language". According to Amador, these programs can be obtained many times on the same page of the manufacturer, which is poorly protected and allows to unload what one wants.

"The last step is to connect to the device," explains the investigator, something also relatively easy because, he says, "many devices that control industrial processes or critical systems do not present any type of security Configuration". Once inside, you can modify the operation of the device, either changing the parameters that start the system (for example to make it activate from the temperature you want), or modify the information you have in memory, to do unexpected things.

Without knowledge or without care

Aparicio blamed this lack of security that "the operator who put them on the internet did not have the knowledge or has not thought that anyone can access." Other devices are protected, but "with the default data that shows the documentation", data that anyone who has read the manual can know. Another problem, says the investigator, is that "each manufacturer uses its own protocols, insecure on some occasions, and there is no standardization when integrating them."

José Valiente, director of the Center for Industrial Cybersecurity (ITC), adds: "There are a growing number of automated and externally connected processes and installations, in many cases over the Internet;" "Everything has increased in industrial automation, complexity, use and exposure of systems, but cybersecurity is not the same."

The fifth country with more connected systems

Spain is the fifth country in the world with more industrial control systems connected to the Internet, 3,059 when it comes to writing this article. But how many securely? In this context, the essential service operators and critical infrastructures are particularly concerned. Malicious hackers could poison our water, sabotage nuclear power plants or leave us without light, just to put examples that have already happened in other countries.

Last year, 479 cybersecurity incidents were detected in critical infrastructures located in Spain, an increase of 357% compared to 2015 according to the National Center for the Protection of critical infrastructures (CNPIC), that relativizes this alarming fact: "in 2016 has increased the number of critical operators, also the capabilities of the cert of security and industry and the level of confidence in their relationships with critical operators" , which has resulted in an increase in notifications. "

Still, the increase is remarkable and that, says José Valiente, "have not detected 10% of the incidents that are occurring." The probes that collect these data analyse only 10% of the traffic of a hundred critical operators, explains the director of ITC. "If Inspeccionasen the other 90% of traffic we would be talking about more than 4,000 incidents in only these 100 operators". And if we include all essential service operators, more than 5,000 in Spain, "then we would talk about at least 100,000 technological incidents," says Valiente.

The critical services most attacked in Spain are, according to a study by ITC that will soon see the light, "the health sector, which has registered more than 40,000 incidents;" "followed by energy, due to the use of very recent technology in the smart grid."

The ' annual National Security Report 2016 ' highlights that the incidents of cybersecurity in Renfe "have experienced an exponential increase", but the director of ITC clarifies it: "The transport sector in Spain is one of the best security level has, especially the aeronautical." The ITC study has evaluated different sectors and, according to Valiente, RENFE obtains the best qualification.

The power grid is the big concern

But the great concern of Western governments is the power grid. And his nightmare is to suffer a attack like that that left seven hours without light to Ukraine in a cold December of 2015. Could this happen here? "Once such incidents occur, it is difficult for them to repeat themselves, but the measures to ensure that they are not replicated are not adopted within a few months, so I do believe it would be possible," says ITC director.

A virus called BlackEnergy played an important role in the attack on Ukraine and, according to sources of Cnpic, certainly viruses and malicious programs are responsible for most attacks against Spanish critical infrastructures. Their goal is usually to steal information, blackmail (case of ' ransomware ') or manipulate legitimate programs.

The most frequent incidents are those that leave no trace (for example, theft of information) that we do not discover until past months, years, or never

The second large group of incidents against critical systems detected by the cnpic are the bombardments or "denial of service Attacks", whose intention is that the service stops working. Like all over the world, in 2016 have rebounded the attacks of ' ransomware ' and ' fraud to the CEO ' also in the Spanish critical operators. In addition, they explain from the cnpic, "from the hand of Europol several collaborations were carried out in the fight against the botnets". Fortunately, they congratulate themselves, "all incidents were detected, managed and resolved in time."

Other observers are not so optimistic. From ITC They remember that the statistics we know are of visible things, like attacks that cause a fall of the service or a malfunction, but the most frequent incidents are those that leave no trace, the theft of information, the alteration of a ' software ', a service, etc., that we do not discover until months, years, or never have passed, says Valiente.

