So, you get on a plane. During taxi, takeoff and landing, they tell you to turn off your phone, or put them in airplane mode. That’s because they want nothing to block them from the electricity they need for a safe flight. So frankly, you don’t want to block their electricity, either. Now, tech companies and Feds fight distracted driving.
The US Federal Government urges smartphone companies to block apps while behind the wheel. This will keep the driver’s attention where it belongs: on the road! This proposal comes from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Distracted driving is almost as bad as driving drunk or high driving. And with more apps and features to tempt us, distracted driving won’t go away anytime soon.
This concerns N.H.T.S.A. Secretary Anthony Foxx. “Too many people are dying and being injured on our roadways,” he said. He wants smartphone makers to build software that limits phone functions while the driver is driving. The proposal took place just earlier this week. So we don’t really know how tech companies will do this. We don’t even know if smartphone makers will even comply. But something needs to happen. For example, car accident deaths increased nearly 11% in 2016. This year saw the biggest number of traffic deaths in 50 years.
I see this with my own eyes. One time, while walking the streets of Boston, I had to pull a friend back. This was while the walk sign was in our favor. But the driver had no way of knowing that; he was texting while driving. Just a couple of weeks ago, another driver narrowly avoided an accident. That’s because the other driver was texting directions while driving. I hope automated voice services like Suri help turn this disturbing trend around. But it all starts with you. Don’t text and drive! Keep your eyes on the road! Is that text, or that Pokemon Go game worth your life and your health?
President-elect Donald Trump stuns the media again. I say this because he named Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions as the new Attorney General. Some point out his controversial racial history. And others point out his immigration policy. But what about Apple? Could the new attorney general start encryption wars?
So there’s a reason I bring Apple up. Some time ago, Apple clashed with the FBI over an iPhone. This iPhone belonged to one of the San Bernadino shooters. In this case, Trump sided with the FBI. So did Jeff Sessions. If you need a recap, the FBI ordered Apple to decode the phone. Apple refused. In fact, when the case broke, Trump suggested consumers boycott Apple.
Now, Trump will become US President in January 2017. Sessions will become the US Attorney General. Sessions openly criticized Apple and other tech companies for making products blocking government access. However, as US Attorney General,? Sessions will be the boss of the Justice Department. Hence, Senator Sessions will have power to prosecute companies that don’t comply with government demands. And Apple isn’t the only tech company who could be under the gun. Whats App is known for blocking government wiretaps. In addition, there’s talk of a revised bill that could go into law. They call it the Burr-Feinstein encryption bill. Consequently, this bill requires tech companies to make less secure products.
Why would this bill require less secure products? So government agencies have easier access to them. That is scary. First of all, if agencies have easier access to them, so will hackers and cyber criminals. Also, Trump’s campaign ran on pro-freedom issues. If Trump and Sessions demand government encryption, they’ll go against everything they campaigned for. Don’t we have the right to privacy? And do we not have the right to be left alone? I know we need to catch the bad guys. But isn’t there a better way?
So, many of you know of Facebook’s Gameroom app. If not, then you can read about it here. The social media conglomerate wants to go even further. Facebook Messenger conquers video games…or at least attempts to.
Therefore, Facebook Messenger will soon launch ‘Instant Games’. In this app, you can play small, light games. Hence, one can play with or against their FB friends. Instant Games could debut as early as this month. Due to their large bankroll, Facebook calls on big time game makers for help. These include King.com, the people who brought us Candy Crush. In Instant Games, friends would take turns playing, instead of against each other. Some of us are old enough taking turns playing the Atari, Nintendo or Sega Genesis. It will kinda be like that.
Nobody at Facebook is talking. Also, we don’t even know what games they’re testing. Nobody know what the first of ‘Instant Games’ will be. But tech media insiders are speculating. For instance, King.com has a Facebook page for Shuffle Cats Mini. Could that be one? Facebook also has a cozy relationship with game maker Big Viking. Big Viking’s premier game is Galatron. It’s a space game that is very popular. It’s like Galaga for the 2010s.
But between me and you, all this speculation is not good for ‘Instant Games’ promotion. If you want to compete, let alone conquer video games, let your public know something. On Facebook platforms, Basketball, Candy Crush and Soccer have are successful. I would start there. Speaking of Galaga, you can never go wrong with the classics. While they’re add it, throw in some Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, or Kung Fu. Apple and Google have a huge chunk of the smartphone gaming market. Facebook wants a bigger piece of it. I know it’s early testing, but won’t all this secrecy hinder their dreams? What games would you like to see in Instant Games?
We knew this day would come. And now it is here. Mobile online use surpasses desktop online use. While this is a first, this shouldn’t be a surprise.
