HoloLens Rolls Out Email and Calendar Apps; 72 New Emoji Late June, Including All-Important Bacon!
Posted: June 3, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android N, Apple, AR, Bacon, Calendar, emoji, Google, Hololens, iOS 10, Mail, Microsoft, Unicode 9, VR Leave a commentBecause everybody needs to be working all the time, even when you’re using your Virtual or Augmented Reality system, Microsoft has rolled out dedicated email and calendar apps for HoloLens. Theverge.com says the apps look just like the standard ones, except…you know….in AR. The apps can be pinned into the side area of your view, so as not to spoil your game quite as much. Microsoft did throw in an image of the Seattle skyline at least. If you’re a developer, and have a $3000 HoloLens system, now you’re in luck…you can check your work email constantly.
72….count ‘em….72 new emoji have been approved, and will be out in Unicode 9 June 21st. 9to5google.com reports this includes the all-important bacon one, as well as a selfie one and a clown face…and as the saying goes, ‘many more.’ It’s worth noting that we probably won’t actually get our hands on these until Google releases Android N, and Apple drops iOS 10 this fall.
Xiaomi Getting Ready to Bring Their Smartphones to the US; Apple’s WWDC Starts June 13th
Posted: June 2, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, China, iOS 10, iPhone, Mac, Microsoft, Samsung, Smartphones, Watch, WWDC, Xiaomi Leave a commentAfter following the lead of Samsung and shamelessly aping Apple’s iPhone in their home country of China, it looks like maker Xiaomi is ready for their US closeup. Bgr.com reports that they have become the fastest growing smartphone maker, and now they’re coming to the US. Their latest crop of phones barely resemble the iPhone now, and they’ve purchased about 1500 patents from Microsoft. Xiaomi is known now for selling affordable smartphones with designs and specs that rival much more expensive ones, so if you’re on a budget but want a top flight phone, this could be the real deal.
We knew it was coming soon, and now we have a date. Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference will kick off in San Francisco Monday, June 13th, with the keynote at the usual 10 am Pacific. Bill Graham Civic Auditorium will be crammed to the rafters with tech reporters and developers. By noon that day, we should have lots more details about the next version of Apple’s iPhone/iPad software — iOS 10 — as well as news on Apple Watch, Apple TV and Macs. Cnet.com says they’ll have live coverage, as will a number of other tech sites. We’ll recap things right here. Stay tuned…
Electric Car Builder Faraday to Build Factory in SF Area; Apple Joining the Voice Command Speaker Club
Posted: May 25, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon Echo, Apple, Cortana, Electric cars, Faraday Future, Google, Mare Island, Microsoft, San Francisco, Vallejo, WWDC Leave a commentIt would be the biggest employer to hit Vallejo, Northeast of San Francisco, since the Navy closed the Mare Island submarine base. Los Angeles based Faraday Future, the electric car startup rumored to be backed out of China, is apparently about to lock in a deal to buy a 157 acre site on Mare Island to build a car production facility and showroom. According to San Francisco Business Times, if the deal is done, Faraday has a 6 month window to firm up a proposal to build a million square foot facility on Mare Island. Faraday is already building a billion dollar, 3 million square foot facility in North Las Vegas.
Now that Google has showed it’s answer to the Amazon Echo, there are reports that Apple will have a new speaker and mic, and tools for Siri developers by their upcoming World Wide Developers Conference next month. Thenextweb.com says Apple probably intends to stitch in their Home system for the internet of things in addition to polling for restaurants and checking Maps and the rest. The lone holdout in the AI assistant sweepstakes now is Microsoft with Cortana.
Chromebook Has Outsold Macs; Facebook Testing Customizable Categories for Newsfeeds
Posted: May 20, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Categories, Chromebooks, Facebook, Google, MacBooks, Macs, Microsoft, Newsfeeds Leave a commentGoogle’s cheaply priced Chromebooks outsold Macs in the US. first quarter. The verge.com reports that it’s mainly due to purchases of primary and secondary schools. According to IDC, Mac shipments 1st quarter of the year were around 1.76 million, and Dell, HP, and Lenovo combined to pump out almost 2 Million Chromebooks. While Apple can’t be happy about this, the real angst hast to be at Microsoft. Android apps running under Chrome will only further serve to erode Redmond’s grip on the PC market when that happens this Fall.
