Tech Archive

Newsle Tracks Your News-Worthy Friends

– February 22, 2012Posted in: Apps, Internet Trends, Tech

While there are a host of social media sites that let you follow news your friends post about themselves, Newsle lets you read news about your friends. Calling itself “news about your people,” the site claims to track real news, which includes newspapers, news websites, and blogs that mention or quote the people you choose to track.

Newsle was created by Axel Hansen and Jonah Varon to keep up with friends and others, originally focusing on older news. Beta testing revealed users really wanted a way to track real-time real news about friends, family members, and contacts – which is what Newsle then set out to accomplish.

The free service processes over 100,000 news sources on a daily basis, pulling in your contacts from Facebook and LinkedIn to give you a newstream based on those individuals. It also provides a way to set specific alerts and to follow celebrities, business people, and actors.

Other versions of the real-news idea haven’t been successful, but Newsle shows quite a bit of promise. Today it announced that it raised $600,000 in seed financing from Lerer Ventures and SV Angel. It hopes to use that funding on building its engineering team to improve algorithms and create mobile versions of Newsle.

(Story and Image via TechCrunch)

Tags: FaceBook, friends, LinkedIn, news reader, Newsle

Your Life by the Numbers

khoward

– February 22, 2012Posted in: Apps, Internet Trends, Tech

The start of a new year is a time for reflection, introspection, and planning for many – for Dan Meyer, it marks the release of his personal annual report. Comparing the practice to journaling and blogging, Meyer tracks small occurrences of his daily life – number of cups of coffee, number of text messages, hours of television – collecting them in a spreadsheet to be turned into an illustrated annual report each January.

The trend, which is now followed by many other data enthusiasts, began in 2005 with Nicholas Felton’s first personal annual report. By 2011, Felton had caught the attention of Facebook, who hired him to assist in the Timeline design.

To make it easier for others to create their own annual reports, he and co-creator Ryan Case launched Daytum, an online tool that helps users collect daily data which is then turned into an infographic. Felton believes “the Annual Reports have encouraged a desire among readers to discover similar things about themselves.”

Among the information tracked using Daytum is the life of a dog, baseball stadium attendance, and the life of a couch. Others, like Bit.ly software engineer Jehiah Czebotar, take a more complex approach, using Google, Mint, Foursquare, and other applications in their data collection.

To start your own data collection – and perhaps launch your own Annual Report, you can start using Daytum here for free. To keep your privacy while tracking coffee cups and key strokes, however, you’ll have to spring for the Daytum Plus version. If you’ve ever wanted to see your life as an infographic, this may just be your chance.

(Story and Image via Mashable)

Tags: analysis, annual report, daily, data, Infographic, personal

2012: The Year of AR HUD Glasses

khoward

– February 22, 2012Posted in: Gadgets, Google, News, Tech

According to a New York Times report, Google could be releasing Android-powered heads-up-display glasses before the end of the year. The glasses would stream real-time information to a screen on the glasses using augmented reality software, sensors, and a 3G or 4G data connection.

The rumored Google glasses would be priced about the same as a smartphone ($150 to $600), which indicates a mass market intent. The navigation system requires “head tilting to scroll and click” while a low-resolution camera monitors the users environment.

For now, it seems the information sent to the glasses would incorporate Google services such as Google Latitude and Google Goggles, recreated as augmented reality. Intended to be used only as needed, these futuristic HUD glasses might see more use than expected as they make information even more immediately available than your smartphone.

(Story and Image via Mashable)

Tags: Android, Augmented Reality, Glasses, Google, HUD

NoshList: The App for Your Restaurant

khoward

– February 22, 2012Posted in: Apps, Tech

It’s your favorite restaurant for a reason, be it the atmosphere, the service, the food quality, or all three. And for the same reasons, it’s everyone else’s eating-out site of choice. You could call ahead, but that doesn’t work for last minute dinner plans. Instead, you’re left to stand and wait for a seat – unless your restaurant uses NoshList.

This free app, soon to exit closed beta, allows restaurant owners and hosts to keep track of waiting patrons, sending them a text message when their table is ready. Replacing the traditional waiting list, NoshList means restaurant-goers no longer have to stand and wait at the front doors until a spot opens. You can wait anywhere you like, or do anything you like, until you receive the text telling you your table is ready for you.

