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Marking his fourth visit to the region since taking office, Vice President Biden left D.C. on Sunday for a trip to Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Brazil. Following President Obama’s recent visit to Mexico and Costa Rica, the trip is the latest demonstration of the United States’ commitment to reinforcing partnerships in the Americas.

The Vice President began his trip in Bogota, where he held a bilateral meeting with President Juan Miguel Santos of Colombia, and highlighted the country’s remarkable progress on security issues as well as the importance of our economic relationship.

Since our free trade agreement went into effect a little over one year ago, "United States exports to Columbia are up 20 percent,” the Vice President said.

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Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to the X5 smartphone— also known as the world’s thinnest smartphone. This intriguing device is developed by Umeox— a brand that’s quite popular in China, but a fairly relative unknown elsewhere in the world and comes in at 118 x 60 x 5.6mm. The 5.6mm profile effectively makes the device the world’s thinnest smartphone as of this time— taking the title from Huawei’s Ascend P6 for the time being.

Unfortunately, while the device will come in a thin profile, there is little else known about what will be inside of the device— so we don’t know what processor will be used or what type of camera will come with the phone until its July release date. Fortunately— the device will arrive with Jelly Bean loaded up, so that can be a bit of some silver lining for prospective customers out there.

source: GizChina

Come comment on this article: Umeox X5 smartphone officially outed, shows off its 5.6mm profile in the process

Rob Kardashian recently showed off a slimmer physique, but he says that despite losing a mess of weight, he still has a way to go.

“I still have to lose like 40 to 50 pounds believe it or not,” Kardashian said. “Six months I should be there.”

The reality star blames an unhealthy relationship with singer Rita Ora for his weight gain, saying he packed on the pounds while they were together.

“It’s crazy how this whole year, my whole relationship was only negative,” he said. “All I did was gain f–king 40 pounds and lose so much money.”

Kardashian says he’s working out regularly–although not as much as he was–and has cut back on the alcohol, which is full of empty calories.

“I’m kind of doing my own thing with Lamar [Odom]‘s trainer. He’s on salary since he was 19 years old, so he works for us. I’ve been spending time with him,” he said “I’m not really drinking out here in Vegas — I’ve been here since Wednesday and I leave Monday — that’s way too long. But I’m trying to get in a healthy direction.”

Image: Celebuzz.com

When Kobo launched its “luxury” e-reader, the $169.99 Aura HD, last month, I was skeptical that anybody would shell out for it when cheaper models are available. Early sales results, however, suggest that I was wrong: Kobo announced Tuesday, a day before BookExpo America begins in New York, that the month-old Aura now accounts for “up to 27 percent of Kobo devices sold at retail, with more than 50 percent of those customers being new to Kobo.” The company didn’t reveal how many devices it has sold.

In addition, Kobo says its revenue grew by 98 percent in the first quarter of 2013, compared to this time last year. During the quarter , it says it “grew its user base by 2.5 million readers, bringing its total registered users to 14.5 million, with 15 percent of its new user base coming from the U.S.” That last point is important, as it suggests the Toronto-based Kobo is making some progress in cutting into a U.S. e-reader market dominated by Amazon and, in a distant second place, Nook.

Kobo’s been stressing for awhile that the e-reader market is alive and well: In January, the company said it doubled its e-reader sales in 2012. The company is also expanding rapidly. The Aura, currently available in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Italy and Germany, will launch in Australia, France, the Netherlands and Brazil “in coming months.” More broadly, Kobo plans to expand to India, China and Russia.

The company also revealed that ebooks released through its year-old self-publishing platform, Writing Life, now make up 10 percent of its revenue, “with 10 percent of the top 50 bestseller list comprised on independent authors.”

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While tech companies must be watchful of the data entrusted to them, banks and other companies that run financial transactions need to take steps to protect their money as well as their data. Bigger guys often can ask engineers to build fraud-prevention systems, but smaller entities might not have that option. Hence the rise of Easy Solutions, which has taken on plenty of customers across Latin America and is now hungry to get its software installed at companies in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

To help Easy do that, Medina Capital is backing the company with $11 million in Series B funding, bringing the total the company has raised to $14.2 million.

Easy has different kinds of software available to cover customers on multiple fronts. The products can be deployed on premise or in the cloud.

