“Ten to twenty years from now all the video you view is going to be on the Internet,” he said at the Mobile World Congress, the phone industry’s largest annual trade fair.

“I think screens today are really stunning, you can see all the depth right in front of you. The beautiful thing is you can watch it on the move.”

While watching video on mobile devices via Netflix and other streaming sites is growing, data caps imposed on plans by mobile operators act as a barrier to users wanting to watch a video on the go.

Carriers offer unlimited data caps but they are usually very expensive.

But Hastings said he believed mobile carriers will eventually create a two-tear system where video data is unlimited to meet the growing demand for watching TV series and movies on mobile devices.

“What we are going to see I think is a number of companies pioneering new ways of offering services to the consumers where it is unlimited video data but it is limited to say one megabit speed,” he said.

“So it is a slower speed but you get unlimited data on that and that turns out to be very efficient on network so an operator can offer unlimited viewing.”

Netflix started streaming TV in the United States nearly a decade ago and has now launched in almost every country.

It ended 2016 with nearly 94 million subscribers, adding five million outside the United States in the last three months of the year.

Nearly half — 47 percent — of Netflix users are now outside the United States, a proportion expected to increase as it adds more customers.

Mobile video traffic is forecast to grow by around 50 percent annually through 2022, to account for nearly three quarters of all mobile data traffic, according to a forecast by Sweden-based telecommunications operator Ericsson.—AFP

Image: Reuters

The post Netflix boss predicts mobile operators will soon offer unlimited video appeared first on KT10.

The software, known as Fault Slip Potential (FSP), will be available for free starting March 2, Xinhua news agency reported.

Acknowledging that “faults are everywhere in the Earth’s crust, so you can’t avoid them,” said Mark Zoback, professor of geophysics at Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences, who worked with his graduate student Rall Walsh on the project.

“Fortunately, the majority of them are not active and pose no hazard to the public. The trick is to identify which faults are likely to be problematic, and that’s what our tool does,” Zoback added.

Oil and gas operations can generate significant quantities of “produced water,” or brackish water that needs to be disposed of through deep injection to protect drinking water.

Energy companies also dispose of water that flows back after hydraulic fracturing in the same way.

This process can increase pore pressure, namely the pressure of groundwater trapped within the tiny spaces inside rocks in the subsurface, which in turn increases the pressure on nearby faults, causing them to slip and release seismic energy in the form of earthquakes.

The FSP tool uses three key pieces of information to help determine the probability of a fault being pushed to slip: the first is how much wastewater injection will increase pore pressure at a site; the second is knowledge of the stresses acting in the earth; the third is knowledge of pre-existing faults in the area.

Zoback and Walsh have started testing their FSP tool in Oklahoma, of mid-western US, which has experienced a sharp rise in the number of earthquakes since 2009, due largely to wastewater injection operations.

Their analysis suggests that some wastewater injection wells in Oklahoma were unwittingly placed near stressed faults already primed to slip.

The researchers believe regulators could use the tool to identify areas where proposed injection activities could prove problematic so that enhanced monitoring efforts can be implemented.

“Our tool provides a quantitative probabilistic approach for identifying at-risk faults so that they can be avoided,” Walsh was quoted as saying in a news release on Monday.

IANS

Picture source: Alamy Image

Picture used for illustrative purpose only

The post Tool to reduce risk of triggering manmade earthquakes appeared first on KT10.

Scientists at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) believe that to be possible and have designed and patented an invention that uses data-mining algorithms to make forecasts based on historical information.

Developed by Dr Jose Berenqueres, assistant professor at UAEU’s IT College, the tool, called “System for Forecasting Future Events”, targets the aviation industry and the growing focus of airlines on predicting customer behaviour. In addition, the tool can also be used for other purposes such as healthcare. The invention, Dr Berenqueres explains, capitalises on the fact that data is now everywhere, and that it needs to be interpreted and put to good use in order to be of true value to businesses and to society in general.

“Reducing waste, increasing asset utilisation rates, and increasing delivered value to customers are key activities of any organisation with global aspirations,” he said. “Now that collection of data from customers is economical and widespread, companies that keep doing nothing with that data will, basically, slowly die, because the companies that do something with it will be one per cent or two per cent more efficient.”

Amazon.com, he revealed, is a prime example, with its model predicting which customers will become “gold” in a few months and which will not. With this information at hand, companies can better allocate their marketing resources and customer-relationship resources to the areas where they are more effective, and run on a lower budget while achieving the same results.

With his team, Dr Berenqueres built a tool related to airlines’ customer management and air-miles programmes, containing two methods of processing data that allow a computer to make accurate predictions.

