Vine, gone but never forgotten

Vine was a app that took the world by storm with it’s 6 second video clips that played on a loop. To this day they quite frequently bring back a good laugh or chuckle. Vine was officially launched on January 24, 2013 and no longer available on January 17th, 2017. It’s discontinuation was a great loss as many people found great humor in the video content shared. The parent company, Twitter, choose to no longer make the app available because they felt it could not keep up with competing social platforms such as Instagram. Users could record content on the spot or upload previously filmed content. There was also a revine feature in which a user can share a video from a different user’s content. Vine may be gone but it was never forgotten. It is quoted frequently by myself and my friends and a spin off of the book “milk and honey” was written in honor of the beloved app called “milk and vine” which is filled with the most popular vine quotes and small drawings to match the text.  I think the app was so beloved because it was the epitome of this generation’s sense of humor. Rumor has it there may be a Vine2 in the works so stay tuned, let’s hope that is actually underway!

Source: https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-vine-3486082

Payment made easy!

“Now accepting venmo” is a sound I love to hear. Venmo is revolutionizing the way people pay for things, especially peer to peer. I rarely ever carry a wallet on me therefore I rarely ever have cash on me. The app is extremely helpful for when you need to pay a friend back for dinner or for the utility bill or for a fundraiser you just walked by. Here is how the app works. A user’s personal and financial data is encrypted and protected within Venmo’s secure servers to guard against unauthorized transactions. Transactions can occur between existing  venmo users or someone can pay someone simply with a phone number or email as long as they then create an account to claim it. Venmo is a free app and there is no fee for transactions unless it is linked to a credit card and then a 5% transaction fee will be collected. Venmo can also be connected to Facebook to find friends in a more convenient way. A real life example of how venmo has failed it’s users. My friend lost her phone once and the user got into her phone. They venmo’d an account not tied to any name and because of the way the app was designed, the police could not track the account that the money was transferred to and therefore she lost every cent from her debit card.  Overall, the app makes quick payment extremely easy and is widely loved among it’s users.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2013/07/02/venmo-the-future-of-payments-for-you-and-your-company/#49626d617e70

BlackBerry With the Comeback?

According to this article published on Cnet.com, BlackBerry – yes BlackBerry – has plans to get their brand back to relevant status in this era of the iPhone.  The only question is, can they actually do it?

Francois Mahieu, the chief commercial officer of BlackBerry, has plans to capture “3 to 5 percent” of the market for premium cell phones. The BlackBerry team apparently understands the difficulty in reaching these goals given that Apple is currently dominating –and has been – the entire market for an extremely long time now.  But while a percent of three percent may seem very small when compared to tech superstars like Apple, that small percentage is still a long way from where BlackBerry was back in 2009.

BlackBerry is also now endorsed by Google, which gives the brand a small boost now that it has this in common with brands like LG and Nokia.  Mahieu says that their new BlackBerry phones are what he believes that corporate companies are looking – leading to the fact that while you yourself might not buy a BlackBerry it is a possibility that your employer might just supply you with one.

While the company may seem to be making at least a small comeback, I personally don’t believe that the brand stands any chance when it comes to butting heads with the likes of Apple and Samsung.  While BlackBerry might be able to look forward to some type of corporate sponsorship, the market for younger customers and even just everyday people who are almost afraid of straying from their all too familiar iPhones, is way too large for BlackBerry to be able to make even a dent in the smart phone market.

https://www.cnet.com/news/blackberry-mobile-has-lofty-ambitions-for-comeback-no-really-mwc-2018/

Telexistence with Real Life Avatar Robots

Imagine being able to be in two places at once.  A start-up company in Japan is working towards making that possible. They are combining the use of virtual realty and robots to be able to experience environments. The company, Telexistence Inc., are still in the prototype phase but with the use of a VR head mount and haptic feedback gloves, the user can control the robot and senses what it is sensing. It can be implemented and used with great distances between the user and the robot. I believe in special cases this can be utilized very well but I am curious if it will become a large public consumed product. I feel as though traveling through a robot as opposed to as in person would be two different experiences that I am not sure the public will like. The cost of buying a robot and to use them wasn’t expressed through the article so it may not be practical right now for families to buy their own especially consider VR systems themselves are this a fairly large investment of money though getting increasingly better.

The Forbes article gives some positive outcomes that can come from having this telexistence. There one idea was having doctors being able to work night hours at a hospital while still being daytime where they are at. I think this idea of global doctors could be pushed further to help third world countries that are in desperate need of medical support and specialized knowledge. With the robots there and the doctor being able to stay in his home country, they can save a lot of money on plane tickets and instead put that money towards medicine for the people. The doctor would also have easier access to their peers to confine in for advice and medical breakthroughs. It would also be easier for the doctors as they won’t have to leave their families for extended periods of time for the trips which in itself could motive more doctors to be able to help out. This could even be applied in first world countries where it is very difficult and time sensitive to move a patient or get the very experienced and specialized doctor there. Instead now during an emergency the doctor can quickly put on the VR Suit and be ready to help.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/japan/2018/01/26/telexistence-how-this-tokyo-startup-is-building-real-life-avatar-robots/#5a857a814094

Facebook to Add AR and VR

Facebook is preparing to allow users to interact with AR and VR graphics via their social networking platform, according to a recent article by Tech Crunch.