The case of the United States

In the United States, the defense of its electrical network and experts working on it are taking a particularly serious view of the vision of Valiant, as Michael Assante: "We are entering an ERA in which more actors are able to have the right skills, energy engineering in addition to cyber engineering and access skills." This leads to very targeted attacks against critical systems that may take weeks or months to be detected.

The attribution of these attacks is very difficult, they assure our sources of the cnpic, but if it is possible to see that "the complexity and sophistication of the attacks increases year after year", this implies that after them there is not an isolated individual but, according to the Cnpic, "highly structured organizations, with specialization in the different tasks necessary to build a attack and invest a great amount of resources". Attacks of these dimensions can only be borne by millionaires, large corporations or governments.

In this league, the defense also requires the strength of a government and it is fair to say that the Spanish is quickly getting the batteries. As a token, the Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, the National Plan for the protection of critical infrastructures, the creation of agencies such as the early Warning service for industrial systems or the new cybersecurity coordination centres in RENFE and port authorities, or the collaboration of public and private actors in environments such as the cybersecurity coordinating table and the production of documentation such as the "Ciberincidentes Report guide for critical Operators".

So is the ' ransomware ', the virus that blocks your computer and asks for a rescue in bitcoins

So is the ' ransomware ', the virus that blocks your computer and asks for a rescue in bitcoins

The operation of the ransomware is very simple: it's just a malicious program that encrypts the computer's boot files or, at least, the part where you have all the data you want to steal and usually gets ' inoculated ' through downloading a file, although it's not the only way.

This software, downloaded or remotely installed, ends up blocking the system. A notice appears on your computer screen, where you are informed that you have been infected and how to proceed to pay a ransom as the only solution. The computer, from that moment on, is completely disabled.

Usually, the hacker usually ask for the ransom in bitcoins, being much more difficult to trace for the security services. Once the payment has been satisfied, the theory says that the thief releases the retained data or at least provides the user with a code with which to get access to his own information again.

But it's not always like that. It is possible that this is just a strategy of the ciberdelicuente to get money and that, once it succeeds, it does not have the slightest intention of returning the control of the computer to the user. Therefore, it is advisable to never give in to these pressures.

In fact, the authorities recommend that whatever happens, never pay the hackers, because not only gives them confidence to continue committing more crimes similar, but can make you lose a large amount of money without knowing that this hole can be fixed in a simpler.

The table of salvation before this attack is nothing more than having a backup: having, it is as easy as formatting the computer and reinstalling it to recover the activity in total normality. With these simple steps, you recover without any cost to the activity on the PC.

That yes, there must always be a complaint in the middle, because it is necessary to remember that the data stolen, in the power of hackers, allow them to trade with them or use them as they deem appropriate, being a vulnerability of privacy that must be communicated to the police.

The attack with ' Ransonware ' has become one of the most dangerous and habitual of recent times, which takes advantage of the scarce predisposition of the user to make a backup to create a problem. A non-copy database is a gift for malicious people on the net.

Google and Twitter are pointing – together – to the great battle for the news

Google and Twitter are pointing – together – to the great battle for the news

The News battle

A news published by RE/code discusses the plans of Google and Twitter to jointly launch an alternative for the consumption of news, pointing to the line previously marked by Snapchat with Discover, Facebook with its instant articles, or Apple with Apple news.

The anatomy of the service looks similar: a fast-loading mechanism, and an adapted advertising system to seduce the creators of information. A battle, the one to become the preferred place for the consumption of news on smartphones and other mobile platforms like tablets, that we will see happen in a practically immediate way, and that possibly ends up modifying many of the habits of our informative diet.

The "Access Card" consists, firstly, in being able to offer a mechanism of loading of the information practically instantaneous, without delays or appreciable load times. Protocols that have been developed trying to fully optimize the experience on mobile platforms, and they should also offer not only integration of different formats (videos, animations, etc.), but also allow a level of personalization of the page that enables each media or news creator to maintain their personality and identity. Before a user who is going to inform himself by jumping from medium to medium as a bee that flies from flower to flower, the media will try to make the image of its header and the formats that characterize it to be fixed in the habits of the user, so that they end up prefering them in conditions of equal access.

