Augmented reality shopping app.
The prototype of a mobile app that can act as a personal shopping assistant in stores has been announced by IBM Research.
The mobile app could be branded and provided by retailers. Consumers would download the app and then input products they’re shopping for and their selection criteria.
Continue reading… “Coming soon – augmented reality shopping”
The Doctor in Doctor Who holds a sonic screwdriver.
We previously explored how science fiction movies, books, games and more inspire the technology we use today. So, what about the future? What great inventions from science fiction are in our future? What if you could ride around town in your very own landspeeder, or travel the world by simply standing on your very own teleporter pad and telling it where to send you?
Here’s a list of the top 10 most promising up and coming technological inventions inspired by science fiction.
Futurist Thomas Frey: Over the 4th of July, I attended a theatrical production of the history of my hometown of Mobridge, SD. The actors and actresses did a terrific job of illustrating the tough times of the early pioneers trying to forge a new life along the Missouri River in barren lands of northern South Dakota.
Oftentimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason
Quote of the Day: “Everything we do in life is based on fear, especially love.” – – Mel Brooks
Do you constantly checking your phone for new emails, even before and after work? Even from bed? You’re not alone.
Walmart began allowing shoppers to order merchandise online and pay for it with cash at a store when they picked it up.
Online shopping has surged. Traditional retailers have lost millions in sales to so-called showrooming. Showrooming is when shoppers check out products in stores that they then buy from Web sites like Amazon. It has gotten so bad that Best Buy even replaces standard bar codes with special Best Buy-only codes on big ticket items so they cannot be scanned and compared online.
Continue reading… “Big retailers luring online shoppers offline”
Scientists want to build a telescope capable of taking roughly 1,400 photos of the night sky consisting of 6 gigabytes of information each somewhere in the mountains in Chile. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope would result in several hundreds of petabytes of processed data each year. This month the National Science Board will decide if it should fund the next phase of LSST to build that data-generating telescope.
Project Glass
Some could easily say that Google had lost its way over the last few years. But last year Google announced that it would focus on its core products. So now Project Glass is the future of Google. Not as a product that will make them billions of dollars but what it means for Google as a company and its future.
Robots made by Kiva Systems move product shelves on a warehouse floor.
Author and entrepreneur Christopher Steiner tells the story of stockbroker Thomas Peterffy, the creator of the first automated Wall Street trading system in the new book due next month, Automate This. Using a computer to execute trades, without humans entering them manually on a keyboard, was controversial in 1987—so controversial that Nasdaq pressured him to unplug from its network. Then, with a wink, Peterffy built an automated machine that could tap out the trades on a traditional keyboard—technically obeying Nasdaq rules. Peterffy made $25 million in 1987 and is now a billionaire.
Continue reading… “Automate or perish – has it come to this?”
Private probation companies add huge fees for probation.
Gina Ray, 31 and unemployed was fined $179 for speeding three years ago. She failed to show up at court (she says the ticket bore the wrong date), so her license was revoked.
This plot shows the discovery as seen in one of the LHC detectors.
In Geneva, scientists using the Large Hadron Collider have announced the discovery of a new subatomic particle to very high confidence that is consistent with what we expect the Higgs particle to look like.
EU rules sales of used software legal.
Are you looking for a second-hand copy of Angry Birds? The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that software authors cannot prevent customers from reselling their products.
Continue reading… “European Union rules digital games and software can be resold”