Week 14 (#3): Indoor Navigation

We're all familiar with the GPS units we have in our cars to get us from point A to point B; but these GPS systems are limited to navigating outdoors. Now there is a new system for in-store (or in-mall) navigation being developed. The new system, called MST-Smartsense Sensor, uses simple sensors to assess where a person is in a building at any time and works when a QR code is scanned at a location. Scanning the QR code identifies the person's current position (using a downloaded 3D map of the building); from there, a built-in pedometer and compass assess the speed and direction the person is going, and rather than relying on GPS signals the system can tell where that person is going simply based on stride length.

In addition to identifying an individual's precise location, the module can recommend an ideal walk route if desired. The amazing part is that the module does not need to be calibrated by the user, but rather the device is able to gauge stride length on its own. The module uses a series of sensors including an acceleration sensor that tracks the motion of the body, and a magnetic field sensor that measures the alignment of the body through its position relative to the earth's magnetic field. These two sensors work together to map a precise pattern of movement. MST has its own processor built-in, and is the size of a fingernail, and thus could work with nearly any mobile device including tablets and smartphones.

Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/04/lost-in-the-supermarket-a-new-sensor-will-navigate-for-you-indoors/

http://sciencebusiness.technewslit.com/?p=9314&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=navigation-module-for-inside-buildings-in-development

Week 14 (#2): Free Online Classes from Harvard??

We have been talking a lot in class about the rise in online education in recent years. Although these classes require a lot fewer resources than an on-campus class, the tuition is basically the same. Wouldn't it be nice if this online education was a reduced price, or even better...FREE?!

Harvard and MIT announced a partnership this week to offer online courses to students around the world, in an initiative known as edX. The initiative will be run by a non-profit organization controlled by the two schools. The first courses will begin this fall, and there is no admission process but there are exams and other assessments. Although students won't receive university credit for the classes, certificates are available for a fee to students who demonstrate mastery of the material.

Princeton, Stanford, Michigan and the University of Pennsylvania announced that they will be offering free web-based courses too. MIT and Harvard said that they hope to eventually partner with other universities to expand the offerings on the edX platform.

Source:

http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/02/technology/harvard-mit-online/index.htm

Week 14 (#1): EcoATM: An Easy Way to Sell Your Old Electronics!

We all know what kiosks are...Coinstar and Redbox are two well-known kiosks. One gives you cash for your loose change, and the other rents out DVDs for $1 per night. Well now there is a new type of kiosk making a presence in the market. EcoATM is a company that creates kiosks that automate the buy-back of used mobile phones and other used portable electronics directly from consumers. 


How EcoATM Works:
The seller places their phone (or MP3 player or other gadget) into the kiosk (the company says it will not damage the phone nor read/copy any personal data from the device). The kiosk then visually identifies the phone as best it can from a database of around 4,000 devices and uses visual recognition technology to determine if the device has been damaged. The kiosk also analyzes whether or not the device boots up. Based on the type of phone and the shape it's in, EcoATM makes an offer. Users can cash out (or cancel the transaction and get their phone back at any time), with the option to donate any percentage of the sale to a charity. Every week, the company picks up the phones sold and sells these to middle market electronics refurbishers, who fix the devices up and resell them or sell the parts to other electronics companies.


There are about 50 EcoATM kiosks operating in the US  currently, mostly in California for now. They are located primarily in malls, grocery stores and big-box retailers. The company expects to expand nationally.


Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/01/ecoatm-raises-17m-from-coinstar-and-others-for-electronics-recycling-and-resale-kiosk-system/

Week 13 (#3): 69% of Tablet Owners Watch TV and Surf the Web Simultaneously

According to Nielsen, a market research company, 45% of tablet owners watch TV and use their tablet together at least once a day, and 69% say they do it at least several times a week! Only 12% of tablet owners said they never use their tablet while watching TV.


Nielsen found that women are more likely to look up information related to an ad they see on TV, whereas men are more likely to look up general information related to a TV program they are watching. Men were also found to be far more likely to check sport scores on their tablets than women (44% vs 24%). Younger tablet users are more likely to use their tablet in front of the TV than older users; with the only activity older users tending to use their tablets for more is checking email. 


Overall, checking email is the most popular activity for tablet owners while watching TV (61%), followed by visiting social networking sites (47%) and looking up information about TV programs.Checking sport scores isn't far behind at 34%.