Beyond monitoring online transactions, the company also tracks transactions coming through phones, ATMs and point-of-sale terminals. As individual customers rack up transactions, Easy uses neural networks to paint profiles of behavior against which future transactions are measured. The software can show whether a transaction is potentially fraudulent in less than half a second, said Easy’s CEO, Ricardo Villadiego (pictured).

“We store every transaction that is occurring,” he said. Even though that might seem like a lot of data to manage, whether in customers’ data centers or in the cloud, it’s actually compact — around 280 bytes per account, Villadiego said.

And when Easy hasn’t picked up much user data to assess risk, the software analyzes browsing patterns and other variables that could signify issues, Villadiego said.

Easy software verifies that users are who they say they are with multi-factor authentication. It can also spot and prevent phishing, pharming (directing traffic to a different website), malware installations and other nefarious activities. Altogether, Easy sees competition from RSA and Trusteer.

The dashboard on Easy Solutions’ Detect Monitoring Service

While safeguarding money is ultimately the main focus for Easy Solutions, it also bolsters security for websites, which is an area that’s received lots of investment recently. In the first quarter of the year, IT security investments from venture capitalists fell hard and fast, in a way not seen in years. Last week Blue Coat Systems acquired Solera Networks, and Skyhigh Networks got $20 million in Series B funding. And now with the Easy funding, it looks more like the investor excitement will stick around for another quarter.

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I’ve heard great things about the Google Academy for Teachers by former attendees. Here’s the spiel about the program…

The GTA is a FREE professional development experience designed to help primary and secondary educators from around the globe get the most from innovative technologies. Produced by CUE, each Academy is an intensive, two-day event during which participants get hands-on experience with Google’s free products and other technologies, learn about innovative instructional strategies, receive resources to share with colleagues, and immerse themselves in a supportive community of educators making impact.

The deadline is June 10 – the training is happening July 24-25, 2013 in Chicago. They are looking for approximately 50 teachers. I would love to see some Minnesota teaches in the mix!

A new hoax making the rounds on Facebook claims that users must like, comment, and share in order to fund surgery for a little girl born with mermaid syndrome. Although this one is different from many we’ve seen recently because it alleges a partnership between Facebook and CNN, it’s the exact same in the only way that matters – it’s totally fake.

The hoax claims that Facebook and CNN have teamed up to pay for half of the medical expenses for the child’s surgery, and it’s all dependent on how many likes, comments, and share the image receives. It claims that for every like, $20 will be put toward the cause. For every comment, it’s $50, and for every share, $100.

Here’s what the hoax post looks like:

The image is actually of Milagros Cerron, a little girl in Peru that’s known as the “mermaid baby” as a result of sirenomelia, or “mermaid syndrome.” She’s had surgeries to separate her legs, and the medical procedures are still ongoing. Although Milagros is now 9 years old, the photo used above to exploit Facebook likes was taken nearly 8 years ago.

This latest hoax is simply another version of the “Facebook will donate X for each like” hoax that we’ve seen increase in frequency over the past few years. Whether it’s saving starving children in Africa with a like, or making sure kids shot by their father get adequate medical attention, it’s all BS.

Facebook has not, and will never donate money to causes based on how many likes or shares a post gets. That means that every single one of these types of posts you see is a hoax. Don’t feed the like-whores, please.

Actress Mayim Bialik is officially single again. The Big Bang Theory actress filed for divorce back in November 2011, citing irreconcilable differences. She stated at the time that it is not a decision she and her former husband, Michael, took lightly after more than nine years of marriage. The couple were married in August 2003 and have two young sons, Miles and Frederick.

According to a TMZ report, Bialik’s divorce is now officially complete. The couple have reportedly split their real estate holdings, with Mayim taking the 1,400-square-foot Studio City residence and Michael taking the 1,300-square-foot Sherman Oaks home.

Bialik gained fame as a child actress in the early 90s, playing the role of Blossom Russo in the hit network TV show Blossom. She has recently revived her network TV career, playing the character of Amy Fowler on the CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory.

Bialik commented on her divorce last year in her blog at Kveller, a Jewish parenting website. From the blog:

Divorce is terribly sad, painful and incomprehensible for children. It is not something we have decided lightly.

The hands-on style of parenting we practice played no role in the changes that led to this decision; relationships are complicated no matter what style of parenting you choose.

