TREND REPORTS
(Patent) Google Patents a Way to Win a Text Message Argument
[Tech]
2015/05/21 11:20
With the proliferation of smartphones, arguments tend to last about as long as it takes someone to Google the answer to whatever they’ve been arguing about. Now, however, Google might have found a way to settle such arguments almost instantly.In a patent awarded May 12, Google outlined a system for getting search results without having to leave a voice, instant message or text message conversa...
(PDF) Mckinsey - Building the Cities of the Future with Green Districts
[Design]
2015/05/21 11:20
Better design can make sense aesthetically, environmentally—and economically.At the current pace of urbanization, the world’s cities will add 65 million inhabitants a year between now and 2025.1 The resulting demand for infrastructure will mean that each year, India alone will need to add as much floor space as exists in all of Chicago, and China more than twice that. The way the world builds...
Facial-Recognition Lets Marketers Gauge Consumers' Real Responses to Ads
[Business]
2015/05/21 11:20
The future of ad testing is not about surveys, but about smiles and smirks.If you want to know whether a spot really sells, after all, shouldn't you measure what people feel, not what they say? That's the argument being delivered across the country by a new crop of startups brandishing sophisticated facial-recognition technology -- and quickly reshaping how marketers decide which ads work.One o...
(Video) Share URLs by sound with Google Tone
[Tech]
2015/05/21 11:20
This experimental Chrome extension lets you broadcast a sound to nearby computers to share a link.Sharing a link to a Web page with a friend is as easy as copying and pasting the link into an email, IM or text and hitting Send. If that friend is seated right next to you, it's even easier with Google Tone.Google Tone is a new Chrome extension that lets you share a link to anyone within earshot w...
HAX Accelerator’s Startups Get Healthy
[Tech]
2015/05/21 11:20
HAX, formerly Haxlr8r, has been incubating hardware startups since 2011, taking 65 companies to market so far. FeetMe's smart insoles detect pressure points to protect feet from damage.The majority of them have done something involving low-cost applications of robotics, said HAX program director Duncan Turner, speaking at the accelerator’s spring launch event in San Francisco on 11 May.But thi...
EcoQube C Fish Tank Uses a Plant to Clean its Water
[Product]
2015/05/21 11:20
The EcoQube C reportedly doesn't need to be cleaned by its owner.Owning an aquarium can be quite enjoyable, but it comes with plenty of headaches. There's a lot of maintenance that's a part of owning one – maintenance that Aqua Design Innovations aims to get rid of with the introduction of its EcoQube C fish tank.Fish tanks are generally fairly similar to one another, but this one stands out b...
World's Longest Glass Bridge Set to Open in China Next Year
[Design]
2015/05/21 11:19
An artist's concept of people walking across the glass bridge high above the Zhangjiajie canyon in China.In a bid to attract more tourists to the region, Hunan Province in China has commissioned the architectural firm of Haim Dotan to produce a completely transparent glass bridge spanning 370 m (1,214 ft) across the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon. Dizzyingly high at about 400 m (1,312 ft) above the c...
(Infographic) The UK’s Most Popular Wedding Trends
[Consumer]
2015/05/21 11:19
This wedding Infographic from The Italian Villa has some great facts about the popular UK trends of the bride and groom and their wedding day.Infographic : http://www.the-italian-villa.co.uk/sites/default/files/the_uks_most_popular_wedding_trends_-_update.jpg[italian-villa]
(PDF) Deloitte Consulting - Digital Democracy Survey
[Consumer]
2015/05/20 11:20
Streaming services fuel consumers’ appetite for bingeing, with two-thirds now binge-watching content, according to the latest Deloitte Digital Democracy Survey. The survey reveals nearly one-third of consumers binge-watch three or more episodes at least once a week, with device preferences and multitasking behaviors impacted.Streaming video services, now used by more than 42 percent of America...
Why Brands like Starbucks, Coca-Cola and Sonic are Shrinking their Food
[Business]
2015/05/20 11:19
Consumers view sugar and fat to be the new tobacco, according to new research by Havas Worldwide.Food and beverage giants are shrinking their offerings. Why? Consumers view sugar and fat to be the new tobacco, according to new research by Havas Worldwide, which found that in the last year 42 percent of consumers have reduced their sugar intake while 38 percent of consumers have decreased fat co...
An Emerging American Trend is Terrifying News for Macy's, Kohl's, and JC Penney
[Consumer]
2015/05/20 11:19
Consumers are spending more on cell phones and less on clothes.Retailers like Macy's, J.C. Penney, and Kohl's have all reported mediocre results this week.The companies have blamed a variety of temporary factors — such as delayed inventory shipments, bad weather in February, and fewer international tourists — for the slowdown in business.But Americans are increasingly spending less on clothes...
The Math of Starbucks’ New Mini-Sized Frappuccino
[Business]
2015/05/20 11:19
WHEN LIFE GIVES you lemons, make lemonade. But when life gives you data, make a model. One way to model real life things is to create a plot. If you want to see how variable y is related to variable x, plot y vs. x (where x and y could be just about any quantity). If these variables linearly related, you can fit a linear function to this data. Big deal, right? Yes, it’s a big deal. Once you ha...
