Android owners will soon see the benefits of improved developer tools
Google has updated its Play Services tool for Android developers, which allows them to build the latest available features into their applications.
The headline new toy for devs is the ability to add native, turn-based multiplayer support for 8 players. The data from each turn will now be uploaded to Google's servers and passed onto each of the players.
Also among the new features is the opportunity for app makers to improve sharing to Google+ from their applications.
"An improved Google+ sharing experience makes it even easier for users to share with the right people from your app. It includes better auto-complete and suggested recipients from Gmail contacts, device contacts and people on Google+," the company wrote on the Android developers' blog.
Drive on
Google has also added a preview of the Google Drive API for Android, which will eventually see tighter integration between Google Play apps and the cloud storage locker.
This version of Google Play Services includes a developer preview of the new Google Drive API for Android. You can use it to easily read and write files in Google Drive so they're available across devices and on the web. Users can work with files offline too — changes are synced with Google Drive automatically when they reconnect," Google wrote.
While all this may be for the benefit of developers right now, Android users should start to feel the benefits as 2014 progresses. The update will begin arriving for app makers from today.
Xperia Z Ultra's prohibitive price-tag may fall with a Wi-Fi only version
Sony is plotting to ditch mobile data connectivity for a new version of its Xperia Z Ultra phablet, according to reports on Friday.
According to leaked benchmarks from http://techradar.com/AnTuTu, the Japanese giant is plotting a Wi-Fi only version of the 6.44-inch device that'll maintain cellular connectivity, but skip on the 4G LTE radio offered by the original.
That would enable users to maintain calling and texting functionality, but would lower the costs for those who only wish to use the internet when in range of a Wi-Fi router.
Aside from the missing 3G and 4G data, everything else looks to be as it was in the first device. There's a 1080p screen, quad-core processor and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, according to the leaked screenshot.
Pocket unfriendly
As G4games reports, this isn't the first time word of a Wi-Fi only Xperia Z Ultra has drifted beneath our nostrils. Such a device reportedly took a trip through the FCC in November.
If the device were to land, it would definitely fall on the tablet end of phablet, as if it wasn't in the first place. 6.44-inches would stretch a clown's pockets, let alone our skinny Levis 511s.
The Ubuntu Phone is far from dead. In fact, we've been promised that we can still expect to see the Linux OS go big in our smartphones in 2014
Despite missing the funding goal to get its own handset out on the market, Canonical has kept busy to get manufacturers to build their own Ubuntu OS smartphones.
And speaking in a Google Hangout, Canonical community manager Juno Bacon confirmed that all signs are good.
"I'm confident that in 2014 you're going to see a number of Ubuntu phones hitting the market," he said. "I can't tell you [who it will be] right now but I can tell you that some awesome things are happening."
One OS to rule them all
Bacon also implied that we'll see some devices made exclusively for certain regions and carriers as well as some that will be sold unlocked online.
That's as concrete as Canonical is being right now, but it sounds like we can expect to see Ubuntu popping up all over the shop in the coming months.
We've heard about the Motorola Ara project, which is developing a modular smartphone allowing you to change parts such as camera and processor with ease, but ZTE is also looking into part-swapping handsets.
Motorola said back in December 2013 that its modular prototype was "pretty close", but it's been beaten to the punch by the ZTE Eco-Mobius.
The Chinese firm showed off its own modular smartphone concept at CES 2014 in Las Vegas, and although the phone itself was behind glass it shows a step forward in the technology.
Hot swap
The Eco-Mobius prototype allows a user to change its display, camera, battery, processor and RAM modules.
This would mean you could purchase the base spec at a low cost and once you've got more cash to burn, upgrade various parts - into photography? Then buy a better camera module. Running out of juice? Get yourself a bigger battery.
As to when we may actually see a modular smartphone actually hit stores, the people over at ZTE reckon the technology is two years away - CES 2016 better watch out.
Garry Veale, president of Avaya in Europe, places his bets on the communications trends he thinks will make it big in 2014.
Connected Generation
In my mind, the trends we'll see emerging in 2014 will be driven largely by the desires and expectations of a new kind of workforce.
This workforce doesn't know a world without the internet, expects answers instantly, seeks constant engagement, and is comfortable with "connected" technologies like no other generation. It will have a profound impact on business and the way it operates in the future. Businesses will start to appreciate the limitations of mature networks.
To accommodate this hyper-connected generation, networks need to be fully prepared. Typical working environments weren't built to withstand the consumerisation of IT, BYOD, and BYOA, and enterprise technology often isn't capable of delivering the experience we're used to getting at home.
Next year more businesses will come to realise that relying on existing, and often mature networks will limit their ability to communicate in ways now expected. The network is key to enabling device and application flexibly and businesses will focus increasingly on creating environments that are flexible enough to embrace and enable the new era of communications. To do this, they must put in place clear and effective strategies that enable them to achieve simplicity of deployment and management.
Network demands
The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games is a prime example of this: the 75,000 mobility-hungry, hyper-connected spectators visiting the park each day will place unprecedented demands on the network.
