Security and nsquared documents

One of the questions commonly asked about nsquared documents is around the security of the NFC tags and the associated PIN.

It is difficult to know how much we should disclose about the way we secure your authentication information. Therefore I will keep this post at a fairly high level and explain the concepts that keep your details safe.

First the obligatory disclaimer; nothing is truly safe. Seriously, if you believe you have a system that is 100% secure you are naïve. In order for encrypted data to be useful it needs to be decrypted. The encryption and decryption is done in software using mathematical algorithms to make it hard for people without the correct corresponding components to access the data. The question, with security, is how hard do you make it for "bad" people to access your information? At nsquared we believe we have made it difficult for anyone to access your data without substantial effort.

When you log in to one of your cloud document stores (OneDrive, Dropbox etc) the service responds with a token that enables the software to access that cloud store. Somehow nsquared documents needs to store that token. We don’t need to store your username and password. In fact we don’t even have access to your username and password. That is hidden by the login screens provided by the cloud store providers (Microsoft and Dropbox). Even if we did have that data we wouldn’t store it, as we don’t need it.

We then associate an NFC tag to that token. The NFC tag contains a unique ID, nothing else. We do not store the token or your PIN on the tag. The tag is like a locker number. It uniquely identifies a place your data is stored. Except it is encrypted. So even with that unique number on your tag your still need to know how to decrypt it in order to find the locker.

So what about the PIN? We never store your PIN anywhere. The only place the PIN is stored is in your head. Please don’t write it down somewhere, your security will be lower. The PIN is a bit like your locker key. We use the PIN in combination with your tag ID to identify who you are, where your data is stored and how to decrypt your data.

If you lose your tag and are concerned about the fact your PIN was written on a sticky note on your desk (yes, you know who I am talking about). Then you can go to your cloud store provider and disable access for nsquared documents to access your store. You can then create a new tag using nsquared documents and this will generate a whole new setup.

• How to unlink from DropBox
• The list of apps connected to your OneDrive Personal account
•  Office 365 app permissions

If you are using a Surface Hub please download the free trial of nsquared documents from here. 

If there are any features you would like to see added to nsquared documents please let us know.

nsquared documents 2.1

The Surface Hub is an incredible achievement. As an interactive multi-user screen it presents a canvas (or surface if you will) upon which your team can collaborate, create, brainstorm, and present ideas.

As a true multi-user device, you do not login to the Surface Hub; who would be the person logged in when a team needs to work together at the screen? Authenticating the entire session for a single person makes sense if only one person is going to need to access their data. The latest update to Windows 10 Creators update does do this, and it alleviates the challenge for a single presenter.

When you have a meeting with multiple people, who want to bring their content to the screen, you need a way for each person to authenticate. Authentication on the Surface Hub is a cumbersome experience. If you log in using the on-screen touch-keyboard you are sharing your password with all the people watching. This is made far worse if your Surface Hub is projected out to other screens on a teleconference or in room.

To solve this problem at nsquared we built nsquared documents, an application that allows multiple people to authenticate with their accounts on the Surface Hub, in the same session. With nsquared documents you associate an NFC tag with your account the first time you use the application.

In the first version we released you could connect to your OneDrive for Business account using your Office 365 account. In version 2.0 we expanded nsquared documents to support your SharePoint and Dropbox accounts. You still only need a single NFC tag and you can access any of the accounts you have added to your profile.

This latest release enables you to also add your OneDrive personal account to the same tag.

With nsquared documents 2.1 you and your team can access files from Dropbox, Office 365, and OneDrive personal accounts.

Create an NFC tag to connect to any of these cloud document stores

Add other cloud document stores to your tag in nsquared documents 2.1

If you are using a Surface Hub, please download the free trial of nsquared documents from here

If there are any features you would like to see added to nsquared documents please let us know.