Nielsen's report also found that females spend 61.2% of their tablet using/TV watching time during prime time while watching Dramas. (See below for more statistics).


Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/27/report-69-of-tablet-owners-watch-tv-and-surf-the-web-simultaneously/

Week 13 (#2): Can Google Help you get your Ex Back?

Many companies use emotional advertising to tug at the heart-strings of consumers as a method of building rapport and being relatable. That is exactly what Google is doing with its new TV commercial (see link below). In my opinion, this advertisement is perfect! In this ad, a guy Mark is trying hard to get his ex Jen to go out to coffee with him by using a collage of Google Docs spreadsheets, photos and videos to give Jen reasons why she should agree to meet up with him. Google has also released similar ads for Chrome, Google+ and its other products over the last year or so. Although these ads don't focus on technology so much, they focus on what technology can do for users and are very relatable. If I were Jen, I would say 'YES!' to Mark's offer!

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pTjHCCU2E4c

Source:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/25/googles-latest-tv-ad-how-chrome-can-help-you-get-your-ex-back/

Week 13 (#1): Could the iPhone get Thinner?

Apple is always looking for new ways to innovate and make their products even better; including its plans for the next iPhone. Instead of using a number of separate layers for the phone, Apple is considering "in-cell" touch display technology. Not only would in-cell display make the phone thinner and lighter (which would be nice considering it is speculated that the new iPhone will have a larger 4 to 4.3 inch display), but it would also allow for streamlining in the manufacturing process which would drive efficiencies and reduce cost. 


The current "on-cell" display is layered like a sandwich, with the bottom layer containing the back light, then a layer containing the LCD section (with the red, green, and blue-colored pixels of the display), then a top layer of glass, followed by the touch layer then finally topped off with a layer of tough glass. In-cell display technology eliminates the middle layer of glass, combining the LCD and touch sections into a single layer.This can be accomplished by using the same electrodes to handle the signals for both touch control and pixels of the LCD. We'll have to wait and see if Apple is able to have this technology perfected before the next iPhone launch...something tells me they will!

Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/23/tech/mobile/in-cell-technology-iphone/index.html

Week 12 (#3): "Draw Something" Updates

As mentioned in the previous post, 'Draw Something' is an awesomely successful app! However, when Zynga purchased the app from OMGPop a few weeks ago, the two companies agreed that the acquisition would bring new features to the game.  As promised, the app has been updated to add commenting, the ability to save drawings to your photo library, and the ability to share drawings on Facebook and Twitter directly through the app. The app was also updated to include easy undo for correcting mistakes, a pull down to refresh for updating your gaming queue quickly, and an increase in the cap of drawings from 99 to 999. Zynga is considering adding photo sharing, saving and chat abilities in the future. 


My concern with these updates is based on the theory of "if it's not broke, don't fix it." 'Draw Something' was hugely successful based on its original version and I hope adding too many new updates doesn't distract users from the app, or cause a loss of interest. I know every time Facebook undergoes an update there are many unhappy users as a result; I hope for the sake of 'Draw Something' that this isn't the same case. 


Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/19/tech/mobile/draw-something-app-updated/index.html?iref=allsearch

Week 12 (#2): The Draw to 'Draw Something'

Every day new apps are launched and some are huge successes (like 'Angry Birds' and 'Words with Friends') and others are complete failures. One of these blockbuster apps is 'Draw Something,' which is a digital variation on Pictionary with a Hangman aspect to it. The app, created and released by gaming developer OMGPop, has attracted more than 35 million users in two months since its release and spent weeks as the number 1 free app on the iPad and iPhone. The draw to 'Draw Something' is that people like to doodle; it's fun, easy, and takes minimal thinking. Also, this app is targeted to everyone and not too competitive.


How it Works:
Users can scan their social-network contacts for someone to play with or opt for a random playmate. The app then gives the user three choices of things to draw; ranging in difficulty. Once the user has selected an option, the user draws it with his/her finger on the touchscreen, using the basic colors provided in the app. Your friend has to guess what you've drawn, then he/she draws a picture for you in return. If pictures are guessed correctly, players win virtual coins which can be cashed in for features or hints within the game.


I am not a technology-buff and do not even own a smartphone, however, I would 100% recommend this app to others! I noticed my roommate playing this app a few weeks ago and asked about it. She let me try it out and instantly I was hooked! I give this app 5 stars; so easy to use and fun!


Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/13/tech/gaming-gadgets/draw-something-app-appeal/index.html

Week 12 (#1): Why 1 in 5 US Adults Doesn't use the Internet

It seems like everyone uses the internet today; whether it's to check Facebook, go on Twitter, email friends and family, or to check the news and weather. I was shocked when I came across an article that stated that 1 in 5 adults actually doesn't use the internet...that's 20%! Although the internet has become way more accessible in recent years, and is a staple tool in most people's daily lives, the article stated that the primary reason 1 in 5 adults don't use the internet is simply because they're just not interested.


Among current non-internet users, almost half (48%) feel that the internet is irrelevant to them; that they don't want to use the internet and don't need to use it to get the information they want or as a means of communication. The next-most common reason for lack of internet use was due to not having a computer or that using the internet is too expensive, difficult or a waste of time. Only 20% of non-users say they know enough about technology to start using the internet if they wanted to, and only 10% said they have an interest in using the internet or e-mail in the future.


Not surprising, though, are the demographics that make up these non-users. Mostly they're older; 59% of US seniors don't go online. Also, 60% of US adults who never completed high school don't use the internet. Additionally, 40% of people with an annual household income lower than $30,000 don't use the internet. People with disabilities are also less likely to use the internet; one-fourth of US adults live with a disability that interferes with activities of daily life and only 54% of these adults are internet users.


Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/13/tech/web/pew-not-using-internet/index.html

Week 11 (#3): FarFaria: Kid's Stories for the iPad!

There truly is an app for everything; including children's books! FarFaria, a new subscription-based children's storybook app for the iPad, offers a collection of nearly 100 stories with more being added all the time. The stories are both independently sourced and illustrated as well as sourced from the public domain, like Peter Rabbit. The app is free to download, but requires a $3.99 per month subscription to access the content; with a free one-month trial. This is a great alternative to buying individual books in the iTunes App store or other kids' books apps that rely on in-app purchases. FarFaria does not bog up the app with pop-up ads, prompts to purchases, or anything else that would get in the way of a child viewing a story. The app was soft-launched in February and a public launch is expected next week. 

The platform of FarFaria is based on a map of make-believe lands where stories are grouped by genre.The lands are aptly named: "Picture Point Island," "Fairytale Forest," "Fable Hills," "Loony Lagoon," "Classics Grove," "GoodLand" and "Bedtime Bluffs," for example. The stories are appropriate for a broad range of ages; from toddlers to about eight years old.

Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/12/farfaria-brings-a-hulu-for-kids-stories-to-the-ipad/

Week 11 (#2): PayDragon - The Easiest Way to Order Food on Your Phone

A new app has been released for iPhone and Android called PayDragon which offers an easy way to order food via a smartphone. The app particularly targets those who are busy yet are hungry and in need of a meal quickly. Each participating restaurant has only four to six items on its PayDragon menu; the stripped-down menus and lack of customization make the process streamlined and allow restaurants to service more customers more quickly. The app works by users tapping on the item they wish to order, hitting 'pay,' and then the order is complete. From here the user waits for an alert saying that their order is ready for pickup. This app may not be best suited for picky eaters, but most restaurants are trying to include at least one vegetarian option on their limited menus. There is a 'Discover' tab that allows users to see nearby participating restaurants.The app has launched in Los Angeles area restaurants and food trucks.


Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/12/paydragon-launch/

Week 11 (#1): Bye Bye Yellow Pages

 

The Yellow Pages are yet another casualty of the digital age, with AT&T announcing its plans to sell its Yellow Pages business to Cerberus Capital Management. The business has been struggling for years since up-to-date listings became just a click away and easily accessible on the internet. Although the Yellow Pages directories go out to about 150 million homes and businesses in 22 states, they are more likely viewed as junk mail and being thrown away than as a valuable aid. AT&T attempted to stay on top of the digital age by launching YP.com but had limited success, taking a $2.9 billion write-down in 2011. Cerberus plans to put a fresh and modern spin on the business with AT&T maintaining a significant stake in the new venture.

I believe it was just a matter of time before the hard-copy Yellow Pages became extinct; after all, even novels and textbooks are being converted into digital copies viewable on tablets and e-readers. Why would any household want to maintain the burden of enormous, cumbersome phonebooks when there are more convenient alternatives to obtain phone numbers and addresses?

