As developers for tablets and smartphones we like to keep abreast of the latest mobile technology developments . This is a daily digest of mobile development and related technology news gathered from the BBC, the New York Times, New Scientist and the Globe and Mail to name a few. We scour the web for articles concerning, iPhone, iPad and android development, iOS and android operating systems as well as general articles on advances in mobile technology. We hope you find this useful and that it helps to keep you up to date with the latest technology developments.
'Smokey And The Bandit' Car For Sale At Burt Reynolds Auction
If there’s anything more iconic about Burt Reynolds than his mustache, it’s the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am from “Smokey and the Bandit.”
Now, Reynolds is selling just such a car. This one wasn’t used in the film, but was a promotional vehicle for the movie and then given to Reynolds, according to the listing.
“She features a 400 cid Pontiac V-8 engine with just over 12,000 miles, a 4-barrel carburetor and an automatic transmission,” the listing says. “This is an amazing opportunity to own what just might be the coolest car EVER!”
The Trans Am has a pre-auction estimate of $60,000 to $80,000, but with more than a week to go, bidding has already reached $70,000.
The car is part of an auction of some 650 items from the Oscar nominee, including movie memorabilia and props, photos, a letter from Katharine Hepburn and his 1978 People’s Choice Award for Favorite Motion Picture Actor.
“I have been in the auction community for 25 years and I’ve never seen an opportunity like this,” Museum of Television president James Comisar told Fox News. “My guess is that these artifacts offered in the auction will go for 10 times their estimate.”
Other “Bandit”-related memorabilia for sale in the auction includes a 1997 Dodge Ram pickup truck with a portrait of Reynolds as “The Bandit” on the hood as well as a “Bandit” go-cart. There’s also a shirt and red jacket he wore in the sequel.
Bids are being accepted online now, and will conclude Dec. 11 and 12 with a live auction in Las Vegas.
While it has been reported that the auction was motivated by financial troubles, Reynolds said it’s just time for the stuff to go.
“I am simply selling some of my memorabilia that I have enjoyed for so many years but do not have use nor room for them anymore,” he told “Entertainment Tonight,” according to the Los Angeles Times. “Quite frankly, I am sick of so many pictures of myself in my own home.”
Reynolds is being sued by the Bank of Florida for missing $1.4 million in payments on his 5-bedroom Florida home, The Independent reports. The paper says he has been trying to sell the property, but the value has dropped from $9 million to $2.9 million since 2011.
If you really want to own a Burt Reynolds Trans Am and miss this auction, you’ll have another chance next month. A 1978 vehicle, also done up to look like the car from the film and owned by Reynolds from 2005 to 2009 will be sold by Mecum Auctions in January.
Apple dominates mobile online shopping at 78 percent in US
A new study that monitored US holiday shopping from mobile devices between Thanksgiving through to Cyber Monday showed results exactly in line with similar surveys from last summer, noting that Apple iOS devices accounted for about 78 percent of orders, with Android accounting for only 21.6 percent of online sales from mobile devices. Analytics firm Custora noted the consistency between holiday and non-holiday buying patterns, with iOS and Android showing the same respective percentages last summer as well.
Electronic Etiquette in the Digital Age
A New Normal
Americans have not as of yet decided how to deal with the incursion of portable digital technologies into our everyday public life. We are only now just beginning to address the intrusion these devices can and do create in our public places and spaces, and we are only now starting to develop new social norms on how and when we use them.
How to be Present and Simultaneously Absent
The problem with all these portable technologies (mainly smartphones) is that the freedom they afford us in unfettered access creates a public statement that: “Where I am and what I am doing now is not where I actually am or want to be”. In short, all these technologies in effect shift time and space. A rather disconcerting feeling is communicated indirectly when we are in a public space yet seem to be connected elsewhere. I believe this unconsciously violates our psychobiological safety and survival mechanisms and produces a feeling of ill-at-ease in those around us. If we are psychologically absent when in public, then those around us don’t quite know what to expect. Many of the normal (and predictable) social cues are shifted in the electronic netherworld. Because digital technologies have a way of shifting time and space, in so doing they covey a rather mixed message to the real-time social world…..that is “I am here, but not really”. We are left in a world of electronic phantoms–partly- in and partly-out of the real-time social fabric of daily living.
What the Future Holds
My prediction is that many pubic places will begin to develop digital use policies–just as some restaurants are offering meal discounts if you agree to leave your phone in the car! In fact, that might not be a bad idea…to be in the social world without the intrusive digital distraction of our devices. Call it an experiment in conscious, real-time living.
