(http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/07/29/roman.london.app/index.html?hpt=te_bn7) London (CNN) -- The Romans may have left Britain in the 5th century A.D., but they left their mark on the country after nearly four centuries of occupation.
The settlement of Londinium, now the thriving city of London, was built by the Romans around the middle of the first century A.D., and is one of the enduring legacies of the Roman invasion.
Some sites, such as the ruins of the ancient roman wall, are still standing but much of the city's ancient history remains buried. Now, a new -- and free -- application for iPhone and iPad is unearthing Roman London and bringing it back to life virtually.
The app, called Streetmusuem:Londinium, is a joint venture from the London Museum of Archaeology and the TV channel History.
With the app, users can hold up their phone around London and activate video vignettes of Roman scenes against the modern backdrop using an augmented reality feature.
They can virtually excavate a patch of soil by rubbing their fingers on the screen to reveal items from the Museum of London's core collection as well as bring up key information about the items.
Roy Stephenson is Head of Archaeological Collections and Archive at the Museum of London and was responsible for creating content for the app.
"I really want people to absorb history, that there's more to it than the museum or gallery," he said.
"If you walk down the street, you're in it, you're in the historic landscape, and it's all around you," he continued.
His hope is that users will be intrigued to further explore the items in the museum's collection.
"It's a minor representative of all the stuff that we have in the collection, the pinnacle of the iceberg," he said.
The History channel was responsible for filming the vignettes of Roman life, using professional actors and so-called "re-enactors" to act out scenes of ancient Romans shopping, worshipping and fighting.
Steven Allen from the History channel was tasked with recreating nine Roman scenes, sets and cast. "We knew where the forum was, we knew where they made pottery, we knew where they duelled, so we had to work out how to illustrate these," he explained.
In a scene at the London forum, he said, a market vendor tries to sell a stale fish to a customer, who then throws it at a banker walking past; in another scene at the old roman wall, a guard is caught slacking off by his superior.
"They fit in with a younger audience we're aiming for, injecting some humor into the scenarios," he added.
Streetmuseum: Londinium was developed from a previous app which used open source software and augmented reality to superimpose images of historic London over the contemporary vista, seen through the camera view on an iPhone.
"(It was) like a time tunnel looking back, allowing you to compare old with new," explained Kevin Brown from creative agency Brothers and Sisters, who developed the app for the Museum of London.
The innovations to the new app, he said, include the video vignettes, as well as a map of Roman London overlaid on a Google map of the city now, with a slider to increase or decrease the transparency of the Roman map.
Soundscapes can be activated, giving a sense of what the Roman streets might have sounded like, in addition to the vignettes.
The excavation feature is also new, as is a walking tour marked on the Google map of London that starts at the museum and moves through the city to key Roman sites, giving users, according to Brown, "a very tailored, curated experience."
Stephenson of the Museum of London explained that the majority of sites are located in the centre of the city but that he included at least one item of interest in each of the 33 boroughs in London.
So if you wanted to extend the tour to Croydon in South London, for example, the app would show you where a stash of Roman gold coins was once discovered; or, further north in Highgate, where an ancient pottery kiln was unearthed.
"(It's really) an educational resource," said Brown.
"If you knew nothing about Roman London and you spent 20 or 30 minutes with the app, you'd gen up pretty quickly," he continued.
Monday, 1 August 2011
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Saturday, 30 July 2011
Thursday, 14 July 2011
Amazon to launch touchscreen tablet, report says
(CNN) -- Amazon, the online retailer that ignited demand for electronic readers with its Kindle, might be entering the increasingly crowded tablet computer market.
Citing unnamed sources, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Amazon will introduce a color touchscreen tablet before October that will compete with Apple's popular iPad and other similar devices.
People familiar with the product told the Journal that it will have a 9-inch screen and run on Google's Android operating system. It won't have a camera, they said.
The device will go beyond the Kindle in allowing customers to play movies, music and other content -- books, too -- downloaded from Amazon.com, the Journal reported. Amazon reportedly isn't developing the product itself, unlike the Kindle, but instead will outsource production to an Asian manufacturer.