Source:
http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/09/technology/ATT-sells-yellow-pages/index.htm

Week 10 (#3): Pinterest is Third Most-Visited Social Site

Experian Marketing Services, a digital marketing firm, released a report stating Pinterest as the third most-visited social-networking site in the U.S.; behind Facebook and Twitter. Pinterest lets users "pin" photos and info from the Internet onto virtual boards along with comments. Last month Facebook had more than 7 billion total visitors; Twitter had 182 million; and Pinterest had 104 million U.S. visits (not including mobile traffic); putting it ahead of LinkedIn, Google+, MySpace and Tumblr.

Pinterest launched in March 2010, but has grown rapidly only in the past six months; traffic jumped 50% between January and February. Pinterest skews female with about 60% of users being women, and to the middle of the country; being most popular in Missouri, Utah, Alabama, Oklahoma and Kansas. An iPad app is expected soon.

Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/06/tech/social-media/pinterest-third-social-network/index.html

Week 10 (#2): StearClear...the App for Drunks

Many people age 21 and over can relate to the stress and hassle associated with being too drunk to drive home after a night out at a bar, and having to figure out a way to pick up their car the next morning. Well, thanks to a new service called StearClear, the agony of retrieving your car could be eliminated. StearClear has been up and running for only a month in parts of New Jersey and is a way to get you and your car home safely. Although several communities have some sort of designated-driver program, this is the first franchise of its kind. StearClear works off three mobile applications: an iOS/Android app for end users (the drunk people), one for the drive teams, and a third for franchise owners which lets them view a map of their drivers' cars in action along with customer requests. The drive teams consist of two people: one who drives the customer's car and the other who follows in their own car, carrying the customer.

Drivers are assigned shifts but can make themselves available at any other time as well. When customer requests come in, drivers "bid" for the pickup via their own app by saying when they can get there; obviously customers typically choose the driver closest to their location. The cost per customer is $20/per pickup plus $2.50/mile with a special rate for premium members. This pricing is around the same as local cab rides, depending on your area, but is much cheaper than a black car service.

Franchise owners pay $30,000 to buy a block of 70,000 people (around 6 to 12 zip codes) and keep 80% of the revenue. StearClear is currently undergoing its first public test, which will last for about 3 months.

Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/04/06/too-drunk-to-drive-but-still-wanna-get-your-car-home-theres-an-app-for-that/


 

Week 10 (#1): Half of all US Households Own at Least One Apple Product

According to CNBC's All-American Economic Survey, 51% of US households own at least one Apple product. That means that just over half of all US households are Apple owners! This seems like a paradox considering that just over a decade ago Apple was almost bankrupt with a market share of about 2% worldwide. Then with the advent of the iPod and iPhone and then the iPad Apple was able to gobble up market share and even create new markets! Apple truly is an AMAZING company!


The survey revealed that of the households that own Apple products, they own an average of 3, making the overall ownership rate of the American public 1.6 Apple products per household. The survey showed that Apple buyers tend to skew male, young, with higher education and incomes (77% of households making $75k+ have an Apple product). Households with children also increase the likelihood of owning an Apple product; 61% compared to 48% with no children. The survey further showed that both Republicans and Democrats are equally likely to own Apple products. 


CNBC's survey polled 836 Americans via both land-line phones and cellphones over 3 days in March.


Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/29/tech/gaming-gadgets/household-apple-products/index.html

Week 9 (#3): SpotlessCity

SpotlessCity is a new website that allows users to find a dry cleaner or laundromat in their area that will pickup and return their laundry, without the user ever needing to leave his house. Although pickup and delivery services previously existed, this is the first online-based service of its kind.


How It Works:
1) Enter in your address to find all of your local dry cleaners and laundromats
2) Select a dry cleaner and schedule a FREE pickup and delivery
3) Sit back and relax! Your dry cleaner will pickup, clean and deliver your clothes back to your home


The service puts the responsibility on the dry cleaner to follow through with the order, and SpotlessCity doesn't take a cut from the customer but instead gets a payment from the dry cleaner for streamlining their business. Dry cleaners in SpotlessCity's network operate in the Village, SoHo, the Upper East Side in Manhattan, in and around Brooklyn Heights and Downtown Brooklyn, and are expanding to all of NYC shortly.

SpotlessCity's mission is: "To make city life more livable, one load at a time."


