Creators Of New Smartphone App Hope To Get Indians To

A startup called Juggernaut is trying to get India’s smartphone users to read more with its new e-books app, Mashable reports.
Although India has the second-largest and one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets in the world, few of its 220 million smartphone users are avid book readers.
Juggernaut is launching its app with 100 book titles, priced as low as 10 rupees (15 cents) and up to 150 rupees ($2.25). Among these, a set of serialized erotic short stories by popular Canadian-Indian star Sunny Leone has generated the most buzz. The list of authors also includes Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy, historian William Dalrymple and American businessman Rajat Gupta.
Chiki Sarkar, Juggernaut co-founder and former Penguin Random House India editor-in-chief, spoke to Mashable about the new app.

"The first premise is, if we bring the world of books into the same space as your phone, will you be more likely to read. What if the price and length became much more accessible?" – Chiki Sarkar

The e-books have been adapted for reading on smartphones, with a focus on short reads and serialized stories. This means that most commissioned books are fewer than 25,000 words in length. The reading design is clean, classic and easy on the eye. There is an emphasis on genres that are the most popular and commercially-successful in India, such as romance, sex, crime, self-help and fantasy, non-fiction, and books for young adults and teens.

While Juggernaut's most obvious parallel is with Amazon, the founders say they're much closer in spirit to Netflix. Co-founder Durga Raghunath says they looked at Netflix's easy user experience, exciting mix of partners and original content, and the way they've matched their users to genres "in a genius way." Like Netflix, its app intuitively suggests books for readers based on their past preferences and will eventually have time-bound subscriptions.
Source- article.wn

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Tugboat to test ship monitoring and diagnostics

Software aids management of engines, generators, thrusters and critical systems

The tugboat Guide – operated by Crowley Maritime Corporation out of Seattle, USA - is being fitted with a custom vessel monitoring and diagnostics solution which will keep watch over its main engines, generators, thrusters and critical systems.
The Cat Asset Intelligence software will be supported by the Caterpillar Marine Asset Intelligence team which will provide advisory and management reports including recommendations for individual equipment, as well as recommending additional ways in which Crowley can save money and improve operations.
“It’s a robust system that does all the key monitoring and analysis we need,” said Bill Metcalf, vice president of strategic engineering for Crowley Maritime. “We’re looking at it as the next level of management and optimisation. We want to see how it can help us increase reliability, safety and efficiency on board our vessels.
"Unlike technologies that only monitor engine performance, Cat Asset Intelligence services provide monitoring and diagnostics for an entire vessel, including many of its critical operating systems.
"Cat Asset Intelligence will monitor and analyse anything—not just Cat products. That was a big selling point as we, like many others, have a wide variety of equipment that is critical to our success.”
With the software monitoring and analysing Guide’s key systems, Crowley Maritime expects to see value in a number of areas.
"It can give us early warning of a catastrophic failure so we can schedule maintenance. It can save us time and money during the inspection process. It can help us keep our vessels and people out of harm’s way,” Metcalf said.
“We’re also looking at fuel savings. That’s not likely to be a big issue on Guide, because of its size and application, but it could be huge for our larger vessels.”
On smaller vessels like Guide, which operate with a limited crew, Cat Asset Intelligence’s remote monitoring capabilities play a critical role.

Tugboat Guide is fitted with Cat Asset Intelligence software
Caterpillar

“Guide is a four-man boat, which means the chief engineer also serves as a deckhand when he’s on duty,” Metcalf said. “This technology will make his job easier. And as it is accessible for our engineering staff, adding another set of eyes on the vessel, another level of comfort for the captain and operations team.”
Crowley Maritime has established a governance committee to analyse the software’s performance on board Guide and, if it proves valuable, hopes to expand vessel monitoring and diagnostics to other ships in its fleet.
Metcalf said: “Caterpillar has been a good partner with Crowley for many years, and they’ve been at this for a long time. This process is in place in mines and factories. It’s the next logical step in marine technology and we want to be early adopters if it adds value.
“It’s very scalable and customizable. That’s one of the things we liked about this technology.”
Source:
http://www.cat.com/en_US/news/engine-press-releases/crowley-maritime-testing-caterpillar-technology-for-vessel-monitoring-diagnostics.htm

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Seals to be connected to the Internet of Things

New technology telemetry will track movements of marine mammals

Harbour seals off the island of Orkney, Scotland, are to be connected to the ‘Internet of Things’ as part of a programme to investigate the sharp decline in their population. It is said to be the first time this has been done anywhere in the world.
The three-year project is being funded by the Scottish government and is being undertaken by the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) which is based at the Gatty Marine Laboratory at the University of St Andrews.Marine scientists at SMRU will attach marine telemetry tags harmlessly to the fur at the back of the heads of a number of seals. The marine tags are small and lightweight and simply drop off when the seal moults.
The tags, which work much in the same way as smartphones, will use Vodafone’s latest machine-to-machine (M2M) technology to send information from the seal when it surfaces or beaches directly back to SMRU for analysis. M2M technology is now a standard feature in new cars, heart monitors and smart meters but has never before been used to help monitor the well-being of marine mammals.
SMRU developed the world’s first data capture and relay tags in 1982 and has progressively improved their design and functionality for its own use in the UK and by similar research establishments elsewhere in the world. These latest marine smart tags are lightweight, no larger than a mobile phone and can withstand depths of up to 200 metres. They are connected to Vodafone’s global M2M platform and third-party satellite services.
Vodafone’s M2M dedicated network significantly improves data gathering on a seals’ location, dive behaviour and oceanic environment since it works across multiple mobile technologies. Among other benefits, it allows marine scientists to control directly the active state of every SIM card in each marine tag from a single PC.
The study by SMRU is being carried out at the request of the Scottish government and Scottish Natural Heritage which have great concerns for the future survival of harbour seals in areas of Scotland. They are one of two seal species in the UK but since 2000 have declined in numbers by up to 90 per cent in some areas in and around the North and East coast of Scotland, including Orkney.
The data collected and analysed by SMRU will be used to provide advice to Scottish ministers across a range of marine policy areas. These include the impact of marine renewables such as offshore wind and wave turbines and interactions with salmon fisheries.
Professor John Baxter, principal marine adviser at Scottish Natural Heritage, said: “This exciting, collaborative study is vital to help us to better understand the drivers of population change in Scottish harbour seals and to evaluate the potential conservation and management options open to us.”

Monitoring seal movements at SMRU
Vodafone

SMRU’s Deputy Director Dr Bernie McConnell said: “Over the last 15 years, many of the harbour seal populations in the Northern Isles and on the north and east coasts of Scotland have been declining. Marine data collected during this project on Orkney will help to assess the causes, management and mitigation options in relation to the harbour seals decline and to prioritise future research directions.”
Vodafone UK’s corporate and external affairs director Helen Lamprell added: “The first mobile call was made on our network more than thirty years ago. We will now be the first company to help transmit valuable information from seals.

“This project is proof that collaborations between government, science and the private sector can work to improve better informed policy decisions on the environment. We are delighted to be able to provide Bernie and his team with access to our technology and consultancy.”
Sources:
http://mediacentre.vodafone.co.uk/pressrelease/harbour-seals-orkney-receive-marine-smartphones/
http://www.itpro.co.uk/mobile/26272/internet-of-things-tags-will-monitor-orkney-seals-population

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