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In relation to my post on the 'Spectrum Crunch' two weeks ago, this article is about studies showing the economic benefits of mobile phone networks. Countries with higher levels of data usage per 3G connection, such as Russia, South Korea, and the UK have an seen increase in their GDP/capita growth.  Countries that have only recently adopted 3G, such as India, have shown no economic growth. Dr. Robert Pepper, vice president of global technology policy at Cisco, said, "The fact that increasing high-speed mobile broadband data usage leads to greater average per capita income underscores the need for increased investment in wireless networks as well as for government policies to foster that investment, including the allocation of additional spectrum." The high-speed sharing of information over various networks, not limited to cellphone networks, has high potential to increase economies of countries around the world. However, these benefits may not be obtained if we run out of much needed frequencies in which to share the information. Our generation has become increasingly entwined with technology and its development. Through the Internet and cellphones, we exchange extremely large amounts of information daily. This can be an important factor in the growth of countries and development of other technology in the near future.

According to the article, Facebook is presenting an app that can track the location of its users. This new feature can introduce ads around the area of the user, which can be very convenient. This can then increase businesses revenues around the world. On the user's side of the story, this deals with the their personal information, which he or she may not intentionally want to share. Facebook, however, may have found a loophole in their data-user policy, which already indicates their permission to access your location. This can lead one to doubt the safety of the internet and how companies can find ways around the law to increase their income.

Many countries recently blocked access to The Pirate Bay, a torrenting website, in order to prevent the illegal downloading of films, music, programs, and more. However, these efforts were futile, as many users are simply turning to proxy servers to allow them to bypass their countries censorship. Torrenting sites have always been risky territory for users, and as of late, more and more sites have been taking down in order to prevent pirating. The Pirate Bay has an insanely high volume of traffic, and it hasn't slowed down in recent times. It is noted in this article that the only way to rid of TPB is to physically shut down the servers, but even if that were to happen, users are simply going to move to the next site. Whether or not piracy negatively affects the income of the producers of the material being distributed is debatable, however the fact remains true that this process is completely illegal.  As a frequent torrenter, I hope that TPB will continue to thrive at it's current level. My hope is that all these pushes against torrenting will make the industries behind said files realize that users refuse to pay the ridiculous prices and taxes on content. This realization will hopefully lead to cheaper costs on retail products in the media industry, thus removing the need for pirating and torrenting. It will take awhile, but as long as the high price industry standards are in place, torrenting will continue to occur, and no legal matter will be able to stop it. If the internet is to truly be 'free', than laws and limitations should not be placed on content provided. #BarbieJXoXo

This is the greatest article of all time.

I am not the same guy as this poster, but I think he is beautiful

The article I'm about to review is called "Apple 'experimenting' with the curved glass smartwatch". This article briefly describes how the company Apple is experimenting with the curved glass smartwatch.  This curved glass technology, or as Apple calls it the iWatch, has begun developing around February 10, 2013. The iWatch will wrap around your wrist, and will act as a curved glass iPod.  The watch will connect via Bluetooth, and alert users for incoming messages. The iWatch also features a range of applications to use, including a whole range of applications that are targeted at cyclist. For example, the iWatch can be used to track the speed of which your bike is going, act as a GPS and record distance and pace data. In conclusion, this curved glass smart watch, or more simplistically, the iWatch, is hopefully the next big hit for Apple.

Space rocks as much as 100 feet wide are estimated to hit a hundred years or so. But, there are rare " killer asteroids" that can wipe out a city the size of Moscow and kill 30,000 in an instant. But the university of Hawaii's new meteor tracking systems come online, we'll be able to forecast meteor strikes as accurately as predicting when a blizzard is coming.  This device is known as ATLAS ( Asteroid terrestrial-impact Last Alert System). This device consists of a pair of observatories located about 60 miles apart, each equipped with four, 10-inch telescopes with 100 MP cameras. Together, these observatories would scan the sky 2 times a night. The telescope may be very small  but will be sensitive enough to spot and estimate an incoming threat in the exact location and time.  This project started since 2012 but got a a jump start with a $5 million grant by NASA.

