AAA named Siri as a Dangerous Driving Distraction

Siri may not be the hands-free savior Apple intended her to be. A new study by the AAA(American Automobile Association) Foundation for Traffic Safety ranks iOS 7 Siri as one of drivers’ worst distractions!

AAA noted that even though three out of four drivers think hands-free technology is safe to use on the road, it can be deceptively distracting, with potentially dangerous results

"Technologies used in the car that rely on voice communications may have unintended consequences that adversely affect road safety," AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety's president and CEO Peter Kissinger said in a statement. "The level of distraction and the impact on safety can vary tremendously based on the task or the system the driver is using."

The study measured drivers’ reaction time with equipment such as instrumented test vehicles and heart-rate monitors. Although Siri is hands-free and eyes-free, drivers using the Apple function to perform a number of tasks experienced some of the most elevated levels of distraction.

"It is clear that not all voice systems are created equal, and today's imperfect systems can lead to driver distraction," said AAA CEO Bob Darbelnet. "AAA is confident that it will be possible to make safer systems in the future."

references:

http://readwrite.com/2014/10/08/siri-dangerous-driving-distraction

Micro-Investment Platform Acorns launches their Android App

Acorns, the micro-investment platform that lets users save for their future, has today launched on Android.

Acorns simply connects to your credit and debit cards and invests the change from each purchase (rounding up to the next dollar) into an investment portfolio. You can choose between five different risk options, from aggressive to conservative, and watch how your investments are performing over time.

Users can make special deposits or withdrawals (beyond the automatic ones) at any time, or change their risk profile.

In this way, Acorns promises to help you save and make money without leaving you without access to your cash.

Since launching on iOS in August, the app has grown to 60k active users and has thusly decided to capture the Android market on the heels of that momentum. According to the release, a third of all new users are under 23 and a quarter of them make less than $25,000 annually.

Acorns makes money by charging a monthly $1 fee for every active investment month, as well as a management fee that ranges from .5 percent to .25 percent, depending on how much you’re investing.

references:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/08/micro-investment-platform-acorns-lands-on-android/?ncid=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29

Apple To Announce New iPad October 16

According to the very recent reliable  reports, Apple's newest ipad  will launch in on October 16, putting its debut slightly ahead of the roll out for the mobile software. It also fits with Apple's pattern of October iPad announcements. 

Anticipation is high for a next-generation iPad Air, as well as a new version of the iPad mini. Rumors suggest there will be a new 12-inch version joining the 9.7-inch and 7.9-inch models, as well as the same Touch ID fingerprint scanner—the latter of which fuels speculation that the tablet will be capable of Apple Pay, the company's new mobile payments system. 
It's a strange thought—who would carry around a big tablet to pay for things in stores?and it would require a Near Field Communication chip, like the iPhones 6 have. Given that, there's a chance that the tablets could merely hook into Apple Pay to pay for online shopping. 
references:
http://readwrite.com/2014/10/03/apple-ipad-event-mac-os-x-ios81

OnePlus One will challenges to Samsung Galaxy 5

OnePlus debuted its first smartphone called the One, combining a sleek and customizable appearance with some really powerful specifications.

Inside, you'll find a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor the same speed as on the Galaxy S5.That processing power is coupled with a generous 3GB of RAM, which is more than you'll get on the Galaxy S5, HTC One M8 or iPhone 5S. And indeed, the phone performed admirably.OnePlus was truly intent on making a good first impression here. Accordingly, everything looks spiffy, right down to the red and white box the device ships in to the red ribbony USB cord and square wall adapter with rounded corners.

Shockingly, with a 5.5-inch 1080p display, a 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and 4K video-recording capabilities, the phone actually has the specs to back it up.The One is a thin 0.35 inch and weighs in at 5.7 ounces.pretty light for a 5.5-inch phone. That large Gorilla Glass display is nestled against a thin metal lip. At 1,920 x 1,080, the display is no slouch, either. On the 5.5-inch display, that translates to 401 pixels per inch (ppi), less dense than both the HTC One M8 and Galaxy S5 (441 and 432, respectively), but still well ahead of the iPhone 5S (326). In any case, it makes for a rich viewing experience usually associated with far pricier handsets.

