Yesterday, Apple held their annual September press conference. They demonstrated new and improved items for the upcoming 2015-16 year. As usual, Apple had the media and the public talking.
Yes, new iPhones were revealed, but that was the mid-card side show. The main events were the were the super sized 12.9 inch iPad Pro and Siri controlled Apple TV (which I talked about several times). Apple iWatch bands also made an appearance. We knew this was going to be an awe-inspiring show when Cook said monster announcements are in store. There were 2 1/2 hours of them. There were a few pleasant surprises. The new versions of iPhone 6 will cost the same as the old ones. But this iPad Pro is as powerful as is large. Thanks to A9X, it has twice as much memory bandwidth and ?store performance as it’s predecessor, iPad Air 2. Maybe that’s why it has twice as much price. The smallest iPad Pro will cost $749. The LTE 128 GB model will cost $1,079. Then there’s the Apple TV. The remote might be the best thing about Apple TV. It’s small, sleek and contains Bluetooth support and a touchpad to live for. The Siri app is even more far out. I saw a demonstration where the man said comedy. Apple TV immediately downloaded all the comedies available to him. There are so many apps here I don’t know where to begin. Don’t expect Apple TV to come cheap. They closed with multi platinum selling pop group One Republic.
Obviously, I can’t cover everything about this conference. So you can click here to watch the whole conference. And it was a great one. But here comes the big challenge: turning this conference into sales in the months to come. Will people buy this Apple TV over competitors like Amazon? Are people willing to pay anywhere from $750-1,080 for iPad Pro? Will Siri make you sorry you ever invested in your new Apple TV? Apple has talked the talk. They set the expectation bar high. Can they walk the walk?
This weekend, New Orleans and Mississippi mark the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, the most devastating storm in modern American history. As I write this, tropical storm Erika is causing havoc in the Caribbean and threatening Florida. Now is the perfect time for Google to introduce storm tracking.
Google just announced it’s expanding important weather information when people search for extreme weather in their area, like hurricanes, tornadoes and blizzards. It will now show maps and proximity of the next storm coming to your viewing area, county, city, even down to your neighborhood. It will show the storm’s predicted track, courtesy of NOAA. Instructions, coming from FEMA and ready.gov, will be used through Google notes telling people how to prepare. If a storm is a few days away (picture a hurricane or blizzard), Google might tell you where the storm is now, it’s track, how to prepare for an emergency kit, and remind you to keep in tune to the news. If the storm is hours or even minutes away (picture a tornado, severe thunderstorm, or flash flood), Google may tell you to prepare for a power outage, or which room to ride out the storm in. The closer the storm comes, and the more severe the storm is, the more urgent the Google messages will be.
This couldn’t have come at a better time of year. We’re almost at the peak of hurricane season. We remembering historic storms like Katrina, Andrew, and let’s throw in the Hurricane of 1900 for good measure. This is the perfect time to roll out such technology. But don’t wait until the next storm to be prepared. Stock up on necessities like generators, extra food, extra water, first aid kit, and portable radio now. Here in Boston, we saw four blizzards in a 30 day period. So I‘ve learned about how critical emergency preparedness can be. But isn’t Google storm tracking a great tool to keep safe?
Do you own a drone? You should know that drones are forbidden to fly near airports. Some people aren’t getting the memo.
According to the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), three airlines saw drones come dangerously close to Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey. There were no injuries or disruptions. There wasn’t even a need for the three airlines to take any kind of action. But the drone scare was enough to cause alarm. The three airlines affected were Express Jet, Northwest Airlink, and United Airlines. These airlines reported the drones were at altitudes between 2,000-3,000 feet high. That’s high enough to possibly interfere with landing or departing aircraft. I’m not the only one who thinks so. One passenger stated how frighting it was that these objects could cause danger to lives aboard flights. Other drones have been seen flying around New York City airports like Laguardia and JFK in recent weeks. The most severe case was on July 31, 2015. Two planes saw a drone coming near them at JFK. A drone flew a quarter mile from a Delta flight from Orlando. A Jet Blue flight from Haiti had a drone come within 800 feet away from them while they were still in the air.
This is disturbing and needs to be fixed…yesterday. I know what the FAA law says. But that law isn’t worth a wooden nickel if it’s not being enforced. Let me speak to drone owners. I plea with you: that law is there for a reason. What if a drone did distract a major airline carrier with 200 or so passengers? Think about the tragedy that could take place. Do you want that innocent blood on your hands? Should the FAA do a better job to enforce these rules and find the culprits doing this? Why must we always wait for a tragedy, especially when tragedy can be prevented?
In Nagasaki, Japan, a new hotel called the Henn-na just opened up. It’s nicknamed “Strange Hotel” for a reason. This hotel is run by robots!