The first – dummy-variable generation – converts categorical data, such as gender, into numbers that a computer can quickly understand. The second employs a technique known as blending, reflecting the belief that the average opinion will be closer to the truth if a larger number of opinions are analysed. The team has also used time-shifting, where an airline passenger’s data stream – akin to an air-travel fingerprint, detailing the flights they have taken, their purchase history, website interactions and other information – is reset to the first time they used the airline, allowing behavioural trends and developments to be identified.

“The combination of these three techniques yielded such good results that, when we showed them to airline executives, they were stunned and even we were surprised,” said Dr Berenqueres.

Staff Report/Dubai

Picture source: Supplied

rohma@khaleejtimes.com

The post UAE scientists invent device that predicts the future appeared first on KT10.

An Indian engineer displaying a visual stethoscope at the ongoing Arab Health 2017 in Dubai says the product allows doctors to capture heart sounds in audio as well as visually. This product is also capable to interact through the cloud and get interpretations from elsewhere, making it a useful telemedicine tool as well.

Since its inception in 1816, the stethoscope has been a critical tool for listening to heart sounds.  Launched by the Silicon Valley-based HD Medical, ViScope is a smart stethoscope with ECG integration that enables seeing, hearing and recording both heart and lung sounds for real-time collaboration, comparison and future diagnosis.

The stethoscope is capable of capturing ECG readings and with the support of analytics, it gives a full interpretation, which is on a par with a 12 lead ECG machine.

“HD Medical’s visual stethoscopes are uniquely capable of addressing today’s evidence-based medical environment,” says Arvind Thiagarajan, Chairman and Chief Inventor for HD Medical. “ViScope is the industry’s first stethoscope to enable documentation of heart data which can be used for patient reporting and analysis as well as information sharing, teaching situations and telemedicine applications.”

HD Steth combines stethoscope features like smart amplification, visualisation capabilities and proprietary algorithms that assist with diagnosis with ECG benefits to help improve the acuity of diagnosis for any caregiver.

HD Medical says it is hoping to provide greater access to cardiac specialists, improve early detection and reduce cost with their real-time and simultaneous visualisation of heart sounds and ECG to provide connected, continuous and collaborative care.

Costing around $500, ViScope ECG retains all the ease of use and familiar look of a traditional stethoscope. “There are other digital stethoscopes in the market but this one can take the ECG of a patient. It is getting trendy in the US,” said Arun Kumar AM, Director, Clinic Operations, Gulf Healthcare International in UAE, who is fascinated by the digital stethoscope.

For the first time, medical professionals are able to perform dynamic auscultation and ‘see’ the heartbeats they hear in real-time visual waveforms

V M Sathish/Khaleej Times

Picture source: Alamy Image
Picture used for illustrative purposes alone

The post A stethoscope that helps doctors ‘see’ your heartbeat appeared first on KT10.

It works by conducting a comprehensive body scanning using the ‘PRO MYBIODI’ smart device to get a patient’s health status and identify the biomarkers in about a minute.

The collected data can serve as a health guide and initial diagnosis before a patient is sent for laboratory and other medical tests.

The unveiling was made during the ministry’s participation at the Arab Health exhibition and conference.

Dr Youssif Al Serkal, Assistant Undersecretary for the Ministry of Health and Prevention — Hospitals Sector, said the Health Mirror service technology is being offered for the first time in the Middle East.

Dr Al Serkal said that the ministry has also partnered with Atellica Solutions Siemens to launch an innovative blood sample collection device. Also a first in the Middle East, the device is equipped with an exclusive feature that enables transfer of blood samples 10 times faster than conventional systems. It is flexible, has the ability to handle different work rates, and easily scalable to deal with more than 30 types of samples.

Dr Kulthum Mohammed Al Balushi, Director of the ministry’s Hospital Management, said: “This device allows multiple vision cameras and intelligent systems for sample distribution and quality check to achieve better regulation and control of all samples. The innovative system can be used as a separate solution as connected solutions up to 10 units built together up to 300 different design and that including straight designs or in the form of L or U, it can also be connected to a mechanism system which raises services for various laboratory sections.”

Staff Reporter

reporters@khaleejtimes.com

Picture source: Alamy Image
Picture used for illustrative purposes alone

The post A smart device for full body checkup in a minute appeared first on KT10.

Shaikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, accompanied him. Shaikh Mohammed also toured the museum of the centre, and was briefed about some of its components.

The two-day event, being organised by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC) is being held under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the MBRSC.

Shaikh Mohammed hailed the forum which is, he said, “a global platform that gathers scientists across the globe together with Emirati youth in this field, who will benefit from the participating experts’ experiences.

