Oct 4, 2016 | Computer technology, News
Google prepares for major fall event today, October 4. Google plays show and tell with it’s goodies, for your viewing and buying pleasure. Let’s see what the Google Pixel event in San Francisco has to offer.
The main events are Pixel and Pixel XL. These will replace Google’s Nexus smartphone system. The Pixel has a 5-inch sreen. Pixel XL will have a 5.5 inch screen. Both include the Snapdragon 821 processor, 4 GB of Ram, 12-megapixel cameras, and fingerprint scanners. Phone maker HTC will manufacture them. The costs should start around $650. But Google will offer financing.
The rest of the items aren’t exactly mid-cards. Google Home will promote revolutionary device Google Home. With this home device, you can ask for today’s weather or turn the lights on. It will play your playlists. Google Home plays your videos on your TV. It boasts of the bass that Amazon Echo allegedly lacks. Speaking of which, it’s already stiff competition for Amazon’s Echo. It will sell for $129. That’s $50 less than the full-size Echo. Chromecast Ultra’s expected to be introduced and go on sale for $69. Look for a Google Wi-fi router to be introduced for around $129. Of course, expect surprises. Google Pixel event in San Francisco will start at 4pm Eastern, 1pm Pacific today, October 4, 2016.
Here is a disclaimer. These are just expectations. So if Google announces something totally different, don’t blame us. I want surprises in this conference. It makes things interesting. You know, the holiday shopping season is fairly close. You don’t want to hear that. But it’s close. So having the conference in October is good strategy. Some of these products and services look good. Others I can do without. After the conference come the cliffhangers. Will Pixel and Pixel XL outsell Apple iPhone 7? Will Google Home be too much competition for Amazon Echo? How well will a Google Wi-fi router sell? Will there be any surprises?
Sep 25, 2016 | Computer technology
Disclaimer: The following subject matter is for mature audiences only. Reader and parental discretion is advised.
Facial recognition has always been creepy to me. A computer system recognizes you by your facial features: That’s something to be left in science fiction movies. I just read an article that tops it. This has got to be the worst use of facial recognition yet.
Facial recognition is being used to look for webcam sex performers. We can thank Megacams.me, a Belgian based company, (and I mean that with all sarcasm) for this. Megacams is a sex search engine where users can search for models. Megacams.me uses Open CV?to verify consumers and models against it’s facial recognition library. They’re the first sex search engine ever to use facial recognition technology. Users upload a photo of their dream model. It’s emailed and compared to models that looks like their chosen model. Megacams say they don’t store any of the data. Models are validated by hand and facial recognition. They perform to customers based on various demographics: size, race, hair color, etc. Their are around 5,000 performers and goodness knows how many users logged on Megacams at one time.
I won’t even put Megacams’ link in here. I don’t want to encourage anybody. It’s bad enough facial recognition is used at airports, and even some stores. But this gives people opportunity to search for pornographic material using face recognition. For people to use such extremes to look for their fantasy dream woman, or dream man, doesn’t sit well with me at all. The sad thing is: there are 180,000 models that have Meagcams accounts. To me, this is almost as creepy as using robots for sexual partners. From what I read, the fantasy of the user and the reality of the model rarely ever match up. And what if this kind of technology gets into really, really bad hands, (hackers, sextortion, terrorists)? What are they going to do then?
Sep 24, 2016 | Computer technology
When you think of tech companies making hardware and smart products, who do you think of? You probably think of Apple, Google, Microsoft, maybe even Facebook? Do you think of Snapchat? Maybe you should. Snapchat debuts it’s own sunglasses.
