Apple iOS 7: Six key things to do before you tap 'Download'

There are endless blogposts and debates on when and whether and how to update iOS 7 when it becomes available today, expected around 1 p,m. Eastern time. Here are some steps  suggested by Mike Reed, a solutions engineer who works with enterprise customers for MobileIron, a mobile device management vendor.

1. Update all your iOS apps first.
Even if you don't see a badge on the app store, check it. Some users report seeing a growing flood of app updates starting Tuesday.

[ Also on InfoWorld: The 7 best new features in iOS 7. | Get expert advice about planning and implementing your BYOD strategy with InfoWorld's 29-page "Mobile and BYOD Deep Dive" PDF special report. | Keep up on key mobile developments and insights with the Mobilize newsletter. ]

2. Back up your device, twice.
Through iTunes or to iCloud. "If you have to restore your device, you're going to want to be able to restore the app data, which is part of what's backed up," Reed says. "Without a backup, you can get the apps but any local data is gone." Here's Apple's Webpage on iOS backup and restore. 

[MORE:Today's iOS 7 downloads an unprecedented challenge for IT]

3. List all of your passwords, for apps and services.
"You're likely to get prompted for passwords for some apps and services again," says Reed. "Make sure you know them or that you can get to a web site for the app and be able to check your email for confirmation to change them if needed."

4. Have the latest version of iTunes.
You should have the newest iTunes software if you plan to back up your iOS device to iTunes or decide to install iOS 7 from iTunes. The latest version is 11.0.5.

5. Be ready to go without your iOS device for a day.
If you start the update and it fails, you may get "stuck in a restore and it could take quite a while to resolve," Reed cautions. If you're going to need your iPhone or iPad, hold off on the update for a while.

6. Be ready for a slow download.
"Everyone in the world will be hammering Apple's akamized server to get updates," Reed says. "It's likely to be slow going immediately after the release..."

John Cox covers wireless networking and mobile computing for Network World.Twitter: http://twitter.com/johnwcoxnwwEmail: john_cox@nww.com

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'Backscatter' network could support the Internet of Things

Researchers in America say they have created a wireless communication system that allows devices to communicate with each other without relying on batteries or wires for power and could play a vital role in the Internet of Things.

The communication technique—dubbed "ambient backscatter" by the University of Washington scientists—allows devices to communicate with each other by reflecting or absorbing preexisting radio signals from TV and mobile transmissions.

UWShyam Gollakota

The energy-saving breakthrough could be particularly well suited to a home-based Internet of Things scenario where devices are usually within a few meters of each other.

The team has built small, battery-free devices with antennas that can detect, harness, and reflect a TV signal, which is then picked up by other similar devices.

"We can repurpose wireless signals that are already around us into both a source of power and a communication medium," said lead researcher Shyam Gollakota, a University of Washington assistant professor of computer science and engineering. "It's hopefully going to have applications in a number of areas including wearable computing, smart homes and self-sustaining sensor networks."

The researchers published their results at the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Data Communication 2013 conference in Hong Kong, taking place in Hong Kong recently. They received the conference's best paper award for their research.

"Our devices form a network out of thin air," said co-author Joshua Smith, a UW associate professor of computer science and engineering. "You can reflect these signals slightly to create a Morse code of communication between battery-free devices."

According to the university, smart sensors could be built and placed permanently inside nearly any structure, then set to communicate with each other. It is claimed that the sensors could be placed in a bridge to monitor the health of the concrete and steel, then send an alert if one of the sensors picks up a hairline crack. The technology can also be used for communication—text messages and emails, for example—in wearable devices.

UWJoshua Smith

The researchers tested the ambient backscatter technique with credit card-sized prototype devices placed within several feet of each other. For each device the researchers built antennas into ordinary circuit boards that flash an LED light when receiving a communication signal from another device.

Groups of the devices were tested in a variety of settings in the Seattle area, including inside an apartment building, on a street corner and on the top level of a car park. These locations ranged from less than half a mile away from a TV tower to about 6.5 miles away.

They found that the devices were able to communicate with each other, even the ones farthest from a TV tower. The receiving devices picked up a signal from their transmitting counterparts at a rate of 1kbps when up to 2.5 feet apart outdoors and 1.5 feet apart indoors. This is enough to send information such as a sensor reading, text messages and contact information.

The researchers were able to demonstrate how one payment card can transfer funds to another card by leveraging the existing wireless signals around them.

The researchers say they plan to continue advancing the capacity and range of the ambient backscatter communication network.

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ARM acquires Sensinode, a vendor of software for 'Internet of Things'

ARM has acquired Sensinode in Finland in its bid to provide technology and processors for the "Internet of things," consisting of a variety of low-power and inexpensive devices including sensors communicating with the Internet and one another.

The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Privately-held Sensinode has led to the creation of the 6LoWPAN and CoAP standards for low-cost, low-power devices to connect to the Internet, ARM said Tuesday.

CoAP, for Constrained Application Protocol, enables web services for constrained devices and networks, while integrating with the Web architecture and HTTP. 6LoWPAN is a standard from the Internet Engineering Task Force first published in 2007, which optimizes IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) for use with low-power, low-bandwidth communication technologies. The technologies reduce the complexity and overhead of key Internet and Web protocols to make them easy to handle by small footprint devices.

ARM is adding Sensinode technologies to its mbed project, an industry collaboration to deliver open source hardware and software building blocks for rapid development of intelligent connected devices. IMS Research said in October that the Internet of Things will have 28 billion Internet-connected devices by the end of 2020.

ARM in Cambridge, U.K., has said it is committed to enabling a standards-based Internet of Things where devices of all types and capabilities are connected through interoperable Internet protocols and Web services.

The company, which licenses the designs for the chips that go into a majority of smartphones, is now targeting the embedded market, providing free software libraries, hardware designs and online tools for professional rapid prototyping of products built around ARM microcontrollers.

ARM will continue to offer Sensinode's NanoStack and NanoService products, built around 6LoWPAN and CoAP, commercially to existing and new customers, it said.

John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breaking news from India for The IDG News Service. Follow John on Twitter at @Johnribeiro. John's e-mail address is john_ribeiro@idg.com

John Ribeiro covers outsourcing and general technology breaking news from India for The IDG News Service.
More by John Ribeiro, IDG News Service

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