Facebook Looks to Standalone Apps

After coming out with Facebook Messenger last year, the company is getting ready to release a suite of standalone mobile apps this year. Theverge.com reports. It hasn’t been obvious, but Facebook Messenger hit number one at the App Store over the holidays, beating Instagram and Snapchat. A personalized newsfeed and calendar are thought to be part of the suite.

Recode.net says Twitter is just about ready to make in app payments available with startup Stripe. This could be particularly handy when a tweet pops up that tickets are on sale for a game or concert.

With Microsoft dropping support of Windows XP in just a matter of weeks, banks have started buying extended support agreements from them. Slashdot.org says this is because 95% of ATMs worldwide still use XP!

Learn Perfect Pitch With a Pill

A new study has found that an FDA approved drug called valproate can essentially retrain the brain, allowing adults with little or no musical training to acquire some degree of absolute…or perfect…pitch. This is the ability to pick out and sing and name a note with no reference point. CNET.com reports that the drug…which is normally used to treat epileptic seizures, migraines, and manic episodes…reopens the critical learning period, normally gone after young childhood, for absolute pitch. Researchers are now moving on to see if the drug will have a similar effect on learning other information and tasks. It’s not quite a ‘smart pill,’ but appears to be a step in that direction. As an aside…most musicians would call this relative perfect pitch…actual perfect pitch seems not to be learned, one is born with it!

From Today’s Tech Blogs:

In a market where Samsung and Apple are dominating, you’d think rolling out a line of smartphones might be crazy, but bgr.com reports that HP may be getting set to drop a new smartphone in a matter of days. They are shooting for the lower end of the market…under $250.

Twitter has launched a redesign of its web app, making it look more like its mobile apps for Android and iOS. Theverge.com says all the elements: connect, discover, and so on…stay the same. You will be able to add accent colors to your profile.

Microsoft with a phone that runs Android instead of Windows? That’s apparently going to be the case. Before Nokia’s mobile phone business was absorbed by Microsoft, the Finnish phone company was working on a small entry level phone called Normady internally. Bgr.com reports that some clear pictures have leaked out, and the phone is still being tested, and may launch this year. This little Android phone is reportedly what forced Redmond’s hand, and pushed them into the deal with Nokia. Microsoft seems to be hedging their smartphone bets, looking to run duel tracks of Windows and Android phones moving forward.

Laser Bike Light

Riding a bike at night can be a hair raising experience, for both riders and drivers. Even with lights front and back, and reflectors, accidents and near misses happen far too often. Techcrunch.com has a report on an amazing bike light from startup Blaze. It is not only a very bright headlight, it produces a green laser projection of the bicycle up to 20 feet ahead of the cyclist’s actual location, to give a heads up to drivers. Since almost 80% of bike accidents happen whild cyclists are biking straight ahead and a car turns into them, this could really be a boon. It’s rechargeable, and available for preorder for $200.

Android & Apple Grow, and Intel Drops McAfee Name

Android continues to grow at a brisk pace….thenextweb.com reports that the mobile system will be on over a billion active devices by the end of the year. 75% of users expected in emerging markets.

Meanwhile, don’t feel bad for Apple…according to a Kantner market share report picked up by zdnet.com, the iPhone’s market share has increased the last 3 months on the strength of overseas markets like China and Japan. iPhone share is down from 53% to 43% the last year in the US, however.

With all the antics the past year by John McAfee, this isn’t too surprising, but Intel announced yesterday at CES that the name will be dropped in favor of Intel Security. CNET.com says they’ll keep the iconic red shield, though.

Recode- New Website from Walt Mossberg & Co

The Wall Street Journal’s All Things D tech site has shut down, as Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher and crew left to start their own website. Mossberg was the top tech guy at the Journal for decades, and important enough that Steve Jobs famously used to have dinner with him and leak tidbits about upcoming Apple products.

