The Weekly: 04 August 2013
Highlights
Blackberry removes shakles, Sony builds lenses for phones, stem cell heart beats, finger print unlock in iPhone 5S?, Google downtime proves it's importance, Google patents pay-per-gaze advertisement, Garmin builds GoPro killer, Facebook wants to increase worldwide Internet access.
Blackberry Going Private
It's time Blackberry removes the shackles that prevent them from innovating the way they should. Shareholders more often than not only prevent forward movement of a company because they come with too much bureaucracy and red tape. Passion, maneuverability and creativity needs to return to Blackberry.
Sony Builds Awesome NFC Lens
They're launching external lenses for your Sony smart phones. They to the phones magnetically and communicate via Near Field Communication ( like Bluetooth, only more intimate). Phones with interchangeable camera lenses? Take my money!
Stem Cell Skips A Beat
First there were stem cell burger patties and then it's stem cell beating hearts. Stem cell research has just leveled up, in the wake of alternative 3D printing, in scoring major points in achievements. Hopefully we can have replacement organs and lab meat before we die.
Apple May Possibly Include Finger Print Unlock
They bought a company last year with this technology, and rumors have been going wild lately of the new iPhone 5S with the ability to unlock using your finger print. This may very well be the best thing to happen to the iPhone 5S after the slow-mo video capabilities, which I also hope will be pushed out at the same time.
Google Down for 5 Minutes
Last Friday Google experienced outage for 5 minutes, and saw a 40% plunge in global traffic. One can only imagine the amount of power Google has on the Internet worldwide. Amazing and scary.
Google Patents Pay-per-Gaze Advertisements
While attached to a device that works like Google Glass, Google is able to detect what you're looking at through direction and length of gaze. It can also detect your emotional reaction based on your pupil dilation. This way Google will only pay advertisers if their advertisements actually catch consumers' attention rather than just exposure.
Number One: The most in-your-face advertising ever. Number Two: emotional detection through pupil dilation sounds scary.
Garmin Returns With GoPro Competitor
Garmin has a new action camera many calls the GoPro killer. It's designed like a Contour Roam. Best and worst thing about it is that it had a little display; best being the fact that you can see what you're shooting and worst being the fact that it will suck more battery out of it. It probably won't matter if you're out for a half-day session but it will matter too much if you're out for weeks in the mountains.
Awesomest part is that they have a built-in GPS (true to Garmin) and that it is waterproof without a case like the Contour. And it's actually rugged. Good job on changing with the tides, Garmin!
Facebook Wants To Boost Internet Access
Like Google, Facebook has launched a project to bring Internet to parts of the world still in the dark. Unlike Project Loon though, Facebook targets to lower the cost of sufficient Internet access to 1 percent of the current cost, which they stated include through lower cost smartphones. There will be no plans to change it's infrastructure. That's weird because usually infrastructure like ISPs are the main thing keeping costs high. Sounds like a pretty self-serving plan to me, but as long as it also benefit the general populous I've got no qualms.
Like Google, Facebook has launched a project to bring Internet to parts of the world still in the dark. Unlike Project Loon though, Facebook targets to lower the cost of sufficient Internet access to 1 percent of the current cost, which they stated include through lower cost smartphones. There will be no plans to change it's infrastructure. That's weird because usually infrastructure like ISPs are the main thing keeping costs high. Sounds like a pretty self-serving plan to me, but as long as it also benefit the general populous I've got no qualms.