For as long as Android has grown in the mobile market, developers have faced a huge challenge: How to test their apps across a wide — and constantly growing — range of devices? Some dev shops test across the most popular Android handsets and hope for the best, ; a less than ideal solution. Having users beta test mobile apps can help. But managing all of that test data is no easy task.

That’s where TestFairy comes in.

The service, which launched on Tuesday, aggregates app testing data in the cloud, providing developers with real-time testing information. Developers upload their .apk app file to TestFairy which sends invites to beta tests.After the apps are installed, Test Fairy captures key metrics from handsets such as CPU, memory, GPS, network usage, and phone signal to name a few.

TestFairy can even provide screenshots or videos of how testers are interacting with the application under test, which could help developers replicate certain issues. Here’s a quick peek at how the service works:

This solution sounds brilliant to me. I spent years managing a corporate software testing team and wished for tools such as this. That was in support of standard Windows apps; I can’t imagine testing apps across hundreds of mobile devices with different screen sizes, processors, graphics chips and radios.

TestFairy is launching as a free service, but it intends to add premium pay services in the future. From a developer standpoint, I can’t see why you wouldn’t consider using it. Testers might be a bit shy, however: I noticed that a device’s exact location is also tracked and reported on. I can understand why: Any location-based app would need to test for this. For internal betas that’s fine, but public beta testers may balk.

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Much of the controversy surrounding the Xbox One thus far has been focused on its vague used game policy. Now another controversy may be brewing in countries with strong privacy laws.

Gamasutra reports that both Germany and Australia have expressed concern over the new Kinect camera in the Xbox One. It’s been confirmed that the camera must be connected for the Xbox One to operate, and some fear this will lead to snooping for marketing purposes. Microsoft, of course, says it won’t be using it to violate privacy, but some aren’t so sure.

Germany’s Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Peter Schaar says that he needs to know if the Xbox One’s Kinect can store user information, and whether or not Microsoft can share that information with third parties. He goes so far to call the Xbox One and its potential to spy on living rooms a “twisted nightmare.” [Update: In the comments, Kenny tells us the statement from Schaar, when translated, merely says that he isn’t concerned about Microsoft spying on people via Kinect.]

Civil Liberties Australia Director Tim Vines says that the Xbox One’s Kinect is a surveillance device under Australian law. As such, Microsoft will have to come forward and tell users who can access the information it collects. He also encourages Australians to skip out on the Xbox One if Microsoft doesn’t give users an option to turn off the Kinect camera.

Germany and Australia aren’t exactly huge game markets, but it does show that people are uncomfortable with the idea of constantly being watched. Sony’s PS4 isn’t much better as it ships with its own camera, but the Japanese company hasn’t outlined an Orwellian surveillance regime in a patent application either.

Donald Trump has reportedly spent $1 million researching a run for office in 2016, and, unlike 2012 when he hinted at a bid for the presidency but never ran, this time it could really happen.

“The electoral research was commissioned. We did not spend $1 million on this research for it just to sit on my bookshelf,” Trump’s special counsel Michael Cohen said. “At this point Mr. Trump has not made any decision on a political run, but what I would say is that he is exactly what this country needs. The turnout at these political speeches indicates his following remains very strong and is growing.“

Indeed, Trump can command quite a crowd and even spoke about his political aspirations at the recent Oakland County Republican Party Lincoln Day Dinner, saying:

“Everybody tells me, ‘Please run for president. Please run for president.’ I would be much happier if a great and competent person came along. I’d be happy if President Obama did a great job. I’m a Republican, but before anything, I love this country. I would love to see somebody come in who is going to be great.”

Of course, if Trump does run, he won’t be able to keep control of his company; by law, he’ll have to turn it over to his kids or put it into a trust, and that doesn’t seem like something the real-estate mogul would be willing to do. However, he may just surprise us all and jump into the game once and for all. He did mention at the dinner that he believes Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic frontrunner, despite Clinton’s assurances that she’s not willing to put herself in that position.

HTC is keeping up the positive momentum in relation to the development of its flagship devices and there’s a new rumor surfacing out there that may continue to keep its competitors on its heels. Reports are coming in that HTC is considering the building of a smartphone with a Liquidmetal casing— which is an alloy nearly resistant to wear and tear. Moreover, HTC would look to keep the possibly use of the material locally by emploring Taiwanese firm Jabon International to provide the Liquidmetal chassis. As of now, Apple is the only manufacturer that has its sights on utilizing this technology in future devices, but the devices wouldn’t appear for a while— meaning HTC could more than certainly have a head start on Apple by introducing Liquidmetal-based devices as early as the second half of 2013.

source: Digitimes

Come comment on this article: HTC may be working on a new smartphone with Liquidmetal casing for the second half of 2013

This post is co-authored with Lisa Bodell.