Constant accessibility and time-shifting from digital technology contributes to our not living in the here and now, thus furthering a high-tech, high-stress lifestyle. Our hyper-vigilant, always-on state of arousal elevates our stress hormones (cortisol) thus further leading to our feeling depleted. One way to manage this tech-stress syndrome is to take control of the unpredictable and variable (hence addictive, slot machine-like) intrusion of beeps and buzzes from incoming messages and updates and turning our phones completely off thus taking some time to manage our technology instead of it managing us.
Sony Struggles To Recover After Hack
(Adds memo to staff, cooperation with Japan, pirated films, expert comment)
By Ronald Grover , Mark Hosenball and Jim Finkle
LOS ANGELES/WASHINGTON/BOSTON, Dec 2 (Reuters) – Eight days after a massive cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Hollywood studio was still struggling to restore some systems on Tuesday evening as investigators combed for evidence to identify the culprit.
Some employees at the Sony Corp entertainment unit were given new computers to replace ones that had been attacked with the rare data-wiping virus, which had made their machines unable to operate, according to a person with knowledge of Sony’s operations.
In a memo to staff seen by Reuters, studio co-chiefs Michael Lynton and Amy Pascal acknowledged that “a large amount of confidential Sony Pictures Entertainment data has been stolen by the cyber attackers, including personnel information and business documents.”
They are “not yet sure of the full scope of information that the attackers have or might release,” according to the memo first reported by Variety, and encouraged employees to take advantage of identity protection services being offered.
Their concern underscores the severity of the breach, which experts say is the first major attack on a U.S. company to use a highly destructive class of malicious software that is designed to make computer networks unable to operate.
Government investigators led by the FBI are considering multiple suspects in the attack, including North Korea, according to a U.S. national security official with knowledge of the investigation.
The FBI said Tuesday that it is working with its counterparts in Sony’s home country of Japan in the investigation.
That comes after it warned U.S. businesses on Monday about hackers’ use of malicious software and suggested ways to defend themselves. The warning said some of the software used by the hackers had been compiled in Korean, but it did not discuss any possible connection to North Korea.
SONY’S TROUBLES
The hack, which was launched Nov. 24, only affected computers with Microsoft Corp’s Windows software, so Sony employees using Apple Inc Macs, including many in the marketing department, had not been affected, according to the person familiar with Sony’s operations, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the attack.
Sony Pictures Entertainment shut down its internal computer network last week to prevent the data-wiping software from causing further damage, forcing employees to use paper and pen.
The studio has brought some systems back on line, focusing first on those from which the company generates revenues, including those involved with marketing and distributing its films and TV shows, according to the person.
The hack comes at a tough time for Sony, following soon after a denial-of-service attack on Sony’s PlayStation Network in August. Sony was also victim of a notorious 2011 breach that compromised data of tens of millions of PlayStation Network users.
It also comes just as the company’s CEO Kazuo Hirai is trying to grow the entertainment business to help offset losses in its mobile division.
He has been under pressure to prove the segment’s growth potential after rejecting a proposal by U.S. hedge fund Third Point to spin it off last year.
FORENSIC INVESTIGATION
People claiming responsibility for this latest attack have posted high-quality digital copies of yet-to-be-released Sony films and what they claim are sensitive data about its operations and employees on Internet download sites, making them freely available to the public in a series of releases over the past five days.
Sony’s holiday musical “Annie,” which is due to be released Dec. 19 in the United States, was available for download on a popular piracy site on Tuesday evening.
Daniel Clemens, chief executive of cyber security firm PacketNinjas, said he has reviewed the files released to date and believes they were stolen from Sony.
He said he found business contracts as well as Social Security numbers, salary information and medical data about employees.
“This is a horrible compromise,” Clemens said.
The U.S. national security official, who asked to remain anonymous, told Reuters on Tuesday that the forensic investigation is in its early stages, and that no clear suspects have emerged.
The technology news site Re/code reported Nov. 28 that Sony was investigating whether hackers working on behalf of the North Korean government were responsible for the attack as retribution for the company’s backing of the film “The Interview.”
The comedy, which is due to be released in the United States and Canada on Dec. 25, is about a CIA plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Pyongyang denounced the film as “an act of war” in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in June. (Additional reporting by Lisa Richwine in Los Angeles; Editing by Mary Milliken, Lisa Shumaker and Rachel Armstrong)
Russian lawmaker calls for ban on iPhone for parliament politicians
A member of the center-left Fair Russia party and State Duma lawmaker is proposing a bill that would recommend that all Russian parliament members stop using iPhones and iPads to protect themselves from foreign eavesdropping, based primarily on what appears to be a false report that the Russian military has done the same. The Defense Ministry has since denied the report from the newspaper Izvestia, but the bill has again opened the question of whether foreign-made smartphones and tablets are secure.
