Better Battery Life for iPhone 8; People Carrying Flying Drones This Year

Posted: February 14, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

iPhone 8 getting a more expensive stacked logic board. According to macrumors.com, this…combined with a less power hungry OLED screen… will enable the 4.7 inch size iPhone to pack the battery capacity of the 5.5 inch model. The stacked logic board and OLED screen are what will likely push the 10th anniversary iPhone past the $1000 price barrier.

We’ve been promised flying cars for years…really since the ‘40s and ’50’s. Now, something approaching them may be on the way yet this year. Bgr.com reports that Chinese company EHang has been working on a single passenger, self-flying airborne vehicle, much as Airbus and Uber have been. Apparently Dubai may be getting a program using them underway this year. The EHang 184 has 8 rotors on 4 arms, and can carry 220 lbs at just over 35 mph. It has a cruise time of about 25 minutes. Counting takeoff and landing, it will probably be limited to about a 15 mile range.

Verizon Rolls Out $80 Unlimited Data Plan; Google Maps Lets You Share Faves; Cook Says AR May Rival iPhone’s Impact

Posted: February 13, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

For the first time since 2011, Verizon has an unlimited data plan. Macrumors.com says the $80 a month plan called Verizon Unlimited gets you unlimited talk, text and 4G LTE data on one smartphone or tablet or $45 a month for 4 lines. Verizon has had an access charge of $20 per month per smartphone, but it’s not clear if that applies or is included. If it applies, the plan is really $100 per month. Unlike the cheaper T-Mobile and Sprint unlimited plans, Verizon’s includes full HD streaming.

Google Maps has unveiled Lists on Android and iOS. According to techcrunch.com, the feature lets you make lists of places you can share with friends. Some power users have been testing this out since Fall. It appears that Starred and Favorites have some overlap. The Lists can be shared with friends, and even public Lists can be created, similar to Foursquare.

More and more, AR looks like Apples Next Big Thing. In an interview with The Independent, picked up by cnet.com, Tim Cook called Augmented Reality a big idea, like the smartphone. He noted that like a smartphone, AR isn’t limited to certain demographics, countries, or other niche….it can be for nearly everyone. With AR overlays seen through some lightweight glasses….which Apple is reputedly working on with Carl Zeiss, Apple’s Next Big Thing could soon be right before our eyes.

New iPhones May All Have Wireless Charging; Chevy Self-Driving Car…It’s Among Us

Posted: February 10, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A lot has been made about the iPhone 8…OLED screen, possible all-glass form, and wireless charging. Now, businessinsider.com says wireless charging is not only a ‘go,’ but that the 7S and 7S Plus will also get it AND will all be all-glass. KGI Securities also predicts that the wireless charging is one reason the 8 will break the $1000 barrier. Extra layers have to be added to prevent overheating of the 3D Touch sensor from the wireless system. The two phones with the LED screens won’t have this issue. The new 3D touch sensor is expected to provide a better user experience.

General Motors has been testing out its self-driving car, code named Albatross, on the streets of San Francisco. SFGate.com reports that the Cruise Automation division of GM released a video of the vehicle rolling through the Potrero and then Mission neighborhoods. The dash cam video shows that the driver has hands near the wheel, but the car appears to be fully automatic. From the looks of the dash, it’s a Chevy Bolt electric vehicle. Last year, according to theverge.com, General Motors self-driving cars drove nearly 10,000 miles around California. During those test-drives, the cars had to be taken out of autonomous mode 181 times at a rate of 18.5 times per 1,000 miles.

10th Anniversary iPhone Will Break Price Barrier; Facebook Builds In Weather App

Posted: February 9, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The iPhone 8, or X if they call it that for the 10th anniversary, or whatever, will have an amazing new design, by all reports. Apparently, according to appleinsider.com, it will also break new ground in pricing…the $1000 barrier! A new report says it will have a 5.8 inch OLED display, but KGI Securities says the active screen area will really only be 5.1 or 5.2 inches. Although the $1000 price is eye-popping, keep in mind that an iPhone 7 Plus right now with 256 gigs runs $969!