Over the past several years we have heard hundreds of managers talk about the negative impact of complexity on both productivity and workplace morale. This message has been reinforced by the findings of major CEO surveys conducted by IBM and KPMG [PDF], both of which identified complexity as a key business challenge.

Agreeing on complexity as a problem is one thing, but doing something about it is quite another — particularly for managers who are already over-worked, stressed, and can barely keep up with their current workload. In fact, the Catch-22 of complexity is that most managers don’t feel that they have the time to focus on it: Having the problem precludes the ability to solve it.

With this dilemma in mind, we think it’s important for managers to have a strategic framework that they can use to address complexity in their own areas, at their own pace, in their own ways. So to that end, we would like to offer a “simple” seven-step simplification strategy. While we present these sequentially, they can be implemented in any order, depending on where you might be able to make the greatest difference most quickly. Over time however, it’s important to do all seven so that simplicity becomes a core capability of your organization and not just a one-time project.

1. Clear the underbrush. An easy starting point for simplification is to get rid of stupid rules and low-value activities, time-wasters that exist in abundance in most organizations. Look, for example, at how many people need to review and sign off on expense reports or small purchases; or how many times slide decks need to be reviewed before they are presented. If you can shed a few simple tasks, you will create bandwidth to focus on more substantial simplification opportunities.
2. Take an outside-in perspective. Simplification should be driven by the need to add value to your customers, either internal or external. So a key step in the process is to proactively clarify what your customers (internal or external) really want and what you can do to make them more successful. One manager, for example, took her team to visit a customer plant so that people could see how their product was actually used, which gave them ideas about how to improve it.
3. Prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. One of the keys to simplification is to figure out what’s really important (and what’s not), and continually reassess the priority list as new things are added.
4. Take the shortest path from here to there. Once it’s clear that you are working on the right things, root out the extra steps in core processes. Where are the extraneous loops, redundancies, and opportunities to make our processes as lean as possible?
5. Stop being so nice. One of the patterns that causes or exacerbates complexity is the tendency to not speak up about poor practices. This is particularly true when people hesitate to challenge more senior people who unintentionally cause complexity through poor meeting management, unclear assignments, unnecessary emails, over-analysis, or other bad managerial habits. To counter this trend, use constructive feedback and conflict to keep your colleagues (and yourself) honest about personal behaviors that might cause complexity.
6. Reduce levels and increase spans. Another source of complexity is the structural tendency to add layers of management, which often leads to managers supervising just one or two people. When that happens, managers feel compelled to add value by questioning everything that their subordinates are doing, which adds work and reduces morale. To reduce this kind of complexity and stay away from micromanaging, take a periodic look at the organization’s structure and find ways to reduce levels and management and increase spans of control.
7. Don’t let the weeds grow back. Finally, remember that complexity is like a weed in the garden that can always creep back in. Whenever you feel like you’ve got it solved, do steps 1 through 6 over again.

In today’s global, increasingly digital organizations, complexity is a growing drag on productivity and workplace satisfaction. Managers need to develop simplification as a core leadership capability and a critical component of the business strategy. Hopefully these steps will help you get started.

This post’s coauthor, Lisa Bodell, is the founder and CEO of FutureThink and the author of Kill the Company.

Well look what the cat dragged in. A Nexus 7 with Android 4.3 onboard just showed up at the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) website. This means it was just certified. Actually it was certified on May 27th, but what is unusual is the model number. It shows as ME307T, which is the same model number as the original Nexus 7. We all know that a new and improved Nexus 7 is on the way, but I would think that it would have a different model number. As to the version of Android, you will notice the Software Version Number is JWR11, which is assumed to be Android 4.3.

I am not a Bluetooth certification expert, but I highly doubt ASUS would need to re-certify the original Nexus 7 for just Android 4.3, so there has to be newer hardware. Since this information is actually available on the Bluetooth SIG website, we know it can’t be fake. Whatever it is, it’s just one more piece of evidence that we are going to see a new Nexus 7 very soon.

source: Bluetooth SIG

Thanks Kevin!!