'Revenge Porn' Law Sees First Conviction In California
A man who posted nude photos of his ex-girlfriend without her consent on her employer’s Facebook page is the first person to be convicted under California’s “revenge porn” law, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office reported Monday.
Noe Iniguez, 36, of Los Angeles was sentenced Monday to one year in jail and 36 months of probation and will be required to attend domestic violence counseling for violating both the state’s revenge porn statute and two restraining orders. He was prosecuted by Deputy City Attorney Brad Pregerson.
Iniguez’s actions, including posting derogatory comments about his ex and a topless photo of her with a message calling her a “drunk” and a “slut” and urging the employer to fire her, are part of a larger, troubling trend that pushed California lawmakers to adopt the first legislation in October 2013 against these vengeful attacks. More than a dozen states have followed California’s lead and passed similar laws.
“California’s new revenge porn law gives prosecutors a valuable tool to protect victims whose lives and reputations have been upended by a person they once trusted,” City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a press release Monday. “This conviction sends a strong message that this type of malicious behavior will not be tolerated.”
The legislation was largely in response to the increase of online attacks like those made by Iniguez and the sudden appearance of sites dedicated to revenge porn that profit off victims’ humiliation by charging them fees to remove the photos. In February, California Attorney General Kamala Harris announced she would be charging Oklahoma resident Casey E. Meyering for posting photos of California women on his revenge porn site, WinByState.
State Sen. Anthony Cannella (R-Ceres), who introduced the law under which Iniguez was convicted, told HuffPost he was proud to author the legislation.
“As technology evolves, it is important that government act to protect our citizens from new types of crime, and while I’m sad these crimes exist, I am happy to see my legislation doing what it’s supposed to do — protecting victims,” he said in an email.
While the American Civil Liberties Union has spoken out against revenge porn laws in other states, citing loose language it says allow for too many loopholes and unfair arrests, an ACLU of Northern California spokesman told HuffPost that the organization was neutral on California’s bill when it was introduced and does not have any stance on Iniguez’s conviction.
Start-up funerals celebrate failure
A funeral for dead tech companies
This Graph Reveals Just How Nerve-Racking Proposing Can Be
Proposing to your significant other is a big deal. The planning, the ring, the suspense. It’s enough to get one’s heart racing.
One man wanted to literally measure his heart rate as he set out to propose to his girlfriend on a trip to Rome. Redditor Sesipikai was interested in recording the body’s physiological response when he popped the question, so he wore a heart monitor to measure exactly when his heart rate would rise and fall.
He posted an image of the graph on Reddit with this caption: “Wore a heart rate belt during my trip to Rome. Export data to xml file. Created a graph using Ms Excel.”
The chart, which measured Sesipikai’s BPMs (beats per minute), showed his heartrate climbing as the couple entered The Forum and peaking as he “started proposing using actual words.” According to the graph, as soon as the words were out of his mouth, his heart started to settle.
Clever commenters soon took to the thread with puns galore:
“Soon to be Mrs Excel.”
“I hear she’s really good between the spreadsheets.”
Then there were the Redditors who chimed in with their own tales of solidarity:
“My heart beat like crazy for a solid ten minutes waiting on a private moment and knowing it could come any second.”
“It’s that moment when you get down on your knee, look up at them, and take the ring out of your pocket. I never realized how stressful it would be until that day, and I’m fairly certain I stopped breathing for a few seconds once I knelt down.”
The question that remains is, will he wear the heart rate monitor at his wedding?
H/T Reddit
How We Are Clicking Away Our Constitutional Rights
My computer really knows me… actually it feels like, sometimes, it knows me a bit too well. When I go online, my news feed is tailored with partisan precision. Products I want are conspicuously advertised on the margins of the screen. Invites to career-enhancing connections ding into my email inbox. A prescribed personal fitness routine is colorfully graphed, and my new favorite song is just a click away. Is it telepathy? No, it is just the work of billion-dollar data collection systems owned by private corporations that aggregate seemingly innocuous information into what is generally referred to as “big data.”
Through complex, predictive algorithms, a proverbial digital hall of mirrors is created in which each of us can play and work. Through the accumulation and automated analysis of millions of bits of information, these companies seek to predict such things as our shopping habits, associations, health needs, religious leanings, and political beliefs. All of this information creates a digital mosaic that reveals far more about who I am than any conventional search of my home.
