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via Todd Wasserman, Mashable The next time you shop, take a close look at the mannequins in the store. They may be taking a close look at you, too. So far, Benetton is one of the few places you’ll see $5,000 bionic mannequins from Italy’s Almax. The dummies, called EyeSee, has a camera installed with … Continue reading
via Joanna Stern, ABC News RIM is finally ready to show the world its future — the software and hardware it hopes will save it. The company announced that it will be holding a launch event for its BlackBerry 10 operating system on Jan. 30, 2013. RIM has been previewing the software since the spring, … Continue reading
via Ken Dilanian and Salvador Rodriguez, L.A. Times A hacker group’s claim that it obtained from an FBI laptop a file with more than 12 million identification numbers for Apple iPhones, iPads and other devices has set off widespread speculation about why a federal agency would possess such information. But the FBI disputed the allegation … Continue reading
via Ingrid Lunden, TechCrunch New research out from Google, working with market analysts Ipsos and Sterling Brands, puts some hard numbers behind the often-noticed trend of how people in the U.S. are using a combination of phones, tablets, computer and TVs to consume digital content. While each of these has a significant place in our … Continue reading
via Cecilia Kang, The Washington Post Devra Davis, a long-ignored evangelist on the health dangers of cellphones, finally feels like she’s been heard. As soon as next week, Congress is expected to say that a year-long investigation by the Government Accountability Office has found the Federal Communications Commission’s cellphone-safety regulations are woefully out of date. … Continue reading
via Robert Lee Hotz, The Wall Street Journal Precisely on time and target, NASA’s Curiosity rover touched down safely on Mars Monday to begin an ambitious two-year trek through a mountainous crater that promises to reveal whether the red planet was ever hospitable to life. The one ton, $2.5 billion Curiosity is the most scientifically … Continue reading
via Louis Peitzman, Gawker How often have you been on a long drive and wished that you had a hot shot of espresso to wake you up? Aside from the fact that spilling scalding coffee is a safety hazard, an extra appliance is a distraction, and drinking espresso will make you have to pee way … Continue reading
via David Talbot, MIT’s Technology Review Your voice can be a biometric identifier, like your fingerprint. Does Apple really have to store it on its own servers? Even in an age of vanishing privacy, people using Apple’s digital assistant Siri share a distinct concern. Recordings of their actual voices, asking questions that might be personal, … Continue reading
via Valerie Strauss, The Washington Post In the ‘you-can’t-make-up-this-stuff’ category, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is spending about $1.1 million to develop a way to physiologically measure how engaged students are by their teachers’ lessons. This involves “galvanic skin response” bracelets that kids would wear so their engagement levels could be measured. If this … Continue reading
via Dan Costa, PC Mag There have been a number of theories explaining Facebook’s lackluster IPO performance. Perhaps it’s the social network’s dependence on advertising or just a general sense that no company can live up to the colossal hype generated by Facebook. Personally, I see Facebook’s mobile offerings as its primary weakness. The world … Continue reading
via Marcus Wohlsen, The Huffington Post A watchful eye has arrived on San Francisco’s bar scene, but not to keep you in check. It just wants to check you out. A new app launched this weekend that will scan the faces of patrons in 25 bars across the city to determine their ages and genders. … Continue reading
via William Pesek, Bloomberg The iPhone has become a symbol of something Steve Jobs never envisioned: Chinese sweatshops. Were the late Apple Inc. co-founder still with us, he would surely dispute that. But facts are facts, and any of us (full disclosure: this includes me) who use one of Apple’s smartphones, iPads or iPods is, … Continue reading
via Peter Ha, TechCrunch Earlier today Google released the full report of the FCC’s investigation into the collection of “payload data” from open Wi-Fi networks — aka passwords, email and search history from open networks — that its fleet of Street View cars obtained between 2008 and April 2010. An earlier and heavily redacted version … Continue reading
via Mariella Moon, Tecca Fond of texting while walking? Unless you’re extremely nimble, you may have bumped into people, objects, or even stumbled. In extreme cases, you may have even bruised yourself or broken a few things. But if you have an Android device, you can use the Transparent Screen app to help you navigate … Continue reading
via Jennifer Brandel, WBEZ Some lawmakers want to give Illinois residents the right to record police officers. Illinois has one of the toughest eavesdropping laws in the country. As it stands, police and businesses can record citizens, but citizens can not record them back. Currently, recording an on-duty police officer, on public property, could mean … Continue reading
via Associated Press, MSNBC Medical milestone or privacy invasion? A tiny computer chip approved Wednesday for implantation in a patient’s arm can speed vital information about a patient’s medical history to doctors and hospitals. But critics warn that it could open new ways to imperil the confidentiality of medical records. The Food and Drug Administration … Continue reading
via Christophe Justeau, Forbes Who would expect today to pay the full price for a mobile phone, when subscribing to a new wireless plan with a Telecom service provider? These days for example, if you live in the US and select Verizon, you may get the serious Blackberry Curve 9330 for $0. If you select … Continue reading
via Pete Cashmore, CNN As we enter the final months of 2011, the thoughts of tech watchers like me are turning to what we can expect in 2012. Voice recognition in all our devices? Touch control replacing the mouse and keyboard? The death of the wallet as mobile payments become mainstream? Maybe. But what I’m most … Continue reading
via Chris Taylor, Mashable Television is broken. I know it. You know it. Steve Jobs knew it. I have a pretty state-of-the-art 2011 Sony LED TV, complete with Hulu Plus, Netflix and YouTube apps. Yet it still usually takes me about a dozen clicks on a button-rich remote to get to what I want … Continue reading
The Brandt Standard 