Amazon did not immediately return a request for comment.
Rumors about Amazon making a tablet have been swirling for almost a year. Some reports have said the Seattle-based company is partnering with South Korean manufacturer Samsung, which will build the device.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos hasn't exactly doused the speculation. Asked by Consumer Reports in May about the possibility of Amazon launching a multipurpose tablet device, Bezos said to stay tuned.
Reaction was swift Wednesday afternoon in the blogosphere, which seemed to accept the Journal report as fact.
"The lack of a camera is disappointing, but it may be a sign that Amazon is positioning its tablet as more of a competitor to Barnes and Noble's wildly successful Nook Color, a hybrid tablet/e-reader that retails for just $250," wrote Devindra Hardawar in VentureBeat.
"The fall is going to be very interesting. There's a reason Apple wants to get another iPad out there before the end of the year," TechCrunch's MG Siegler wrote on his personal blog.
Wednesday's Journal report also said Amazon will also release two updated versions of its Kindle e-reader in the third quarter of this year: a touch-screen device and an improved but cheaper adaptation of the current Kindle.
Citing unnamed sources, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Amazon will introduce a color touchscreen tablet before October that will compete with Apple's popular iPad and other similar devices.
People familiar with the product told the Journal that it will have a 9-inch screen and run on Google's Android operating system. It won't have a camera, they said.
The device will go beyond the Kindle in allowing customers to play movies, music and other content -- books, too -- downloaded from Amazon.com, the Journal reported. Amazon reportedly isn't developing the product itself, unlike the Kindle, but instead will outsource production to an Asian manufacturer.
Amazon did not immediately return a request for comment.
Rumors about Amazon making a tablet have been swirling for almost a year. Some reports have said the Seattle-based company is partnering with South Korean manufacturer Samsung, which will build the device.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos hasn't exactly doused the speculation. Asked by Consumer Reports in May about the possibility of Amazon launching a multipurpose tablet device, Bezos said to stay tuned.
Reaction was swift Wednesday afternoon in the blogosphere, which seemed to accept the Journal report as fact.
"The lack of a camera is disappointing, but it may be a sign that Amazon is positioning its tablet as more of a competitor to Barnes and Noble's wildly successful Nook Color, a hybrid tablet/e-reader that retails for just $250," wrote Devindra Hardawar in VentureBeat.
"The fall is going to be very interesting. There's a reason Apple wants to get another iPad out there before the end of the year," TechCrunch's MG Siegler wrote on his personal blog.
Wednesday's Journal report also said Amazon will also release two updated versions of its Kindle e-reader in the third quarter of this year: a touch-screen device and an improved but cheaper adaptation of the current Kindle.
Monday, 4 July 2011
Apple's iOS operating system beats main rival Google Android in online security rankings
(Daily Mail - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2009583/Apples-iOS-operating-beats-main-rival-Google-Android-online-security-rankings.html?ITO=1490) Apple's iOS mobile operating system is more secure against hackers and other online threats than its main rival, Google's Android, a new study has found. And both are more secure than PCs.
Chief among the findings from computer security specialist Symantec is that while the most popular mobile platforms in use today were designed with security in mind, these provisions are not always sufficient.
The iPhone developed by Apple is limited to running software that is Apple approved, which may be frustrating but has security benefits
Safety first: The iPhone developed by Apple is limited to running software that is Apple approved, which may be frustrating but has security benefits
Siân John, Symantec's UK security strategist, said that both Apple i devices and Android phones are open to many established attacks even though 'mobile devices have more security baked in'
But the security features of Apple’s software, which powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, are better implemented than those of Android.