It’s a good thing that the government doesn’t have access to “cyber-me”… or does it? While Big Brother may be required to get a warrant to search my actual computer, that is of little comfort if it can remotely access an intimate montage of my life with far more ease and based on far less suspicion of wrongdoing. You may assume that some evidence of lawlessness is a prerequisite for a government official getting ahold of a gift-wrapped package containing the digital “you,” but the reality is that the law is not there yet.
John Adams, James Madison, and other American founders were especially concerned about Great Britain’s use of general warrants, called writs of assistance, to harass colonists by arbitrarily searching their homes. Therefore, the First Congress of the United States proposed — and the states later ratified — the Fourth Amendment, which requires the government to have a substantial and particularized suspicion before conducting a search of the private sphere. This right has become the most formidable bulwark against the government unjustly entering into our private lives.
Despite this founding legacy, we seem blithely unaware or coldly indifferent to the reality that we are implicitly — and repeatedly — waiving a fundamental constitutional right dozens of times every day. Google searches, phone numbers dialed, people you text and email, websites visited, banking records, fitness tracking biometrics, and geolocation data can easily be accessed by a prosecutor without a court order as long as these materials are relevant to any legitimate criminal investigation, which is a far lower standard than the probable cause required for a search warrant.
Sure, many self-proclaimed “good” citizens will read this and take the position that they have nothing to hide and, therefore, nothing to fear from laying bare their entire digital lives. To be sure, younger generations have already mastered the art of oversharing, and there seems to be an ever-increasing priority put on unfettered communication and convenience over privacy. Certainly to have any sort of social life these days or to be in any modern labor market, you will leave a cyber-trail. Obviously, we can’t put the figurative toothpaste back in the tube, so the more salient question is whether the technological advances in recent years compel us to rethink the legal principles that allow the government to bypass the warrant requirement when obtaining personal data from private technology companies.
The heart of the big data privacy void is rooted in a long-standing legal rule exempting Fourth Amendment protection of personal information that has been voluntarily conveyed to a third party. In short, the rationale behind such a precedent turns on the technicality that the government is not obtaining this evidence directly from you, but rather from a third party — usually a private company. In the eyes of the law, you have implicitly agreed that you have no “expectation of privacy” for personal information once you click it into cyberspace. This, in turn, means that the government is not legally conducting a “search” when it seizes that information from the private companies, and only a “search” by the government requires cops to first provide probable cause of wrongdoing to a judge.
There is a rapidly growing discord between this “third party doctrine” and free participation in the burgeoning “Internet of Things.” I can only hope that you are already aware that every time you write an email, make a phone call, upload your data from your fitness tracker, send a text, visit an Internet site, or make a bank deposit, you are “voluntarily” conveying information to someone else: the phone company, your Internet provider, banker, and such. So what is really voluntary about communicating by email or making a cell phone call in a world that demands broad technological engagement? Don’t we have a right to convey some information to a private entity and still require the government to demonstrate probable cause to get its hands on it? The short answer is no, but in 1979, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall passionately, but ultimately unsuccessfully, argued to his colleagues that they should adopt a distinction: “Privacy is not a discrete commodity, possessed absolutely or not at all.” I find it amazing that he understood this virtue so well at a time when the Sony Walkman was just coming into vogue, surfing the Internet was a decade off, and a 250-megabyte hard drive weighed 550 pounds.
In a landmark 2012 Supreme Court case analyzing the legality of police officers attaching a GPS tracking device to a suspect’s vehicle for an extended period of time, Justice Sonia Sotomayor directly confronted the archaic nature of the third party doctrine:
This approach is ill suited to the digital age, in which people reveal a great deal of information about themselves to third parties in the course of carrying out mundane tasks… I for one doubt that people would accept without complaint the warrantless disclosure to the government of a list of every website they had visited in the last week, or month, or year.
In June of 2014, the Supreme Court modernized its jurisprudence a tad by unanimously holding that the digital information contained on a cell phone is so extensive and intimate that police need a search warrant to access it upon a suspect’s arrest. But before you take too much comfort in the Supreme Court’s tepid embrace of the twenty-first century, you should know that, hidden in a footnote, the court explicitly excluded data held in the possession of a third party, thereby keeping rulings authorizing access to such data by the government without probable cause in place.
Then there is a related, but discrete issue brought to the forefront by the controversial disclosures of Edward Snowden in June of 2013 about the National Security Administration’s indiscriminate bulk collection of personal data. There remains an important question about whether it is practical or prudent to limit the government’s warrantless use of data to confront grave national security threats. Privacy experts are skeptical about the efficacy of this type of restriction, but note that certain European countries have successfully implemented such use restriction policies in the face of an exponentially increasing and seemingly unstoppable emanation of electronic personal information.
