TREND REPORTS
(PDF) Synthetic Sensors - Towards General-Purpose Sensing
[Tech]
2017/06/07 10:35
Carnegie Mellon University hopes the device will create ‘smart rooms’ from multiple devices by utilising the Internet of Things.A team from US-based Carnegie Mellon University has developed a device that can smarten up an entire room’s worth of regular devices. The prototype, coined as a Synthetic Sensor, plugs into a regular wall power outlet and monitors the room it is placed in with senso...
Apple HomePod : Smart Speaker With Hi-Fi Ambitions ?
[Product]
2017/06/07 10:35
For the first time since the presentation of the Apple Watch in September 2015, Apple unveiled an entirely new product at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday. Confirming earlier rumors, the new device named HomePod is indeed a voice-enabled speaker, but as opposed to Amazon’s Echo and Google Home, Apple’s new device appears to be a wireless speaker first and a virtual...
(Video) The Desktop of the Future Is Coming - Meta Vision
[Tech]
2017/06/07 10:35
Augmented-reality startup Meta’s vision for the future of work involves midair sticky notes and plenty of hand gestures.I’ve got an embarrassingly large number of Post-it notes dotting my desk at work. And at any given moment I have too many tabs open on my Web browser while my computer has several applications running. The augmented-reality startup Meta promises I’ll manage all of that in m...
This Delivery Robot Is Helping Small Businesses Wage War On E-Commerce Giants - Teleretail
[Tech]
2017/06/07 10:34
Swiss startup Teletretail AG is developing an on-road, two-wheeled automated delivery robot for both cities and suburbs.Though companies like Amazon have been experimenting with drone delivery systems in an effort to streamline shipping, the vision for an automated infrastructure of distribution units still seems to be at least a decade away. That being said, if technologies like driverless car...
The Construction Industry is Short on Human Workers and Ripe for a Robotic Takeover
[Business]
2017/06/07 10:34
Construction is a $10 trillion global industry. It’s also mired by waste, severe worker shortages and weak productivity growth — all of which mean the business of building is ripe for a robotic takeover.Productivity — the total economic output per worker — in the construction industry has remained flat, partly because of the slow adoption of new technologies across the industry.Since 1945,...
Saks Fifth Avenue is Turning to iMessage to Bolster Sales
[Business]
2017/06/07 10:33
Though department stores are struggling to overcome slumping sales amid slowed foot traffic and shuttering storefronts, Saks Fifth Avenue is taking advantage of last quarter’s period of stabilization to invest in digital.The luxury department store quietly launched an update to its iOS app last week, incorporating a new integrated messaging functionality that allows shoppers to ask questions a...
The Ultimate Appliance to Kick Off Your Day
[Design]
2017/06/07 10:33
What two little breakfast items require their own big specialized appliances?! If you guessed coffee and toast, you’re right. Designed with this in mind, Morning Touch combines the functionality of a toaster and coffee maker into one device to save you time and valuable counter space.Users can cook a variety of toast and coffee types by adjusting settings in the smart touchscreen interface. He...
(PDF) Mckinsey - What’s Now and Next in Analytics, AI, and Automation
[Business]
2017/06/06 11:46
Innovations in digitization, analytics, artificial intelligence, and automation are creating performance and productivity opportunities for business and the economy, even as they reshape employment and the future of work.Rapid technological advances in digitization and data and analytics have been reshaping the business landscape, supercharging performance, and enabling the emergence of new bus...
(Patent) Amazon's Delivery Drone Patent Packs a Parachute Into a Shipping Label
[Tech]
2017/06/06 11:46
Amazon has been awarded a patent for a parachute that folds up inside a shipping label, to allow delivery drones to drop items from above.Commercial delivery drones are already taking flight, but before the system really gets off the ground, there are plenty of big-picture details to sort out. Recent patents are starting to fill in some of those blanks, with companies working on systems to tran...
Where Apple Is Making Acquisitions In AI, AR/VR, Mapping, Healthcare, And More
[Investing]
2017/06/06 11:46
Many of Apple's acquisitions have ended up integrated into products today. What can recent acquisitions tell us about future projects?With WWDC starting today, we used CB Insights data to analyze Apple’s private acquisitions and create a timeline of activity since 2010.The company has made 62 disclosed acquisitions since 2010, though only 13 of them were before 2013. There is a distinct uptick...
Apple's Answer to Amazon Echo is the $349 HomePod
[Product]
2017/06/06 11:45
t’s game-time! Apple just announced its long-awaited take on a smart speaker, completing the smart speaker triumvirate along with Google and Amazon. The gadget itself isn’t particularly remarkable, but it is an Apple gadget. That’s a big deal for a lot of people.The new Apple HomePod is a lot like its competitors: Amazon Echo and Google Home. You can activate it with a wake word—“Hey Siri...
Innovative Billboards Filter Air and Raise Awareness Around Urban Pollution
[Business]
2017/06/06 11:45
Given that more than two-thirds of the world's population will likely live in urban areas by 2050, rising air pollution in cities is becoming harder to ignore. To raise awareness around the direness of the issue, brands are creating non-traditional marketing solutions using a highly traditional medium: billboards.Toyota To promote its hydrogen-fueled vehicle, the Mirai, Toyota launched an eco-b...