The next necessary aspect of the system is logically the presence of recommendation algorithms, with more or less user participation, that allow the news offered to be attractive depending on their interests. A terrain in which the user, on the one hand, chooses some contacts, while on the other, the platform is able to develop a profiling that allows him to offer news similar to those that have interested him previously.

Finally, it is necessary an advertising management platform that, on the one hand, allows the media themselves to offer the ones they already had flanking their articles, to integrate these visualizations of pages in their analytical tools and to be able to make a complete tracking that allows them to charge them to the advertisers, and that appear to be configured without any kind of commission of intermediation by the platform to give it thus a greater attractiveness , and, on the other hand, allow the insertion of publicity by the platform itself when the owner of the contents has space available and mark it as such. In this way, the value proposition is perfectly clear: if you have been able to sell advertising around your content, this type of media will multiply your ability to reach more users when you exit through social apps, which concentrate most of the time of use in mobile media, and allow you to expose both your content and your advertising to more people. But if you have not been able to fill your inventory, the platform becomes an advertising supplier, and everything indicates that it will be configured with a commission of around 70% – 30%, which has already reached the standard range. For the medium that produces the content and is not able to sell enough publicity, to resort to the commercial power of these platforms and obtain 70% of the revenue generated, without losing the possibility of inserting their own publicity in case of having it, seems an unbeatable proposal.

How many sources? Under what conditions? Everything indicates that we will see more open platforms, such as the one that appear to pose Google and Twitter, against others with inclusive encouragement like Facebook (which states that anyone who wants to offer information in the form of instant articles as soon as the test period ends), and possibly others, like Snapchat, that in view by many as an essential key in access to the elusive younger public , that they consider to charge some type of entry fee to the publications that they want to be there. Surely we will see several models, which require a careful study by the media that decide to participate. We'll see ads, signings of means by platforms-although surely none in exclusive-and movements of different types, in which some will try to assert the suitability of its platform as a source of information, and others will try to make gala of modernity, presence and adaptation to the Times.

 

In return, everything indicates that the future of the headend as such, the sequential reading or the consumption of complete sections could become a matter of the past. To be nostalgic around this concept seems, at this moment, a lost battle. For the media, a completely new terrain is set up, in which the consumption from the browser – now under – would become merely testimonial, and have an own app in which its users are comfortable, integrate familiar elements and can serve as a basis for offering value-added services – personalized alerts, social functions, news repositories that want to save for later consumption , etc. – would be strategically important. The common of the users would pass, surely, to install one or several-but surely few-media apps, and to alternate a consumption of news in these apps or directly in their or their favorite social networks, in which would be skipping medium in between having the individual news as a consumer unit.

With Google and Twitter entering this battle, the field seems already quite delimited. Without trying to deduce anything from the agreement between the two companies and whether this can imply a proximity that ends in acquisition (the target price of Twitter, below already the initial quotation of its IPO, it is interesting, and rumors about the possible interest of Google have already been on the table for months), the initial results of some of the competitors seem promising : The news continues to represent a terrain capable of attracting attention and generating page views and advertising revenues, and social environments can become a natural partner who are no longer interested in acquiring publications, but simply to own articles and dynamize them properly. In the future, a good part of the media traffic will occur outside of their platforms, and yet they will not necessarily seem like a bad situation. As long as, of course, you know how to adapt.

 

VR: Faster than it looks

VR: Faster than it looks

Samsung Gear VRSiguiendo with my comment a few days ago on the development of virtual reality and its rapid transition to the consumer market, everything indicates that, indeed, that ecosystem is developing faster than it initially seemed.

Facebook, now owner of the pioneer Oculus VR, it releases the development of transform, a tool used to assemble the videos shot in 360º and that allows a saving of 25% in the size of the files, something very important if we think of the transmission of that type of content through the network. Indeed, everything indicates that what I commented on Facebook on the transition from text to photos, video and finally to the video immersive is a reality in which the company works, and therefore is interested in empowering giving opportunity to develop content appropriate to the more developers, the better.

On the other hand, if we listen to the clues that give us the job ads, everything indicates that Google could be developing its own virtual reality camera and its hardware for visualization, in order to also promote the development of this type of content, in addition to signing Jason Toff, previously in charge of Vine on Twitter , for your new virtual reality unit. Meanwhile, Microsoft announces the specifications of its augmented reality viewer that combines virtual image with real, HoloLens, and Apple could also be incorporating virtual reality developers. And another consumer electronics company, Samsung, already has its product on the market for some time.