With the breakneck speed of technological advancement, we will continue to encounter more nuanced and more complex privacy challenges. The approach we take to emerging fads such as wearable fitness trackers that collect and upload heart rate, sleeping times, calories burned, GPS locations, and total amount of physical activity will help stake out the confines of privacy in the future.
Privacy goes to the very heart of American liberty. As a criminal prosecutor, I am confident that balance will be found between the fair use of such personal data in prosecutions and the societal benefits of the unfettered use of technology’s conveniences. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis, probably America’s most eloquent and passionate proponent of privacy rights, wrote the following in a dissent in 1928:
The makers of our Constitution… sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions, and their sensations. They conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone — the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.
I have little doubt that, if still alive, Brandeis would tell the courts that it is just plain foolish to compromise the principles of liberty embodied in the Fourth Amendment by continuing to apply rotary dial standards to a Facebook world.
iPhones Of The Future Could Save Themselves When You Drop Them
Anyone who’s ever dropped their phone knows the feeling of sheer terror as it slips from your hand and plummets to the ground below. So wouldn’t it be great if so-called “smartphones” were smart enough to save themselves?
A patent awarded to Apple Tuesday could make that dream a reality. Labeled a “protective mechanism for an electronic device,” the patent describes a sensor that can detect when your device is falling and work with internal components to shift the gadget’s center of mass to minimize damage.
The falling device would correct itself like a cat. (Source)
As Gizmodo’s Adam Clark Estes put it, the device would basically fall like a cat. It would “reflexively” move itself with a motor in mid-air and land in a way that protects its fragile parts.
A diagram from the patent shows a theoretical electronic device in freefall…
… that is saved by a mechanism that corrects its path mid-flight.
The press first covered the patent in March 2013, though the online document says it was filed in September 2011.
The new mechanism would apparently fit within a phone.
Of course, just because Apple was awarded a patent doesn’t mean consumers can expect to see the mechanism in their phones or laptops anytime soon. In July, Apple won a patent for a type of nearly indestructible glass that some thought would be used in the iPhone 6. However, that didn’t happen.
Toshiba Encore 2 Windows Tablet – First Impressions
One of the things that I have missed since leaving the iOS wilderness has been a tablet device. I loved my iPad Air and I increasingly found that I was having to schlep around my Windows powered MacBook for what I use to do on my iPad. With Black Friday coming up last week, I decided to pick up an inexpensive Windows tablet to fill the gap. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money in case I absolutely hated the experience and thought it would be a good launch point for a more advanced tablet if I wanted
The post Toshiba Encore 2 Windows Tablet – First Impressions appeared first on Clinton Fitch.
Zillow Accused Of Subjecting Female Employees To 'Sexual Torture'
Zillow has built up a $4.5 billion valuation by amassing an immense real estate database. But a lawsuit filed in a California court accuses the company of cultivating an “adult frat house” culture in which female employees are constantly solicited for sex by co-workers, ranked on their breast size, and fired if they refuse to play along.
VIDEO: BBC presenter talks to Cleverbot
BBC News presenter Philippa Thomas had a conversation with Cleverbot, and its creator Rollo Carpenter.
Jeff Bezos: An Urban Office Is A Better Perk Than Free Massages
NEW YORK — A lot of tech companies are famous for perks like massages, fancy snacks and free gourmet meals.
Amazon isn’t one of those companies.
But Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO, said Tuesday that Amazon employees enjoy several perks, despite the fact that the company isn’t providing some of the lavish benefits offered at other top tech companies.
“We could save a lot of money by moving to the suburbs of Seattle,” Bezos told Business Insider’s founder and CEO Henry Blodget before an audience at the online publication’s Ignition conference. “We have chosen instead to build an urban campus, and it is … a spectacular benefit for the employees. I think it’s one they enjoy much more than free massages.”
Blodget had said he was surprised to find on a recent visit to Amazon’s Seattle headquarters that employees have to pay for their own food, which is not the case at many tech companies.
Bezos told Blodget that he “rejects the premise” that Amazon employees don’t have great perks. In addition to citing salary and company stock grants, Bezos said that 15 percent of the roughly 20,000 employees who work at Amazon’s downtown Seattle campus live in the same ZIP code as the office. Twenty percent of employees who work there walk to work, Bezos said.
As for food? Bezos said that there’s “an unbelievable food truck scene around our headquarters.”
