Why Amazon, Google, and Apple are Fighting Over Voice-Activated Home Devices
[Business]
2016/06/13 10:53
Amazon's voice-activated speaker Echo has been one of the surprise hit products of the year. Now, Google is out with its own voice-controlled speaker, and Apple is also reported to be in the works for its own device.Voice-assistance technology may sound like a novelty, but recent data by Kleiner Perkins show why all the big tech companies are jumping on this new opportunity. As this chart by St...
Starbucks Has More Customer Money on Cards Than Many Banks Have in Deposits
[Business]
2016/06/13 10:53
Starbucks customers have loaded more than a billion dollars onto their cards. Some people keep their money in banks. Some keep cash beneath a mattress. Now there’s another place that people are depositing their money: their Starbucks accounts.The Wall Street Journal recently reviewed data from S&P Global Market Intelligence to determine where people are stashing their money these days, inc...
Shape Shifters - Multipurpose Packaging Fills Dual Roles for Consumers
[Business]
2016/06/13 10:53
Young consumers are looking for product packaging to help set brands and product experiences apart, taking them to a new level. Lately this trend has taken a particularly digital bent, often leveraging consumers’ devices to turn basic boxes and wrappers into high-tech tools. This is just one way brands are catering to the Optimization Generation, helping people streamline and get more from les...
Macbook Meets OLED
[Design]
2016/06/13 10:53
So there is this rumour of a new MacBook with an OLED display/touchpad.After all those flat 2D previews here are some renderings showing it in full 3D glory.If the OLED display/keypad really happens it could be a handy way of managing your Spotify playback or keeping track of that lates Game Of Thrones torrent download![martinhajek]
Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum Connected
[Product]
2016/06/13 10:53
Built-in sensors are able to detect the location of the toothbrush within the mouth, brushing technique and pressure being applied.The recently-announced ONVI Prophix toothbrush has a built-in camera that lets users stream video from inside their mouth as they brush. Philips doesn't go that far with its new brush, but has instead kitted it out with sensors that track brushing on a 3D mouth-map...
Increase in Living with Parents Driven by Those Ages 25-34, Non-College Grads
[Consumer]
2016/06/13 10:53
A recent Pew Research Center analysis of census data found that in 2014, for the first time in more than 130 years, 18- to 34-year-olds in the U.S. were more likely to be living in their parents’ home than with a spouse or partner in their own household. A closer analysis of the data helps explain why: Adults in their late 20s and early 30s are living with their parents at record or near-recor...
New Exoskeleton Exclusively for Disabled Kids
[Tech]
2016/06/13 10:53
The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) has unveiled an exoskeleton designed specifically for children suffering from spinal muscular atrophy. It weighs about 26 pounds (12 Kg), maybe more than the child wearing it, and lets kids walk who may otherwise be completely unable to on their own.The device is adjustable to fit different children, each leg having extendable rods that help align th...
Bespoke 3D Printed Lingerie Removes the Need for Elastic
[Design]
2016/06/13 10:52
Fashion student Jess Haughton says her 3D printed lingerie could revolutionise the way women consume underwear. The 23-year-old Nottingham Trent University student created her own collection using additive manufacturing to show how women could be given the perfect fit.“Women come in all different shapes and sizes, so I wanted to show how modern technology can provide made to measure lingerie f...
(PDF) Welcome to Larry Page’s Secret Flying-Car Factories
[Investing]
2016/06/12 11:10
With Zee.Aero and Kitty Hawk, the Google co-founder looks to the skies.Three years ago, Silicon Valley developed a fleeting infatuation with a startup called Zee.Aero. The company had set up shop right next to Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., which was curious, because Google tightly controls most of the land in the area. Then a reporter spotted patent filings showing Zee.Aero w...