Tag Archives: prediction

Nokia Belle Feature Pack 2 pulled again due to reported user issues

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Nokia Belle Feature Pack 2 pulled again due to reported user issues

Like something from a school play, Nokia's Feature Pack 2 for Symbian Belle first bounded onto the stage prematurely, before being ushered back behind the curtain. Now, despite walking out at the proper time, it looks like it's fluffed its opening lines, and has been taken offline once more. The announcement came via a support discussion on one of Nokia's forum threads, with some users claiming they were unable to install it at all, or that some functions weren't working properly -- or worse, being unable to turn the handset back on -- for those that could. At the moment Nokia simply states that it has been pulled from servers, and it will advise once the update is back online. If you've been affected, head to the source for the official thread on the issue.

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Nokia Belle Feature Pack 2 pulled again due to reported user issues originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 07:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Symbian Belle FP2 for Nokia 808 PureView spotted early, pulled quickly

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Symbian Belle FP2 for Nokia 808 PureView spotted, pulled early

Nokia has been tuning up its Symbian Belle phones with new software over the past few days, but there's been one glaring exception: the 808 PureView. The camera-centered behemoth isn't far behind, though, as a handful of users have spotted and grabbed a 113.10.1506 OS update lurking on Nokia's servers before it was abruptly yanked. While Nokia hasn't confirmed details of the upgrade, those few who tried the download can vouch that it really is Belle FP2, or Belle Refresh. As such, it's bringing an overhauled keyboard with text prediction, new versions of the browser and music player apps, fresh widgets and no doubt a few under-the-radar bug fixes. It's hard to know if the update is final code, so we'd advise caution before loading up any unofficial copies you might find -- even so, it's a portentous sign for 808 owners who'd like to have a definitive instance of smartphone-grade Symbian before the platform rides into the sunset.

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Symbian Belle FP2 for Nokia 808 PureView spotted early, pulled quickly originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 07 Sep 2012 12:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink My Nokia Blog  |  sourceForums Test-Mobile (translated), Symbian Tweet  | Email this | Comments

Theory of cliodynamics uses science to predict history, sees violence erupt in cycles

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Theory of cliodynamics uses science to predict history, sees violence erupt in cycles

Ever get the feeling that you've seen it all before? University of Connecticut researcher Peter Turchin has, and he (along with Russian partners Sergey Nefedov and Andrey Korotayev) has even crafted an entire scientific theory around the idea. Cliodynamics, as it's called, works on the view that broad trends of history occur in predictable patterns based on common factors like government strength, population size and social inequality. The surprise to Turchin is that violence outside of wars, at least in the US, triggers roughly every 50 years like clockwork: people rebel against a social crisis, but their children stay out of the fray and lead to the conditions that ultimately trigger another outbreak, like the 1970s civil rights and peace movements. Don't set your watch to cliodynamics just yet. Many historians are still skeptical, and even supporters note that one-off events or major wars fall through the cracks. If the theory pans out, however, science could be used to help governments do the right thing before they're made to do it at gunpoint.

[Image credit: Steve Wilson, Flickr]

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Theory of cliodynamics uses science to predict history, sees violence erupt in cycles originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia Drive 3.0 arrives with My Commute, your Lumia is no excuse for being late (video)

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Nokia Drive 30 arrives with My Commute, your Lumia is no excuse for being late video

Nokia gave us a hint of Nokia Drive 3.0's commuter-friendly additions all the way back at Mobile World Congress in February. It's been quite the wait, but the update is at last lurking in the Windows Phone Marketplace. Although developed at the same time as Google Now, the Drive update will feel like a small slice of Android 4.1 for Lumia owners through its predictive routing: it can learn when you leave for work and how driving habits will affect the trip, giving a heads-up about traffic jams before you turn the ignition. Windows Phone reasserts itself through the option of pinning favorite destinations as tiles on the home screen, and an automatic switch between day and night modes is just as new. Drive's My Commute feature will initially work only in the US, but it should be available within the next day or two for any Lumia owner -- so those being denied Windows Phone 8 still won't have any justification for being late to the office.

