smartphone apps in cars

It is all happening like I said it would.

A while back I stated to some friends numerous times that car stereo makers, and even car manufacturers themselves would soon be putting mini-PC’s in cars and that stereos would soon become standard with USB ports to upload music and info into the cars.  While the USB part has not caught on like I thought It would, several manufacturers are producing application- friendly cars.  Nissan, GM and ford are creating cars that are smartphone app friendly, giving cars the potential to run apps and communicate with smartphones.  Another brave example of how technology is taking over rapidly.

This started on Oct. 28 when OnStar used an application that allowed users to unlock their cars, check their tire pressures, and even start the vehicle with their phones.  The App runs on the Iphone and the droid and will soon be available to more than 20 new vehicles.  Manufacturers are now working on technologies that will allow cars to run apps, communicate through the phones, and even download music, videos and applications through wireless connections.  Alpine entertainment and other car accessory companies are also looking in to the new possibilities.

A global consultant is predicting a rise to 28 million people globally who use Automotive apps in 2015, a rise from 1.4 million in 2010.  This would provide a vast market for this new technology.  Even more interesting Is that some cars will be equipped with in-dash Pandora, the popular internet radio that has caught on like wildfire.  Another interesting piece of technology will provide provides streaming audio versions of Facebook news feeds, short blogs from Twitter, national news updates, and traffic reports.  This will presumably be available in 2011.

One overlying concern with this new technology is the safety aspect.  Whether or not these new technologies can be used safely while operating a vehicle is still suspect and the fact that if a driver has a wreck while looking at an App, the manufacturer can be held responsible for the accident.  This has hindered some of the production.  However, the practice director at Nissan believes that these apps will one day be the standard option in all cars, and I cannot see how they will not and look forward to the new possibilities.

throw your wallet away

            The next step of electronic commerce has been taken.  Individuals will now be able to use their phone as a digital wallet, eliminating the use for credit cards, cash and checkbooks. 

            AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, along with a total of 220 million U.S. customers have come together to form the ISIS mobile commerce network.  This network will allow users to use their phone as a credit card.  The network uses Near Field Communication technology, NFC, which allows wireless data to be transferred within four inches of the phone and reader.  While NFC technology is not new, as it was founded in 2003, it has been slow to catch on in the USA.  However, this new technology will eliminate the need to carry around credit cards and empower the mobile device even more. 

            The leverage and strength of such major firms signing on with this new technology will give ISIS the leverage and market value it needs for the new technology to catch on. Mike Abbott, the CEO of ISIS stated; "We're painting a vision of the future; we're pulling this together.  It's all about simplifying the consumer's life."  Credit card companies are signing on to this new technology and retailers will even be able to give coupons back to the ISIS users.  The android and Nokia’s new phones will be NFC ready and apple has signed on an NFC expert for the next generation of iphones.  This is clearly a step in the future. 

            One might be concerned with the security implications of such an open method of payment.  However, Abbott states that it is much easier to be protected with one’s private data with a phone than with a credit card.  He states that it is locked in with a password that is encrypted inside of the phone.  It cannot be stolen as easy as a credit card.  One call can shut ISIS down immediately and one call can restore it, making it easier than having to order or cancel credit cards.  This is just one more example of how IT is allowing us to live an easier an streamlined lifestyle.

judgement day

I am a huge fan of the terminator movies, not just because of the great action and effects, but because I knew that it could one day be true.   That one day, robots could become all knowing and take over the planet.

It appears that we are closer than it seems.  Well, the production side of the terminators anyway.

Kiva systems, a company founded in 2003 by Mick Mountz, is producing production line robots that pull products from warehouses and bring them to a specialized workstation called packing stations where humans pack the inventory.  The robots are so smart that the founder claims they are more productive than humans, continuously updating and re-organizing inventory based on order volume and frequency. Mountz claims that the product can up efficiency levels up to four times, allowing some companies costs to be cut enough to offer incentives to customers such as free shipping.

About a dozen retailers, including amazon and their shoe company zappos, is using the technology, and it will soon be available to lease in peak shipping times for certain markets to help cut costs.  Although the packages run from the 4-6 million dollar range, with the cheapest, 1 million, supplying 30 robots and two packing stations, the investment can run on any inventory software, eliminating the need to install a new system.  It appears that the age of robots is finally coming around, I just don’t want a “orange tortoise” robot coming after me one day, that might be too much to handle.

Camera shirt

               Wow, I have always secretly been a spy.

