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Facebook announces first data center with new rapid deployment design coming to Luleå, Sweden

Mar07
by on March 7, 2014 at 1:09 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider, Social Media

5596 474323532636340 743669025 n 520x245 Facebook announces first data center with new rapid deployment design coming to Luleå, Sweden

Facebook today announced plans to build the first data center using its new “rapid deployment data center” (RDDC) design, its most efficient method to build a data center yet. It will be located in a second building at the company’s existing campus in Luleå, Sweden, the location of the social network’s first international data center.

At this year’s summit for the Open Compute Project (OCP), Facebook previewed the RDDC design (video embedded below and full 97-page presentation available here). The company says it expects the new approach to data center design will enable it to construct and deploy new capacity twice as fast as its previous approach, will prove to be much more site-agnostic, and will greatly reduce the amount of material used during construction.

In short, the RDDC concept is all about treating the building of a data center less like a construction project and more like a manufactured product. Facebook hopes to achieve the following with this approach:

  • Site-agnostic design: By standardizing the designs of component assemblies much like with OCP servers, Facebook hopes to deploy a unitized data center into almost any region in the world faster, leaner, and more cost-effectively. Performing more of the assembly in a controlled environment and at ground level also reduces assembly time. By deploying pre-manufactured assemblies, a majority of the components can be used interchangeably. The goal is to be deployable wherever needed.
  • Reduced on-site impact: The RDDC concept will deploy pre-engineered unitized modules that minimize the amount of time required for heavy equipment on site and overall time to complete a data hall. The modules reduce the generation of on-site waste and the impacts associated with the delivery and staging of individual construction materials common to traditional construction techniques.
  • Improved execution and workmanship: Having a predictable and repeatable product delivered to the site allows local teams to easily replicate the quality and fit from one region to another. The RDDC design will produce this result by using explicit assembly instructions with established tolerances.

Facebook wouldn’t reveal when construction will begin, saying only that it will be “soon.” It did say, however, that lessons learned will be shared with the OCP community.

Top Image Credit: Facebook

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Auto Finder for Android: A simple way to remember where you parked your car

Mar07
by on March 7, 2014 at 12:38 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

If you frequently forget where you parked your car, Auto Finder for Android could be what you’re looking for.

Though there are other apps out there that let you pin your position to a map when you leave your car, and there’s other Bluetooth-enabled solutions too, Auto Finder automatically marks your location when it detects that your car has parked using your device’s built-in hardware – zero configuration is required. Though it does require Android 4.0 and above.

Screenshot 2014 03 07 12 00 16 220x391 Auto Finder for Android: A simple way to remember where you parked your car    Screenshot 2014 03 07 12 01 48 220x391 Auto Finder for Android: A simple way to remember where you parked your car

You can operate in satellite or map mode, and you are also able to manually mark a location if you wish. It also serves up directions back to your parking spot. The icing on the cake? This is completely free to use – though if you like it, you are encouraged to support development with a donation.

Agent for Android offers similar functionality, but its focus falls way beyond that of simply parking.

➤ Auto Finder | Google Play

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7Digital’s music service is coming to Tizen OS and Samsung’s new Gear 2 smartwatches

Mar07
by on March 7, 2014 at 12:27 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider, Product Updates

Group Gear 2 220x237 7Digitals music service is coming to Tizen OS and Samsungs new Gear 2 smartwatches7Digital has announced that it will bring its music download service to the Tizen OS and will be supporting the new Tizen-based Galaxy Gear smartwatches when it arrives in Q2 of this year.

The app, like its counterparts on Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Phone, will allow users to download purchase and download music from the company’s 25 million track catalogue. It’ll also allow streaming of purchased songs stored in your 7Digital locker. Pricing of the music remains the same whichever platform you’re accessing it from, 7Digital said.

In addition to pledging support for Samsung’s homebrew operating system, 7Digital also announced today that it had signed deals with Audioboo and UBC Media to bring spoken-word content to the platform – it’s first tentative steps into radio-style streaming. Rounding off the list of announcements from the company, from today there’s also a new iOS and Android SDK available to download.

➤ 7Digital

 

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Livr: This social network unlocks features the more drunk you get

Mar07
by on March 7, 2014 at 11:36 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider, Product Launches

beer 520x245 Livr: This social network unlocks features the more drunk you get

Most social networking services are a sea of inane comments on people’s pictures of their pets or children. Or both. But Livr, a social network for drinking and socializing promises to be different.