For more details please watch the video

Microsoft Ignite Australia 2017 - Conversations as a Platform

Have you ever wondered how a computer can learn to speak to a human? Siri and Cortana are recent examples of conversation bots, but the technology has been around for decades in different forms. Last week Dr Neil Roodyn from nsquared presented talks at Microsoft’s Australian tech conference, Ignite. His first two talks were about building bots that can hold a conversation with a customer, and potential ways in which this process could be used for business.

Click on the links below to watch the presentations.   

Conversation as a Platform Part 1 
Neil discusses the ways in which conversations have evolved in contemporary life through the use of various forms of technology. He explains how to code a conversational bot in Microsoft Visual Studio, using the example of ordering food online. Neil talks about how developers can create a good structure for the code, and explains the complex steps of chaining dialogs.

   

Conversation as a Platform Part 2 
In Part 2 Neil discusses ways in which we can create richer conversations between customers and applications. He discusses ways in which programs can make devices seem more intelligent, and how they can use data and ‘machine learning’ to gather information to make accurate predictions about customers. He talks in depth about LUIS – Language Understanding Intelligent Service, which allows apps to understand language. 

Microsoft Ignite Australia

Developers, IT professionals and curious minds across Australia are heading to the Gold Coast next week (14-17 Feb) for Microsoft's Australian Conference, Ignite. Attendees are expected to walk away with new connections and new ideas about how to do things faster, smarter and better.

At nsquared we're most excited about Dr Neil Roodyn's six presentations.
Come and say hello, and remember nsquared is hiring developers.

Conversation As a Platform Part 1

Tue 14 Feb, 4:15 PM

Speak to me, make your app conversational. In this session you will learn how to integrate Cortana, speech, and the Microsoft Bot Framework into your applications.

Read more

Building apps for Surface Hub - 30 minutes of tips, tricks and q&a on Surface Hub dev.

Wed 15 Feb, 1:00 PM

In this session come and find out about building apps for Microsoft’s biggest most stunning screen.

Read more

Conversation As a Platform Part 2

Wed 15 Feb, 6:30 PM

Enlighten me, make your app smarter. In this session you will learn how to integrate cognitive services and machine learning into your conversational applications.

Read more

Developing for Surface Dial and Surface Studio

Thu 16 Feb, 11:30 AM

If building great software for really cool hardware is what gets you up in the morning, this session is for you!

Read more

Building apps for Surface Hub - 30 minutes of tips, tricks and q&a on Surface Hub dev.

Thu 16 Feb, 3:00 PM

In this session come and find out about building apps for Microsoft’s biggest most stunning screen.

Read more

Building apps for Surface Hub - 30 minutes of tips, tricks and q&a on Surface Hub dev.

Fri 17 Feb, 9:45 AM

In this session come and find out about building apps for Microsoft’s biggest most stunning screen.

Read more

Design and Develop Apps for Surface Hub

In the second half of 2016, Dr. Neil, a director of nsquared, spent some time at Microsoft's headquarter office in Redmond, WA to present training in the design and development of apps for the Microsoft Surface Hub.

The Surface Hub has the potential to have a huge impact on the way we interact in office meetings. It is perhaps the ultimate window Microsoft has created; it is a portal to another room. Skype images appear high-quality and allow for natural conversation. Its touchscreen capabilities allow multiple users to interact with it like a simple whiteboard, a place to write up ideas and involve a group.

Designing for the Surface Hub presents its own set of challenges. How can it be accessible for all people, including those who may be in wheel-chairs, for example? How can multiple users interact with it effectively?

The work we have been doing at nsquared has provided a fantastic foundation to support the delivery of great Surface Hub apps. At nsquared we have been focused on building software for large multi-user interactive displays for over eight years. We know the value of large shared screen devices in public spaces and enterprise meeting rooms.

The lessons we have learned are shared and discussed in a series of training videos presented by Dr. Neil. From set-up, to design, to developing; these videos cover how to create great apps for Surface Hub. Presented with the help of Sankar Nemani and Jackie Giusti from Microsoft, they are essential viewing for prospective Surface Hub designers and developers. 