This article (by Emily Price) details a few interesting facts surrounding the social media giant 'Facebook', particularly around gaming. We are all familiar with social games, such as Mafia Wars and Farmville, and Facebook has been recently seeing most of their income from in-game advertisements and in-app purchases. Facebook has seen a 13% growth in gaming users since September 2011 (226 million - 251 million.) Facebook now has over 900 million users, and over 500 million users are utilizing Facebook via a mobile platform. Facebook says that games grow on the network in five different ways: App Center, Notifications, News Feed, Timeline, and games users have Bookmarked. 8 out of the 10 top iOS games have Facebook integrated, and the top two categories of games users play on Facebook are 'Simulation' and 'Games and Puzzles.' This relates to Portable Computing because Facebook has recently taken large steps to improve the user's mobile experience, understanding that most of their core audience is on smart devices. This relates to eLifestyle because we see these social networks like Facebook integrating gaming into the user's social feed, allowing them to spend more time on the site. This relates to Economics because as games become cheaper and more accesible, we see that most of the gaming market is taken by mobile games; no longer do we have to go to an electronics boutique to purchase a $60 triple-A game, when we can buy the $0.99 version of said game or another digitally. Mobile games are the consumer conscious choice because you get the most "bang for your buck." This relates to ICS20 because although most of us say that our time on Facebook is deteriorating, we still are entrenched in the social gaming environment; this is demonstrated by Facebook's 65 million user growth in 2012 alone.

This article is about the next generation of Macbook Pro's. Multiple Apple resellers are reporting  some of the current models as out of stock, including J&R and Best Buy. In fact, they are not accepting online orders at this point. Traditionally, the retail channel dries up as Apple shuts down production. This cleans the distribution channels out of units as they get ready to introduce fresh models into the market. There aren't many details on the incoming MacBook Pro 2012, but it's safe to expect that they will be much faster- using Core i7 Ivy Bridge processors.

When the iOS is jailbroken, there is an app, "iSleepWell", that will temporarily shut you phone down. It helps save battery life, block notifications, incoming messages, calls, etc. This app is very convenient to have if you are an especially busy person. It is a fair app to buy, at 99cent download. When in the middle of a good conversation, just starting a movie, or even going to sleep, all you have to do is flip the phone to face down and it will temporarily shut down the phone. 

Google is a software giant that we all use, be it for email, Youtube, searching the web or for social networking with Google+. Honestly, that was kind of hard to say with a straight face, no one uses Google+, but apparently thats okay with Google. According to the NY Times, Google+ has been a ploy from the start, created to collect data from users and sell it to the highest bidder. This became evident when Google+ became the hub for all Google accounts, although it is neglected by users. By linking it to maps, gmail, youtube, Google now knows where you go, who you talk to, and what you find entertaining; valuable info for advertisers. This is especially useful, considering the fact that Google's main source of income, search advertising, is declining. This can be a huge concern for Google users who do not want to be tracked and monitored, I among them. While it was not this announcement specifically, similar news has persuaded me, and others undoubtedly, to abandon Google services. I have gone from using chrome, Google search, gmail and more to using free 3rd party software that is committed to maintaining user privacy. Realistically, however, I have not made a difference in Google's business plans, and they will continue along their path as long as it is profitable. Although many laughed at first at the Google+'s hefty price tag, Google is the only one laughing now.

The new iPhone IOS'6 update includes Do Not Disturb and VIP attributes that allow consumers to enable features that suit their personal needs. With the Do Not Disturb aspect you are able to customise your phone so that incoming calls are received while your device is locked; giving you the option of able to avoid the call or accept it, with just a "simple text." And a bunch of other features that are supposedly supposed to make your life easier. People who constantly use apple products would be more comfortable when upgrading their systems because they actually use these attributes. Although to the average teen, it seems pointless and contradictory. With the Do Not Disturb feature, if someone can access your password then, they could change your settings. Therefore you wouldn't receive any calls! Apple entices people to keep upgrading their systems because they are a cooperate business.