In the never ending quest to keep you and your eyeballs on their apps, Facebook is building out a full blown weather tool into its app. You’ve probably noticed from time to time a little weather blurb showing up at the top of the timeline. Now, thenextweb.com reports that a dedicated weather section is being rolled out on iOS and Android, and will show up in the desktop Facebook app in March.

Apple TV Hires former Amazon Fire Exec; Google Cracks Extreme Picture Zooming

Posted: February 8, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Every year is going to be the year that Apple comes out with its own TV, or otherwise revolutionizes television by breaking cable’s stranglehold with Apple TV. Now, according to 9to5mac.com, they have taken another step in that direction. Apple has hired Timothy Twerdahl, former head of Amazon Fire TV, and before that at Netflix. It’s unclear what Apple might be up to, but this hire shows that Cupertino still thinks TV has an important future role to them.

We’ve all seen it dozens of times…TV and movie crime dramas where they zoom way in on a picture and get a perfect view of the crook blown up to full screen. Of course, in real life, you just get a hash of big pixels…until now. Zdnet.com reports that Google’s AI Brain team has developed something pretty close. By showing lots of images to the Google Brain, it learns and can interpolate the hash into a viewable image of a face or room. Of course, since it’s an educated guess, it couldn’t really be used as evidence, but it’s still a huge step towards making science fiction into reality.

Uber Snags NASA Engineer in Look at Flying Taxis; LG G6 Gets US Drop Date; Rumor-Apple VR Headset This Year

Posted: February 7, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Uber has hired a former NASA engineer named Mark Moore for its Uber Elevate flying taxi project. According to thenextweb.com, Moore worked on feasibility of short haul helicopter type vehicles for urban flight while at NASA. It seems like a crazy wild idea, but hey….could happen, and would that ever revolutionize transportation!

It’s already been known that LG would show its G6 smartphone at Mobile World Congress February 26th. Now, venturebeat.com says it will launch in the US on April 7th, after rolling out in Korea March 9th. The April 7th drop date will give LG a head start on Samsung, which plans to launch the Galaxy S8 April 21st. Word is, the G6 will be the first non-Google phone to launch with Google Assistant.

Augmented and virtual reality evangelist Robert Scoble is saying Apple’s partnership with Carl Zeiss on smart glasses may put an Apple VR headset in the hands of consumers as soon as the middle of this year, or at the latest, next year! Appleinsider.com reports that he claims multiple sources at ‘the highest levels’. Scoble says he expects a very lightweight pair of glasses, with the electronics living elsewhere on the body, like in an iPhone or some other wearable. Zeiss already sells the VR One Plus, which is a headset that holds a user’s smartphone and converts it to a VR or AR system. Scoble is pretty optimistic on the timing…others Apple watchers, like KGI Securities, have said it will be another year and a half before Apple rolls out such a product.

Amazon Future Supermarket-Lots of Robots; Google Maps Gets Makeover; Tech Companies Joined in Opposing Immigration Ban

Posted: February 6, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

As we’ve reported before, Amazon is testing their Amazon Go stores for fresh food sales, but the future could bring radically different supermarkets. Businessinsider.com reports that their future stores could be staffed with just 3-10 humans on the ground floor with over 4000 items people ‘like to touch,’ and no cashiers, no registers or lines. The app on smartphones would detect what was picked from the shelves and bill the customers. Upstairs, a fleet of robots would find and pack other items selected by customers. Amazon has denied that it is working on such a supermarket, but already does use 45,000 robots in 20 fulfillment centers.

Google Maps for Android has been refreshed, with traffic, transit, and places now living in a bottom bar. 9to5google.com says it is a cleaner interface, and that a quick swipe of the bar will bring up more details. Public transit includes travel time and nearby stations, and will even recommend what train or bus to take, based on your work address. It’s rolling out now over Google Play for Android users. No word on when the revised app will be showing up on Apple’s iOS.