These are called Spectacles. These aren’t regular sunglasses. These sunglasses can record videos 10 seconds at a time. They’ll be available for $130 and will be made available this fall. To record the semi-video, all one has to do is press a button. The camera has a 115-degree lens. The sunglasses have circular videos and playback experience. These glasses are the baby of Snapchat CEO Even Spiegel. He told a magazine about his hiking experience with Spectacles. Spiegel marveled at how the video the hiking experience through his own eyes, literally. He calls it, “…an experience of the experience.” It’s the fact that after you go home, you can experience wonderful memories again, and again, and again. Even though Spectacles can only record ten seconds at a time. That can be more than enough to record something spectacular. But often times you need much more time.
Snapchat says Spectacles will be released slowly. On the surface, this makes sense for them to produce Spectacles. Snapchat users, which numbers around 150 million a day, can take pictures and short videos with these glasses. They could upload such content to their Snapchat accounts. Some compare this to Google Glass. Well…yes and no. Snapchat glasses are far cheaper. Google Glass costs $1,500. And I will say, the Spectacles look better than the Google Glass. But in my opinion, both violate one of humanity’s most basic rights: privacy! With Spectacle, someone can press a button, take a picture of someone without their knowledge or approval, blast it all over social media, and ruin somebody’s life. There isn’t anything the victim can do about it. That’s the danger behind Spectacles. And the fact that people can get Spectacles cheaper makes it more of a threat. I doubt that Snapchat’s intention. But some people will twist it into something ugly. That’s what I am afraid of. What do you think of Snapchat Spectacles?
Sep 19, 2016 | Computer technology, youtube
First came the smartphone. Then came the smartwatch. Then came the virtual reality craze. What will they think of next? A Canadian technology company called Thalmic Labs already thought of something. And they’re getting plenty of support. This revolutionary wearable technology gets millions in venture capital.
Thalmic Labs’ has a technology piece called the Myo. You wear the Myo on your arm. This armband uses electricity generated by your arm muscles. With this, you can control devices like computers, smartphones and drones. In one You Tube video, Myo users do other normal things with the armband, like teach a class and play video games. You can buy a Myo wristband for around $149. ?Thalmic Labs announced they received over $120 million in funds.
These funds come from big tech names and banking names. Intel, Amazon and Fidelity have contributed a combined $120 million. Amazon invests millions in voice control technology. Maybe their generous contribution to Thalmic Labs will persuade them to assist Amazon in that cause. ?Intel leads the tech world in microchip technology. They’re obsessed with taking wearable technology to the next level. Do they think Thalmic Labs can aid their cause? In fact, Intel’s New Technology Group Senior VP Josh Walden praises Thalmic Labs for their technology breakthroughs.
Thalmic Labs started in Waterloo/Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Their main headquarters are still there. They also have offices in San Francisco and Waterloo, Iowa. They employee a combined 100 people, approximately. But I notice none of these companies say anything about Myo. They say nothing about investing in the making, promotion, or selling of Myo. And Myo could be Thalmic Lab’s top selling product. It could make them so many millions they won’t even need venture contributions anymore. But that’s not where the focus is. It should be, but it isn’t. The focus seems to be using Thalmic Labs to promote these mega companies’ own agenda, like RFID technology and/or voice control. ?If I were Thalmic, I’d take the money with glee and thanks, but I’d advise them to help me with Myo. Help me make, promote, and sell this revolutionary product. What would you do?
Sep 10, 2016 | Computer technology
Obviously, the robot craze isn’t going away. Robots check you in at hotels. Robots act as nurses; they bring you food and medicine. Now, robots sew your shirt.
We can thank Sewbo for this development. Sewbo’s machine can turn stiffening fabric into a t-shirt. The arm feeds the piece into the sewing machine. The shirt is finished sewing. The robots puts the t-shirt in hot water to remove the fabric stiffener. This machine cuts and measures fabric. So it can make shirts regardless of size, from small to 5x large. There are some parts of Sewbo’s process that aren’t exactly clear. But watching the progress sure was intriguing. Sewbo isn’t the only one investing in sewing bots.
