Group items tagged

A recent survey has proven that the downloading of illegal music has decreased by 26 percent from 2011 to 2012. It seems that fewer people are illegally downloading music for three specific reasons. With the introduction of P2P music sites a few years ago, illegally downloaded music was becoming more and more common. Since, the music industry has responded very negatively trying to shut down these sites.A famous example was the shutting down of the huge P2P site and software, Limewire, after they were found guilty of copyright infringement. Limewire had millions of users that ripped off artists music millions of times and the record companies were not just going to stand there and watch. People are also not downloading illegal music as much because of the new music streaming services, such as Songza.  These sites stream music to many computers and devices free of charge for the listener to enjoy. The last reason that people are downloading illegal music less is because of the malware and spyware risks that downloading this music poses. You may think you are downloading your favourite techno song when really you are downloading a trojan virus that will steal all of your passwords and personal information. I think this is a sign that people are finally realizing that this is an immoral act and they are taking away money from the artists that make the songs. I personally have bought all of the songs I own and I rarely use the music streaming services. Hopefully by 2014, there will be no illegally downloaded music by anybody.

This article is about a new concept developed by Berkeley that allows users to emit their password through their thoughts. This concept uses a technology known as Neurosky, and the actual headsets that use this technology look like cat ears. This device is still in testing, but for those eager people who want their thoughts converted into Passthoughts, they can get their hands on the device for a very pricey $199. I don't believe that this invention will "take off" because it doesn't seem very practical in real world situations when typing in a password can be as quick as 2 seconds. However this is a very imaginative invention and will most likely inspire people to create products just like this one. I chose the eLifestyle tag for this post because it may become a fashion trend in some part of the world, (Asia maybe) and people will truly enjoy using this product. I think it is safe to say though that I will not be walking into school wearing cat ears in the future!    

There was a lot of hype around the jailbreak community when the evasi0n iOS 6.1 jailbreak was released on Monday. It saw 1.7 million downloads on the first day alone. This jailbreak works by exploiting "bugs" in Apple's iOS code to allow users to write data to the kernel. This article relates to the legal tag because over the past decade, jailbreaking has become a very controversial topic and some people consider jailbreaking unethical or illegal. This article also relates to the economics tag because jailbreakers are pirating App Store apps which digs into Apple's and app developers' profits. I was once a jailbreaker myself, but have recently learned that developers work hard to make their apps and they deserve the credit and money for them. Overall, this article shows that the jailbreak community is still going strong and there are still those people who like pirating apps and taking profit away from developers 

A Taiwanese company, Polytron Technologies, has developed a new smart phone that is completely transparent. Although this device is a mere prototype, it is a promising look into the future of smartphone technology. It consists of all the features of current smartphones, such as SD card support, speakers, a microphone and battery, but the clear display is what has many people in awe. Polytron calls this new technology Switchable Glass technology which allows the phone to look completely opaque when not in use and transparent when powered on. This technology functions based on the behaviour and properties of liquid crystal molecules in certain conditions. In the coming years we will most likely see this technology being introduced into smart devices if it proves to be a success. No longer will smartphones be thin, black or white rectangles, but rather they will be transparent works of art. In the coming future we may be thanking Polytron Technologies for their brilliant advancement in smartphone technology.  

On October 29, 2012 Google will unveil its new Android operating system called Android 4.2 or an update of Jelly Bean. Google will be showing Samsung Electronics Nexus 10 tablet and LG Electronics will be showing their first phone the Nexus 4 and the Nexus will be showed but won't be for sale until July of next year. This will be Google's biggest Nexus unveil with three new products. Google said that its new Nexus 10 tablet has a higher resolution camera of the iPad 3 and the Nexus 10 will have a pricing similar to the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 and Galaxy Note 10.1. I chose portable computing as one of my tags because now many companies are starting to unveil new tablets at a much lower price than usual and with better quality. Tablets are becoming more and more popular with people because of size and versatility and it's becoming a more competitive market. I chose economics as my other tag because tablets are becoming cheaper and with better apps, components, and size. A lot of companies are selling more of them so it is a competitive market and companies have to come with new tablets within a few months.

An anonymous source dropped some details to Kotaku. One is that the console is called "Orbis." Another is that it won't be backward-compatible with PlayStation 3 games. Finally, the big tip is that Orbis will have anti-used-game measures built in.

Razer supplies a default set of button apps to start with, including a calculator button that turns the touch pad screen into a number pad, and YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail launch buttons that launch videos and mail or news feeds into the smaller screen.

...And this is why no one should use Norton. Ever. Well that's not the only reason, it's slow, it makes you pay expensive subscription fees and it tends to put pop-ups on your desktop, but this is a good reason not to use it too.

this is where your 125 (min) words summary and thoughts/opinion go

this is where your 125 (min) words summary and thoughts/opinion go

This article tells us that people that have maxed out their memory from photos, videos and apps, are now able to purchase a 128GB microSD. SanDisk has said that the card will use faster read and write speed. they also said that they will be updating the memory on the Zone app for android, with adding an additional feature OptiMem, this will allow automatic transfers of older photos and videos to a microSD card. But OptiMem will monitor users. i think that the automatic transfer and monitoring is a good feature because it will save time transferring photos and videos to a SD card, because you will not have to transfer the photos to your computer than to the card. The monitoring is also good because it will inform whenever internal memory falls below predefined threshold, SanDisk said.