The Amazon chief also touted the fact that people can open their office windows.
“People, it turns out, really like fresh air, so even though it’s complicated to have people have control of their own windows and it complicates the HVAC system, it’s worth doing,” he said.
Employees can also bring dogs to work, Bezos noted. And in the nearly 20 years that the company has allowed the practice, only a “handful” of dogs have been “banished” for bad behavior, he said.
“If you’re ever talking to some college student who you really care about — maybe a niece or nephew — you should definitely advise them that the best way to pick a job is who has the best massages,” he said sarcastically, eliciting laughs. “It’ll really lead them in the right direction for the rest of their career.”
As Brad Stone details in The Everything Store, his book about Amazon, the company is notoriously frugal. “Conference-room tables are a collection of blond-wood door-desks shoved together side by side,” Stone writes. Employees also have to pay some of the monthly fee to park at the company’s headquarters, according to Stone. And when someone leaves Amazon, that person not only has to give back the laptop dock and power adapter he or she got in orientation, but also the backpack, Stone writes.
The idea is that money isn’t spent on perks for employees, but instead goes toward giving customers lower prices, the book says.
Of course, corporate perks don’t apply to warehouse workers who staff Amazon’s dozens of “fulfillment centers” around the country, some of whom have complained about working conditions. There is currently a lawsuit in front of the Supreme Court over whether these workers should be paid for the time after their shifts that they have to wait to be searched for stolen items.
Bezos and Amazon are under intense pressure from shareholders to make a profit. The 20-year-old company’s stock is down nearly 17 percent over the last 12 months, and Amazon reported a net loss of $437 million last quarter.
This Company Wants To Put Women Front And Center Of The Wearable Technology Trend
Fitness trackers like the Nike Fuel Band, Jawbone Up and FitBit have been pegged the “it” gifts of this holiday season. Now a newcomer to the market aims to break out of that crowd by living up to a simple promise: Make wearable tech actually wearable — for women.
Mira Fitness, the Chicago-area company behind the forthcoming Mira band, knows there’s plenty of demand. U.S. consumer awareness of wearable fitness devices — evolved pedometers which can track everything from calorie consumption to blood pressure — soared from 30 to 70 percent between November 2013 and July, NBC reports. It’s the supply part Mira intends to address.
“With wearable tech, it’s sort of a one-size-fits-all field,” Mira’s director of marketing Lindsay Slutzky told The Huffington Post. “And with wearable tech being such a male-dominated industry, we wanted to offer a solution that was suited for women.”
Slutzky said the Mira band and its companion app target women who are fitness-minded but not necessarily hard-core performance athletes. To be a truly wearable piece of tech, Mira is designed to be more adaptable and versatile than competing devices that can be either too sporty for more glamorous getups, or too glitzy to be gym-appropriate.
Designed to sit on bracelet available in two finishes, the Mira tracker looks more like jewelry than technology. For the gym or other more casual looks, the tracker detaches into a discreet clip.
“Getting it into the mainstream is not the challenge — it’s making it stick,” Slutzky added. “We don’t want this to end up in a drawer unused.”
The Mira fitness band tracker detaches from its bracelet, so it can be worn as both a fashion accessory and a discreet workout or casual-wear device.
Elise Oldenburg was an early adopter of wearable fitness trackers. The Chicago-based 26-year-old customer service manager told The Huffington Post she had the original Jawbone Up band, but now only uses it to track her sleep at night.
“The bands look nice when you’re wearing jeans and a sweater, but not so much when you’re wearing a dress to work,” Oldenburg said. “If it’s not a bracelet that you could wear with your outfits everyday, why would you wear it every day?
“I’m still looking for an alternative,” Oldenburg said.
Sarina Klein, meanwhile, owns both a FitBit and a Jawbone Up. She wears the latter every day.
“They both have equal pros and cons for me,” the 32-year-old Chicago teacher said. Style isn’t her prevailing concern, though she admits the sporty nature of her FitBit can “look weird” when going out at night.
Mira’s creators said they wanted to make a device for women that integrated seamlessly into their lifestyle — and didn’t scream “technology.”
For Mira or any other device to succeed in the women’s wearable fitness market, Slutzky said products have to change the conversation to make wearable tech more about lifestyle.
Mana Ionescu, a 37-year-old self-described “device nerd” who founded social media marketing firm Lightspan Digital, told The Huffington Post she saw Mira’s $10,000 fundraising campaign on Kickstarter and was “tempted” to buy — but has yet to make up her mind.
“I walked into Best Buy on Black Friday and they had a whole aisle on fitness trackers,” Ionescu said. “I think the marketplace is pretty saturated right now.”
