TREND REPORTS
(M&A) Here Are The Biggest Tech Acquisitions of All Time
[Investing]
2015/10/13 11:35
Dell's $67 billion purchase of EMC is the biggest pure tech acquisition ever. (AOL's $162 billion buy of Time Warner in 2000 was larger, but Time Warner was a media company, not a tech company.)This chart from Statista shows some of the largest tech acquisitions of the past decade, measured in 2015 dollars. There are a lot of dogs on the list.HP's deal with Compaq didn't lead to the expected sy...
Can Facebook Attract More Retailers With New E-Commerce Features ?
[Business]
2015/10/13 11:35
Facebook wants marketers to see it as more than a branding platform. So, it's announcing two new tests today to that should pique retailers' interests—speedy landing pages and a new section that curates shoppable products.Back in June, Facebook started testing full-screen mobile ads with brands like Gatorade and Michael Kors. Now, it's experimenting with a version of the format, dubbed Canvas,...
The Microoptic Lenses Behind BMW's Welcome Light Carpet
[Tech]
2015/10/13 11:35
On the new BMW 7 Series, a lighting system featuring a striped pattern of ground illumination makes it easier to enter the vehicle in the dark. Fraunhofer researchers have developed special microoptic lenses for this application to channel light from the vehicle underbody directly onto the ground, illuminating the path to the car. You’ve just enjoyed dinner at your favorite restaurant and now...
The Smart Docking TV Design
[Design]
2015/10/13 11:34
This Smart Docking TV design for Samsung really pushes design in the right direction. Not just another good looking TV, the new design debunks the whole “wedge design” trend and takes the opposite road to make a TV that looks like it could seriously kick ass. The new design has a valley running around the rim of the TV, this not only enables easy docking of your smart-device, but also acts as...
(Infographic) Brands Should Treat Consumers as Friends, Not Age Groups
[Consumer]
2015/10/13 11:34
There's not much difference in lifestyle preferences in consumers ages 13 to 50.A new report from Trendera, a trend forecasting and creative marketing firm, found there's not much difference in lifestyle preferences in consumers ranging in age from 13 to 50."The days of impressing consumers with targeted marketing based solely on demographics are in the past," says Trendera president Liz Gray....
(PDF) BCG - Global Payments 2015 : Listening to the Customer’s Voice
[Business]
2015/10/12 12:16
The payments and transaction-banking businesses are evolving at a dizzying pace. The advance of digital technology, the entry of nontraditional players with compelling value propositions, and changing preferences in the way consumers pay for goods and services in their everyday lives have considerably disrupted the industry landscape.Which direction will consumer payment habits take in the futu...
(Patent) Airbus Files a Patent for ‘Flying Bunk Beds’
[Tech]
2015/10/12 12:16
The jet manufacturer wants to take you higher. If flying 30,000 feet above the ground in a seat just isn’t cutting it anymore, Airbus might just have the solution for you: The top bunk on your next transatlantic flight.According to a Reuters, the civil aircraft manufacturer has filed a patent that includes a blueprint for “split-level seating.” The company hopes that including two stories of...
(Video) Impossible Foods Raises a Whopping $108M For Its Plant-Based Burgers
[Investing]
2015/10/12 12:16
Impossible Foods, a four-year-old, Redwood City, Ca.-based company at work on a new generation of meats and cheeses made entirely from plants, has raised $108 million in new funding from a powerful group of backers.Investors in the round, which was led by UBS, include Viking Global Investors and earlier backers Khosla Ventures; Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates; and Horizons Ventures, which inves...
(Video) A Keyboard to Conceal Your Naughty Text Messages
[Product]
2015/10/12 12:15
Mobile application, Kibo, lets users conceal personal messages under the veil of everyday digital banter.Covert messaging has come to define communication among the millennial cohort. While Snapchat and its competitors have found success in the ‘burn after reading’ method of discretion, users still risk accidental oversharing with over-the-shoulder glances and the meddling of curious coworker...
(PDF) Dashboard Anticipates What Drivers Will Do Next, Improving Road Safety
[Tech]
2015/10/12 12:15
Some of us can’t wait until driverless cars are a reality so we can sit in the back watching movies during our commute. Others view computers controlling a fundamentally autonomous act like driving with suspicion. We still have a decade or more to wait before we see how it turns out, but meanwhile the Robo Brain project, in collaboration with partner Brain4Cars, has moved computer-assisted dri...
The 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Winner
[Consumer]
2015/10/12 12:15
THE 2015 Nobel peace prize has been awarded in Oslo this morning to the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet. The group, comprised of four Tunisian organisations—representing areas such as human rights, public welfare and principles of law— was selected “for its decisive contribution to the building of a pluralistic democracy in Tunisia in the wake of the Jasmine Revolution of 2011”, accordin...
(Video) UV-Light Enabled Catheter Fixes Heart Defects Without Surgery
[Tech]
2015/10/12 12:15
Advances in medicine are treating patients in ways that were never thought possible. The latest breakthrough comes from a team of scientists in Boston who have developed a way to fix holes in the heart without the need for invasive surgery. They created a ground-breaking catheter, biodegradable glue and patch that fit inside the patient's veins and are guided directly into the heart. Once there...