Livr 220x575 Livr: This social network unlocks features the more drunk you getFor one thing, it won’t even let you log in until you’ve had a drink and blown into the blood-alcohol analyzer attachment. The higher your reading, the more features that are available for use. It’s certainly a novel idea, unless it’s some sort of parody app designed to draw awareness to binge-drinking – which seems pretty likely considering some of its feature list.

For example, there are apparently gamification elements, like Truth or Dare, which net users points for taking part in challenges set by other members.

Similarly, there’s a map that shows not only where other people are drinking around you, but also what stage they are at in their night out – indicated by a different color circle around the area. So, if the circle on the map is large, there are lots of people and if it’s dark in color, they’ve had a lot to drink.

There’s also a Drunk Dial feature that will connect you with another random Livr user that has been allowed into the app for a chat, should you wish to talk nonsense with a total stranger.

Content (like drunken pictures) is all shared within the app, so if you wake up the next morning feeling regretful, Livr also includes a Blackout function that erases everything in one touch. If on the other hand it was a fun night out, you can send a report to other Livr users.

Livr isn’t quite ready for release just yet, but it is scheduled for launch “this spring”, so it shouldn’t be too long before you can download it.

Whether it will be free, chargeable or indeed will ever exist at all remains to be seen – other apps have in the past come under under attack for encouraging excessive drinking – and, while this might sound like a bit of fun – can you actually imagine wanting to use it on your night out?

Update: This post has been updated to clarify our skepticism about how legitimate Livr is.

➤ Livr [Via Pocket-Lint]

Featured Image Credit – Thinkstock

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Dutch journalism startup Blendle wants to create an iTunes for newspaper and magazine articles

Mar07
by on March 7, 2014 at 8:54 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, magazines, newspapers

shutterstock 159891725 520x245 Dutch journalism startup Blendle wants to create an iTunes for newspaper and magazine articles

As newspapers and magazines increasingly welcome the digital world by taking their content online, the common way to monetize is via paywalls. As a reader, you’ve probably been reluctant to pay for a monthly subscription when all you want to do is read one story.

Blendle, a journalism startup from The Netherlands, is out to change the scene by introducing the iTunes model for journalism. This has been a hot topic for quite a few years already, and this pay-for-what-you-read model has already been applied to niche areas of publishing, but bringing it to mainstream journalism will be taking a huge step forward.

Co-founder Alexander Klöpping says in a blog post detailing the project:

If anything, the music business has taught us that consumers want a simple way to pay for content. As a consumer, you only want to pay for content you actually consume, you want algorithms and social to help you filter, and you want everything in one place. While consumers changed, newspapers and magazines didn’t adapt.

Recently, the two founders of Blendle united the major newspapers and magazines in the country under one roof, so all their articles are available in one Web app with just a single pay wall, where users will only have to pay for whatever articles they read with just one click.

“We think that unbundling of journalism is the Holy Grail in getting young people to pay for journalism again,” Klöpping says.

Blendle 1 730x547 Dutch journalism startup Blendle wants to create an iTunes for newspaper and magazine articles

The Blendle app doesn’t only let make it convenient for you to readily access and pay for articles in a single place — it also shows you what articles are trending, and lets you see what stories your friends or curators (such as celebrities, politicians and journalists) have shared. What’s more, you can even search for premium content from newspapers and magazines. If you’re particularly interested in a specific subject, you can also set email alerts containing certain words or phrases.

New Blendle users get €2.50 ($3.50) for free, and they can top up their Blendle wallet when that has been spent. To encourage adoption, Blendle has a unique policy of allowing refunds if a reader doesn’t think the article was worth his/her money after reading it — though it notes that a fair use policy applies. Apparently this function “greatly increases the amount of money spent on journalism in the beta.”

Blendle is still in beta, and it launches officially in Holland in April. The founders promise that other countries will follow — and honestly it’s an exciting proposition that could change the way newspapers and magazines all over the world operate in the online world now. However, it’s going to be extremely challenging to persuade media outlets to license its content to Blendle, so there is probably still a long journey ahead before an iTunes for news may be truly ingrained in people’s lives.

➤ Blendle

Headline image via Shutterstock

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