Mira, which plans to roll out product starting in January regardless of the success of its Kickstarter push, addresses what Slutzky said test users found most important: Style, personal support like motivations or reminders, and time.
To shore up the support angle, Slutzky said the Mira app pushes out funny reminders and motivations to drink more water or take more steps.
“A lot of the women we worked with wanted a little push, but it had to be motivating and not intimidating,” Slutzky said.
And when it comes to time, Slutzky said the few devices do a good job of contextualizing all the data they collect.
“A lot of these fitness wearable apps feed you tons of data, and a lot of our users don’t know what to do with that,” Slutzky said, “So what if i walked 10,000 steps? How does that fit into my larger fitness achievement?”
As Mira works to hone in on its target audience of young to middle-aged professional women, Slutzky predicts the next generation of wearable fitness trackers will follow her company’s lead and zero in on one audience.
“Wearable tech needs to start being more targeted and there’s a place for lots of different targets,” Slutzky said. “Women, children, you’re going to see all these different niches.”
Internet of Things, The Game Changer
The world has never seen something like this, not even science fiction movies did not exactly predict this. We have seen a drop in the ocean of what’s about to happen, approaching us at a lightning speed. Internet of Things (IoT) is emerging as the groundbreaking industry expected to be $19 trillion, in 2020 more than 50 billion devices will be connected to the internet, and IoT will be in full swing by 2025, but the race has begun.
Therefore, the question remains what’s the Internet of Things? IoT is the connection of devices and appliances to the internet, where they can interact with each other without humans in the equation; this is where artificial intelligence comes in. These smart appliances will be enabled to be controlled remotely by your smartphone too.
Possibilities are endless; your smartphone may know about your health more than your doctor does, your fridge may know about your diet than you know. Traffic system will get to a point where it will control itself to better monitor traffic, send the information to your car to navigate the city more easily; collect the data of what’s happening on the road of accidents and traffic congestions, then send it over to the transport department.
Google and Facebook among many organizations are advocating for free internet, to further get the next 3 billion people online. However these two mentioned companies are serving self-interest because once you get online, they will commercialize your visit to the visual world.
On the other hand there is a war between operating systems namely iOS, Android and Windows who will determine what kind of a deal the end user gets. Apple in March 2014 formed “In The Car” (iOSitC) for the automotive industry, and recruited brands like Jaguar, BMW, Chevrolet and Ferrari; while Google in January 2014 formed Open Automotive Alliance, and signed General Motors, Honda and Audi for their Android system.
Internet of Things poise a tremendous cyber security risk, where real crime will move online; besides financial risk which is presently taking place, but this time around, people can hack into the system of your house to overcook your food, turn on the heater, change your TV channel or disable you home security.
Everybody glorifies the upside of internet, talking extremely less about the downside, particularly the importance of cyber security. When internet was created, hackers also saw an opportunity to introduce virus, also resulting into another niche of anti-virus was created; in the IoT era, anti-virus won’t be enough to stop what’s coming.
What does Internet of Things mean for businesses? In manufacturing, IoT will cause the fourth industrial revolution when machines will be operating themselves, eliminating the need of massive employees.
Generally, companies will have precise data collected from various sources about consumer behavior, resulting in direct marketing strategies only targeting people who need what they offer. When a patient is diagnosed with cold, the phone can send the information to a doctor and a pharmacy, then ads relating to the medication you need, will pop up, the nearest doctor’s office will give a call to arrange an appointment with the doctor.
Today companies are shooting in the dark hoping out of thirteen people their ad reach, at least four will respond, and one will transact; with IoT, success probability will be increased by knowing who, where they are and when they need your product or service.
Literally, each and every company should adopt a digital strategy, others just need to change their entire business model, or they will go under; because their competitors are evolving too, but worse, there is a company in a garage started by one or two guys who are going to take them out of business or get a piece of their market share.
The 14 Most Fearless Teens Of 2014
HuffPost Teen spent the year documenting the adventures and achievements of incredible, badass teens who are dominating social media, revolutionizing medicine and standing up against injustice. Over the past 12 months, countless teens have challenged the status quo and proved bravery doesn’t come with an age requirement.
As 2014 comes to an end, we’re taking a moment to celebrate some of this year’s most fearless teens. Scroll down to see who made the list.
1. Mo’ne Davis, 13
Mo’ne may have forever changed what it means to throw #likeagirl. Her 70 mph fastball made her the first female pitcher to win a Little League World Series game and earned her a place in baseball’s Hall of Fame. Now, she’s at work on her memoir.
