Fun article from TNW. I didn’t even think about it, but these could definitely all use a refresh. “What is one everyday device or gadget you’d love to see totally re-engineered by a startup and why?”
Category: Tech Hardware
Google allowed people to buy Google Glass without an invitation today, and marketed it well in advance. They’ve always been great at making people want that invitation – exclusivity works well especially in the tech community. Even Gmail was in beta and required an invitation for longer than I can remember. Google Glass was expensive though. It will be interested to see if figures are released. “So the question is, are there really that many people chomping at the bit for a Glass free-for-all? Did you buy Glass? Did anyone you know buy Glass? Let us know down below.”
Can’t imagine how many phones are stolen every day and how much information is on each one. iPhone tackled this issue years ago with Find My iPhone, but I’m not sure it’s marketed this way. Blackberry always had the feature, since corporations used it and security was always their strongest selling point. Now it looks like we will have a consortium with a standardized kill switch. “To combat phone theft, several lawmakers over the last year have put pressure on manufacturers and wireless carriers to include smarter antitheft technology on smartphones. A group of tech and phone companies on Tuesday said they were on board with the idea.”
An ideal way for companies to hunt for talent. Hackathons show a candidate in context – how they collaborate and how they generate ideas. This article from Mashable explains in detail. “For those looking to score a job at a hot tech startup or a coveted spot with a tech behemoth like Facebook or Square, the job search scene has an up-and-coming competitor to the traditional career fair: hackathons.”
The radical prototype airline seat of the future. Looks great, but can’t quite imagine getting to here from where we are now. From Quartz.
The next generation airline seat will know everything about you – Quartz.
This makes good sense to me – creating an immersive environment is ideal for workplace learning. Using virtual reality is definitely better than Second Life, which was going to be the way simulations and learning took place. We ended up flying around….Article is from TechCrunch. “This is another story today where I had to check to make sure it wasn’t an early April Fools’ joke, but it isn’t, I’m assured by TTS’ John Hoover. The company really is building “immersive learning environments” that combine “virtual worlds, instructor-led training, site-specific training, custom elearning and simulation to effectively train your workforce,” as TTS CEO Lou Rivera explains in an emailed release.”
via One Company Betting On Oculus Rift As The Platform For VR HR Training | TechCrunch.
I agree with TechCrunch – back when I first heard about Roku, I thought they were the box that people who really didn’t understand the new eco-system were buying. Now look at them go. Good for Roku, hitting the ball out of the park with the competition they’ve had all along. “In 10 years, when we look back and think about which companies fundamentally changed the way viewers get their TV shows delivered to them, will Roku be a part of the conversation? Based on what the company has done to date, and where it’s going, it seems likely.”
This was great news today, and the student who figured this out was really thinking. Now we just have to get rid of the paper used in those offices altogether. “Changing the standard typeface used by federal and state governments could save the United States roughly $370 million a year in ink costs, according to a peer-reviewed study by Suvir Mirchandani. The best part of the story? Mirchandani is just 14 years old.”
via 14-Year-Old Proves U.S. Can Save $370 Million by Changing Fonts.
I’ve never felt TechDirt got the attention it deserved, but it’s a great resource and this article was a reminder of the “informed” side of the internet we’ve been focusing on for the past 15 years. This is a recollection since 1999. “The site had existed for nearly two years before that, but was mainly done as an email newsletter. Back in March of 1999, the word “blog” still didn’t even exist until a few months later (though “weblog” had been around for a little while before that) and didn’t really catch on for a couple years. Anyway, given 15 years of blog posts, I thought it might be fun to look back at what we were writing about five, ten and fifteen years ago.”
Interesting – seems the upgrade cycle for tablets is similar to computers or laptops, not iPhones. That’s the conclusion I had after this article from Wired. “Apple sold more than 70 million iPads last year. People love them. But they might love them a little too much for Apple’s taste, if new predictions of shrinking growth in the tablet market turn out to be true. Tablets are so good, it seems, that people are keeping the ones they have and not buying as many new ones.”
via People Love Their Tablets. That’s Bad News for Apple | Wired Business | Wired.com.
Workplace Learning in the Digital Age 