Click here to watch the training videos. 

Our Next Event: Collaborative Learning & The Future Workplace

It's event time again at nsquared and below is your very exclusive invite to our next event!

Following on from our successful By The Fireplace event in October 2015 which was attended by more than 85 tech industry, Design & C-Level executives, it's time for you to save the date - Thursday April 21st - for our next event which will be held in Wynyard.

This event will be even bigger than the last one and will feature panelists shedding light on our topic: Collaborative Learning: How ‘Campfire Moments’ Will Change the Future Workplace.

At this event you will learn about:

• Collaborative learning & 'purpose mastery' in organisations
• How workplace trends such as telecommuting and virtual reality will change everything
• Why collaboration & social connection will become critical to organisations in the future

This is an invite-only event and we will have limited seating so RSVP is essential. Please contact events [at] nsquaredsolutions [dotcom] if you would like to attend!

How Do I Find Out About Digital Tables and Software?

We get a lot of questions about our products… What kind of tables do we have available? Which apps come preloaded on the table? Where is the best place for a DIGITABLE?

We would love to have anyone and everyone interested in a DIGITABLE to come check out our demo tables at our tech space in Sydney, but for those not able to visit us personally we have put our brochure on digitable.co to help answer any questions you might have.

Check out the brochure now, or click on the image below.

 

nsquared produces innovative multi-user software and hardware with cutting edge technology: smart tables for smart solutions. Intuitive technology with a unique user experience, each of our touch tables has been intricately designed to compliment and enhance your team work flow. Rethink the office table. With a range of touch screen meeting tables available, from smart conference tables and interactive desks to coffee touch tables, nsquared has the tools for you to transform your old workspace into a paperless office in the digital age.

Follow nsquared on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook for updates on cutting edge multi-user technology.

#FactFeb Week 2 Catchup

Today marks the end of the second week of #FactFeb. Every day in February, nsquared is releasing a short video showing off a particular feature of nsquared tabletop that you might not know about. nsquared tabletop is our very own operating environment, designed to enhance your multi-user shared screen experience from any angle.

This week, we featured the following:

Did You Know you can prepopulate nsquared maps with your own points of interest?

Did You Know that you can draw on a map in nsquared maps?

 Did You Know that you can email routes from nsquared maps?

 

Did You Know you can send content between the DIGITABLE and any of your compatible devices?

Did You Know that you can send content to other screens by flicking it to the edge of the DIGITABLE?

 

nsquared produces innovative multi-user software and hardware with cutting edge technology: smart tables for smart solutions. Intuitive technology with a unique user experience, each of our touch tables has been intricately designed to compliment and enhance your team work flow. Rethink the office table. With a range of touch screen meeting tables available, from smart conference tables and interactive desks to coffee touch tables, nsquared has the tools for you to transform your old workspace into a paperless office in the digital age.

Follow nsquared on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook for updates on cutting edge multi-user technology.

Win10 What's Up!

A few months ago we were approached by Microsoft to build some fun apps to help junior developers take advantage of the awesome new features of Windows 10.

Optical character recognition technology, IoT hub, Raspberry Pi, the Windows Universal Application Platform… we had a lot to cover in a few small applications.

The result is 4 Win10 Quick Starts, 4 awesome apps:

1. DoorBell. Whodat? Connect to a Raspberry Pi and send a picture of that person at your door straight to your phone. It's so meta.
2.  
3. MusicSync. Never again will you need to synchronise several people in different rooms of your house to hit the play button at the same time. Synchronise music playback through all of your Win10 devices to get the party started. 
4.  
5. CardReader. Throw away that dusty pile of business cards, CardReader automatically transfers them straight into your Windows People app. 
6.  
7. TugOWar. Who is the fastest clicker in the west? Compete against your friends in a heated battle by connecting to up to four Win10 devices.