Shaikh Mohammed also expressed his pride at the Emirati youth and his own and all national institutions’ support for them in order to maintain their aspirations to keep pace with international levels in this strategic sector, which is given wide attention and continuous follow up by the country.

Prof Noureldine Malak from the University of Massachusetts in Boston spoke about the scientific discoveries for incurable diseases and therapies since the era of the Arabic scholar Ibn Al Haytham, about 1,000 years ago. He also spoke about the latest developments and solutions in the medical treatment for these diseases that are still subject to a number of scientific research and studies.

The session was also attended by Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chairman of Emirates Group; Shaikh Mansour bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, son of Dubai Ruler; Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and The Future, Khalifa Saeed Suleiman, director-general of the department of protocol and hospitality in Dubai, Major-General Talal Humaid Belhoul, and Yousuf Al Shaibani, director-general of MBRSC, along with others

The post Debut space forum held in Dubai appeared first on KT10.

NASA has, for the first time, offered space enthusiasts an opportunity to vote on the site of images that the JunoCam will capture as the spacecraft approaches Jupiter’s north pole on February 2, the space agency said in a statement.

“We are looking forward to people visiting our website and becoming part of the JunoCam imaging team,” said Candy Hansen, investigator in the Juno probe from the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona.

“It’s up to the public to determine the best locations in Jupiter’s atmosphere for JunoCam to capture during this flyby,” Hansen added.

JunoCam is a colour, visible-light camera designed to capture remarkable pictures of Jupiter’s poles and cloud tops.

Juno will make its closest approach to Jupiter when the spacecraft is about 4,300 kms above the planet’s swirling clouds.

Two hours later, the imaging will conclude as the spacecraft completes its close flyby, departing from below the gas giant’s south pole. Juno is currently on its fourth orbit around Jupiter. It takes 53 days for Juno to complete one orbit.

”The pictures JunoCam can take depict a narrow swath of territory the spacecraft flies over, so the points of interest imaged can provide a great amount of detail,” Hansen said.

The pictures will play a vital role in helping the Juno science team establish what is going on in Jupiter’s atmosphere at any moment.

Each participant will get a limited number of votes per orbit to devote to the points of interest he or she wants imaged.

After the flyby is complete, the raw images will be posted to the JunoCam website, where the public can perform its own processing, NASA said.

IANS

Picture source: Alamy Image

(Picture has been used for illustrative purposes alone)

The post NASA wants you to pick picture sites for Jupiter probe appeared first on KT10.

The robot can dispense prescribed medication at the click of a button based on a bar code, thus minimising any human error. The DHA will soon adopt the use of robot in all its hospitals.

The robot, which can store up to 35,000 medicines and dispense around 12 prescriptions in less than a minute, will start serving customers from Sunday.

The new smart system was launched by Humaid Obaid Al Qattami, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority.

As the robot can dispense up to 12 prescriptions in less than a minute, it will significantly reduce a person’s waiting time, Dr Ali Al Syed, Director of the Pharmaceutical Services Department, said. The dispensing process will be paper-free as the robot will store the prescription as soon as a doctor documents it electronically. Leveraging the robot for dispensing medication will also allow the pharmacists to focus on giving the customers right instructions on taking the medication, he added

WAM

Image courtesy: Alamy image

Picture used for illustrative purposes alone

The post UAE launches first robot pharmacy appeared first on KT10.

And the list is growing. This is in addition to the excellent primary and secondary school facilities in the UAE.

These institutions are bringing bright young minds into the workforce, many of whom have decided to go into entrepreneurship instead of a corporate career. A key deciding factor is the ease of setting up shop in the UAE. Facilities like DTEC, in5, The Cribb are among a host of hubs that provide entrepreneurs with structure, licensing, mentorship and the basics required to incubate business ideas.

The background

Student life is complex and tough. It’s not just about academics. Co-curricular and social activities, essential for developing fully-rounded personalities, compete for mind-space and time. Challenges include avoiding course scheduling clashes, distributing workload, finding time for exercise and sports, getting to know about cultural events, finding the time to unwind. Scheduling, making intelligent trade-offs, prioritising and focusing are skills that are usually best learnt at this stage.

An alumnus of the American University of Sharjah, Monty (Montasir) Adams fully appreciates this huge demand on time. When in university, he observed that there are better-planned students who achieve a lot with the help of schedules and jottings in little notebooks and diaries. As opposed to the vast majority who end up missing out because of poor time-management skills. He recognised a B2B business opportunity that would enable institutions to help students proactively schedule and prioritise their time.

