How Much Do Two Companies Dominate Smartphones?
Posted: March 19, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: NFC, Smartphones, Smartwatch Leave a commentIf you’ve wished for more variety in the smartphone market, good luck…it’s tough for manufacturers to compete. Bgr.com reports that for the last 6 years, Apple and Samsung have accounted for 88% of all mobile phone profits!
Best Buy and 7-Eleven are making waves in mobile payments. Gigaom.com says they are shutting down near field communications used by Isis and Google. Both are part of a group of big retailers called Merchant Customer Exchange, that uses bar code readers like Starbuck’s.
Samsung is rumored to be working on a Gear 2 smartwatch with a sim card, according to techcrunch.com. It would initially be exclusive in their native Korea. With this Gear 2 you could make calls without being tethered to a smartphone. It’s been a long time coming, but if Dick Tracy were around, he’d finally be getting something even better than his 2-way wrist radio or TV!
How Much Do Two Companies Dominate Smartphones?
Posted: March 19, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: NFC, Smartphones, Smartwatch Leave a commentIf you’ve wished for more variety in the smartphone market, good luck…it’s tough for manufacturers to compete. Bgr.com reports that for the last 6 years, Apple and Samsung have accounted for 88% of all mobile phone profits!
Best Buy and 7-Eleven are making waves in mobile payments. Gigaom.com says they are shutting down near field communications used by Isis and Google. Both are part of a group of big retailers called Merchant Customer Exchange, that uses bar code readers like Starbuck’s.
Samsung is rumored to be working on a Gear 2 smartwatch with a sim card, according to techcrunch.com. It would initially be exclusive in their native Korea. With this Gear 2 you could make calls without being tethered to a smartphone. It’s been a long time coming, but if Dick Tracy were around, he’d finally be getting something even better than his 2-way wrist radio or TV!
iOS 7.1 Is Out…So Are Leaks About iOS 8!
Posted: March 11, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Glass Preview, iOS 8, Unlimited data Leave a commentApple just released the upgrade to iOS, version 7.1 yesterday, but techcrunch.com reports details already leaking about iOS 8. One of the biggest changes is a huge improvement to the shaky Maps app…including better data, augmented reality, and transit information.
Sprint and T-Mobile have continued to offer unlimited data plans for mobile, to siphon off Verizon and AT&T customers, but it looks like even they will be discontinuing them. Bgr.com reports that even with the plans, the carriers are throttling data hogs, so they’re unlimited in name only.
If you’re standing outside a theatre in line wondering which movie to see…there’s an app for that. Gigaom.com reports Google Glass Preview will show you the trailers when you look at the movie posters.
Phone Case To Track Vitals
Posted: March 6, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentBefore Apple rolls out an iWatch, you may be able to check your vitals with an iPhone case. Wello claims it will track your blood pressure, ECG, heart rate, and more with ‘clinical accuracy.’ It’s $199 and will be out in the fall, pending FDA approval. Thenextweb.com says an Android version is also in the works.
Getty Images, the giant stock photo service, has just made images available for free. Theverge.com reports the watermarks are gone…they just request you credit them with a footer and link to the licensing page. Major blog host WordPress has already announced embed support.
Gigaom.com says Motorola has updated its Touchless Control Software. Now, you can ask your Moto X ‘What’s Up?’ or ‘Read my notifications,’ and the app will read them out to you.
Twitter- Password Reset Their Error, Not Hacking
Posted: March 4, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Dish, Facebook, Paper, Twitter Leave a commentA substantial number of users have received an email from Twitter, saying their account has been compromised, and password reset. Thenextweb.com reports that Twitter has admitted that no hacking happened…it was a system error on Twitter’s part.
Dish has cut a deal with Disney, and will get to stream ABC and ESPN programming over the web. According to Gigaom.com, there’s something of a downside…you won’t be able to skip the commercials!
In a move to boost their underwhelming Paper app, cnet.com says Facebook has updated Paper to allow users to share an article by email, text message, or Facebook message…even with people that aren’t your Facebook friends.
iOS for the (Expensive) Car
Posted: March 3, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: iOS, Lasers, Zynga Leave a commentApple’s in-car version of iOS, CarPlay, was officially launched today for Ferrari, Mercedes, & Volvo. Volvo showed a mock up of a dashboard with what looks like a full sized iPad in the middle, and minimal buttons. Thenextweb.com reports that you can use Siri to help you access contacts, make calls, and read you messages and let you dictate responses.