Test out your coding skills and build something cool, fun and useful. Find them all on the Windows Dev site here.

 
Learn more about nsquared  by  following us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

'The Digital Table' eBook is now available on Kindle!

We have just released 'The Digital Table' eBook on Kindle. Here is a preview!

Download your copy of 'The Digital Table' today to discover our changing relationship with technology, and what this means for our future.

Work Together Better

O happy day!

The final installment of our Future of Work video series has arrived. Over three short videos, we have followed Paula and Sam as they found a new office space at an innovative Realtor and then watched as they collaborated with an Interior Designer to plan their new space. Finally on the latest installment Paula and Sam move into their new office space, complete with cutting edge collaborative innovation.

Work Together Better Video Series

As a team they use nsquared milestone to plan their projects and define their tasks effectively together.

Once project planning is complete the team uses their new touchscreen technology to have quick, pointed meetings. They load PDFs, Word and PowerPoint documents from their local network directly onto the DIGITABLE, annotate together and finally send the annotated files straight to their colleague's desktop device using nsquared presenter.

Team work isn't all serious. Immersive multiplayer games bring everyone together at the end of the day.

Smart tables, smart work flow. The future of work is here.

Click here to watch the Future of Work series now.

Ho ho ho! You are invited to our special Christmas offer

Recently nsquared launched our very first iBook, The Digital Table. In the spirit of Christmas, we are running a special offer and spreading some festive cheer… We are giving away the iBook FREE for the entire month of December.

'The Digital Table' is a beautiful, interactive and fully illustrated 56-page iBook taking a look at our changing relationship with technology, and what this means for our future.

Smart screens, touch screens, smart everything.  Interactive tables, interactive shoes, interactive everything. The future of work, the future of play, the future trends. Human behaviour, innovators, innovation and new technology. The world is changing, but how?

Click on the below banner to get your copy of The Digital Table today!

Have a great Christmas from the team at nsquared!

 

More Personal World

"The future is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed" 

- William Gibson

Everything we need to make computers more personal already exists and has existed for a long time. The main change is the price point. You no longer need to be as rich as Tony Stark in order to have this tech in your hands.

Futuristic tech is no longer limited to the richest few. Real life Tony Stark, Elon Musk. Source: amazonaws.com

Over the coming few years, Moore's law will continue to apply and technology will become more and more personal.

Today on the sunny Gold Coast of Australia, our very own Dr. Neil Roodyn is presenting at Ignite Australia on how to build more personal software for more personal computers. In his talk he will be showing developers how they can build software that has more context awareness and more natural interfaces using common hardware available today.

"Multi-touch technologies have a long history. To put it in perspective, the original work Undertaken by my team was done in 1984, the same year that the first Macintosh computer was released, and we were not the first." 

-Bill Buxton

 
Consider how a modern computer (yes, this includes your phone) can receive inputs; vision (camera), touch, gestures, ink (stylus), speech, identity (fingerprint scanner, face recognition, etc.) These inputs can be used by software to change the way people interact with computers, making the interaction more personal and more natural.

This leads to output from new computers that is more natural as well, computers that speak to us, present emotional content that is tailored to our needs and output that is tangible, touchable, interactive, and even present in our spaces. Technologies such as HoloLens are providing a glimpse into an exciting future on new modes of interactions.

More emotional content fed to us by our devices will mean a limitless number of exciting possibilities. nsquared's iBook, The Digital Table, presents our vision for how we see technology, and simultaneously, our relationships, changing.
 
Technology tailored to us, the future is looking good.

For more on how technology is changing the way we behave, follow nsquared on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.

Enriching the Real Estate Experience

Paula and Sam and looking for a new office space. Sebastian, their real estate agent, uses his DIGITABLE to dynamically present information.

The Real Estate Experience is transformed from a one-way message into a two-way conversation.