That said: In short, we will put an artifact of this type in front of the eyes and we will be consuming content through it in all kinds of places: preparing a trip, killing the time in the seat of an airplane, or moving on the Internet. When Facebook acquired Oculus VR, I was struck by a phrase in the ad:

Mobile is the platform of today, and now we're also getting ready for the platforms of tomorrow. Oculus has the chance to create the most social platform ever, and change the way we work, play and communicate.

And I was wondering if indeed, that was the future. Everything seems to indicate yes.

The services of cloud computing, source of opportunities for entrepreneurs

The services of cloud computing, source of opportunities for entrepreneurs

Cloud services have become a niche of opportunities for entrepreneurs. Every day new services are created in the cloud either for consumers or professionals. If we think about any day of our life and we review the services we use we amaze the importance they have. From the applications that tell us how long the bus will take to arrive; which allows us to book an urban bike or a car for hours, to which we facilitate the management of our health, the education of our children, our hobbies and sports trainings, planning our trips etc. ..

What is meant by cloud computing services?

1. They are intangible (non-physical) services that lend themselves in real time or online well at the very moment they acquire or at a later date.
2. Accessed whenever you have Internet connection
3. That do not require downloading any software
4. Services whose pricing and business model is based on the idea of "pay for what you use"

Let's start at the beginning: their main characteristic is that they are intangible and non-physical services.

Second, you access them wherever the user is. The only condition is that you have Internet connection and the same connection terminal you use: Web or mobile terminals. That is to say, the cloud computing service must allow the user to access independently of its geographical location, the timetable and the terminal with which it connects to the Internet. This last point requires that the service of cloud is multiplatform, that is to say that it is optimized for the different operating systems, different navigators and versions of Navigators, and modalities of navigation: by Cliks or tactiles.

Thirdly, a cloud computing service is provided in real time and does not require downloading any software. For example in the case of Editafacil which is a cloud computing service, specializing in the creation of digital publications, the client enters the platform and creates his publications that are stored in the cloud, so that they allow him to work in them without depending on the connection terminal or having to store any information.

Cloud computing services have created a business model of their own and adapted to the nature of the services they provide and are based on the idea of "paying for what is used". This pricing model avoids fixed expenses and fixed-consumption obligations that are paid even if not used.

The world of entrepreneurs and companies in general have a great opportunity to create their cloud computing services or transform the services they provide in cloud services.

About the Silicon Valley model

About the Silicon Valley model

Is the Silicon Valley model depleted? Apple and Twitter lose bellows in front of Google and Facebook-the DiarioHablé with Marta Garijo, of El Diario, on the recent results presented by Apple and the alleged crisis of the model of Silicon Valley, a topic in which I decidedly have the impression that they tend to mix many ideas and concepts. Yesterday, Marta published her news, titled "is the Silicon Valley model depleted?" Apple and Twitter lose bellows against Google and Facebook "(in pdf), and quoted some of my comments.

To begin with, the results of Apple did not seem bad to me at all. At this point, to understand that the models of unlimited growth do not exist and penalize a company for it seems to me a good proof of how bad financial markets are as a way of calculating the real value of nothing. Apple has raised the reinvention of many products and categories, and will continue to do so, because it is in the way of considering innovation. That the iphone park, the basic foundation of the company's revenue, advances to more or less pace depends on many factors, among others the awareness that it is a sufficiently powerful device for the use that we give or not, and at this time, we clearly seem to be in a waiting bar: Our terminals offer us the benefits that we need for the use that we give them. There will, of course, be new uses, new apps and new possibilities, and we'll return to rapid growth rates in that area. Apple has already been there, and has recovered on other occasions perfectly, with simply putting on the market a new edition of iphone. Apple's business model, which combines advances in market share with, above all, advances in customer share, continues to have very good health: every year, users of products of the brand continue to go through an Apple Store physical or virtual, spending a little more money, and being apparently delighted with it.

