Mir:ror

I recently read an article on the New York Times website about a new technological item, the Mir:ror, by a french company, Violet. The Mir:ror is a sensing device, that picks up information about item waved over it. The "magic mirror" actually senses a scanning sticker, or an RFID tag , that is placed on the object. Many new companies are incorporating this system into their products; some books are including stickers in their books, so that, when waved over the mirror, can be read out loud from a near-by computer. The Mirror connects via internet to the nearest computer, which allows for messages, notifications, etc. When bought, the set somes with the Mir:ror, 2 nabaztags, and three extra progammable stickers. You can go to the website, and program your sticker to do anything; bring up pictures, files, send emails, facebook updates, new statuses, record time of use, etc. This seems to have endless possibilites; I think it's incredble! The same company, more well known for their Nabaztag, a rabbit internet connecter, is actually in a financial crisis. I think this project is especially interesting, as it seems that there are hundreds of products similar to this lately. I strikes me as very similar to the subject of my last post, "Favorite Places" (Googles bar-code scanning system).

Google's Bar Code Advances

I recently read a very interesting article; again, it was about advances at google, but in this case, it was about bar codes. Google has been developing a new system for finding information called, "Favorite Places" which is a new subsidiary of Google Maps. Favorite Places allows users to acess all information about anything, simply by scanning their phones (downloaded with certain software) over a small scanner sticker, located in shops, products, museums, restuarants, etc. These one-by-one inch scanner stickers, known as QR codes, have been around Asia for a couple of years now. You could scan a food wrapper, and find out the exact calories, or a new recipe; you could scan a bus, and look for an updated route. The possibilities are endless, but as the article states "The idea sounds great on paper (or pixels), but because of privacy concerns in the United States, the process can be a little laborious in reality. First, you have to download the right code reader for your specific mobile phone." The article goes on to say that the user must agree to numerous privacy settings, and each scan can take up to 45 seconds in the US, but in Asia, these laws don't exist, making the process much faster. Google is also looking to start a coupon/ rewards plan throught this system. I find this fascinating, because in recent months, I've heard a huge amount of talk about scanning phones or cards to discover information, all from different companies; there are also couple of social networking sites that are based off this scanning system. It also reminds me of a recent product discussed in TedTalk, known as Sixth Sense, a scanning, sensing machines that can pick up information from any product, similar to "Favorite Places." I was also really interested to see one of the bar codes, as it seems to be a similar system to that of the Blackberry Messanger "Scan a Friend" system (one Blackberry scans another's bar code).
Here is a link to download a code reader for your phone, or test the bar code system on Google’s Favorite Places page.

[image; example of said bar code- http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/07/putting-a-bar-code-on-places-not-just-products/]

The Google Phone

I recently read an article concerning the rumored "Google Phone." In recent months, many rumors have been floating around that Google is in fact coming out with a phone, but it was only a short time ago that employees confirmed this. Apparently Google is "dogfooding" the prototypes, meaning that they are testing out the product within the company. In the past, the iPhone has dominated the smart-phone market, but google seems to be hoping to compete with this, though they say "the project would not alienate allies, as Google planned to work with partners on it." Many smartphones are being produced by numerous companies, such as Apple, Verizon, and Mortorolla, but this new advance at Google may pose as a threat to these other companies. According to a Twitter user GreatWhiteSnark, “A friend from Google showed me the new Android 2.1 phone from HTC coming out in Jan. A sexy beast. Like an iPhone on beautifying steroids.”

Google has stated,

"We recently came up with the concept of a mobile lab, which is a device that combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities, and we shared this device with Google employees across the globe. This means they get to test out a new technology and help improve it.

Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details"

Tiger's Texts: Are They Ever Deleted?

As many people know, Tiger Woods, widely considered to be one of the world's greatest athletes, has recently tarnished his squeaky-clean, family-man image by involving himself in numerous night-club liaisons with a plethora of mistresses, with names such as Jamie Jungers and Kalika Moquin, all captured in texts and voice-mail messages. I personally have read numerous articles, with sub-titles such as "Sex addict golfer had 18-month affair with golf fan's girlfriend and trawled Las Vegas clubs picking up blondes" and "Tiger Woods, the $8 An-Hour Diner Waitress, and the Deal that Kept Their Affair Out of the News." Life seems to be looking down at Woods, whose not-so-secret love life was actually discovered after his texts and message were leaked to the media, but in the midst of this chaos, a fascinating issue was born: how long, and where, do they actually take our texts, emails, and voice-mail messages?
I recently read an excelent article on the Daily Beast, entitled, "Tiger's Digital Sex Trap," which not only delved into the gofler's reputation-demise, but also the issue of where our technological existance actually goes, after we have "deleted it." As the article states, "If you delete a Gmail message, it is stored for 30 days, and then, according to Google, 'permanently removed from Gmail.' But what does that really mean? Removed from "Gmail" doesn't necessarily mean removed from all Google servers. In fact, your old emails are the data set from which Google models our behaviors—the real product it is offering its advertisers." As we all know, Google is, first-and-formest an advertising company, so it only makes sense that they would store our messages for research, but are our names connected to them? According to Tiger Woods, I am sure the answer to this question in "yes." Though legally, companies cannot release allegedly "deleted" texts, it still seems to happen, such as in the case of Mr. Woods. Not only were his texts discovered, but also his voice-mail message in which he told one of his mistresses to dissasociate her name from her phone, for fear that his wife would use caller-ID to track the number. When the author of the article, Douglas Ruskoff, asked his "best phone experts where [his] SMS messages go to die, and if they ever do. Are they gone, or never really deleted. The overwhelming answer from them all? 'Bet on 'never deleted.'" This innconvient truth may not be "2 hawt" but at least our somwhat innocent convorsations aren't the decyaing carcasses of internation tabloids, such as in the case of the incredibly stupid, and a tad-unlucky Tiger Woods.

Stanford's iPhone Orchestra

I recently watched a fascinating technology video on the New York Times website about Stanford's iPhone Orchestra. It was an incredible example of how our world is advancing and changing; this orchestra doesn't even use instruments! Though technology such as blowing into the microphone, taping, and changing the position of the phone, the orchestra plays a variety of music. They program their own software, and use a plethora of equipment to enhance the quality. It also shows how today's youth is really exploring new ideas; the orchestra is simply comprised of college students. The director of the orchestra says that he has always been interested in music, and decided to start something new. I personally find it incredible that his "something new" is an orchestra made up of mobile phones. He also says that using technologies, in this case, phones, can actually make for a simpler and more efficient process. He says that the iPhones allow for more than any existing instrument, and doesn't limit the user to one sound. I find this incredible, and wonder if we may see more of this in the future. It is interesting to think that one day instruments, or at least the ones we are familiar with, won't exist and instead, mobile phones, computers, and other technologies will take their place.

Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to embed this video, so here is the link:
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/12/04/technology/1247465985991/stanfords-iphone-orchestra.html?emc=eta1