Source:

http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/28/spotlesscity-will-pick-up-your-soiled-dirty-laundry/
http://www.spotlesscity.com/Home/About

Week 9 (#2): Have Fear of Missing Out?

timeRAZOR has developed a new events-finder app for smartphones that uses the phone's geolocation features combined with a built-in recommendation engine to help suggest nearby events and experiences to users; the company's slogan is "We bring you cool events close to where you live, work & are scheduled to be." The app also integrates the phone's built-in calendar to suggest events taking place near the user's out-of-office meetings and social appointments. For example, if a user is going to be in Chicago away on business next Friday, perhaps the app will recommend the user see a Chicago Cubs game that night.


The app currently pulls in over 300,000 event listings per day from over 100 different sources, making it one of the larger events databases available.The events are organized within the app in various sections: “planned," events the user has on his calendar; “possible,” available events; “for me," recommended events; and “by me,” special events the user has chosen to attend. Users can add events to their phone’s calendar, view event details, share them with friends and even get “travel time” alerts that tell the user when she needs to leave to make the event.


Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/28/fear-of-missing-out-timerazor-connects-you-with-nearby-events/

Week 9 (#1): Will College Become More Affordable?

It is no secret that college tuition is expensive and getting more expensive year after year. Overall, tuition at private colleges has been increasing more than 4% each year for the past three years with average tuition at a four-year private college costing $28,500 a year. According to an article from money.cnn.com titled “Colleges slashing tuition, offering 3-year degrees,” a growing number of colleges are taking extreme measures to attract more students by cutting tuition costs or speeding up the rate at which they graduate. Some private colleges are introducing substantial double-digit percentage cuts in tuition, freezing prices, or offering pilot programs, three-year degree programs or four-year graduation guarantees. These measures are in response to consumers’ concerns about the rising cost of college, and although have been used to some degree in the past, have become more prevalent since the economic downturn. In addition to making college more affordable for students, colleges want to offer more competitive prices to attract more students and increase their bottom lines as well.


With tuition cuts or reducing the time it takes to graduate there is a tradeoff, however. Temporary tuition cuts and freezes are typically accompanied by financial aid cuts, so the money isn’t all going back to the students. For example, the University of Charleston is slashing tuition but it is also reducing the amount of financial assistance that is available to students from $15 million to $10 million. Although the quality of the education will most likely not be affected by tuition cuts or freezes (unless an increase in enrollment results in a higher student-to-teacher ratio), some fast-tracked degrees might suffer. Eliminating core requirements to graduate sooner may leave out some very basic skills like writing and reading that have an important impact on job performance. 


These measures, with their cost-savings implications, are definitely good news to students like me! Lowered tuition costs allow students to pay less money out of pocket or have less loan debt due to college expenses. Since tuition is based on credit requirements, if these requirements are decreased, students will be able to get a degree that is just as good as one that would have cost thousands of dollars more a few years prior. Not to mention we would be able to obtain the degree in a shorter amount of time!

Source:

http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/22/pf/college/cost-cutting/index.htm?iid=SF_PF_LN

Week 8 (#3): Shoptiques.com

 

Small fashion boutiques target a select group of shoppers who are searching for original items from designers that are not found in big-name department stores. Boutique shoppers are limited in that these smaller boutiques are exclusive and can not be shopped without traveling to visit the retail locations. A solution to this is a start-up website called Shoptiques which aggregates inventory from local fashion boutiques across the country and puts it online. Shoptiques works with a network of local boutiques across the U.S. to integrate their inventory on the Shoptiques.com website, which shoppers can visit, browse, and make purchases. Shoptiques, which has a network of freelance photographers, takes high quality photos of the boutique items and uploads them to the website with descriptions and prices. Users can browse collections from boutiques across the country that they would never otherwise have seen or known about. In order to qualify, a boutique needs to offer products that can not be found in department stores; not even Bloomingdale's or Neiman Marcus.


The site launched with inventory from over 25 boutiques, from Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Chicago. The site finds these local boutiques by partnering with magazines like Elle to find interesting stores and also receives many leads via word of mouth recommendations. Currently, boutiques are organized by location, and neighborhood on the site, and the price point on items ranges from $50 to $300. You can also shop by category (bags, shoes, tops etc.).