Google advances in stock valuation, competes with Apple for the right to consider the most valuable company in the world, and although it still has a pathological dependence on its income from a model that can have its obvious limitations, it seems to have understood fantastically well the idea of combating the isomorphism and preservation of innovation with the definition of alphabet as holding business. As in the previous case, if this is a crisis, I want to be in crisis tomorrow.

Facebook is another similar case. If anyone can imagine sitting on top of a watchtower that allows an immediate look at the interests of more than one thousand six hundred million people around the world, will understand what this company is worth and the things it can consider doing. No, you will not grow your whole life at the same rate because you would run out of people in the world, but it certainly continues to grow in its model of use, in the options it offers, on the way to becoming the site in which more users access news, and in a contribution of value that does not seem at all to be in crisis , to the point of being able to continue to pay-although sometimes they are absurd amounts-by any indication of anything that can come to raise competition to its model of attention.

 

Twitter? Clearly, a different problem. We talk about a fall in the value of the action very significant from the values of its IPO that places it as a possible target for acquisitions, of a complex directive transition, and of a company that, although no one among the well-informed business world or among public figures discusses its value proposition, finds problems defining it when we talk about common users , from the base of the pyramid. A company or a celebrity understands perfectly Twitter as a communication tool, of customer service or advertising of great value, that if it did not exist would have to invent ... but the user number does not grow, because the average user no longer knows for what the heck serves Twitter, nor to update there. Does it still make sense to share a mundane moment in my life, or not? Is it interesting to share news that seems relevant to me? Do I risk being labeled one way or another? How is my use of Twitter reflected and what consequences can it have? More and more users are on Twitter as mere lurkers, as passive consumers, and the company has obvious growth problems, which will continue to have as long as it does not find an adequate way to explain to the average user its model of use and its value proposition.

Silicon Valley model crisis? Silicon Valley is not a model. It is an ecosystem in which people with interesting ideas, good developers capable of converting these ideas into executable code, a first-rate education and an avid capital of investment opportunities have been managed to converge. I really doubt that this model will ever be in crisis, as much as they can even say the capricious financial ratings. All the countries of the world would give anything to have their Silicon Valley, because it is the best known model so far of continuous generation of relevant innovation. If that's a crisis, again: I'd like to be in one.

 

No, I'm not a robot: goodbye to the hateful 'captchas' on Google

No, I'm not a robot: goodbye to the hateful 'captchas' on Google

Tired of having to tell Google that you are not a robot every time you identify yourself on a web? The search engine has just announced that it will remove the famous reCaptcha, the tool that prevents bots from accessing web pages. It has just announced the search engine in a note that has hung in which has unveiled a new system, "invisible" for humans, and that will work in the background. How? No further details are known.
According to the search engine, this new tool will work in a hidden way while we browse the network and analyze our behavior to determine whether we are human or not. In other words, it is going to end once and for all with those annoying boxes that had to be marked, at best, or with the questions that forced us to write a few numbers or to indicate which photos of a gallery corresponded with a definition.
But the 'captcha' does not disappear altogether: if the Google tool suspects that we are dealing with a bot, it will ask us to solve some problem to let us access a web page. Google has offered no further details, beyond that it will be much less invasive for the user but much more complicated for robots than trying to access information sources.
Why has not more information been provided? Google does not want to give more details to prevent bots from skipping the system. Now, thanks to a mix of "machine learning" and advanced risk analysis that adapts to new and emerging threats, "the system will be able to discern better if the person in front of the keyboard is human.
The famous 'captchas' of Google are a tool that has allowed the searcher to advance in different tasks with the help of Internet users from all over the world. Each time the system presented words that had to be written correctly what the user was with was a portion of text that the systems of digitization of books could not solve.
The old 'captchas' allowed Google's artificial intelligence to recognize text, numbers or images collected by the network
A similar phenomenon occurred with the numbers, usually associated with portals in the street, which were nothing more than Street View images that the search engine's artificial intelligence had not been able to decipher. In the case of sets of images that should be marked, it is a way to teach Google to recognize photos of kittens from all the immensity of images that populate the network.

4 reasons why small businesses should use the cloud

4 reasons why small businesses should use the cloud

Making services over the Internet can make for a very big change for small businesses. There are many that are changing, from small startups to companies of a more local scope. For the next 10 years the percentage is expected to ronde more than 80% worldwide. What are the reasons for the change?