Continue reading Nokia Drive 3.0 arrives with My Commute, your Lumia is no excuse for being late (video)

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Nokia Drive 3.0 arrives with My Commute, your Lumia is no excuse for being late (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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RIM gets patent for logic-based text prediction, BlackBerry 10 keyboard now preserved for the ages (update: not so ambitious)

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RIM gets patent for logicbased text prediction, BlackBerry 10 says hello

For those of us who aren't fans of swipe gestures, the highlight of BlackBerry 10 is undoubtedly a unique keyboard that's often a step ahead of its user. It's a good thing for this last camp that RIM was just granted the final version of a related patent for logic-based text prediction. Instead of simply hunting for typos, the patented keyboard guesses the next word based either on the context of the words around it or on other criteria, like common expressions. About the only time the technique doesn't predict words is for passwords -- RIM would rather not be that clever. While there looks to be a few differences in the practical implementation of the patent as we've seen it in a pre-release BlackBerry 10, theory and reality are close enough that RIM won't be worried about anyone else poaching its seemingly mind-reading technology anytime soon.

Update: We've dug deeper, and it's more focused on simple frequency logic and auto-complete shortcuts (think "ttyl" generating "talk to you later") rather than anything too complex. BlackBerry 10 isn't so secure, then, although these are still quite important typing techniques.

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RIM gets patent for logic-based text prediction, BlackBerry 10 keyboard now preserved for the ages (update: not so ambitious) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 22:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netflix goes ‘beyond five stars’ in a more detailed explanation of recommendations

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Netflix goes 'beyond five stars' in a more detailed explanation of recommendations

The Netflix Tech Blog produced part one of a deep dive into how its recommendations work back in April and now the team is back with the other half. If you're among the many wondering why certain movies get pushed to the front of your recommendations and others don't, the key is their attempt to predict, mostly based on data from other users, what you will both play and enjoy. The most interesting bit we found? There's a lot more at play here than just popularity, as one graph shows ratings plus the team's other optimizations improving rankings over the baseline by 200+ percent. Data parsing heads should definitely dig hearing about logistic regression, elastic nets and matrix factorization (job applications are accepted at the end if you make it that far), while those of us that fall asleep when the spreadsheets come out can probably focus on the broader strokes of Netflix's testing methodology and approach.

Netflix goes 'beyond five stars' in a more detailed explanation of recommendations originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 00:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC predicts 55 percent revenue jump, could hint at strong One sales

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HTC predicts 55 percent revenue jump thanks to One phones

HTC's results for Q1 2012 were a long way short of spectacular, but they came too early to see any impact from sales of its latest wares -- particularly the flagship One X and the ambitious mid-range One S. According to Reuters, the Taiwanese manufacturer now predicts that its revenue will leap by 55 percent in Q2, compared to that bad last quarter. That kind of growth equates to around $3.56 billion, which isn't so impressive when you compare it to the same quarter last year, when turnover broke records and was around 20 percent higher, but it's still an encouraging sign that this company could reap what it sowed at MWC.

HTC predicts 55 percent revenue jump, could hint at strong One sales originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 Apr 2012 05:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netflix explains its recommendation system, can’t find a reason for Adam Sandler’s last movie

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Netflix explains its recommendation system, can't find a reason for Adam Sandler's last movie
In case you've been wondering why Netflix tends to recommend the movies it does, there's a post on the company's Tech Blog breaking down the various levels of its system. Remember the Netflix Prize contest? Teams of researchers produced competing algorithms capable of more accurately predicting how members would rate movies, but while some of the early winning efforts are still in use, the million dollar solution was never implemented because the potential gains were too small to justify the engineering effort needed. Additionally, while Netflix still hasn't implemented individual profiles for household members yet, the blog indicates it does try to recommend something for everyone, seeking both accuracy and diversity -- which may explain some of more out there picks in our personal "recommended for you" list. Where available (read: outside the US) Facebook integration plays a part too, as well as a variety of information used to find movies similar to those previously viewed. The proof of how all these parts come together is ultimately judged by the viewers, so while we wait for part two of the post with more data to pore over -- is Netflix managing to accurately pull any flicks you want to watch out of its catalog?

Netflix explains its recommendation system, can't find a reason for Adam Sandler's last movie originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 08 Apr 2012 11:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceNetflix Tech Blog  | Email this | Comments