Mossberg and Swisher’s new site is called recode.net. They use a slash in the logo, but don’t key that in…you’ll get a real estate site. Just type recode.net. The site is already populated with news, reviews, and an exclusive interview with Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich. Mossberg and Swisher will continue to put on high tech events as they did at the Wall Street Journal.

Mossberg says he’ll post his first review next Tuesday from the Consumer Electronics Show. Recode is worth checking out and bookmarking.

In the meantime, the Wall Street Journal has killed All Things D and rebranded it’s tech site WSJ dot D.

Review: Nest Learning Thermostat

The version 2.0 of the Nest Learning Thermostat has been out for a bit now, and it’s been in the vanguard of the connected home. Nest was started by some former Apple people, and it shows in the simplicity of the device.

Andrew, one of our colleagues at the radio station, recently installed one, and we wanted to know what he likes best about it. He remarked that the best thing about it was that it learns your schedule, and would turn on about an hour before he got home to warm the house. He noted that with the recent cold snap, that was particularly appreciated.

Nest has a YouTube video on how to install it yourself, but you have to be at least a little handy. If you have the normal forced air furnace plus air conditioning, it should be pretty straightforward. If you’re not handy, or have a more complex system, Nest’s website will direct you to a local HVAC contractor who will put it in for a hundred bucks additional. The Nest itself is $249.

Nest also has a smoke and carbon monoxide alarm…the Next Protect. If you’re not crazy about gadgets from former Apple people, you should know that Google is also testing a web connected thermostat, according to slashdot.

An Uptick ‘Surfacing’ At Microsoft

With the turmoil over replacing Steve Ballmer as CEO and people still not upgrading to the latest version of Windows 8, Microsoft could use some good news. Computerworld.com says they may be about to get it. The iPad still crushes all comers in the tablet market with 72% of people saying they plan to buy it when they buy a tablet, with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab at 9%, tied with the Google Nexus. The Microsoft Surface is now at 8%.

Why is this good news? Samsung and Google have dropped from 12 and 13% respectively. The iPad and Surface are the only tablets showing growth since August in the percentage of people planning to buy. It’s probably not a fluke… the Windows RT Surface beat the iPad in purchases at Best Buy on Black Friday. Even though many of those were older models sold at a discount, The Surface is showing some signs of life, and that’s good news for Microsoft.

Google and the Next Generation of Robots

Amazon has gotten a lot of buzz about their delivery drones the last week, and we’ve heard that both FedEx and UPS are also working on time. Meanwhile, over at the Google Skunkworks, the ‘don’t be evil’ company is working on revolutionizing robotics for industry. Since summer, Google has bought up 7 tech companies in their quest to build the next generation of robots. These machines would be geared to electronics assembly lines and supply chains, so don’t expect Terminator type ‘bots. Businessinsider.com says Google’s robotics division will be based in Palo Alto, with a satellite office in Japan.

Review: E La Carte

E La Carte has signed a deal with Applebee’s Restaurants, the country’s largest casual dining chain. Techcrunch.com says they plan to have100,000 tableside tablets in all US locations by the end of 2014. Some stores already have them. I had the opportunity to check out E La Carte at the Applebee’s in the Fairfield Mall. You can order appetizers, drinks, and desserts from it, as well as pay your tab. We used the tablet to order drinks, which went flawlessly, but were too full for dessert!

While E La Carte might seem at first blush to be threatening to servers, actually it has a great feature for them and math challenged diners…when you pay from the E La Carte tablet, it suggests different tip options based on percentages…like New York taxis. Instead of figuring the percentage on your smartphone in your lap, just select one of the choices, or you can write in your own amount.

To pay, just swipe your card, and sign. Note: this is the one funky part of E La Carte…there’s no stylus, you sign your name with your fingertip…not the most elegant way to leave your signature! In a nod to the past, Applebee’s may add control of the music, like tabletop jukebox controls of yesteryear. I think most people will find E La Carte easy to use, and even fun!