A company called Electroloom wants to print 3D garments. But instead of a factory run by humans, robots would do most of the work here too. The process is very complex, so I won’t make a fool out of myself explaining it. I’ll let Electroloom employees explain in this link. ?Shoemaker Adidas use robots to make shoes now. So how far fetched is it for robots to make shirts, or any other clothing item for that matter?
Normally, I would cringe at robots making anything. I hate the mere idea of robots taking jobs away from human beings. But here, I’ll make an exception. How many shirt factories do you see in America anymore? When I was little, we had one in our hometown. But those days are long gone. Maybe Sewbo and Electroloom can bring shirt factoring jobs back to America. At the very least, it would get interest back in sewing. The Electroloom demonstration seems like a real winner. I hope they can continue the funding and the venture capitalism to keep it up. Sewing is tough work. Maybe Sewbo’s bot will make it easier. Would you let robots sew your shirt?
Sep 7, 2016 | Computer technology, Entertainment, General, internet
Welcome to my live blog of the 9/7/16 Apple Keynote that will include the unveiling of the iPhone 7 among other things. Feel free to comment, follow us on Facebook or Twitter as i post pictures and review some of the cooler things that Apple decides to show us! From features to dimensions and price-points, you can get it all here from Geek Choice.
Keynote will start at 1pm EST, just click refresh on this blog and new content will be coming in every 1-2 minutes!
Growth rates are over 106%, makes you wonder how many of those downloads were Pokemon Go? Apple also announces that the iPhone and iPad are the #1 Gaming devices on the planet.
AND GUESS WHO IS COMING TO THE APP STORE?!?!?!?
MARIO!!
They are announcing the new game Mario Run. A side scrolling run game that you will only need 1 hand to play! From the gameplay it looks pretty cool, but doesn’t look like you can go backwards to get items you have missed. But at least its not just another “run” game like “Minion Rush”
The Next Mario Game to be announced is Toad Rally! Which is a Battle Mode version of the game! This will allow you to battle your friends in Mario Bro’s and compete for a high score. I was honestly hoping for it to be the classic Mario Bros games, but alas, it is not…
The game will be released at a set price which they will not announce today, but it will release before the holidays.
Education
They are giving a Mac and iPad to 4500 teachers, Apple TV in every classroom and donating iPads to more than 50,000 students
“Everyone Can Code” is an extension of the Swift Playground app, teaching coding. Already since June, more than 100 schools and school districts around the world already plan to teach Swift Playgrounds this fall.
Nothing yet about any new products….
Announcing real-time collaboration, as multiple people can collaborate and edit a keynote presentation real time, which would work wonders for group projects when you cannot be in the same place at the same time with several people.
New Products
Apple Watch
There is lots of gloating about how awesome Apple Watch is. #2 watch brand in the world behind only Rolex.
Watch OS3, new deck, tap back to send replies, confetti backgrounds and writing messages with your finger, this thing seems to be awesome so far.
And now for all of you fans of the sensation known as Pokemon Go….
POKEMON GO IS COMING TO THE APPLE WATCH!!
Over 500,000,000 downloads of Pokemon go and walked over 4.6 billion KM
Pokemon Go on Apple Watch Demo
Shows how far you have walked, heart rate and help you see what is near by. You will still have to take out your phone to catch wild Pokemon, but you can hit Pokestops, hatch your eggs and find Pokemon with the watch!
Apple Watch Series 2
You can wear this watch in the pool, at the beach up to 50 meters of depth! No more having to take off your watch to go into the pool!
the speaker in the watch will be able to eject any water that gets inside
You will now be able to track a swim workout!
Apple has added a dual core processor that’s up to 50 percent faster. We’ve added an entirely new GPU that delivers 2X the graphics performance
Series 2 also features a new second generation display more than 2X brighter than before. It’s the brightest display Apple has shipped on any product. at 1,000 nits
They have also added in built in GPS! That will even sync with your iPhone
Viewranger hiking app demo
Showing GPS functions on hiking trail, and via notifications
Gives you Fun facts of landmarks..