               The company Thinkgeek has created a t-shirt that James Bond would find incredibly useful.  Although to the average eye the shirt looks like an ordinary blue shirt with a graphic image printed on the front, the shirt has a tiny digital camera attached to the front of it.  The camera is connected to a feedback remote that the user can hide in his pocket or his hand and is what is used to snap the photos.  The remote vibrates when the picture is finished.  You can store up to 150 photos on the camera and the photos are downloaded through a USB onto the PC. 

This is simply incredible that a camera can be made small enough to take photos like this.  The photos are 640 by 480 resolution, which is by no means incredible quality but for a camera small enough to be incognito in a t-shirt, this is still pretty good.  The website does state, however, that the camera should not be used in low light situations, being that the photos may not come out at all, so the wannabe spy will be forced to spy in broad daylight. 

While this camera is an interesting novelty, there are some implications as to the invasion of privacy.  Although there are no specific laws that prohibit secretly taking pictures, there are not too many people who will be willing to have people secretly take their photos.  It could also technically be used to take illicit or inappropriate photos of people in places such as bathrooms and dressing rooms.  While there are some negatives to the new camera shirt, it is mostly just a novelty that shows how far technology has come.

myspace; too little, too late

http://www.cio.com/article/630165/Myspace_Redesigns_Site_Launches_New_Features?source=rss_news

In an attempt to bolster its fading popularity and to generate new members, MySpace has redesigned its site.  It has created a myriad of new entertainment geared features in a hope to recapture some of its lost users to Facebook and to attract new users.  While originally, MySpace became more of an entertainer/marketing too than Facebook anyway, I feel like this move may just be a little too late to save its legacy from the social network domination of Facebook.

           

            According to the article, the number of unique visitors to MySpace dropped 18 percent in September alone.  This is a colossal number to occur in a single month.  Another huge number is the average minutes spent by visitors on the site, which dropped a whopping 42.5 percent while internet use as a whole was up 10 percent in the same timeframe.  This is the cause for the drastic changes MySpace has put into the face of its site.

            One of my biggest problems in MySpace was the intricacy it took to create one’s homepage.  It was fairly complicated to accomplish for someone with little web page creation knowledge.  The new beta version of MySpace claims to make this easier as well as the ability to search the wealth of knowledge available to MySpace users.  You can personalize your likes to generate a specification of what you look at, and content hubs make your likes much more accessible.  The content hubs will direct information from such sites as MTV to directly tie in the personalized likes to the user.  The only truly interesting thing I can find in this article about the MySpace redesign is that a user will be able to toggle between 3 different types of views; the traditional view, a magazine type view, and a ‘play’ view which will allow the user to change the sizes of the windows and advertisements in real time.  MySpace will also give former and current users who understood the shortcomings of the old version to actively comment and suggest changes to the new site. Another new concept MySpace is using is a new mobile site interface, which will allow easier use from mobile devices.

            All this seems like great improvements from the MySpace of old, but I feel that other social sites, namely Facebook, have taken over as the king of the mountain.  The new features of MySpace seem like a lackluster attempt to create what Facebook already has.  It will be difficult, also, to lure back in old users/Facebook users because of its growing popularity in pop culture, especially since a movie.  It will be interesting to see how the changes of MySpace will help it turn around to its former glory as a premier social network.

20 dying technologies

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/10/10/1021_dying_tech/3.htm

    

      An article i found particularly interesting, it is interesting to note the technologies that are fading out or becoming completely obsolete with the amazing improvements of technology today.   While some were surprising, some I have trouble thinking will ever be able to fade away completely for some time because of the residual base of older and accustomed consumers.
            There is no doubt in the world that combustion engines are forever changing.  Smaller, “smarter” cars are becoming a new industry standard.  The article states that the only problem hindering this new movement is the actual new engines themselves.  There has not been a completely viable alternative thus far to using petroleum, and it does not seem that the electric car will be completely sufficient any time soon.  I find it hard to believe that the combustion engine, or petroleum engines, will ever become truly obsolete.  Too much of the world’s economy today is based upon petroleum refining and petroleum based engines.  The rest of the world is far behind as far as the internal combustion transfer to a different source of energy and there are too many nations dependent on the refining of petroleum for this to be a dying technology that will fade away any time soon.
            Another technology stated that I feel will not be obsolete any time soon is credit cards.  The article states that several companies are making these obsolete by allowing completely digital payment options as well as using biometrics as a way of identification.  While this seems interesting, once again some people that are accustomed to using credit cards will never fully be able to change their ways and also because of a fear of identity theft.  Some individuals would simply prefer to have physical forms of payment and would not trust a completely online standard.  Some individuals lack the technological ability to make this change also.