And as far as security, the app keeps customer phone numbers, but prevents users from downloading contact information. Instead, the patron list is used to identify regular or returning customers – and could be used to send surveys or offers. For interested restaurant owners, NoshList should show up in the App Store tonight.

(Story and Image via CNET)

Tags: app, iOS, restaurant, waitlist

A Most Unlikely Library

khoward

– February 21, 2012Posted in: Innovation

Mobile devices are here to stay – and according to Cisco Systems will outnumber humans by the end of the year. This leaves very little use for phone booths for making calls, so architect John Locke came up with a new purpose for them – as a small public library.

Part of Locke’s Department of Urban Betterment, the second DUB library is a set of pumpkin-orange shelves attached to a rarely-used New York City phone booth, filled with donated books. The first attempt at a free book-sharing system was in a less busy area and saw both books and shelves disappear entirely. Locke is more hopeful about his second attempt, located on 96^th Street.

Both of the libraries purposefully avoid giving directions to those who pass by, something Locke is rethinking. While the conspicuous location and logos on the book spines have so far discouraged vandalism, the libraries have not seen as much borrowing as their inventor would hope.

(Image and Story via Inhabit)

Tags: Books, library, new york, phone booth, repurpose

Barnes & Noble Planning Kindle’s Competition

khoward

– February 20, 2012Posted in: Gadgets, Tech

When it comes to the more affordable tablets, Amazon’s Kindle Fire seems to be running away with the market. It may be receiving more focused competition this Wednesday, when a new, 8 GB Nook Tablet is supposedly making its way to Walmart.

The Verge reports that the tablet’s smaller storage (half the on-board memory of the current Nook Tablet) should mean a lower price – one that would better compete with the Fire. Details like processor speed and RAM remain unknown, as does the actual price of the new Barnes & Noble tablet. Time will tell whether the cost and specs of the new Nook Tablet will be enough to draw attention – and sales – away from the Kindle Fire.

(Story and Image via CNET)

Tags: amazon, Barnes & Noble, e-reader, Kindle Nook

Medicine from a Microchip

khoward

– February 20, 2012Posted in: Innovation, Tech

For patients who require daily injections – or forget to take their regular prescriptions – a new microchip prescription drug delivery system may be the solution to compliance. Developed by MIT researchers, this microchip has just completed and passed its first human test.

The chip is implanted underneath the skin and contains tiny reservoirs of drugs that are released into the bloodstream. According to its developers, this automated option for prescription drug regimen could go a long way toward improving patient compliance.

The microchip system would also have other benefits: a biosensor-equipped chip would help doctors monitor the drug’s effectiveness, and eventually make remote adjustments to dosage and delivery. After successful testing with an osteoporosis drug, the MIT researchers are now further developing the chip to treat other diseases and will seek regulatory approval for the microchip delivery system in 2014.

(Image and Story via Forbes; Image Credit M. Scott Brauer)

Tags: Innovation, Medicine, microchip, MIT, research, Technology

The Power Strip that Fights Vampire Current

khoward

– February 17, 2012Posted in: Gadgets, Innovation, Tech

Your computer is constantly on and your cell phone gets charged daily, along with countless other gadgets that draw power –all adding to an increasingly painful electric bill. The PowerUSB wants to ease some of that energy bill pressure; it’s a computer-controlled power strip that can be programmed to turn on and off.

The four-outlet strip conserves power and lets you control connected devices and appliances through your computer. The last outlet, reserved for your computer, is always on, while the other three outlets can be timed or set to turn on for certain events (like printing).

If you’re looking to save a little electricity and better manage your computer peripherals, the PowerUSB could be the answer.

(Via Geeky Gadgets, Image via PowerUSB)

Tags: energy, power, power strip, USB

Apple’s 25-Billion Download Countdown

khoward

– February 17, 2012Posted in: Apple, Apps, Internet Trends, News, Tech

If you’re the lucky downloader of the 25 billionth App Store download, you could win $10,000 toward Apple’s next milestone. The company is once again celebrating the approach of a download achievement with a prize – in this case a $10,000 App Store Gift Card for the person who downloads the 25 billionth app.

Along with purchasing an app from the App Store, you can also enter the contest manually via the entry form. Currently at more than 24,299,000,000 downloads and rapidly counting, the contest won’t last too long. If you plan to enter, just remember you can only enter 25 times in one day – so space those downloads out a bit.

(Image and Story via The Next Web)

Tags: App store, Apple, Apps, Prize