In an almost unheard of show of solidarity, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter were part of 97 tech companies that joined in filing an amicus brief at the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals opposing the Trump executive order on immigration. According to techcrunch.com, the companies will probably do so again when the Administration continues the appeal to the Supreme Court.

Waymo Self-Drivers More Independent Last Year; Apple Watch Owns Wearable Market; AT&T Starting 5G Rollout

Posted: February 2, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Alphabet’s Waymo division continues to march relentlessly towards fully autonomous self-driving cars. 9to5google.com says California DMV figures showed far fewer safety related disengages in 2016 and considerably more miles driven. In 2015, there were .8 disengages per 1000 miles, and in 2016 that dropped to .2 per thousand. Both numbers are exceptionally low, and now word is, Waymo has started using an updated sensor suite just last month…which presumably will drive the figures lower.

Apple said they had record sales 4th Quarter for the Apple Watch, but still doesn’t release details. According to data from Strategy Analytics, though, they pumped out 5.2 million of them for the holidays, grabbing 63.4% of the market. Samsung was next at 9.8%. Overall, smartwatches were up a tiny 1% in 2016 from 2015.

Later this year, Austin, Texas and Indianapolis, Indiana will be first to get blazingly fast 5G service from AT&T. Theverge.com reports that speeds will hit 400 Mbps. That’s not true 5G, which is 1Gigabit, but AT&T claims some top speeds will hit that by year’s end. At any rate, it’s 40 times faster than 4G, and unquestionably in the ballpark with fiber speeds.

Amazon Readies Huge Expansion of Prime Air; EU Announces Deal to End Wireless Roaming Charges

Posted: February 1, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Amazon is getting set to drop about a billion and a half dollars beefing up its worldwide air cargo hub at the airport in Hebron, Kentucky, South of Cincinnati. According to cnet.com, it will create 2700 new full and part time jobs. This should send shockwaves through the shipping and fulfillment sector! Amazon already is flying 16 leased Prime Air planes, and will continue to add until their fleet numbers 40. The Hebron hub will load, unload, and sort packages, and has the potential to cut into UPS and FedEx. Right now, Amazon says it’s mainly interested in fulfilling its own shipping needs. The project will take 5-7 years to be up to full speed.

Venturebeat.com reports that the EU has made a deal that will end all roaming charges for consumers across the entire continent. The carriers objected strenuously to this plan when originally presented, but EU negotiators have worked out an agreement on sharing carrier costs and a gradual phase out of ALL caps on data usage. Now, if we could only get that in the US!

No MacBookTouch Bar Use for Bar Exams; Baby Monitor Tracks Breathing Wirelessly

Posted: January 31, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

In the ‘Dark Ages,’ law students couldn’t even take a typewriter with memory into bar exams. Now, many states that allow laptops will require MacBooks with Touch Bars to have that feature disabled in order to be used. Thenextweb.com says it’s because of the ‘predictive text’ feature built in. Assessment software maker ExamSoft notes that this will work in some states, although others….like New York….flatly ban Touch Bar laptops. In the past, California Bar Examiners have required that a device be brought in a week ahead and left with them prior to the exam to prevent un-permitted ‘assistance.’

After an engineer saw a friend’s premature infant hooked up to monitoring equipment at home, an idea was hatched. The engineer and a couple colleagues have come up with Raybaby. According to engadget.com, it is launching on Kickstarter. Raybaby looks like a regular baby monitor, with a camera that picks up movements and connects with smartphone apps. The difference with Raybaby is that it uses wideband radar tech, which can pick up the slightest movement…less than a millimeter…so can detect breathing from up to 15 feet away…even if baby is wrapped in a blanket. The monitor will sell for $250, but it you are an early backer, you can score one for $99.

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