That’s not a sarcastic catch phrase or put down, that’s the truth. A lady robot will check you in and bow to you, literally. A dinosaur robot will serve as your concierge and entertain the kids. Robots will handle your bags and give you travel suggestions. You don’t even use a room key. You use facial recognition technology. Don’t expect a hotel bar, restaurant, diner, or continental breakfast or even an in-room refrigerator, microwave, or coffee maker at Henn-na. You get snacks from a vending machine. The goal of this technology on steroids is to cut cost, save energy, and give customers an experience they’ve never have before. Though the hotel owner admits it was expensive to get the robotic system set up, he believes it will be much cheaper than human labor cost. Rooms at Strange Hotel start at around $80 a night.
Keep in mind Japan is obsessed with robot culture. They’re robots that serve as store greeters, psychiatrists, even as companions. But an all robot hotel is creepy on all levels, even for Japan. What if there is a robot malfunction? What if something goes wrong? Who are you going to report to? I know humans can be difficult to deal with at times. So I can see the appeal of an all robot hotel from that perspective. I just don’t share that perspective. According to a JD Poll, most American and Canadian travelers don’t. Most of us prefer a human being checking us in. We prefer our microwaves, refrigerators, and continental breakfasts. And what about jobs? The hotel/hospitality industry accounts for millions of jobs around the world, from minimum wage to executive jobs. How are you just going to toss all these working people out on the ground just to save the CEO money? Good luck explaining that one. And it’s still $80 a night. With the exception a handful of cities, I can still find a nice human run hotel for that much or less. Would you stay at a robot hotel?
Controversial dating service Ashley Madison was hacked. All 37 million accounts have been compromised and threatened.
For those unfamiliar with Ashley Madison, it’s a dating website that encourages adulterous relationships. In fact, their slogan is, “Life is short, have an affair.” ?Hackers threaten to release nude photos, hook up plans and sexual fantasies for all 37 million customers unless Ashley Madison shuts down their website once and for all. Avid Life Media, Ashley Madison’s parent company, confirmed this massive breach. A hacking organization called The Impact Team claimed responsibility. They’ve already leaked some of the data they broke into. Now they’re threatening to name names, credit cards to the company profiles to the fantasies, pictures and potential hook ups. An Impact Team spokesperson messaged, ?”Shutting Down Ashley Madison and Established Men will cost you, but non-compliance will cost you more.” Yes, Impact Team also went after Established Men, a website catering to older men looking for much younger women. They threatened to name names and profiles if Established Men wasn’t shut down completely. Avid Life Media says they’re working with authorities to bring these hackers to justice.
I find it interesting they didn’t go after Cougar Life…yet. That’s a site targeting older women looking for younger guys. But that’s another issue. You may not agree with what Ashley Madison is doing morally. I don’t. But hacking is not the way to express your disapproval. Don’t be fooled. The Impact Team hackers are not moral crusaders. In fact, they’re more wicked than Ashley Madison. They could have carried out peaceful protest. They could have put up videos raising awareness. They could have lectured and taught what adultery can do to families. But they just had to pay wrongdoing with outright evil. That’s what this hacking is…evil. Plus, Ashley Madison’s services are protected by free speech and the Constitution. Impact Team’s actions are illegal and I hope they are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. An old wise man once said, “You can’t answer curses for curses and blows for blows.” How can anybody condone or support The Impact Team?
Remember gathering around the TV at 6:00 and 6:30 for the news? For most, those days are long gone. But it’s eye opening to discover what’s replacing the trend.
According to Pew Research Center and Knight Foundation, more Americans get their news from social media sites Facebook and Twitter. In fact, 63% of social media users say they get their news from these two sites. Compare that to 52% of Twitter users and 47% of Facebook users back in 2013. More than half of those Twitter users say they follow breaking news on their site. Twitter and Facebook notice and take advantage. Twitter is developing a news source called Project Lightning. This app will allow users to instantly upload videos, photos and other rich images. Meanwhile, Facebook teams up with news organizations to release Instant Articles. You can only find that app on Apple products. This trend crosses many demographics. However, Millennials and Gen Zers (those born after 1980) are more likely to use Facebook and Twitter as a premier news source than anybody else. ?But for all races/ethnicity, economies, and education levels are about equal. Not only that, Facebook and Twitter users are more likely to facilitate and receive political news than ever before. That should make the next sixteen months very interesting.
This is just the world we’re living in today. I can get news 24 hours a day because someone is posting about a news event, whether it be breaking news, weather, sports, politics, and especially entertainment/pop culture. Plus, this tells you the sorry state of mainstream media. Very few Americans trust mainstream media today. When most news media are owned by only six corporations, you get what you got. People are fed up with it and get their news from alternative sources. I know you get fake news and hoaxes on social media from time to time. But ask yourself: Is regular news these days any better?