If a customer chooses to purchase an item on the site, Shoptiques will immediately send the boutique an email with the order and a printable FedEx label with the customer’s address. Shoptiques handles all of the payment processing and takes an undisclosed fee from each transaction.
Eventually, Shoptiques wants to expand internationally and add many more boutiques. Although I wouldn't use this website, I did find the concept quite innovative and appealing to a certain segment of shoppers.


 


Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/21/andreessen-horowitz-greylock-back-marketplace-for-local-fashion-boutiques-shoptiques/ 

Week 8 (#2): Apple's $2.65 per Share Dividend!

It's no secret that Apple is an insanely prosperous company with oodles of cash on hand; nearly $100 billion in fact. Apple announced exciting news for current shareholders and potential shareholders alike: initiating a quarterly dividend of $2.65 per share in Q4 2012, along with a $10 billion share repurchase program starting September 2012 and extending over the next 3 years. This payout will set Apple as one of the largest dividend payers of all companies. The last time Apple paid dividends was in 1995, at about $0.12 per share.


Apple's decision to initiate a dividend and repurchase stock is sure to make shareholders (and employees) elated, as well as appeal to new potential investors...as if the stock wasn't already attractive! It's nice to see that the company has investor interest in mind when deciding what to do with all of its money. With pleased shareholders, Apple's stock is likely to soar even higher!

Source: 
http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/19/apple-cash/

Week 8 (#1): SmartSource Xpress App

Most of you are probably familiar with the SmartSource coupon magazine that is inserted into Sunday newspapers. This is one of the main products of the company I work for, News America Marketing. Over the past several months my company has been developing an iPad app that makes this coupon magazine available in the digital world. The app, which just launched, allows users to view the coupon magazines and "clip" the coupons, with a tap of the screen, which are then uploaded directly to their shopper loyalty cards and redeemed automatically at check out. This app, SmartSource Xpress, offers lots of great offers from popular household brand names, it ensures shoppers do not forget their coupons at home, it saves time both at home and at checkout, it's green (no paper!), and it's free!

These digital coupons are interactive and enhanced with video, recipes, and free samples. Shoppers no longer have to clip, file, or carry their coupons to the store. The app tracks your savings and allows you to e-mail yourself the list of coupons that you have loaded to your card. The app will be available on smartphones sometime this summer.

To download this free app visit the Apple store with the below link:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smartsource-xpress-mobile/id494281041?ls=1&mt=8 

Week 6 (#3): Resumes are Bullsh*t??

A new company named HireArt is changing the interview process as we know it. Rather than employers reading through resume after resume (which are sometimes embellished or not a true portrayal of a candidate's credentials), HireArt improves the job candidate pre-screening process by creating online interviews that simulate a real job. Candidates are asked to complete tasks that are similar to what they would encounter on the job (for example: give a presentation, do an Excel analysis, or give a creative pitch for a new product). The responses are recorded via video or submitted as text and attachments, which give employers higher quality information to base their hiring decisions on.

This new interview process helps to better identify qualified candidates for a job by actually being able to prove their worth and skills, especially when often times potential employees are overlooked because they have unorthodox backgrounds that don't necessarily match up with what an employer thinks they need in terms of experience. Also,this process helps to identify candidates who may have oversold themselves on a resume. Since  the potential employees are actually doing the work first, before they are hired, the employer will find out sooner rather than later if they cannot perform to expectations.

Employers who use HireArt to fill a position can choose from HireArt's online library of predefined template questions or can create their own which requires the candidate to actually demonstrate, not just talk about, their skills. When the interview / questions are complete, the employer has the option to review the responses on their own or they can outsource that task to HireArt instead, which includes a team of college professors and industry experts as graders.

I personally think the HireArt system of interviewing is definitely beneficial for a company. Although it may be more time consuming and expensive for an employer to screen through these types of interviews / tasks than it would to look over resumes, the result is that the employer will have a more qualified pool of top candidates. In my experience, my department recently hired a man who clearly oversold himself on a resume and in an interview and was let go soon after because it was evident he could not perform to expectations. If my department had used HireArt and required that the man complete some sample tasks, perhaps they would have realized he wasn't a good fit before they actually used resources to hire and fire him.

Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/09/resumes-are-bullshit-hireart-is-better/

Week 6 (#2): Apple is Worth More than Poland (and Belgium, and Sweden, and Saudi Arabia, and Taiwan...)!

We all know that Apple is an insanely successful company; but you might be shocked to know that it is the world's most valuable company, having a valuation that is now higher than the gross domestic product of Poland, Belgium, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, or Taiwan!