1.Lower costs

One of the clearest benefits of moving the business to the network is the fact that you can save enough money. More things can be done with fewer resources and increase the value of your own as for example hardware.

This also means a decrease in the office space and in the use of technological systems which involves a lower cost equipment, less maintenance and not having to be updating so many components every so often. When you have a small company or you have just started to be able to save as much as possible and perform other tasks more economically is fundamental to the future of it.

2.Best collaborations

Collaborating is much easier through the network. The ease of storage and access to all the files in the cloud makes it easier for workers to work. Tools in the cloud like Google Drive allow to upload, edit or comment documents which is easier to collaborate on a project. In addition, employers may restrict access to files depending on whether workers are allowed to operate with them or not.

For companies it is more practical if they want to make agreements between them without having to be present in a physical space in addition to being a practical way of monitoring the work done between the different departments.

3.Greater flexibility

One of the most attractive points of making services through the Internet is the fact of being able to access files of work and information from any device and in any corner of the world. We live in a system that doesn't stop and constantly moves. It makes it more feasible to work outside the office for employees as well as for entrepreneurs to manage everything that happens at any time. Thanks to Skype you can set up a conference in a matter of minutes, at any time.

Increasing flexibility and mobility saves costs. It also allows workers to use their own electronic devices to make them feel as comfortable as possible in an environment they know perfectly.

4.integration

Creating an Internet-based business and the cloud allows you to create numerous integration opportunities. A better way to get specialized professionals from human resources to accounting through marketing. This allows entrepreneurs to focus their efforts on other areas of the business to devote their entire time to. Delegating is key to not getting saturated with multiple tasks and lowering performance. Online processes allow for greater expansion to create professional links.

Microsoft will display ads in Windows Explorer 10. How to avoid it?

Microsoft will display ads in Windows Explorer 10. How to avoid it?

That Microsoft shows ads on Windows 10 is nothing new. It has been doing it for a long time in different parts of the system, offering its own services and third party 'apps'. Luckily, there is way to deactivate them. The problem now is that the company plans to include them also in Windows Explorer, something that many consider excessively intrusive. The announcements have begun to appear to several users who are testing the previous version of the next major Windows update, the Creators Update, which will arrive in April. Luckily, they can also be disabled.
Several users have begun to complain in different forums, such as Reddit, of the new ads that Microsoft plans to include in Windows Explorer. The ads are from OneDrive, Microsoft's cloud storage service, and the worst of it is that both those who have previously purchased an Office license and those who do not.
In the face of the turmoil, Microsoft has been forced to explain its plans. In a statement sent to the media, he explained that the "new notifications within the Windows Explorer 10 were designed to help users with quick and easy information to improve the experience of storing and managing files in the cloud. Windows 10 customers can easily choose not to receive these notifications. "

How to do it? It's very simple. You can disable them right now on your computer to prevent them from appearing when the Windows update is officially released. To do this, you have to go to the Explorer and, once there, to the 'Vista' tab and then to 'Options'. Within that window, in the 'View' tab you will have multiple options. Just uncheck the "Show notifications from sync provider". Translated: Microsoft announcements. Unchecking this box ensures that no ads will appear for the company's products.

Microsoft's decision to showcase advertising of its own is controversial not only because its users have already paid for Windows and, in many cases, also for having Office installed. But also, as Paul Thurrott points out, because it is unclear whether Microsoft will also show ads from rivals in online storage, such as Dropbox. By similar practices the European Union has already fined the giant of Redmond in the past. We will see what happens this time.

Spotify and its exit to bag without IPO

Spotify and its exit to bag without IPO

That Spotify constantly lives changing paradigms is something we already take for granted, when Pandora began to be a living dead everyone thought that Spotify was going to die but they lifted another round by tripling the valuation of the previous one, when Apple Music was launched everyone thought he was going to die but I raise another round doubling the value of the previous and his growth rate remained superior to that of Apple Music ... now , although the Internet market constantly speculates with its IPO the Wall Street Journal reports that they are considering a "direct listing" or an opening to the stock exchange but without IPO.