It’s not quite ‘sharks with fricken’ laser beams’ like Dr Evil of Austin Powers fame lusted for, but theverge.com says scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute have mastered controlling a fly’s behavior with lasers. It sounds crazy, but they hope to use a similar technique to try to map the decision making processes of human brains.
Zynga had promised last year they would be reinventing the company. According to recode.net, they are starting to test new mobile versions of three of their biggest games: a new Words with Friends app, a freshened Zynga Poker, and a phone and tablet adaption of Farmville called Farmville 2: Country Escape. They will soft launch in the next few weeks.
Microsoft Considering a Freebie?
Posted: February 28, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bloomberg, Microsoft, TOR, Twitter Leave a commentFor anyone who can remember Microsoft charging $495 or $795 for software, it’s a small victory…according to the verge.com, Redmond is experimenting with a free version of Windows 8.1. It’s being positioned as Windows 8.1 with Bing, and is focused on getting Windows 7 users to upgrade.
At 19 billion, WhatsApp has gotten a lot of notice since being bought by Facebook, and there are lots of messaging services around…some even shred your messages seconds after they’re read…but they travel through regular channels and can be intercepted by the likes of the NSA. Slasdot.org reports that the people that make TOR, the anonymous browser, are developing an anonymous instant messenger that will be rolled out at the TOR Winter Developers Meeting in Iceland.
Net tools get smarter and smarter, and big data marches one. Gigaom.com says Bloomberg now has sentiment analysis tools that tell traders about spikes in positive or negative chatter about companies…in other words, they gauge the collective mood on Twitter for a stock or company.
Another Secret Spy Phone
Posted: February 27, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentWe’ve reported about the Blackphone, which will be out in April. Now, Boeing is working on a secure Android Black phone…two words, in this case. This one goes the Blackphone one better. According to Geekwire.com, like the tape in Mission Impossible, Boeing claims “Any attempt to break open the casing of the device would trigger functions that would delete the data and software contained within the device and make the device inoperable.”
Those naughty chats with pictures you didn’t want anyone to see? You may be unsurprised that the British spy agency GCHQ…with help from the NSA of course, intercepted millions of Yahoo webcam chats. Arstechnica.com says the agency was surprised to find about 7% contained quote “undesirable nudity.”
Techcrunch.com reports that Google has just launched the Google Maps Gallery, extending the public data program in announced last October. Maps from the likes of National Geographic and the USGS are now discoverable.
Gentleman Jim Lange.
Posted: February 26, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentA friend to myself and many, many others has headed to that big radio morning show in the sky. This post is for those who didn’t know Jim Lange, but knew of his work hosting on the Dating Game, Name That Tune, and years on the radio in both San Francisco and L.A. I had the good fortune to be Jim’s alleged boss for several years at KABL in San Francisco.
Whenever I was out in the community, or on a cruise, or at a remote broadcast, the question that came up the most often was ‘what’s Jim Lange really like?’
For all of those who ever asked, or just wondered…he was no diva or prima donna. He was every bit as nice a man as you might have imagined…perhaps even more so. He truly was Gentleman Jim, everywhere he went, and to every soul he met. Passing on a piece of advice he signed off his radio shows with ‘…reminding you always to say please….and thank you!’
Google Fights Restrictions on Glass For Drivers
Posted: February 25, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentGoogle is lobbying in at least 3 states to stop proposed restrictions on drivers using Google Glass. Recode.net says there are 8 states looking at restrictions, but Google has lobbyists on the ground in Illinois, Delaware, and Missouri.
Samsung’s Galaxy S-5 and new wearables have gotten the spotlight the last couple of days, but another smartphone is flying under the radar…the makers hope literally. Thenextweb.com reports that the Blackphone is now available for preorder at $629. Made by Spanish smartphone maker Geeksphone and encrypted communications company Silent Circle, it’s supposed to offer better protection for your personal data. It ships in April.
There’s a lot being said about Facebook’s 19 billion dollar purchase of WhatsApp, but here’s something you may not have heard, that helps make it so valuable…techcrunch.com says it not only enables people to get around telecom companies’ SMS for messaging, but it will add voice services by the 2nd quarter of this year.
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