Some of the technologies that are mentioned as becoming obsolete are not surprises at all.  The desktop PC is clearly a dying technology.  Except for some educational settings, the laptop and smartphone is making this a technology that is cumbersome and unnecessary.  Desktops are heavy, big, and no longer have any technological advancement on smaller, more portable options. Netflix states that Blueray and DVD’s are also going the way of the wild goose.  Netflix will soon be able to deliver all of their services online, making the DVD much like the VHS oof the future.  The article also states that with the use of biometric identification, keys are also on the way out.  Imagine not having to carry around a huge set of keys with you and being able to scan into your car or office.  That is a technology I will embrace.  Landline telephones are being replaced by the cellular telephone; few people I know have landlines any more.  Memory sticks, because of cloud computing, while innovative, will soon also be gone because it is just too simple to send info across the internet.  They are no longer necessary.

            It is interesting to see all of these technologies that are supposedly going out.  Most of them are fairly new, yet with the major advancements of networks and technology today, they are soon to be gone, much like the 8 track.

http://www.cio.com/article/622331/Tech_CEOs_Tell_US_Gov_t_How_to_Cut_1_Trillion_From_Deficit?source=rss_news

     Whether or not IBM is using this as a ploy to gain additional government contracts to help lower the national debt as much as 1.2 trillion by 2020, nearly all that this article states as possible solutions seem like necessities if the US will continue to stay at the forefront of "international competitiveness."  This article brings up several key points that we have discussed so far this semester, such as streamlining product supply chains, consolidating IT resources, and through virtualization.  Despite the fact that this could potentially cut down on the ever-growing national deficit, these all seem like changes that the government should pursue anyway to continue to progress and streamline in the growing world of IT.
     The world is increasingly IT stratified, and according to the problems in this article, the US government is in need of an IT makeover.  The government currently spends 76 billion dollars a year to support a widely spanned IT systems, and while this once again may be a ploy by IBM to make some money, it would seem beneficial to all to adhere to a much smaller support system.  This could create a unified training program, unified support teams, and a much smaller budget for IT services.  It says that though these are new ideas for the government, that the individuals proposing these changes have extensive knowledge and experience cutting costs for other companies, giving credence to all of the proposed changes.  This from the CEO: "Our report contains straightforward, proven ways to pare back $1 trillion from the deficit while increasing productivity and enabling sustainable competitiveness," Michael Dell, chairman and CEO of Dell, said in a statement. "We're serious about helping to provide solutions for the mounting debt crisis, and we're optimistic that changes today will help lay the foundation for future job growth and innovation for our country"  These proposed changes would clearly benefit Dell, but if he is sincere about wanting to give job growth and innovation to the country while helping out with out mounting deficit, i see no reason why the US government would not be jumping at the bit to take part in these changes.

a new threat on the horizon; global IT debt

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/092310-global-it-debt.html

So it appears that we have another threat on the horizon that few people would take into consideration, the global IT debt.  According to analysts for Gartner, the global IT debt is at 500 billion dollars and will reach 1 trillion by 2015.  This is an astronomically large number for such a seldom thought of maintenance and in the economy today as well as the dependence of corporations on IT, this cannot bear well for anyone.

This debt is basically the cost to keep corporate software up to date.  Corporate applications are updated to keep the software at the edge of technology.  Some of these applications are being prioritized as more important to update than others which is allowing many of these programs and backlog data warehouses to be dangerously out of date.  This debt is the cost to update this software, and because the software companies prioritize the systems they choose to update, it is creating not only a giant debt but a problem with old software.  Software companies should have a scheduled maintenance program for all of their products to help combat this problem.

Another issue at hand with this problem is that the software departments are not doing a good job of keeping up with the review process and inventory of the required maintenance, which is causing the problem and debt to grow without their knowledge.  This is a very large problem.  The fact that these companies cannot even keep up with their own products is alarming in that this kind of maintenance, one would think, would come standard with such a large corporate purchase.  If this number keeps on being hidden and is not taken into consideration soon, there could be major consequences in the IT world for those who take these things so easily for granted.