Brace yourselves….Facebook is once again monkeying with news feeds. According to thenextweb.com, they are testing out customizable news feed categories. Some people are seeing their mobile app news feeds separated by categories, like travel, music, TV and movies, food, and science. You can apparently also customize the specific news you want to see under those categories, such as animated films or reality TV under the entertainment category. Facebook tests out a lot of features, and if this one is adapted, it may be different than it appears right now.
We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ AR Headsets; Amazon & Microsoft Look to Mapping for Self-Driving Cars
Posted: April 7, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, AR, Audi, Autonomous cars, BMW, Contact Lenses, Digital Mapping, Google, Mercedes, Microsoft, Nokia, Novartis, Samsung, VR Leave a commentHaving just recently had a conversation with a couple of friends in tech about how everyone is excited about virtual and augmented reality, but no one all that much about wearing big, bulky headsets, this caught my eye immediately…and it may be catching your eyes sooner, not later, and immersing them in VR and AR. Cnet.com reports Samsung has gotten a patent for smart contact lenses that will house a camera, movement sensors, transmitter, and display unit. They work in conjunction with a smartphone. You can look at photos and videos from the phone through the lenses. Google is also working along with medical provider Novartis on some smart contacts, albeit ones centering around health. Shrinking VR and AR down to contacts and earbuds? Now THAT’s something that can really take virtual reality mass market!
According to a report, both Amazon and Microsoft are close to getting involved with Here, the digital mapping business for autonomous vehicles. Here was started by Nokia, but bought by a group of German car makers….Mercedes, BMW, & Audi. Theverge.com says a board member at Daimler-parent of Mercedes-confirmed that both Amazon and Microsoft were interested in providing cloud computing capabilities for the mounds of data being gathered by Here’s sensors for autonomous vehicles.
Microsoft- ‘Conversation as a Platform’; Apple Patents Stackable Magnetic Connector
Posted: March 30, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AI, Apple, Artificial Intelligence, Build Conference, Chatbots, Conversation as a platform, Microsoft, Stackable magnetic connector Leave a commentA major theme of Microsoft’s Build conference is artificial intelligence…essentially chatbots being utilized as what they are calling conversation as a platform. Geekwire.com notes that a preview millennial chatbot Microsoft rolled out had to be pulled from the web when it was taught to be racist, so the tech is in a very early stage. Nonetheless, Microsoft is pushing forward with conversation as a platform. As we’ve reported, Microsoft, Google, and Apple are all working towards what may ultimately become the next big operating framework…augmented reality…and AI could play a very big part in that.
Meanwhile, at Apple, they have patented a stackable magnetic connector. Think of the mag safe connector MacBooks have used for power, only allowing for power, data, and peripherals to be daisy chained to the same base device simultaneously. Theverge.com notes that it could be used for more than just connecting a keyboard to a tablet. Theoretically, you could mount your iPhone or iPad like a drive on the desktop of your laptop…and conversely, access files and information on your laptop on a connected phone or tablet. Stay tuned…this could be a cool feature from Cupertino.
Apple Event Moved Back a Week; Microsoft HoloLens Developer Kit Out March 30th-for 3 Grand!
Posted: February 29, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Build Conference, Developer, Hololens, iPhone SE, Microsoft Leave a commentApple’s spring event will be the week of March 21st, instead of earlier, as previously reported. It’s expected that they’ll show off the 4 inch iPhone SE, with the beefed up A9 processor, Live Photos, and Apple Pay. According to 9to5mac.com, the smaller phone won’t have 3D touch like the 6 and 6 Plus. It’s supposed to have 16 gig and 64 gig models, and sell for between $400 and $500. Apple will probably drop the price of the aging 5S down to $250 or less upon rollout of the new SE model.