The site debuted its 3D graphics posts in October, and now it’s ready to take its 3D posts a step further.

Tech Crunch reports that Facebook now supports gITF 2.0 files, which allow for “textures, lighting and realistic rendering of rough or shiny objects.” Developers can now share 3D models and cameras that will upload directly to the user’s news feed. These 3D models can be moved around by clicking and dragging with a mouse.

“Users can take 3D posts and bring them into Facebook Spaces, its social VR hangout rooms,” Tech Crunch says.

This ability for 3D models can benefit businesses and advertisers. Products can be displayed with 3D models, giving consumers a better look at an item before purchasing it online.

Tech Crunch also believes that 3D technology may push Facebook above the rest in terms of social media. One example given is creating 3D avatars, likely similar to that of Xbox or Nintendo, that are able to compete with Snapchat’s Bitmoji.

Facebook’s plan to unite AR, VR and News Feed with 3D posts

I think that overall, this will be an interesting addition to Facebook that will be fun to follow. I never knew that they had added the 3D models, as I never saw anyone using them.

As your typical Facebook and Snapchat user, however, I don’t see Facebook creating much competition against Snapchat, even with its AR and VR. I don’t use Facebook’s camera or story functions, and only two of my friends, at most, use it. Facebook isn’t a popular app for taking photos and sharing via stories, and I don’t think that will change. If people are able to create 3D avatars and add them to their normal timeline, then perhaps the 3D avatar technology will be more used and accepted.

Matrix fans can now relive their technology dream

On the year 1996, The Matrix films where a global phenomenon, everyone wanted to be like Keanu Reaves and because of this everyone also wanted to own Nokia’s very famous 8110 phone or as every Matrix fan knows it “the banana phone”. They announced the release of this “new” retro classic device at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

The company announced the release of a new plan to improve the image of the brand and “refresh” it. While reading about this “new” phone, the thing that most impressed me was that it has a 25 day battery stand by, something that all millennials wish their iPhones had, and access to the epic Snake game. The company also has a plan to create a special android store for the device for users to have apps like instagram, facebook with the hope that this create apps available for the device.

Despite the device being inspired by a 20 year old relique its modern design and unique colors are meant to get the attention of millennials and new customers that dare to go back in time and be more like Keanu Reaves .

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/25/17044634/nokia-8110-matrix-banana-phone-mwc-2018

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2018/02/25/nokia-8810-matrix-phone-returns-latest-retro-release-former/

 

Snap Stock Drops After Kylie Jenner Stops Use of App Snapchat

On February 21, 2018, Kylie Jenner sent out a tweet that shocked the world of social media. The tweet was probably one of the worst things to happen to the company Snap so far this year. Perhaps the most popular character in pop culture today, Kylie Jenner has a big impact on what a lot of young Americans think. Her voice is heard by millions upon millions through social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and formerly Snapchat. Recently, Jenner must have decided that she does not like Snapchat. Jenner tweeted “soo does anyone else not open Snapchat anymore? Or is it just me… ugh this is so sad.”

In recent trading the company that owns Snapchat, Snap, has declined more than 8%. Of course, there might be some other reasons as to why the stock has dropped like the recent update that has many users up in arms. Still, a negative tweet from one of the most noteworthy celebrities in the U.S and a frequent user of the Snapchat app with upwards of a million followers must have had an impact on the stock’s decline. Jenner’s initial tweet about Snapchat has racked up 45,000 retweets and over 255,000 likes, which means no small sum of people have seen the tweet.

Personally, I think it is pretty crazy that one person, even if she is a massive social media presence, can have such an impact on people’s opinions. Just because Kylie Jenner said she stopped using Snapchat, the Snap stock declined 8%. Just because one person said that she thinks an app is not as “cool” as it was before, people change their opinions immediately.

All in all, the Snapchat update turned out very poorly for Snap. Kylie Jenner’s frustration and many other factors played into the stock’s decline. Hopefully the company can overcome their problems and make Snapchat great again!

 

 

February 25 2018

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2018/02/22/kylie-jenner-sends-snap-stock-tumbling-tweet/364035002/

 

 

Quantum Communications Prevent Hacking

In our class we have talked several times about our concerns with future security as the Internet becomes more and more dominant. We have talked about our concerns with hacking, losing our information, having our information stolen, and having our lives controlled by companies. We feel that this stuff will become a bigger threat as the Internet of Things becomes a possible reality; however on the other frontier while hacking possibilities and capabilities become bigger, so does our possible security.

A satellite launched in 2016 by Chinese researchers have created quantum cryptography, a method of cryptography which makes data much safer and theoretically “unhackable” by classical communications. It gives a quantum key which is unique and secure to the user. It is for example impossible to copy data encoded in a quantum state and reading it while it is encoded would actually change the state itself and allow for detection of eavesdropping. Currently our encryption keys rely on mathematics in order to secure whatever we are doing. Though difficult to hack into and calculate, it is theoretically possible for a government with large computational powers to break into your information or for a genius mathematician to come up with a numerical system that could break the encryption key tomorrow. However, with quantum cryptography, it uses the powers of quantum physics and particles to make it provably unhackable.

