You want to believe that Facebook message is private. It’s supposed to be between you and your recipient. But even private Facebook messages are subject to hacking. Facebook tries to ensure privacy.
Facebook introduces a new feature called Secret Conversations. You can scramble and self-destruct your messages. The social media conglomerate didn’t give an exact date. But a press statement said Secret Conversations will be available later this summer. You need the latest Facebook Messenger for your smart device. That smart device needs to have the utmost security. It’s probably better to get a phone with fingerprint security. Choose a Facebook friend, with a green dot. That’s how you know the person is available to chat. Tap their name and choose Secret Conversation. The recipient will designate their encrypted device. Your message appears in a black box instead of a blue one. That’s how you will separate Secret Conversation from Facebook Messenger. Facebook gets an identity key that confirms your real identity. Secret Conversation can hold word messages, likes, emoji, and photos. It can’t hold videos (at least not now). You choose when to self-destruct a message. You can choose five seconds, like they do in Mission Impossible. Or you can choose a whole year.
I hope Secret Conversation is successful for another reason. Lately, hackers and spammers posing as Facebook friends and family have been sending messages. When I click on, they’re trying to sell me stuff or get me in a ‘home based business’. It took a while. I shortly noticed the real friends didn’t talk like the posers do. I wonder if they would have broken through Secret Conversation. Would encryption be strong enough to tell a real friend from an imposture? If Facebook didn’t notice already, summer is half over. They said Secret Conversation would be released later that summer. Shouldn’t they hurry with that?
Smartphones can do just about anything today. With Siri, they can talk. With GPS, they can give you directions. They just can’t cook…yet. If Samsung can help it, smartphones will bend in 2017.
They’ll be able to bend, fold and put in your pocket or pocketbook. One of these new smartphone models will fold in half. Both models have organic light-embedding diodes. Sources in the know say these phones could be publicly accessible sometime in 2017. However, these sources insisted on remaining anonymous. One of these models will have a 5-inch screen set when folded. When unfolded, it passes as an 8-inch tablet. Samsung leads the development for new screen formats. They’re also OLED mobile panel’s biggest supporters. Samsung is also in a race with Apple, especially in the smartphone game. At Samsung headquarters, in Seoul, South Korea, they’re very excited about this new development. So are international stock markets. Samsung shares from Tokyo to New York rose, thanks to this news. One of their manufacturers,?Murata Manufacturing Co., climbed nearly 5%. Some speculate the new smartphones will be revealed in February 2017. That month, Samsung will host the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Spain. One of the smartphones could be named ‘Note 7’. Samsung sent an e-mail addressing the rumors. They declined to comment.
This is why I hate speculation. There is so much secrecy. I respect they don’t want competitors like Apple to know what they’re doing. But it doesn’t make it any better. Let’s look at these sources who keep this secret. They’re keeping it secret because they don’t want to lose their jobs. I don’t know how much Note 7 will cost. I guess we’ll have to wait until February 2017. But we know this much. The rumors are already out there. The bloggers are already reporting. The world puts pressure on them. Samsung puts pressure on themselves. Will Samsung come through with the bend smartphone?
Google is teaming up with jean and denim maker Levi’s to create a smart jacket. Aimed at cyclists, this smart jacket will let you control music, utilize phone calls, navigate with a system, and many of the other things you can do with a smartphone or smartwatch. All they have to do is tap or swipe the jacket sleeve. This super jacket is part of Project Jacquard. This project is dedicated to weaving technology in forms of clothes. The alliance between Levi and Google is around a year old, but they just revealed this revolutionary piece of technology for the first time. They’re aiming this fashion statement toward cyclists because it can be very dangerous to to be holding a smartphone while operating a bicycle. The results can be almost as bad as texting and driving a car. But with this jacket, they just tap and talk. A Jacquard tag is sewn in the sleeve and charged through USB. The embedded tags are connected to a battery, LED and haptic technology, all woven in this jacket. Makers insists you can wash this jacket in the washer and it won’t be harmed.
Testing will go into the next phase in fall 2016. If all goes well, it should be in stores near you in spring 2017. We don’t know how much this jacket will cost. Yes, this is a great safety alternative for cyclists. It would make a great fashion statement. But this wearable jacket is fascinating and a little terrifying. It’s terrifying because someone can probably track you through this jacket. I know we can easily be tracked already, but this would make it even easier. Would you get this smart jacket? How much would you pay for one?
