Sir Tim Berners-Lee
The computer scientist who created the world wide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, has called for a “full and frank public debate” over internet surveillance by the National Security Agency and its British counterpart,GCHQ. He warns that the system of checks and balances that oversee the agencies has failed.
Continue reading… “Tim Berners-Lee denounces encryption cracking by spy agencies”
Imagine a world filled with hyperlinked smart objects that are constantly interacting over a network to improve user experience IRL. The ‘Internet of Things’ is perhaps the buzzwordiest buzzword in all of the tech sector right now, as it promises to produce a sleek, futuristic, friction-free—and lucrative—environment for all of us to live and consume products in. Which is probably why it’s relentlessly being heralded as the next big thing in consumer electronics: Recent projections from some of the industry’s biggest players say the IoT could be a $15 trillion market in just six years.
Continue reading… “Internet of Things will be the ‘biggest business in the history of electronics’”
The State Departments’ goal is having more foreigners learn English and experience the U.S. education system.
U.S. embassies around the world this fall are hosting weekly discussions for students enrolled in free online courses, called MOOCs, in partnership with Coursera, the Silicon Valley-based platform with over 5 million users. Embassy employees and Fulbright fellows (Fulbright being an academic exchange program sponsored by the State Department) will volunteer to host the discussions. There will be over 30 sites to begin with, in countries like India, China, and Bolivia. Topics include English, science, technology, engineering, business, and U.S. civics.
The coffee machine knows you probably don’t want whipped cream on your venti non-fat latte.
Starbucks refrigerators and coffeemakers are about to get a whole lot smarter. Starbucks reportedly plans to connect its devices to the Internet of Things within the next year. Fridges will now tell employees when a carton of milk has gone bad, and cloud-based Clover coffeemakers will track what recipes customers prefer, and alert workers to the machine’s performance. The move is an attempt to improve productivity as well as customer service.
Continue reading… “Starbucks connects fridges, coffee machines to the Internet of Things”
Even as smartphone sales slow down, mobile-centric social networks, mobile video companies, and location based services are well positioned to feel the biggest benefits from the massive shift in consumer media consumption and usage patterns. But how can companies truly capitalize on this consumer revolution and adapt to their mobile-centric customers?
Continue reading… “Massive growth in mobile media consumption in 2013”
Internet of Things Starter Kit.
IBM and Libelium, a wireless sensor network hardware provider, this week, released an Internet of Things Starter Kit. The starter kit will enable dozens of sensor applications ranging from monitoring parking spaces or air pollution to providing assistance for the elderly.
Continue reading… “IBM and Libelium launch Internet of Things Starter Kit”
66 percent of dating service users have gone on a date with someone.
The Pew Research Center released a report this week on online dating and relationships. The report found that one in 10 Americans have used an online dating site or mobile dating app. (Infographic)
Continue reading… “One in 10 Americans have used an online dating website”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ6BuHL0EiQ[/youtube]
The New York City–based “think/do tank,” Google Ideas, is run by the Internet search giant, Google, and they are launching several new technologies designed to highlight hacker attacks around the world and help people in repressive regimes access the Internet. The new products, announced this week at the Google Ideas Summit in New York City, represent the most substantial offerings delivered by the three-year-old Google policy unit and could be a major boon to activists and reformers in the world’s most closed and repressive societies.
Real-time bidding (RTB) is shaping up to represent the future of the mobile ad marketplace.
eMarketer increased their forecast for real-time bidding last month. The source of the rise to more than 70% annual growth: an unexpected increase in mobile spending.
Continue reading… “Real-time bidding is revolutionizing mobile advertising”
Li-Fi doesn’t work in the dark or outdoors, but it only has to be a supplement to existing wireless networks to be valuable.
The more popular wireless networks become the slower they are. Fudan University researchers in Shanghai have just become the latest to demonstrate a technology that transmits data as light instead of radio waves, which gets around the congestion issue and could be ten times faster than traditional Wi-Fi.
Continue reading… “‘Li-Fi’ – A plan to turn every lightbulb into an ultra-fast alternative to Wi-Fi”
OpenRemote is an open-source Internet of Things platform.
If you were to buy several Internet-connected home gadgets—say, a “smart” thermostat, “smart” door lock, and “smart” window blinds—you would likely have to control each one with a separate app, meaning it exists on its own. But, that’s not how Elier Ramirez does it. In his home, an iPad app controls his lights, ceiling fans, and TV and stereo. Pressing a single button within the app can shut off all his lights and gadgets when he leaves.
Continue reading… “OpenRemote – software that ties the Internet of Things together”
Percentage of Data Center Traffic in the Cloud, 2012-2013
More than two-thirds of global data center traffic will be represented by cloud-based traffic by 2017. Cloud traffic will have grown more than fourfold from 2012 to 2017. Cloud-based traffic is already poised comprise the majority of traffic within the next few months.
Continue reading… “Cloud to dominate data center traffic in 2013: Study”