Ah prototypes, they can sometimes be really really cool devices that will never see the light of day, then there is this… I don’t know what to make of this. Microsoft, probably using some of the tech they used with the Xbox Kinect, is showing off a prototype of their “OmniTouch” projection interface. It tracks depth with short range depth camera and projects images onto any surface, be it your hand or your kitchen wall. The way they showed it off was by having it attached to someones left shoulder and projecting on that persons arm, notebook or wall right in front of them. The thing I find interesting is that I would see this as being more useful on someones wall at home, or their home theater system. Think of having your end table beside your couch as your remote, projected from the ceiling. It could show you updates on sports, weather and control your entire entertainment system. Instead they screwed it to some woman’s shoulder, but that’s cool too.
Long ago, when red and blue (or green) glasses were the only way people could watch a movie in 3D, it appeared and faded quickly. It’s fading was probably expected, how long could someone stand watching a movie with only red or blue. Not to mention the headaches it could cause. Polarized glasses were around in the 50′s, but it was expensive to print and film. For a while 3D was out of the picture, then suddenly it made a resurgence. We can blame the hype of Avatar and it’s record breaking sales for the sudden onslaught of 3D films. Technology was now at the point that making a film 3D wasn’t that expensive, and in some cases, drew more ticket sales. The rise of digital downloads and streaming movies have made it tougher and tougher for theaters to get us off the couch and into a theater seat. 3D, was the answer according to the industry. They needed something that you couldn’t get at home and 3D was that something.
Apple has lost a great visionary last night as Steve Jobs passed away some time in the evening. He revolutionized personal computers, MP3 players, tablets and smart phones not with great technology, but with great simplicity. He saw that technology doesn’t have to be complex and super powerful in order to sell. He saw that technology can be sleek, appealing and, in some ways, fashionable. There will always be the PC guy and the Mac guy, but both sides can agree that he changed the technology world over and over again. I count myself as a hardcore PC guy, and even I can’t deny that Steve Jobs changed everything, and even though I may not have known it at the time, he changed it all for the better.
Apple released a memo to all their employees that they will be having an internal celebration in honor of Steve’s life.
Tim Cook
Team,
I have some very sad news to share with all of you. Steve passed away earlier today.
Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.
We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon. If you would like to share your thoughts, memories and condolences in the interim, you can simply email rememberingsteve@apple.com.
No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.
Tim
Steve Jobs’ Family
Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.
In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve’s illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.
We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.
Bill Gates
I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work.
Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives.
The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come.
For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.
We here at The Bluedot.net are sad to see such a great man go and we hope his spirit, determination and innovation lives on in the company he helped create.
So how is everyone liking their new iPhone 5′s? Oh? They’re not out yet? Well that’s not stopping the sudden spike (some as high as 85%) of iPhone 4 trade-ins to all phone refurbishing companies. Everyone is anticipating the official announcement of the iPhone 5, by Apple, this coming October. With this being the longest lull in iPhone additions, it seems many people just can’t wait to upgrade. But why trade in now? Why not wait until the iPhone 5 actually comes out? And what does this mean for people who don’t mind having the previous addition of the iPhone?
When it comes to why people may be trading in their iPhone 4′s it may simply be anticipating the price drop. This isn’t always true, and once the iphone 5 is announced the trade-in price for the iPhone 4 will remain stable for a little bit. But this is great news for other people!
How is this great news? Well, with so many iPhone 4 trade-ins coming in, that means there will be more used and refurbished iPhone 4′s for people not worried about being current on everything. The iPhones work perfectly, and considering their price when new, most are taken care of like they’re gold! So when someone with an iPhone 3 wants to finally upgrade, they have a great, cheaper option than jumping the hype wagon and getting the new 5′s. In fact, if you’re interested in an iPhone 4 they are available now at our online store at TheBlueDot.
So what kind of improvements should Apple fans expect with the upcoming iPhone 5? Of course, no official announcements have been made until October 5th, but even before that date there is news of manufacturing problems. That won’t stop the unprecedented demand obviously. But what are fans expecting? After scouring the web and digging through a few forums it seems most fans want five very important things.
One of those things is better connectivity. The iPhone 4 didn’t have much of a problem connecting, but in the world of technology there is always room for improvement. Along with better connectivity is a larger screen. Most Apple fans anticipate this because of the release, and success, of the iPad and iPad 2. With better connectivity customers will want to be able to watch movies and tv shows easily and with a bigger screen that just makes it even easier. Not to mention better resolution. Cameras have also become synonymous with cell phones. Nothing gets missed, as evident by the number of youtube videos, with cell phone cameras. So most fans are begging for a better camera for video and pictures. The iPhone 4′s camera was great, with many options and great video resolution. But, again, with technology things just get better and better.