The British company behind the personal assistant app Indigo for Android and iOS is looking into creating a more sophisticated voice-controlled personal assistant like Siri. The company's inspiration was the movie Her. A story about a lonely writer who falls in love with Samantha an extremely refined Siri. The new technology connects various systems within you home. You can search for a route to your friends house on your computer and get in you car and your phone will direct you there. Another thing is rather than filling out forms with your information you can just tell the voice controlled personal assistant your address and other information and it will put it into its memory. The new Siri will learn more about you as you search thing through it . If you look for restaurants in your area and you look at different sushi restaurants it will register that you like sushi restaurants. To tell you the truth i am very excited to see how this ends up and I will be happy to see its release.

A article describing the worlds first commercially available bluetooth toothbrush. I chose this article for hardware because it is interesting to see how technology is all beginning to merge with each other. we are beginning to see things like toothbrushes, which nobody would associate with technology, contain parts that at a time were not even available in high end computers.

I chose this article as this weeks wildcard. This article describes how one day we may become even less intelligent than the technology we depend on. This article scares me in a way because now in modern times everyone is so dependant on technology that this day may soon be upon us where we do not control the technology, but the technology controls us.

THis article introduces a new cutting edge idea that exposes cancer without the radiation that could cause cancer further down the line. I find this fantasic the treatment not only leaves out the harmful radiation but it is also just as effective if not more. Another plus is it is also about the same price. I find that for the people being scanned i would find it a great comfort to me that i don't increase my chances of getting cancer because i was scanned for cancer. So it appears the MRI appoarch is on the rise.

Smartwatches are like the gateway to the future. With Samsung's first version of "Gear", customers were able to wear an Android powered watch which is able to hook up to your phone and provide you various services like to take quick pictures, text or call a contact using the voice control software and even access your media through the features installed in it. This time however in the new release of "Gear 2", instead of using Android, Samsung has decided to power the smartwatch on Tizen servers, making a clear message of wanting to be more independent of Android and ultimately Google. As Samsung has previously always been linked with Android, switching to Tizen is like a big change. Even though customers with untrained eyes may never see the difference between Gear (Android) and Gear 2 (Tizen) - myself included, having Tizen as an alternative to Android might be good for the company because now they are more in control of their future actions. Whether or not the software is different, the Gear 2 seems like a very useful piece of technology for someone who is in a rush and needs to take or leave quick messages. It is also efficient and not easy to lose because you are wearing it. With just a flick of the wrist, Samsung's smartwatch allows one to do many activities in a small amount of time.

In this article we learn about the level of processor you may want.it tells us how for people who just use their computer for searching the web checking emails and other basic stuff an average processor is more than enough because your average processor is powerful enough to handle basic task such as those with ease. Although for people doing more complex things with their computer such as video editing, Photoshop, gaming etc. a more powerful processor is needed to effectively do these types of tasks.

FreedomPop has come out with a new phone that will protect your phone calls and data from hackers. The phone is nicknamed the "Snowden phone" but is actually a Samsung Galaxy S2 that FreedomPop remodeled. The phone is selling now for $189 and comes with unlimited voice and texting. They also throw in 50MB of monthly data access for the first three months and then charges the users $10 a month. FreedomPop's Chief Operating Officer Steven Sesar says: "In light of recent violations in consumer's privacy across social networks and mobile devices, privacy is becoming increasingly important to many Americans and we all have a right to communicate anonymously. Large carriers don't have the flexibility, desire, or creativity to invest in privacy." I think this is a great idea because today, so many people don't know if their information is safe. This will help people feel more secure and safe with their information and not have to worry about who could have their phone calls or text messages.

For week three's bookmark I have chosen this article about the moto 360, which is supposedly the "future" of android wear. I found this article to be interesting because it showcased a unique smart watch unlike others. While samsung's "galaxy gear" has a bulky square format, the Moto 360 has a round face and looks like a more traditional classy watch. This to me is the future of wearable technology. It is not something like google glass that will attract unwanted attention, but it provides a useful way to view your technological information while still looking classy. It also has interchangeable bands and has "a large battery life" according to it's creator. Personally this could be the first piece of wearable technology that I would consider buying, and that is why I have shared this article.

I am sharing this article as my wildcard for week 4. I found this article to be interesting because it helps show what is possible with 3d printing. A man named Jim Smith 3D printed himself a kayak over 1000 hours of printing time. Although this technology is not the fastest it shows me what is possible with 3d printing. We now live in an age where we can 3d print whatever it is we want for a exceptionally low cost as compared to purchasing it. If I could afford it I would 3d print more items and I find it to be a very interesting piece of technology.

The article that I have chosen to share for week 4 is about IBM and their new services to help eliminate fraud and financial crime. The article interested be because around 3.5 trillion dollars are lost per year to financial crime and fraud through technology. While the software is being marketed to big companies it also directly involves us, the consumers. For example when Sony's PSN was down thousands of peoples accounts were hacked and had money taken from their accounts. This new software interested me because now people can feel a little more secure using online programs knowing that their information can be safer. It is a new time where many things are bought through the internet and with better security people won't feel as worried about their security

The article that I have chosen to share for week 4 is about IBM and their new services to help eliminate fraud and financial crime. The article interested be because around 3.5 trillion dollars are lost per year to financial crime and fraud through technology. While the software is being marketed to big companies it also directly involves us, the consumers. For example when Sony's PSN was down thousands of peoples accounts were hacked and had money taken from their accounts. This new software interested me because now people can feel a little more secure using online programs knowing that their information can be safer. It is a new time where many things are bought through the internet and with better security people won't feel as worried about their security