Complicating matters, today's mobile devices are increasingly being connected to and synchronized with third party and desktop-based services
* Smartphone and laptop users who connect to Wi-Fi in public 'risk having their credit card details stolen'
* A gadget James Bond would be proud of: Motorola mobile is the first smartphone to operate using fingerprint recognition
While offering improved security over traditional desktop-based operating systems, both iOS and Android are still vulnerable to many existing categories of attacks.
iOS's security model offers strong protection against traditional malware, primarily due to Apple's rigorous app certification process and their developer certification process, which vets the identity of each software author and weeds out attackers.
Google, which owns and helped develop the Andoid operating system, has opted for a less rigorous certification model, permitting any software developer to create and release apps anonymously, without inspection.
This lack of certification has arguably led to today's increasing volume of Android-specific malware.
Android-based mobile phone
Rival: The Android-based mobile phone strengthened Google's hand in the growing smartphone market, but the open approach to software development can cause security problems
Users of both Android and iOS devices regularly synchronize their devices with third-party cloud services such as web-based calendars and with their home desktop computers.
This can expose sensitive business data stored on these devices to outsiders.
So-called 'jailbroken' devices, which have Apple's systems bypassed so as to run non-vetted software or devices whose security has been disabled, offer attractive targets for attackers since these devices are every bit as vulnerable as traditional PCs.
John added: 'The main danger still comes from people leaving devices on a train or on the back seat of a taxi rather than malware, but that's not to say malware isn't a problem.'
Carey Nachenberg Chief Architect at Symantec Security Technology and Response said: 'While more secure than traditional PCs, these platforms are still vulnerable to many traditional attacks.
'Moreover, enterprise employees are increasingly using unmanaged, personal devices to access sensitive enterprise resources, and then connecting these devices to thirrd-party services outside of the governance of the enterprise, potentially exposing key assets to attackers.'
Chief among the findings from computer security specialist Symantec is that while the most popular mobile platforms in use today were designed with security in mind, these provisions are not always sufficient.
The iPhone developed by Apple is limited to running software that is Apple approved, which may be frustrating but has security benefits
Safety first: The iPhone developed by Apple is limited to running software that is Apple approved, which may be frustrating but has security benefits
Siân John, Symantec's UK security strategist, said that both Apple i devices and Android phones are open to many established attacks even though 'mobile devices have more security baked in'
But the security features of Apple’s software, which powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, are better implemented than those of Android.
Complicating matters, today's mobile devices are increasingly being connected to and synchronized with third party and desktop-based services
* Smartphone and laptop users who connect to Wi-Fi in public 'risk having their credit card details stolen'
* A gadget James Bond would be proud of: Motorola mobile is the first smartphone to operate using fingerprint recognition
While offering improved security over traditional desktop-based operating systems, both iOS and Android are still vulnerable to many existing categories of attacks.
iOS's security model offers strong protection against traditional malware, primarily due to Apple's rigorous app certification process and their developer certification process, which vets the identity of each software author and weeds out attackers.
Google, which owns and helped develop the Andoid operating system, has opted for a less rigorous certification model, permitting any software developer to create and release apps anonymously, without inspection.
This lack of certification has arguably led to today's increasing volume of Android-specific malware.
Android-based mobile phone
Rival: The Android-based mobile phone strengthened Google's hand in the growing smartphone market, but the open approach to software development can cause security problems
Users of both Android and iOS devices regularly synchronize their devices with third-party cloud services such as web-based calendars and with their home desktop computers.
This can expose sensitive business data stored on these devices to outsiders.
So-called 'jailbroken' devices, which have Apple's systems bypassed so as to run non-vetted software or devices whose security has been disabled, offer attractive targets for attackers since these devices are every bit as vulnerable as traditional PCs.
John added: 'The main danger still comes from people leaving devices on a train or on the back seat of a taxi rather than malware, but that's not to say malware isn't a problem.'
Carey Nachenberg Chief Architect at Symantec Security Technology and Response said: 'While more secure than traditional PCs, these platforms are still vulnerable to many traditional attacks.
'Moreover, enterprise employees are increasingly using unmanaged, personal devices to access sensitive enterprise resources, and then connecting these devices to thirrd-party services outside of the governance of the enterprise, potentially exposing key assets to attackers.'
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