This is all simply speculation at this point. Apple is notorious for keeping secrets, especially the last few weeks before the big announcement. At the moment, only glimpses of the iPhone 5 case has been revealed, and even those are questionable at best. Two things we can be sure of though is that the iPhone 5 will create lines of people outside every Apple store. The second thing we know is that people perfectly happy with getting an iPhone 4 will have great deals available to them before and after it’s official announcement.
We are buying the iphone 4 for cash in mass quantities. Check out our Trade-in page for more details at – http://www.thebluedot.net/tradein for an actual dollar amount for your device.
Over the past decade cell phones have went from simply “mobile phones” to “mobile computers”. We can surf the web, check on our finances, pay bills, stay connected with social media and even use GPS to find our way around the world. It seems that with every year our Phones become more and more essential to our daily lives. Well, that is about to take another leap this very year. Google has just released, though limited, Google Wallet, an Android exclusive application.
Google Wallet, available only on the Sprint Nexus S (for now), is literally what it claims to be, your wallet. Anyone with an Android phone will be able to link their credit and debit cards to one simple application. Each card will be protected with a PIN code, which you unlock for every purchase. No more losing credit cards and scrambling to get it locked before someone uses it to buy a yacht. Now, if you lose your phone, horrible in its own way, you can feel better in knowing that your finances will remain secure.
Android phones outfitted with Near Field Communication (NFC), will be able to go to any store and purchase goods with a simple wave of their phone. The amount of stores accepting such a device are limited at the moment, but growing fast. You can search via the program itself, by entering your zip code, and find locations near you already accepting the new program. We searched for locations in Philadelphia and found dozens accepting Google Wallet.
At the moment only Citi Bank Mastercard is linked to Google Wallet, but Google already has deals planned with Visa, Discover and American Express. In the meantime you can use google’s prepaid card within the application and add money from any card you please. What does this mean for our Cell Phones future? And with such a major change to how we do finances, how will Apples iPhone respond? Competition is healthy, and this can only mean great things for us.
Numerous banks already have finance applications linked to your account, but just imagine having them all in one simple location, in your pocket, protected with the same security as an ATM. No more clunky wallets, no more scrambling for that one specific card for that one specific store. All new Android phones will be NFC compatible, which is some bad news for older Droid users. Or is it? Visa is actually working on MicroSD cards with NFC technology. If such technology gets released, anyone with a microSD slot in their phone will be able to enjoy this application (and future ones to come). Droid X, Reality and even the very first Droid by Motorola could be potentially compatible.
But don’t count Apple or Windows out. If there is one constant in the world it’s that when one company innovates, the others copy and possibly enhance. Apple has been known to go toe to toe with Google on the software market. Apple will respond, and in turn, will cause Google to respond in kind. When that response will be is unknown at the moment.
But why the limited release? This seems like such an incredible program that anyone and everyone will want asap. According to Tech Crunch, Google wants to ensure the security and functionality of the NFC technology behind the Google Wallet. Considering this program could be potentially holding millions of people’s credit cards, it’s a wise choice to field test it as much as possible. Their goal is to make Google Wallet more secure than having a physical card on you at all times. Just having it be PIN activated already makes it slightly more secure than its old plastic cousins. This is only the beginning though, so our flimsy credit cards will probably live on for a few more years before the general public will trust such a program. Now we simply wait for the competition and see what innovation comes next.
Have you ever received one of those text messages or emails that promises bad luck or good luck if you forward the very important message to 10 people? Or a series of really cute pictures of kitty cats or babies? Of course, we all have! We assume that those friends of ours (it is always the same people that send us these messages) are extremely superstitious or perhaps just having a little fun. For others, the messages become warnings, a matter of life and death.
Recently in Nigeria, a rumor spread via text message like wildfire warning the receiver that there were 7-10 deaths reported after accepting a phone call from “09141”. The text warned that if they answered calls from this particular phone number, they would drop dead. The Nigerian Communications Commission called this possibility “unimaginable,” and denounced the rumor as “unscrupulous.”
“It is not possible for such a thing to happen,” said Reuben Muoka, a commission spokesperson. “It is only very gullible people that will believe such a rumor.” The report strains credulity but isn’t the first time a rumor has frightened the uneducated among Nigeria’s residents, who previously encountered false bomb warnings and even hearsay of acid rain that burned people alive.
The African incident follows last week’s false Twitter reports that drug cartels attacked a school in Veracruz, Mexico, inducing panic among parents who raced to the school to check on their children. The two people responsible for this rumor were arrested for terrorism and sabotage.”Here, there were 26 car accidents, or people left their cars in the middle of the streets to run and pick up their children, because they thought these things were occurring at their kids’ schools,” said Gerardo Buganza, interior secretary for Veracruz state.
For some it’s a game, but for others it can cause mass chaos. While the incident in Nigeria is pretty far-fetched, most would have to admit that if they were to receive a text message warning that their child’s school was shot upon they would fall prey attempting to get there as quickly as possible. Both of these incidents show just how quickly information can be spread using modern technology, even if it’s fear mongering misinformation, legitimate news or just a funny joke.