Blog on diddybeats headphones

Being a Dj for 4 years, I understand the difference in quality in headphones.  For someone who has not experienced a high quality sound system in headphones before, it will blow your mind if you able to hear the difference in levels, bass distortion, and background suffocation.  Cheap headphones have several drawbacks: poor distinction of clear levels, distortion, too much bass compared to the other levels, some are not comfortable, and most are easily tangled.  It appears that monster cable's new diddybeats headphones take all of this into consideration with their new product and really shine.
   The most important thing in a quality headphone is just that, quality.  I don’t care about looks as long as they give me the quality sound experience i want out of my music.  According to the article, the headphones give a great performance when listening to music in the mid to upper bit range choices, which refers to the encryption process of the music.  Being a Dj i download and buy music of the best quality, and therefore would find these headphones a great buy.   192 kilobytes per second is my norm, although lossless audio is by far the best but harder to find and more expensive, but lower quality ear buds lose sharpness in sound when playing at these levels, which this headphone seemingly does not.   Another interesting thing the author noted is that he never has turned the ear buds up past the mid volume setting, which i really like because i love to blare my music.

     On top of sound quality, these headphones offer some new and interesting technology.  I hate to untangle headphones but am seemingly doing this all the time.  These headphones eliminate this problem by having a flat, rubberized cable that becomes untangled very quickly.  If this actually works, it would fix a major hassle.  Another interesting note is that monster cable lets a little knowledge out that the average Joe might not know.  Speakers require a break in time to fully use their range of sound, and the manual advises that 20 hours of play is the time required to meet this potential.  The author says that this is definitely true, which is a good piece of knowledge for any novice to understand.

     A downside to these earphones is the size of the bud.  The author states that they are loose in the ear and often fall out, and also fit funny into smaller ear canals.  They also state that due to the flat cable, it is not possible to wrap the cable around the ear to prevent this.  However, the headphones come with 8 different earpieces to fit different sizes and shapes of ears, which are 6 more than i have ever seen in any other equipment.  It also comes in a very nice felt case that the author says is easy to carry.  If the fact that the earpieces to not fit well deters some, let it be said that you shouldn't be bringing 180 dollar headphones to the gym anyway, these babies are made for the home or walking only.

     It appears that this is a quality product with many new attributes.  The cord is something i am particularly interested in.  180 dollars is a lot for a piece of equipment like this, but once someone understands the difference high quality can make, they can understand that it is well worth the investment.

technology rant

Oh how the world is changing. It cannot be understated how technology is creating a homogenized planet, allowing people from across the world to communicate and interact in unprecedented ways. That this is entirely a good thing, however, remains to be seen.


Certain retailers are using the fact that the majority of marketable people utilize a hand held device of some sort to "get closer to the customer." Emails on sales, discounts, and offers seem to be popping up everywhere. The fact that I am being profiled based on my digital fingerprint is alarming, and more often than not, is off the mark. I can appreciate the fact that businesses are doing there best to mold to what they think are my preferences, and in many ways this does make shopping easier, but sometimes I feel that I would prefer a less invasive method. The WSJ article is interesting in the lengths that some stores are going to in order to make store shopping a continued practice, but online shopping is so much less of a hassle that at some point it may not be worth the amount of time and money spent on the technology. If a mirror could tell me my exact size for a certain garment and profile other clothes I might be interested in, then that might be an idea that I would be interested in, especially if it would reduce the need for terribly harassing salespeople. On the whole, this movement towards an experience that is closer to the specific shopper is inevitable and positive, but I hope certain precautions are taken before going too far.

As far as having an app for my phone that tells people my location, I am powerfully against it. While this does seem novel and useful, I really don’t want people to know where I am at all times. It is somewhat scary to think that we live in a society that has an app that can tell where you are. How much control can we give technology? It may seem like a Hollywood fantasy, but how unfeasible are ideas like terminator and the Matrix? If technology is given such increased control, who is setting the laws on where it stops?

My final rant is on how technology is homogenizing the world. I am all for the continued advancement of communication. Google and Skype have now made it cheap and easy to talk around the world. This is great, but at some point it will aid in the loss of specific culture that will cease to exist with a smaller world. A bad example of this is specific regional accents. When a specific person lives in a society with a vastly different accent from their own, they gradually lose their unique accent as they begin to pick up on the phrases and sayings of their new surroundings. Is this happening to the world as it becomes such a smaller place? You might think not, but I think it is a tragic inevitability to these advancements. How much farther down the road will it be before we have an app that acts as a perfect voice translator for talk between two otherwise non-communicating individuals because of a language barrier? I believe as the need for a second language continues to rise in the world today that this is closer than we think. I look forward to the possibilities of increased communication on a global scale, but hope that it does not do so at the cost of what makes each specific person unique.