This satellite makes usage of photons and quantum particles in order to make long-distance communication. Some problems of the idea currently are the fact that it is difficult to maintain long-distance communication and expensive. However, with this new breakthrough quantum communication has become possible over 1,200 kilometers, which is 10 times farther than ever before. With this breakthrough we might come to see a world which does not need to worry about hacking anymore and a much more secure world.

The biggest problem that I can see with this is the expense and the possible politics that may come out of it. Our system today is already so enveloped with the standard encryption that it may be difficult for people, whether it be companies or governments, to accept change because of its possible expense. However, I believe that it is a necessary expense and gateway to a much safer future. Marginal expenses from information theft will eventually exceed the lump sum expense from paying for satellites that are capable of quantum encryption and it is a future that I am willing to pay for to see.

Sources:

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/two-way-communication-possible-single-quantum-particle

https://www.popsci.com/what-is-quantum-cryptography

‘Internet for all’, promises Alphabet.

We’ve talked many a times in our class about the far reach and brilliance of the Internet, the applications of which are unlimited. Even though most of the world enjoys the marvel this creation brings, about 4.5 billion people on earth, still have below par or no access of internet at all. For companies like Google and Facebook, the addition of 4.5 billion more daily users means billions more in profit. This profit motive under the public relations charade of global connectivity is what drives their efforts of technology that provides internet for all.

Many efforts have been made by several companies over the past few years to provide internet connectivity to various sparsely populated rural areas, but a technological breakthrough is yet to be found. Yet still,  these companies have come to the consensus that broadband cables and fiber cables are not an option, as they aren’t profitable ventures with sparsely populated lands. Some alternate efforts being made include SpaceX approaching the FCC to create a constellation of satellites to beam internet down on earth. Further, Facebook with Aquila, a, internet beaming drone with a wingspan larger than a Boeing 737, has hit some obstacles with a recent test-flight crash. Among all these efforts, the one’s proposed by Alphabet seem the most promising and marketable.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, under it’s ‘other bet’s’ division launched the Loon project in 2013, which is a hot air balloon beaming down internet. This though sounds superficial, is reported to make the most progress. Google has been developing this technology in secret since its inception.

This balloon, which would initially float freely, now with advancement in its  Artificial Intelligence software by Loon engineers, can now remain bound within a certain geographical area. The engineers made changes to the navigation and altitude controlling parts of the software and also tweaked them in a way which requires them to be in an area which needs internet at that time. With this change, an area which would initially call for 200-300 balloons now only requires 10-20 balloons. This brings down the cost substantially, paving way for a profitable and sustainable future.

Loon engineers and Alphabet engineers say that with these advancement, their timeline has been significantly reduced and they are more closer to a launch than ever. Incidentally, a loon balloon was recently seen near the Yellow Stone National Park, an area with severe connectivity issues.

Ryan, K. J. (2018, February 17). Google’s Project to Beam the Internet Via Hot Air Balloons Just Had a Major Breakthrough. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/kevin-j-ryan/project-loon-artificial-intelligence-breakthrough.html

 

AR Search Tool Expanding to Other Devices

Image found:http://technewsexpert.com/google-lens-to-get-useful-improvements-and-ar-experiences/

Google Lens was suppose to reinvent the way we search up information on objects throughout the world. All one had to do was use a camera on their phone to view an item or even landmark and then instantly receive information. However, Google’s goal has never came into fruition yet, but this can vastly change soon. The problem holding back their new AR search tool was that it was only available on the Google Pixel. A recent announcement from Google has however demonstrated that Google will now make Google Lens available to a multitude of other devices such as LG, Samsung, Sony and more. These devices from other companies will need to reach certain requirements to be able to run Google Lens on their smartphones devices, so only expect that these companies flagship phones to have a functioning Google Lens.

An interesting part of this news is that Google Lens is not an app. Google has been building the capability of Google Lens in other apps. This makes the process of getting Google Lens on other devices a bit captivating. Google will have to update Google Photos in order for Android and IPhone users with iOS 9 to be able to access Google Lens. Google will also update Google Assistant to be compatible with Google Lens as well.

By Google taking this initiative with their AR search tool I believe it will help others to see AR in a new light. A vast majority of people only think of AR as a tool that is involved mostly with video games or some other form of leisure entertainment. However, Google is proving that AR can actually help people learn. By being able to just view an object with a camera on a smartphone and gather information should entice more people to learn about things that are of interest to them instead of never wanting to search up the subject. Now that this is becoming a little more available to the public hopefully an encouragement of wanting to gain knowledge is established more throughout parts of society. I look forward to the AR search tool eventually one day becoming widely available to the public.

Source:https://www.cnet.com/news/google-now-makes-its-ar-search-tool-lens-available-for-your-phone-too/