The OnePlus One is an extremely solid phone by most measures. There are some shortcomings here and there the camera could use some work, ditto the speakers. Also, expandable storage and a removable battery would be nice. But even with those quibbles taken into account, the One is more than just a good phone; it's a statement on the state of the industry and a window of insight into a future where a brand-new phone manufacturer can take on the big guns less than a year into its existence. For under $400 no less.

Sources:

http://mashable.com/2014/07/08/oneplus-one-review/?utm_campaign=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_cid=Mash-Prod-RSS-Feedburner-All-Partial&utm_medium=feed&utm_source=rss

Keep your Smart Phone charged with Solar Dress.

Here’s an extra-ordinary way to keep your smartphone charged with a solar-powered dress. renowned fashion designer-Van Dongen designed this and she had two main inspirations.Lets listen to her own words clarifying the two points,

One of them is the fact that we highly depend on connectivity. We’re all addicted to our smartphones and we want them constantly powered, and the better our batteries get, the more we’ll use them. And at the same time, working as a werable tech designer, I know the difficulties when integrating these kind of bulky batteries that don’t allow for any comfort or wearability. So that’s why I thought, why not power your phone through your clothes? And eventually power other interactive qualities that our garments are becoming a platform for.

sources:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/06/wearable-solar-dress/?ncid=rss

Google Now will suits best for Android Wear

While there is plenty of Android in Google’s smart watch operating system and while developers will be able to develop apps specifically for it, Wear in its current form is fundamentally about bringing Google Now notifications to your wrist.

Android Wear, of course, also shows you all of your notifications from your phone.You could push all of your phone notifications to your watch, but that would be overkill. Thankfully, Google lets you choose which applications can push to Wear. But its most useful feature and maybe its killer feature overall is definitely easy access to Google Now.

Everybody is pretty much familiar with Google Now, but there is something fundamentally different between using it on your phone and on your wrist. Sure, the mission is the same on both platforms.Google wants to give you the right information at the right time.Just like Google Now brings together a number of Google’s services into one product, Wear has a similar feel to it. It’s a mix of what it has learned from Android and its ecosystem, its advances in voice recognition and its newly found design chops.In the next few months, Google will get some competition from Microsoft, Apple and a few startups in this space. For better or worse, none of them know as much about you as Google does, so it’ll be hard for them to replicate the Google Now experience.

sources:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/07/05/google-now-is-the-killer-app-for-android-wear/?ncid=rss

Oracle launches its New Mobile Application Framework

With the speed development of mobile apps,Oracle decides to launch its new Mobile Application Framework (MAF), which was made available Monday.The new framework is part of a series of updates to the Oracle Mobile Suite.

MAF builds on the cross-platform development tools Oracle already offers. The framework lets developers choose between the JDeveloper IDE integrated development environment or Enterprise Pack for Eclipse. Oracle stated that developers can also pick between a number of development languages, including Java, JavaScript and HTML5 when they are developing native Android and iOS apps.The framework also includes capability for declarative UI components creation, which allows for greater reusability during the app development process.More than 80 user-interface (UI) components are contained in the framework, allowing developers to use more extensive data visualization capabilities and reduce the need for low-level HTML5 coding.By integrating the new MAF with its Mobile Security Suite, Oracle hopes to calm the misgivings of mobile enterprise-app developers who are concerned about securing their apps and the data they have access to. The security suite includes features for application containerization, advanced authentication and authorization, and integration with social network log-ins.Oracle said the updated Mobile Suite now contains everything developers need to extend their enterprise systems to mobile phones and tablets.

sources:

http://www.toptechnews.com/article/index.php?story_id=1320044NEN3O

Android Smartwatches will not work with 3/4 of Android phones!

Always we hear peculiar compatible devices by search giant Google.But contemporary stats reveals something customers are not willing to hear.By Google’s own count, 13.6% of Android phones are running the latest public build of the OS, Android 4.4.Android Wear watches, meanwhile, require a phone running Android 4.3 or newer to work.Between Android 4.3 and 4.4, that’s a grand total of 23.9% of active Android phones that are currently Wear-friendly. In other words, less than 1/4 of the Android phones currently in use can be paired with an Android Wear watch.there’s a pretty good chance the watches won’t actually work with your phone.It also makes it pretty damned hard to give an Android Wear watch as a gift, unless you know exactly which phone the recipient has.

sources:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/27/less-than-14-of-android-phones-work-with-googles-new-smartwatches/