Come comment on this article: Nexus 7 with Android 4.3 receives Bluetooth certification

We may see the Nexus 4 as a resounding success, but it appears that LG is possibly throwing in the towel when it comes to the future development for Nexus devices— well for now at least. Contrary to what we’ve heard before, LG Europe Vice President Won Kim asserts “the Nexus 4 was a great success despite the production problems for us and Google… However we do not need such a marketing success again“. Additionally, Kim argues that there is no need for the release of a flagship device with stock Android build in. When posed the question regarding the freshly announced Samsung Galaxy S 4 Google Edition smartphone, Kim is blunt in his thoughts about that type of device by arguing LG has ”no plans to provide our devices like Samsung has now done. This has no added value for us without our own skins“.

So does this mean that LG has its eyes on refining and developing its own unique devices? Not necessarily folks. While speaking with The Next Web, an LG spokesperson confirmed “what Mr. Won Kim said is that we are not currently working on a Nexus 5, which is true. But that doesn’t mean we would turn down the opportunity“. So in essence, there is a possibility that while they aren’t working on the next Nexus device, it doesn’t mean that we’ll never see a future LG-based Nexus device ever again. After all, LG certainly doesn’t want to see its competitors claw back into the hearts of the masses again, right?

source: All About Phones
via: The Next Web

Come comment on this article: LG confirms it’s not working on new Nexus device… for now at least

There are few things as satisfying – and dangerous – as burning through stuff with a laser. Drake Anthony AKA Styropyro is a young man who enjoys making DIY lasers out of things, and he recently completed a 3000mW laser made from the diode of an old DLP projector that can blow out a beam so hot that it burns paper, plastic, and electric tape in seconds.

Considering the most powerful handheld laser you can buy clocks in at 1,400mW, Anthony’s laser is pretty powerful. He has an entire YouTube channel dedicated to his potentially-damaging efforts, although this light-saber-esque laser is probably his most impressive feat yet.

Considering he makes is enclosures and the electronics himself and he’s still in his teens, it looks like Styropyro has a long career ahead of him training his laser cannons on enemy attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.

via Giz

Australian country music star Keith Urban has officially announced the release date for his new album, Fuse. The music will be released on September 10, right in the middle of his U.S. “Light the Fuse” tour. The tour begins in June with dates in Nashville, Tennessee and ends in December in Louisville, Kentucky.

In addition to his music, Urban gained exposure recently as a judge on the network TV karaoke competition American Idol. It has recently been reported that his co-judges Nicki Minaj and Randy Jackson will not be returning for the next season of Idol. Speculation is still surrounding Urban’s possible return to the show, but it seems the country star is just as much in the dark as Idol fans are.

According to an Associated Press report, Urban stated this week that he has “no official information” on whether he will return to American Idol. He stated he is “pretty much in the same boat as everybody,” and is watching Idol rumors.

I’m not sure any potential Nexus 4 buyers have been waiting for the handset in a new color, but on Tuesday, one was launched. LG announced the Nexus 4 White, which has one single difference from the original Nexus 4: it’s white. Instead of an all-black case and cover, the new Android 4.2 phone has a white back and side. That’s it. There’s no change to the front face of the device.

I’m a bit stymied as to why LG even bothered, to be honest. It could have just sold a white case back to accomplish much of the same customization. And I doubt people aren’t buying the original Nexus, which debuted in October of last year, because it doesn’t come in white. Then again, I didn’t think millions would go berserk when Apple first added a white iPhone to its lineup either, so who knows?

My color blindness aside, the Nexus 4 is still an exceptional value at $299 (8 GB) or $349 (16 GB), fully unlocked and contract free. The phone doesn’t (officially) support speedy LTE networks; instead it works on HSPA+ 42, which I found plenty fast enough for most uses when reviewing the phone.

From a hardware perspective, it may not compete against the latest Android flagships from Samsung, HTC, and LG but it’s not a slouch either with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro chip, 8 megapixel camera, 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 IPS touchscreen, and 2 GB of memory.

Whether you opt for black or white, I’d recommend spending the extra $50 for the 16 GB model as there is no memory expansion slot. And if you buy the Nexus 4 in White, consider passing on the bumper that Google sells: It’s just going to cover up that white sidewall!

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