Follow Paula and Sam's collaborative journey to opening their own business.

nsquared is rethinking meeting spaces in the digital age. What could be more exciting than buying a house or property?  The nsquared DIGITABLE reimagines the old, static Real Estate Agency. Forget about conference tables and meeting tables, touchscreen and interactive tables are proven to provide rich, emotional experiences for customers and employees alike. Smart tables, smart decisions and the future of work. Check out our video below.

Interested in cutting-edge, collaborative technology? Follow nsquared on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin or Youtube.

Do You Want It Custom?

Digital tables are a unique product, there's no doubt about it.

We get all kinds of requests from people, asking all kinds of things from one-off coffee tables to massive 275 inch displays. We have experience building all kinds of exciting projects too, both software and hardware and we understand better than most the challenges clients can face with a custom project, beyond just financial reasons.

It is an important question to ask, as it is different for every circumstance. Consider your requirements and resources before you ask; do you want it custom?

To help you through your thinking, we've put together a chart:

Do You Want It Custom? Flow Chart

 

Custom projects are great because they are tailored to your precise requirements. They can help alleviate feelings of compromise, or feeling that you are buying unnecessary features, when weighing up options with an off the shelf product. They meet your exact needs. But this, of course, comes at a price.

The nsquared DIGITABLE and DIGITABLE PLUS are our off the shelf tried and tested products, which means a safe and secure purchase. Off the shelf products also have the advantage of a quick turnaround, you can reap the benefits of economies of scale and will likely result in a higher re-sale value.

Take the time to weigh up the pros and cons, it will be worth it in the long run! We are experts in multi-touch smart tables, touch screens and interactive surfaces so don't be afraid to contact us to help make your decision.

Email us here, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Tomorrow's Spaces

Tomorrow's Spaces at Novotel Sydney

How will our retail and hospitality spaces look in 5, 10 and 20 years?

What does tomorrow’s workplace look like?

What are the constraints and success factors for transforming learning spaces for 21st century learning?

How will this all affect our interpersonal interactions?

With a stunning view of a vicious storm rolling in over Darling Harbour from our room provided by our friends from Novotel Darling Harbour, last night was the second event in our series of panel discussions. The theme of the night was "Tomorrow's Spaces", following on from the success of our first talk, "Innovating Collaborative Workflow". Braving a miserable October night, a lively audience listened to 5 distinguished panellists from a broad range of disciplines as they shed insight into how our physical spaces will change to reflect, and impact, our changing behaviours.

The storm didn't stop outside, either, with lively debate igniting in our Barossa Room as the event unfolded. If you couldn't make the event, fear not! The whole evening was recorded and the event in its entirety is available in the video below.

nsquared would like to extend a huge thank you to everyone that made the night possible, with a special thanks to Novotel Darling Harbour our panellists:

Sue Beveridge, Electroboard Education

Angela Brown, Pale Blue Dot Consulting

Barry Mowszowski, DT

Scott Smith, Novotel

Daniel Stiffe, GPT Group

Dr Neil Roodyn, nsquared solutions

How Old Do You Really Look?

The Microsoft How Old? Project has been a phenomenon. The app, built to show off the new Windows 10 facial recognition API and the power of Azure cloud, uses algorithms to determine how old a user's face looks. And, understandably, it has become the definition of viral. It has grown faster than Facebook. It has even grown faster than Angry Birds. The stats speak for themselves:

• 1.2 million visitors per hour in 48 hours
• 540 million photos analysed to date
• More than 1/2 billion photos uploaded in 1 month
• 0-50 million users in just 7 days.
• Ellen even tweeted about it:

But don't stop at Ellen. THERE'S MORE.

We have exciting news: in a world first, the nsquared team is helping to bring the How Old? online experience into a real life experience.

All this work on How Old? has seemed to have weathered nsquared's faces by a few years, but stay tuned to see what this wrinkly crew has to offer. 

Locus: Never Lose Your Friends Again!

Oh Happy Day, nsquared's Locus V2.0 has been released to the world! Locus is the easy peezy friend finding app that keeps you up to date with your friends' whereabouts*.