Google and LG merges on 3D tablet

Google Inc.'s advanced research lab focused on cutting-edge mobile technology, may go on sale for consumers next year.It is working with LG Electronics to make a version of a tablet that captures three-dimensional images, which was developed as part of a research effort called Project Tango. The aim is to have the gadget ready for sale to the general public in 2015.
Google is also integrating the device with Unity, a platform that helps developers create video games.Google's research group is currently making a few thousand versions of the tablet for outside developers to try out, hoping to encourage them to develop games and other applications for the device and accompanying technology.
During a demonstration on Thursday at Google’s developer conference,on the project showed a colleague walking around a building holding the tablet. The device tracked the person’s journey and built a 3-D image of the parts of the building where he walked, including a stair case rising up several floors.
Google engineers say the device should be able to gather enough information to help create 3-D games and “fantasy lands” in real, physical places.
sources:
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/06/26/lg-to-make-a-consumer-version-of-googles-3-d-tablet/

Apple cheapens the iPod Touch prices to last stocks

Apple lowered prices of its declining-in-interest iPod Touch portable media players.

The 64-gigabyte version of the newest iPod Touch, at $299, is now $100 cheaper. The 32-gigabyte version came down to $249 from $299. The 16-gigabyte version, now with a rear-facing camera, costs $199 instead of $229.

The price drops hint that Apple is trying to clear store shelves ahead of the release of a new set of iPods, which have seen new introductions about every two years since an initial release in 2001.Apple sold just 2.8 million iPods in the first three months of this year, its lowest total in a decade.Apple said in a press release that the reduced-price iPod Touch devices would ship with iOS 7, but can be upgraded to iOS 8 when the operating system becomes available in the fall. All the iPod Touches have 4-inch displays.

sources:

http://www.toptechnews.com/article/index.php?story_id=1300042EBLTO

Microsoft's New Nokia X2 Smartphone introduces

Last Monday Microsoft covered off Nokia X2 an affordable smartphone to reach the "next billion" people with mobile Internet and cloud services.Given Microsoft's recent acquisition of Nokia, this Android device is unique in that it also offers Microsoft services.The Nokia X2 will hit the market with Outlook.com, Skype and OneDrive pre-loaded. Users can also download Microsoft's OneNote and Yammer from the Nokia Store. Of course, users can also download Android apps from Google Play.

key specs:

The Nokia X2 offers a 4.3-inch ClearBlack display and 5-megapixel rear camera with auto-focus and flash. Inside, there's a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor with a dual-core, 1.2-Ghz processor and 1 GB of memory.

Although it's based on the Android mobile operating system, Microsoft is calling the phone's OS the Nokia X Software Platform 2.0."Microsoft is trying to provide a lower-cost device and tap into a bigger ecosphere of applications.The biggest driver is the low cost." Entner(principal analyst at Recon Analytics) said. The phone will sell for a suggested retail price of 99 euros, or about $135.

Microsoft is looking at profitability and popularity. Timo Toikkanen, head of Mobile Phones in the Microsoft Devices Group, said the Nokia X smartphone has top-selling status in Pakistan, Russia, Kenya and Nigeria and the third-best-selling status in India.

sources:

http://www.toptechnews.com/article/index.php?story_id=121003S9G7W7

Why Amazon's Fire Phone frightens peer retailers?

Amazon unveiled its highly anticipated smartphone-named Amazon Fire Phone that will give the e-commerce giant yet another piece of ammunition against retailers in its goal to own online shopping through show-rooming and price comparisons.The Seattle-based company's phone includes a feature called Firefly (which appears to be a souped-up version of its mobile app) that claims to recognize more than 100 million products. Firefly employs the phone’s 13-megapixel camera to detect QR codes and Web links on packages to drive traffic to Amazon items.Here my previous post contains more details about  its visual recognition abilities.Amazon Fire owners will receive one gratis year of Amazon Prime with the phone, which offers free shipping on all orders."It will rapidly accelerate show-rooming that retailers are already trying to combat in different ways,"one spokesman said,clarifying its revolutionary abilities.

Firefly also uses audio recognition that will likely attract advertisers focused on second-screen marketing.

The Amazon Fire Phone also includes 3D technology that distorts photos based on how consumers tilt the phone back and forth. The device will be sold exclusively by AT&T starting July 25 for $199 with a two-year contract.

Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets run on Google’s Android operating system, but the company was careful to not plug Google into the device's actual features.

sources:

http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/why-amazons-new-phone-threatens-retailers-158427