This requires a flexible, secure and robust infrastructure capable of carrying vast amounts of data and coping with huge spikes in traffic during flagship events.
Society's appetite for cutting-edge technologies will impact infrastructure investment at all levels – whether that's an Olympics or a small business implementation. Regardless of the scale and profile of the project, organisations of all sizes face many of the same challenges, and that's the key takeaway for 2014.
We'll see the emergence of smarter offices through communications-enabled technologies.
Avaya's Gary Veale
Getting more done
We're progressively moving towards much more functional and productive ways of working. Concepts like the 'Internet of Things' or 'machine to machine communications', which are trending now, will soon become major influencing factors in the future of business.
In fact, communications-enabled technology will begin to enforce change on business processes as companies are presented with more timely and relevant information about customers. Technology and networks that are self-aware will rise up the agenda as the cost of the sensor technology which enables this reaches an all-time low.
In fact, Gartner predicts that we'll soon reach the point where it's cheaper to have a communications-enabled system than not. This will lead to a fundamental change in the way companies work – from new ways of developing technology, to better facilities management through an increase in pay-as-you-go billing models for office utilities.
Video star
Video will come to be recognised as a real cost-saving tool.
One of the most talked about communications technologies, video has been rising up the agenda for some time now. I think in 2014, however, we'll really start to see businesses realising the cost and productivity benefits of video solutions. In fact, we've already started to see that happening in 2013.
Video is benefiting from more advanced hardware, employee hunger for collaboration, more sophisticated networks, and more interoperability. Solutions are now accessible and affordable and the advantages of lower travel costs and higher productivity are grabbing the attention of more and more customers.
In addition, videoconferencing is no longer reserved for typical office-based businesses; it's also filtering through vertical industries such as retail.
If we take the example of SPAR UK, the successful convenience store chain, it chose Avaya's Scopia solution because the company needed a reliable, scalable, collaborative video solution to ensure that employees of all seven business units were able to communicate effectively without losing time and money to travelling for meetings.
SPAR UK saw an immediate return on that investment as employees no longer have to commute from branch to branch for meetings, and they're now more organised and productive in those meetings. We're starting to see a true democratisation of video and this trend will continue in 2014.
The contact centre will adapt even more to the next generation
Well connected
The rise of this hyper-connected generation will continue to impact the contact centre in a major way. Consumers who contact companies via digital and social channels expect outstanding customer service regardless of the platform they choose.
The customer service industry is changing dramatically as a result; businesses need to have the capability to allow customers to move seamlessly from one channel to another, without losing the thread of the interaction. And they need to provide a consistent service across all channels.
We'll see this trend persist in 2014 as it forces companies to re-evaluate their customer experience strategy to include those new platforms.
Companies are already looking to the contact centre to find ways to generate additional revenue without adding cost to the operation. Similarly, they are looking at how to automate more of the customer services model and drive more customers to self-service options to reduce time.
Integration and application development will therefore be an area of rapid growth in 2014, particularly as companies look to develop a customer service experience on new devices such as mobile applications, video or social networks.
Moving into 2014 – as our uptake of smart devices, and digital and social applications continues to intensify – I believe businesses will above all need to focus on investing in technologies that embrace and enable the new era of communications we live in today. It's an exciting time for the communications technology industry, and I'm eager to find out what next year has in store.
Sony has confirmed to TechRadar that it is actively looking into the possibility of launching a Windows Phone as it seeks to move away from being a single OS manufacturer.
Pierre Perron, head of Sony Mobile Europe, told TechRadar it didn't want to offer only one flavour of mobile OS, stating: "We are continuing our discussions with other partners, including Microsoft, as part of our partnership with this company on the broader Sony spectrum.
"[Working with Microsoft] is an interesting proposition for us in the PC environment, and we continue our engagement with them.
"We are exploring this as part of our discussion in mobile space too. One thing is using the platform [Windows Phone] itself, and another is 'what can we deliver on top of it'?"
There have been rumours that Sony is planning a comeback in the Windows Phone space for a while now, and this statement echoes a similar one made by Perron in 2012.
However soon after that CEO Kunimasa Suzuki moved to quash such speculation, saying the company had no plans to release a Windows Phone device.
Coming back around
The two brands do have history in the mobile space, with the Xperia X1 launching with Windows Mobile coming in 2008. However, the X2 sequel was launched but never released, and Sony has since then been focused solely on Android smartphones.
Given the success Sony is slowly achieving with Android power, it could seem odd that the brand would look elsewhere, but Pierron believes this is as much about safety in a changing market as it is about offering consumer choice:
"We don't want to be a single OS manufacturer, I don't think it's a viable position in the long term," added Perron.
"We enjoy very much a good collaboration with Google, we've been working with them for a long time and have a level of maturity with that discussion, that's good. But at the same time, Google has a relationship with direct competitors."
Perron declined to give a specific date on when we might see a Windows Phone, stating that the discussions were tentative at the moment (and clearly have been for some time) , but given the steady rise in popularity for Microsoft's OS, it seems that perhaps there may still be others looking to launch on Windows Phone too.