2. Megan Grassell, 19
After watching her younger sister try to find a bra that wasn’t of the uber-sexy, padded or push-up variety, Megan decided to start her own company that designed bras specifically for growing teen bodies — padding not included. After launching a successful Kickstarter campaign, Megan started the Yellowberry brand. Her bras sold out within days — earning her major viral props.
3. Nicole Maines, 17
Nicole has garnered national attention for her crusade to help transgender students. When Nicole was in 5th grade, she was told by her public school that she was not allowed to use the girl’s bathroom — though she has identified as female since the age of two. Nicole filed a discrimination lawsuit against her school, and after a five-year battle, won her case in a groundbreaking decision by the Maine Supreme Court this past February. Her bravery won her a spot as one of Glamour magazine’s Phenomenal Women of the Year.
4. Bethany Mota, 19
Her perky personality and fun fashion and beauty advice won her over 7 million YouTube subscribers and her own fashion line at Aeropostale last December. This year, she became a competitor on “Dancing with The Stars,” and even made it to the show’s semi-finals.
5. Ciara Judge, 16, Émer Hickey, 16, and Sophie Healy-Thow, 17
The Irish teens won top prize at the Google Science Fair with a brilliant plan to help solve world hunger. The teens discovered a way to increase cereal crop yields by 50 percent, which could have incredible implications for the growing world food crisis.
6. Chloe Grace Moretz, 17
Chloe had a busy 2014, with starring roles in this summer’s “If I Stay,” “The Equalizer” with Denzel Washington and “Laggies” with Keira Knightley. Since rocketing to fame in the 2010 film, “Kick Ass,” she’s become one of the highest-earning teens in Hollywood. More importantly, she’s majorly inspirational as a proud feminist who refuses to cater to Hollywood’s objectifying female character parts.
7. Neha Gupta, 18
Neha was the 2014 winner of the prestigious International Children’s Peace Prize for her work helping orphans and vulnerable children in India. After founding “Empower Orphans” at the age of 9, she’s gone on to bring thousands of Indian children hope in the form of clean water, libraries, computer centers, hospital services and more.
8. Malala Yousafzai, 17
No list of incredible teens would be complete with Malala, who became the youngest Noble Peace Prize winner in history this year. Her bravery captivated the world after the Pakistani teen nearly was killed by the Taliban for speaking out on behalf of women’s rights. Through the Malala Fund, she’s worked to empower young girls everywhere through education.
9. Troye Sivan, 19
Though he played young Wolvervine in 2009′s “X-Men,” Troye Sivan’s fame really took off when he came out on his YouTube channel last year. Since then, he’s become an outspoken voice for safe sex, earning him a spot on this year’s Out 100. He’s also earned acclaim for his musical chops with his single, “Happy Little Pill” topping iTunes charts in 55 countries.
10. Tom Phelan, 17
The young actor has become a powerful face for LGBTQ rights, staring as transgender teen, Cole, on ABC Family’s “The Fosters.” The show made headlines this summer, and Tom’s character has been celebrated as a positive representation for trans teens. Tom’s also become a resource for teen fans on Tumblr, Just Your Friendly Neighborhood Trans Kid, answering questions about gender and sexuality.
11. Joshua Wong, 18
Joshua Wong was the force behind arguably the largest youth political movement of 2014: the Hong Kong student “Umbrella Protests” against the Chinese government. Wong rallied thousands of Hong Kong youth to occupy Hong Kong streets demanding universal suffrage from the Chinese government. Recently, he began a hunger strike to pressure the government to meet with protestors.
12. Liam Martin, 17
I couldn’t afford a cool iPhone case so I had to use fries… Like if u cried
A photo posted by ! ☮ℒiąʍ✝нℯℒi☯ŋ! (@waverider_) on Aug 8, 2014 at 5:51pm PDT
Liam Martin, aka @waverider, became an Instagram darling after his photos of hilarious celebrity doppleganger impersonations went viral and earned him nearly 2 million followers. Most of his photos are impersonations of female celebrities, which has made him a prime target for cyberbullies. He became vocal on YouTube speaking out against the haters. Rock on.
13. Jazz Jennings, 14
The teen has been an outspoken activist for trans rights, first reaching the public eye with a Youtube series in 2012 about growing up trans. She’s since been interviewed by Barbara Walters and cowritten a children’s book about growing up transgender, called “I Am Jazz.” Her outspoken activism has earned her spots on OUT100 and The Advocate’s 40 under 40. She was also a special guest at the <a href="http://www.zimbio.com/pictu