The business model

The idea is brilliant in its simplicity. A mashup between syllabi, mobile phone calendar and artificial intelligence scheduling. Jibber Jabber, the company that Adams leads, is based on translating syllabi, class schedules, campus content, examination rosters and event calendars into a highly usable and interactive visual calendar on a mobile and web app frame. The app is similar to the popular Sunrise Calendar, recently acquired and dissolved by Microsoft. Metacognitive intelligence helps translate the course schedules provided by universities into a calendar of events. It also recognises clashes in scheduling, highlights examinations and tests versus classes and submissions deadlines. It proactively slots in co-curricular, social and leisure time activity.

Mere ideas themselves are not good enough. Adams’ passion is finance. He needed to know that the numbers would work. Doing his homework he found that by 2025, there will be 262 million university students worldwide. This is according to Bob Goddard, an industry consultant and contributor to the book ‘Making A Difference: Australian International Education’.

The next step was to find a partner to help develop the minimum value product. He connected with one of the top globally recognised development houses – Mobile Jazz based in Barcelona, Spain. Rather than just invest, he agreed on a swap option that gave Mobile Jazz the choice to take an equity interest in Jibber Jabber. This is a flexible financial instrument, which will work out well for both. Importantly, Mobile Jazz has experience with a very successful similar sibling app focused on young children called Class Dojo. Mobile Jazz has also put together the immensely popular Skyscanner app.

In choosing the core team to take this forward, UAE’s multiculturalism comes to light. Adams is of Sudanese origin. Jibber Jabber’s lead tech head is Nabeel Kassim, of Indian origin and the anchorwoman is Hamdah Al Shirawi, an Emirati. The wider Jibber Jabber team is also reflective of the potent mix of talent that the UAE is creating.

The tool of choice for the Jibber Jabber team for structuring the proposition is the Business Model Canvas (strategyzer.com). Their approach is based on the “users and content first, revenue later” model. To refine the model further, the team works on a price per user tranche strategy and identified the universities themselves as the target customers. Initially the team will target local institutions and then expand via connections to the region. The company has also identified ad revenue as an additional top-line item for event organisers and booking services. To create barriers to entry, striking early alliances with the target customers is key.

Team UAE

Jibber Jabber reached out to DTEC in the Dubai Silicon Oasis. DTEC provided the mentorship, licensing, workspace and seed-funding for the team. This collaboration brought about enhanced access to Microsoft’s BizSpark Plus services for startups. This facilitates a solid access to cloud services as well as cognitive intelligence APIs. At the heart of the application is the Social Calendar.

The team has been shortlisted in multiple startup competitions based on the business idea, strong financials, excellent mentorship, a solid MVP, as well as support from DTEC and Microsoft. The team has won awards at Startup Events such as the ‘The Entrepreneurs Day’ at DSO.

The writer is director at Vyashara and a digital banking and digital payments evangelist, practitioner, advisor and consultant. Views expressed are his own and do not reflect the newspaper’s policy. He can be reached at ves@vyashara.com

Sanjiv Purushotham

The post Jibber Jabber: A tool to tame time appeared first on KT10.

The new vessel will be put into service by early next year, raising the Municipality’s marine equipment fleet to 13, which vary in size and volume. The new vessel has the capacity to collect waste floating on the water surface of the creek, and is equipped with scrapers with sophisticated and advanced hydraulic system.

Eng. Abdul Majeed Sifai, Director of Waste Management Department, said that while selecting the vessel, it has been taken into account that the design of the marine scraper has some of the specifications that increase the operational efficiency rate.

“We aim to provide all marine equipments with the most advanced technologies in order to reduce human intervention in the sea clean-up operation of the scrapers. It has an added specification of remote control devices, as we are always striving to introduce innovative ideas and development in all waste management projects,” he said.

“Over the last five years, our creek clean up equipment fleet has been developed and updated, so we have received this new 44 feet long marine scraper with an estimated load capacity of 3 tonnes, to clean up floating waste in small-space sites. This is part of an effort towards turning our focus to the future, through optimal resource planning and how to employ them. This is to meet the future needs of equipments and mechanisms for clean water canals and creeks,” said Sifai.

Yaqoub Mohammed Al Ali, Head of Specialized Cleaning Section, said the Creek is a vital artery and waterfront as well as an important commercial and tourist window. “Recently the Dubai Creek area has been increased as a result of the expansion of its length and the establishment of the new Warf Deira. Therefore, it was necessary to increase our fleet too to cope with the expansion. This is because the distance of Dubai Creek, which extends from Jaddaf until Ras Al Khor area, is about 14 kilometers with the addition of the new Dubai Water Canal.”

“Over the past years 4,267 tonnes of floating waste has been removed resulting from the cleanup of creek water,” he added.

Picture source: Shihab/Khaleej Times

Wam

The post Dubai gets advanced marine scraper to clean up creek and canal appeared first on KT10.