Comes in a wide variety of styles. Cases in aluminum and stainless steel as well as a new material we’ve been working on for quite some time. Ceramic
Summary of Series 2 Apple Watch
Apple Watch Nike +
Nike and Apple have developed “your perfect running partner” There is an option for a quick run, but hitting start run, or just ask Siri to start a run.
The watch will send out custom motivation to get out and run..
$369 for Apple Watch Series 2. But Apple Watch being upgraded w dual-core processor, called Series 1, for $269
Pre-Orders are on 9/9/16, OS3 9/13/16
iPhone 7
Starting with iOS 10, which i have personally been demoing for the past month, and it is amazing!
Better quick typing
Maps app is redesigned and works great as a gps
With iOs 10 you can manage your home right from the control center and with Siri as well,
100 devices coming to market this year.
All you have to look for is this label: works with Apple HomeKit
Now for the iPhone 7!!!
?
They are going over how they make the shiny Aluminum body. Oooooooooooh Sounds…….expensive
10 major new features
First is the Finish called “Jet Black” It’s a high gloss finish so it’s a seamless surface between the glass
Second is The Home Button
Third item is that the phone is now Water and Dust resistant!
The Fourth Item is the Camera
the first thing ISP does is read the scene and checks for objects/bodies. automatically sets exposure, focus, white balance, … noise reduction. can take multiple photos and fuse into one to take the perfect images. New ISP chip, improved throughput by 2x. Improved face and body detection, exposure, white balance, wide color, local tone mapping and noise reduction. Will even fuse multiple photos into one via machine learning. 100 billion operations every time we take a picture. Does it in just 25 millseconds
Up from 5MP on the iPhone 6s!
Summary of the Camera
And one more thing! Double Cameras on the iPhone 7Plus!
This will allow us to magnify pictures without losing the quality of the picture, up to 10X zoom!!
In camera app, where normally select style, there’s a new style that says “Portrait.” Automatically jumps to using a telephoto lens. Automatically you see the depth effect. Being generated in real time as you look at your screen
Fifth item on the docket is Retina HD Display
Sixth item is Audio
Built in speakers are a huge jump forward. For the first time ever they will be STEREO SPEAKERS which will give out double the sound!
7th one is the headphones
Headphones will now be plugged in through the lightning cable!
also giving away a free adapter so you can use your old headphones!!
The reason they did this is for 3 reasons
First reason is courage
Second, this is really important, our smartphones are packed with technologies and we always want more. Brighter displays,etc. .. it’s all fighting for space within that same enclosure. Maintaining an ancient connector doesn’t make sense
Third, most important, when you have a vision of how the audio experience can be, you want to get there as fast as you can
Which brings us to #8 WIRELESS
These look legit, wireless headphones!
Sensors trigger play w proximity. Motion triggers, accelerometers. Beam-forming microphones reduce noise. 5hrs battery. Charge case offers 24 hours life. Intelligent switcher to things to Apple Watch. (AirPods) The new wireless AirPods deliver incredible sound. Sexy video with porno music in the background… I need a cigarette
Easily connect the AirPods
Can listen in stereo or if want to use one for Siri or phone call, automatically routes audio. No pairing or unpairing. Those things are of the past
Beats has their own version of wireless headphones to take advantage of the new Apple w1 chip!
New Beats Solo 3 Wireless. 40 hours of listening time
Ninth is Apple Pay
No. 10. Honestly I’m almost embarrassed we held this one til the last. It is performance
40% faster than the A9 Chip
When doing something like checking email. .. can get longer battery life. Graphics are 240X faster than in the original iPhone
CONSOLE LEVEL GAMING ON THE IPHONE 7!
Pro apps benefit as well. Adobe Lightroom. 90% of the features for raw editing as in the desktop version.
Video of the Gameplay is stunning with no lag! Nothing proves performance like 400 flying monkeys.
Final Summary
Thank you for joining me today on this live blog! Feel free to share and leave comments!!