What is a way out of the bag without IPO? Simply buy a company that is quoting and opens the purchase/sale of shares without intermediaries banks or allocate a slot of actions in the market to raise capital ... which, theoretically, is the benefit of an IPO.

In the case of Spotify the idea of going out with a direct listing would be to free investors and employees who can sell their shares to do so in an open market and without falling into a secondary market that, opinions on the sidelines, is less transparent than the public.

What is the key to this "out of stock"? The last round of Spotify was not for equity but a round of $1,000,000,000 convertible with a discount of 20% at the time of going out to bag that increases by 2.5% each semester that is kept private the company ... this was exactly a year ago (I remember the drawing of the explosive debt) and perhaps its exit to the stock market to calm the lenders.

But two details of this that I do not understand and that may be key, on the one hand despite generating more than $2,000,000,000 a year is not clear whether Spotify is profitable or not and as listed in stock will have to make public all their numbers and liabilities what would make Apple better access to see the reality of its only competitor ... on the other hand, go out to the stock market and have to complete all The regulations but without achieving box with which to compete against Apple or Google or Amazon is not too much? Spotify is innovative but can increase your war-chest This sounds weird to me.

Beyond that, today Spotify has agreements with the 3 stamps that control 72% of the music market, dominate the sector that generates the most revenue in the entire music industry and its growth does not stop ... I like the idea of an independent player able to go out in stock without depending on the advertising market [Oh, poor $ snap] or have to surrender to a giant

Autonomous vehicles: Thinking Beyond

Autonomous vehicles: Thinking Beyond

Image: Mercedes-BenzSi At this point you still do not believe in the viability of autonomous vehicles, it is simply that you have not read enough about it. In the current state of technology, it is already perfectly clear and clear that one of these vehicles can carry out the driving tasks in a much more advantageous and efficient way than a human: it is able to obtain information from the environment in an infinitely more complete way, has better reflections, does not tire, does not itch or compete absurdly with other drivers , Don't drink ...

The statistics of the tests carried out so far leave no room for doubt. Apart from the entry of new competitors or new innovation platforms – Apple already contracts openly executives with extensive experience in the automotive sector, and plans its strategy to try to bring the disruption to that market – automotive companies have long since stopped considering a future of simple "driving aids" and went on to put the focus on the vehicle autonomous , not only for tourism, but also for issues such as trucking. Some investments, such as the recent acquisition of here and its portfolio of technologies for intelligent vehicles, prove it. The conditions are already simply legal and ethical, no longer technological. We are talking about a trillion-dollar market between the provision of new infrastructures, efficiency gains and foreseeable security advances.

The question now is to try to understand the new environment to which this type of technology will step. The present moment, in which the law obliges a human driver to remain behind the wheel to take control if necessary, it is obviously a state of transition: there is little doubt as to the fact that passengers will be exclusively that, passengers, without any possibility of interaction with the driving. In fact, everything indicates that the autonomous vehicle, in a majority way, will be a device that generally will not be in the hands of the users, but it tends to be offered mainly as a service. An evolution that leads to the second level the question of the unit price, for the sake of a much higher efficiency that allows its profitability. From the moment the availability of this type of vehicle begins to become generalized, or to be considered as a reasonable alternative for the optimisation of transport in the cities, we will be talking about a completely different scenario, in which the idea that we have of vehicle changes completely.

Vehicles in which luxury will take another type of connotation: the important will no longer be a powerful engine or a nice line, but a comfortable interior in which we can sleep during our displacements, consume content, or hold meetings in TelePresence. What happens when the activity of the passengers ceases to be conditioned by the incidents of the driving, and the time of displacement is completely liberated? Possibly, we will see an increase in the number of businesses that raise drive-thru options, or pick up from the vehicle, because we will be able to consider a much more efficient use of the time that we spend in it, and decide to have breakfast or lunch in the vehicle in full comfort. Or take advantage of that time of displacement as working time, with access to the tools and the connectivity necessary for it. Options that completely alter the idea of interior design that we have today of a vehicle.

A level of change in both the approach of the vehicle as well as in the cities and businesses that develop in them, which, at this time, is impossible to anticipate. But certainly a much more relevant discussion than whether the vehicles will lead alone or not. That part, technologically, is already more than exceeded. In terms of innovation, the focus is no longer as much in technology as it is in its adoption phase.