So these statistics go back to 2009. But back then, smartphones and tablets were in their infancy. However, the change was slow. As recent as October 2013, about 75% of online use came from desktops. But around this time, the turn got more drastic. By October 2015, 45% of online use came from mobile sources, compared to 55% coming from desktop sources. Now, history is made. The majority of Internet traffic, 51.2%, comes from a mobile device. Now compare that to 48.8% from a desktop device. While that is a slight majority, we should expect this trend to continue.
We can thank StatCounter for this numbers. They’re are also some telling tales here. In mature Western markets, like the US, Australia, and Great Britain, desktop online use has a fairly wide gap, like around 56-55%. It’s rising markets, like India, Brazil, and China, that’s driving the mobile numbers up. Also, gaps in Western nations are shrinking too. For example, in October 2014, 35% of online traffic came from mobile devices. Two years later, it was 42%. Another interesting tidbit: the number of people using only mobile Internet rises. What drives this?
First of all, smartphones in many Asian nations are flying off the shelves. And here in America, smartphone companies complain that high end smartphones decline in sales. That may be true. But cheaper smartphones are steady in sales. Not too people I know want to pay over $600 for a smartphone. This is especially true when the $100 ones work almost as well. Maybe that’s why online smartphone traffic numbers are slower here. But here is what is clear: If any business wants to thrive, even survive, they must cater to smartphone and tablet consumers. What do you make of these numbers?
So far this decade, smartphone apps open doors for business and communication. But sometimes, they can open the door for racial discrimination and hatred. Airbnb wrestles with this. So are ride-hailing apps. Do ride-hailing apps enable discrimination?
According to university research (MIT, Stanford, Univ. of Washington), the answer is a disturbing yes. Research shows in Boston, Uber drivers cancel rides for men with Black sounding names. Black men are four times more likely to suffer this than any other race or gender. Research shows in Seattle, Black riders face longer wait times than White customers. That’s because it’s harder to find drivers willing to take Black passengers.
To their credit, Uber and Lyft do all they can to combat these trends. A Lyft spokesperson says Lyft will continue to provide affordable, comfortable rides for all. She makes it clear discrimination is not Lyft’s practice. Rachel Holt is Uber’s head of North American operations. She addressed the study. In an email, Holt stated discrimination has no place in Uber. Furthermore, Holt says this study was helpful in fighting discrimination. Also, researchers suggest ways to combat racism. They suggest names and photos not be identified. But on the flip side, some argue names and faces offer a friendlier experience. So what do we do?
First of all, don’t let cabbies off the hook either. Some are notorious for passing a potential black customer just to serve a white customer. As a man of color myself, I experience this sometimes. You see, we don’t have an app problem. We don’t have a cab problem. As a result, what we have a a problem with the human heart. Yes, Uber and Lyft needs to do all they can to fight discrimination, just like Airbnb needs to fight it. But it’s obvious this problem won’t end with laws and legislation. I urge all Uber and Lyft drivers and Airbnb hosts to think before you act. Think before you refuse service to anybody. Please think before you hate or discriminate against anyone. What message are you sending? Would you want that done to you?
The year 2016 has not been kind to Samsung. That’s because they had a Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fiasco for the record books. While some say, “It’s not that bad. Samsung is a multi-billion dollar ?business. So they will bounce back.” I hope so. The Samsung profit plunge: It’s bad.
You see, Samsung lost 30% of operating profit in Q3 2016 alone. As a result, Samsung lost over 5.6 billion dollars in just three months! I don’t care who you are; no company can afford to lose that much money in three months. Furthermore, there are internal quarrels. Some shareholders appointed?Lee Jae-yong on the board of directors. He is the grandson of Samsung’s founder and son of Samsung’s current chairmen. Consequently, some board members complain Jae-yong got the position because of his birth, not by his merit.
But the Galaxy Note 7 helped create this crisis. Add to that Apple’s somewhat successful iPhone 7 campaign. However, Samsung lost more than just profit. They lost a lot of consumer confidence and respect. Sure, they might make it up when Galaxy Note 8 comes out. But that’s not until 2017. First Samsung stopped the original Samsung Galaxy Note 7’s. They tried replacement ones. But even those caught on fire and injured dozens of people. These phones should have sold between 15-20 million. Obviously, that’s not going to happen.
However, Samsung has one little thing to cheer about. High end smartphone sales decline across the board. It seems the more smartphone companies encourage high end smartphone buying, the more consumers stay away. Even Apple’s iPhone 7 is struggling. Can you blame them? Not everybody has to have the latest gadget and the latest smartphone technology. For some, the basic smartphone is enough. But what about Samsung? Was this a good time to create division by bringing in the Samsung founder’s grandson? That seems to create more division at a time Samsung needs unity. Samsung lost 30% of profit in three months. Will they make it up? How long will it take?