With brand new shiny app updates available across Android, iPhone and iPad, and with the Universal Windows app coming soon, you can now keep track of all of your friends and loved ones at the tap of a button.

We have completely rebuilt our app to make it the quickest and best version of Locus yet. With a whole new set of 50+ completely redesigned pins and the ability to sync between all of your devices, no location finding app has ever been this good.

• Improved performance
• 50+ new pins
• Bug and notification fixes
• New cloud solution
• Automatically syncs your devices
• Twitter and Facebook integration
• Plus many new and exciting features in the coming months! Stay calm and locate your friends. 

 *Friends not included

Innovative collaboration using the DIGITABLE PLUS

Meet Mark and San from Appétit magazine, a niche publication for food lovers. Appétit is not made by just one person, it is a team effort. Team efforts deserve team technology.  

 

To get the best photos at the best places, they need to know where to go and who to meet. Using the DIGITABLE PLUS they can work together researching alternatives.

They find out where they need to be. They photograph. They interview. They come back to the office and bring it all to the DIGITABLE PLUS.

San types up an outline for her article, while Mark drops his photos in place. They can simultaneously give feedback to each other and decisions are made quickly.  

The editor of Appétit, Aaron, joins them for a dynamic team experience. Collaboration, and negotiation happen instantly as the team gather around the table in a strategically productive meeting. Losing things in distant communication is a long forgotten past as the outcome is captured in digital form as it happens. 

nsquared designs and builds multi-user technology. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn to learn more today.

Size Matters Not

This week's blog is written by our director, Dr Neil Roodyn 

Recently a few things have come together that have me thinking about a question I get asked a lot; 'how big is the company'. Sometimes the question comes in different forms, 'how many developers work there', or 'how many UX designers are in the team', inevitably they come down to a question about the number of people available to work on a project or deliver a solution. The more rigorous form of this questions comes in vendor or supplier questionnaires that ask for a diagram of the organization chart for the organization.

Before I get into a discussion that this question is at best pointless, I would like to take a trip back in time to review how business (especially, but not specifically in technology) has changed in the last 100 years.

The evolution of technology has meant we can as do more with less 'resources'. I put resources in quotes because I have loathing for calling people a resource, they are human beings, calling people a resource belittles their value. Yet I am also including other assets in this bundle of 'resources', including computer power, machinery costs, printing costs, marketing, sales, etc….

For example if you wanted to print out 10,000 copies of a professional color flyer for an event 100 years ago, you would have needed some people to help you with design and layout. Then obtain access to some expensive printing equipment  and people to operate that equipment. Today you can spend an evening at home on your laptop, download countless free templates, layout your flyer as you desire and send it to be printed by email, and delivered within a couple of days to your work place. Of course you can also go to countless online resources (such as Odesk or Fiverr) and find someone who will put the whole thing together for you at a low price. Also you probably wouldn’t bother to actually print it any more, instead it would an email newsletter, or web ad. With the capability of profiling people online, it also means that you might only need 1000 targets to get the desired result, rather than 10,000, as you know so much more about the people with whom you are communicating.

The point is you can do a lot more with a lot less and this is validated in the  Scott Galloway talk 'Who is the Fifth Horseman?' . Galloway points out that technology companies that apply technology internally to help drive their own business are managing to reach very high revenues per employee, Amazon generating $10M in revenue per 17 employees and Apple making $10M in revenue for every 5 employees. While the rest of this talk is fascinating and worth watching. A big take away for me was this small number of people required to achieve great results. Technology is the enabler here, the ability to deliver more with less.

I have recently had some interesting conversations with technologists and investors in the heart of the technology world, Silicon Valley. They are discussing the need for rapid growth and old school thinking that in order to be successful you need to have a fast growth company, and fast growth in traditional terms means, people and 'resources'. It is a common concept that in order to scale up the business you need more people, but is it still true?

Read the full article here


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