Smart Virtual Assistants: the next frontier

Smart Virtual Assistants: the next frontier

Facebook MFacebook presents Facebook m, an intelligent virtual assistant who joins a Panorama in which all major technology competes: Apple with Siri, Google with its Google Now and with a wide range of algorithms and devices that pose from automatically created photos to suggestions of all kinds, Microsoft with Cortana, or Amazon with its echo. If in one area we find initiatives of such five companies, there is no doubt that we are talking about something with a potential development of many consequences.

Competition in this area Aboca us to a very interesting world, with strategies of various kinds and radically different approaches. From simply replacing user actions to expedite certain tasks ("Let me know about this", "Call this person" or "find me an answer to this question"), to more creative tasks ("You made these photos and I have assembled them in this one", or "I've taken the photos of your trip, I've ridden them with background music and transitions, and here's a summary"), or suggestions of various types based on data taken from user patterns ("This product might interest you").

In development strategies we can also see several interesting initiatives, such as developing ecosystems that function as platforms for third parties, combining data extracted from various sources, incorporation of devices beyond the smartphone that centralize these functions, or combination of algorithms of artificial intelligence with models of human decision-making. Strategies that ultimately seek to become something that the user deems interesting enough to give him a reasonable and sustained share of use, beyond mere curiosity or grace to comment and teach friends at the bar of a bar.

A frontier which, no doubt, it seems complex: the distance between being pleasantly surprised by the skills of a virtual assistant and almost frightened by what appears to be able to do is small, and the potential implications of allowing that agent to manage our information to build their recommendations can also be viewed as intrusive. That Google Now take data from my calendar, combine them with traffic data in my city, and send me an alert that tells me that I must leave with more advance than usual for my next appointment because there is a jam in the route can be, in many circumstances, very interesting, but it also leads us to reflect on the level of control over our lives that we begin to deliver to an artificial intelligence that many still consider relatively threatening. It is more than possible that the Intelligent Agent initiative presented by Facebook has to, at some point, confront the fears that can generate the fact that this agent operates not simply with the data generated by other tools, like Google Now or with our purchases, but with all the information we share in the social network , who is presumably able to get to know us better than ourselves. If we want to get into an interesting and undoubtedly groundbreaking environment, we have only to consider the possible legal responsibilities that a smart agent might have to face in terms of its possible interaction with a user.

What seems clear is that a scenario of intense competition looms to be done with the favors of some customers who will see as a progressively greater number of tasks are entrusted to this type of assistants, while feeding their deep learning with the data and reactions that are generating their own activities. A stage not so futuristic, which is taking place in many cases in the form of relatively trivial tasks or sometimes linked to simple entertainment, but which reveals a strategy that goes much, far beyond, and in which the development of a panorama of intense competition can have nothing but positive consequences.

Loggro, cloud management software for Pymes

Loggro, cloud management software for Pymes

Managing a business is a full-time job: managing inventories, keeping accounts, billing, managing sales, etc. Fortunately, today we have tools that make this work more efficient and easier.

Today I want to talk to you about Loggro, a cloud software that was created just to help SMEs manage their business processes, in a simple, safe and reliable way.

Loggro has features for accounting management, inventory management, POS and E-billing.

Because the software works in the cloud, you will only need a device with Internet access to manage your business from the palm of your hand and anywhere.

Features of Loggro, the software to easily manage your business

Integral management system: from the Loggro platform you will be able to manage sales, accounting-with IFRS-, inventories, customers and suppliers. All your business information in one place.
100% in the Cloud: All modules operate online, fully integrated and in real-time, guaranteeing up-to-date information.

Reports and reports in real-time: you will be able to access different reports that will allow you to make better decisions for your business.

Insurance: Your business information will always be protected by a robust security system and you will be able to control access to that information. In addition, the information travels encrypted and is backed up in multiple backups.

Adaptable: The software adapts to the needs of your company. Whether you sell products or offer services, you will be able to configure the different modules according to the characteristics of your company.

Easy to implement: its interface is quite intuitive. It will be very easy for you to set up your account and add your business information.

The software is available through 5 different plans, so that each entrepreneur chooses the one that best suits the needs of his business.