Preorders have started for Microsoft’s developer edition today. It will start shipping March 30th, for a princely $3000! Microsoft didn’t say when the consumer version would be available. Theverge.com says the HoloLens will be bundled with 7 apps and games for developers. The 30th is also the date for Microsoft’s Build developer conference in San Francisco…tickets sold out in less than a minute!
MS Recalls Some Surface Pro Power Cables; Nanoparticles May be Able to Kill Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria
Posted: January 20, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: antibiotic resistant bacteria, cancer, HIV, Light activated therapeutic nanoparticles, Microsoft, Power cord, Pro 2, Pro 3, quantum dots, Surface Pro, Surface Pro 4 Leave a commentMicrosoft is recalling some Surface Pro power cables. ZDnet.com says they have overheating concerns. The cords are apparently wound too tightly, and as they are twisted or pinched over time, a small number of people have reported the heat issue. The recall does not affect the Surface Pro 4, or non Surface Pro models. If you have a Surface Pro, Pro 2, or Pro 3 bought before March 2015, you should be getting a new power cord.
Researchers at University of Colorado Boulder have found that light activated therapeutic nanoparticles may one day be used to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria. According to bgr.com, the so-called ‘quantum dots,’ 20,000 times smaller than a human hair, can act directly on the infection without affecting the healthy tissue around it. The key these researchers have discovered is to taylor the dots to specific infections by activating the tiny particles with certain light wavelengths. Previously, the quantum dots had been known to kill bacteria, but also damaged the tissue around the area. In tests, the light activated ones killed 92% of the drug resistant bacteria! If perfected, the treatment could also be effective therapy for HIV and cancer.
Samsung Looks Like Apple’s Primary OLED Screen Supplier; Microsoft Planning 2 New Flagship Phones
Posted: January 14, 2016 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple. iPhone, Lumia, Microsoft, Mobile World Congress, OLED, Samsung Leave a commentThere’s been a lot of buzz that Apple will move to OLED screens, like a number of Android phones have and as Apple uses in the Apple Watch. Now, 9to5mac.com reports that a deal is all but signed for Samsung to supply the bulk of OLED iPhone screens. Don’t look for a screen with the more vivid color and deeper blacks in the iPhone 7, though…they’re unlikely to get the new screens into a phone before 2018.
Every now and again, Microsoft does something to remind the world that they still make smartphones. According to businessinsider.com, Redmond may be planning a pair of flagship phones, which they’ll show next month at Mobile World Congress. The Lumia 850 would replace the 830, and there’s a 750 to take over for the 735. Microsoft appears to be keeping the 950, which came out in October. No details on the 750, but the 850 will have a 5.5 inch screen, Qualcomm processor, and 2 gigs of RAM.
Cortana Lands on Android and iOS; A Number of Us Are Rarely Offline
Posted: December 9, 2015 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android, Cortana, Google Now, Internet Use, iOS, Microsoft, Pew, Siri Leave a commentIn what seems like quite a clever move (and a bit of bet-hedging), Microsoft gone live with Cortana for Android and iOS. 9to5google.com notes it’s been a small beta since last month, but now you can check out it’s functionality for real. Since it’s an app, and not baked in, don’t expect it to have the power of Google Now or Siri yet. With Windows Phone still in the basement, Microsoft is smart to be porting over to the two much more widely used mobile systems.
TV and Comedy have had a lot of fun with people being inseparable from their smartphones and computers…everything from chipped people to the Simpsons’ Eye Phone, where the thing replaced an eyeball…so now comes data from Pew research that 21% of Americans go online almost constantly. Drilling down, 73% are online daily, 42% several times a day, 13% several times a week or less. The Luddite contingent of people who never use the internet stands at 13%. They probably still have buggy whips…and I don’t mind insulting them, since they’ll never read this or hear it anyway!
clarkreid 
Recent Comments