Today, America’s biggest retailer releases Walmart Pay. It’s Walmart’s own mobile pay service, kind of like Apple Pay. Walmart Pay is being tested in 600 stores throughout Texas and in it’s home state of Arkansas.
It should be made clear: Walmart Pay is not a part of Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or any other mobile pay entity. Walmart Pay is it’s own entity and it’s competing with other mobile pay companies. In the next few weeks, Walmart Pay will spread in the Midwest and Plain States. Walmart Pay is available on Apple and Android devices and works with all major bank cards and Walmart gift cards. When you buy at any Walmart in this part of the country, open the Walmart app and hit Walmart Pay. Scan the QR code on the register screen, using the phone camera to connect to Walmart Pay. The app will give you an electronic receipt. Walmart Senior VP Daniel Eckert embraces Walmart Pay not only as another payment system, but as a way of improving the checkout experience altogether. This is just Walmart’s latest attempt to get in the good graces of the technology community. They’ve got a subdivision in the Silicon Valley. They’re also working on drones to deliver their groceries to customers.
But one thing about this boggles my mind. Walmart leaders insists this isn’t to compete with Apple, Samsung, or Google Pay. But yet none of them are accepted at any Walmart. This includes those 45 or so states that won’t see Walmart Pay anytime soon. I smell at best, a strategy and at worst, a lie. If they’re not trying to compete, then why are they setting up shop in Silicon Valley, the tech capital of America? Why are they trying to do like Amazon and set up drone services? Does Walmart think we’re stupid? Of course they’re competing. But how will this retailer do against the big boys of technology? Are they in the same league? Or have they bitten off more than they can chew?
Apple Inc announced it will invest a billion dollars in Chin’s ride sharing service?Didi Chuxing, Uber’s rival in China. Tim Cook makes this move for several reasons: to better understand the Chinese market, to put Apple in the ride sharing conversation, and to boost the company name and profits in China. Didi Chuxing leaders say this was the biggest and most important investment it ever received. Didi Chuxing already dominates China’s ride sharing industry, making up for 87% of the sales. The company arranges 11 million rides a day and is worth over $20 billion. You see, China’s economy has slowed all 2016 long, and Apple wants to help turn the tide. Apple has enjoyed a rather warm relationship with China. Look at how many Chinese workers are building our Apple products. China has the second biggest economy in the world. If you ran a multi-billion dollar mega corporation, wouldn’t you be friendly with China?
There are rumors in the Silicon Valley that Apple wants a piece of the ride sharing industry. That shouldn’t sit well with Uber at all. Apple already has an alliance with the biggest ride sharing company in China. Uber wants to expand in China. The competition there, already stiff, just got even tighter. Now Apple, one of the most popular companies in America, might compete in ride sharing against one of the most hated. Can Apple pull off a ride sharing firm? Will they take what they learn in China and apply it in the US? Should Uber be nervous?
Are you anticipating the Kentucky Derby today? But you can’t make it to Louisville, and you sure can’t make it to Churchill Downs. Thanks to virtual reality, you can be closer to this historic horse race than ever.
Virtual reality company NextVR will be streaming the Kentucky Derby starting at 4pm. You can only get this through the NextVR app and Samsung Galaxy Headset. They will have VR cameras around the track, around owners’ suites, and in the paddock. In the paddock, horses prepare for the ‘fastest two minutes in sports history’. All one has to do is connect a Samsung Galaxy smartphone to a Gear VR headset, download the VR app, and turn to NBC, the network that’s broadcasting the Kentucky Derby this year. NBC has broadcast the Derby since 2001, and is expected to do so through 2025. Recently, sports and virtual reality have intertwined. NextVR has live streamed NBA and NHL games. It’s just too bad NextVR, nor Samsung Galaxy, can help you best pick who is going to win. They can’t help you make that perfect bet, either. You better rely on the odds and your own expertise for that. There are just some things virtual reality can’t do.
But with this Samsung Galaxy Headset hookup, you can be even closer to the action than even some people at Churchill downs will be. Sure, you won’t be mingling with the millionaires and celebrities, but you will be really up close and personal with the real stars: the 3-year-old horses. You’ll have to make your own mint julep and find your own fancy hats (you can find one at a thrift shop for under $10). But please don’t get too carried away. Just know that you’re still in your own home, in your own surroundings, not toasting mint juleps with an A-list star. Who is your money on this year?