On Wednesday, Apple's stock market value topped the $500 billion mark; making it one of the five most-valuable companies at any point in history. Only Microsoft, ExxonMobil, Cisco, GE, and Intel have ever surpassed that mark. Apple is one of the fastest growing tech companies and had sales growth of 73% last year, and shares currently breaking the $500 mark! Surprisingly, though, is that Apple stock is much cheaper than some of the other, less-sucessful, tech companies like Netflix, Zynga, LinkedIn, and the soon-to-be public Facebook. 

Here are some other things that Apple is worth more than:

• The construction of the Interstate Highway System across America
• 1 billion iPads
• All the money spent on electricity for an entire year in the U.S.
• The entire National Football League...times 10!
• All the gold at the New York Federal Reserve
• All the illegal drugs in the world
• The Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, Stephen King, and Twilight franchise combined
• All the farmland in Iowa and South Dakota
• 10 times all the child support paid last year
• Every single home in Atlanta, GA combined
• The Great Wall of China

Sources:

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/29/technology/apple_market_cap/index.htm

http://thingsappleisworthmorethan.tumblr.com/page/3

Week 6 (#1): "How Tweet It Is..."

When I first read this article, I had to read it a second time to make sure I was understanding it correctly...hedge funds are now using TWITTER and SOCIAL-MEDIA sites to make investment decisions?? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want my investments to be determined by people's Facebook statuses and Tweets...or maybe I would?


More than a dozen hedge funds and high-frequency traders are now making trades guided, in part, by data from social-media sources like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. There are even social-media analytic firms that supply the investors with analyses of social-media activities based on sentiment (an emotion or attitude about something; quite often about a stock or company). These activities are then crunched by computer algorithms to find market-related opinions and tally what those opinions are; thus predicting the direction of the market. This use of market sentiment isn't totally new; investors have surveyed and tallied positive and negative news stories in the past to gauge their decisions.


Researchers believe that although this tactic is used mostly as a supplement to trading strategies, social-media trends could provide valuable insight into short-term market direction. Would you trust your money to be traded off Twitter information??


Source:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204778604577239574141848142.html

Week 5 (#3): RFID in Tracking Foot Traffic in Stores

I work for a marketing company doing market research for clients. Quite often we get requests for recommending ad placement locations in grocery stores. For example, Kraft may want to know what other location, besides the pasta aisle, may be a good place to put its macaroni and cheese banner advertisement. Foot traffic is an important part in making a recommendation; clients want high trafficked areas so their ads have more impressions...makes sense. One of the data sets that my company works with when making recommendations is the Sorensen PathTracker aisle traffic data, which utilizes RFID technology. Before this technology, market research firms gathered such foot traffic information by placing trained observers around the stores to watch shoppers' movements and noted them on clipboards. Today, smaller stores may use video cameras to track movements, and in larger
stores RFID is being used. 

The PathTracker system places RFID tags on shopping carts and baskets. A series of antennae are implanted in a store's ceiling and communicate with the RFID tags. The system tracks individual shoppers as they travel around the store, in real time. With these tags, PathTracker can identify the "hot spots" and "cold spots" throughout the store where shoppers most often travel and where they don't. Some important findings from PathTracker are: shoppers prefer to go down aisles starting at the back of the store and moving to the front, and shoppers prefer to shop counter-clockwise.

Using RFID in tracking shoppers is more advantageous than manual tracking or even video tracking. With RFID the exact location of the shopper is known as well as how long they stayed in that area, and is transmitted instantaneously. With the insights provided by RFID tracking, both clients and retailers can more effectively advertise with the hope of getting more eyes on their product/advertisements and thus a higher return on their investment.

Source: http://www.rfid-weblog.com/50226711/rfid_to_track_foot_traffic_in_stores.php

Week 5 (#2): How do Traffic Lights Work??

 

I have always wondered, ever since I was a little kid, how traffic lights work. When I was younger I used to think that there were little men actually inside the traffic lights that would turn a switch when they saw cars waiting. I've learned over the years that this is not the case...and Keebler elves only live in trees; not traffic lights.

Most traffic lights operate off detectors, but some, like those in large cities, operate on timers since there is always a constant flow of traffic. The detectors may detect when a car arrives at the intersection, when too many cars are waiting at the light, or when cars have entered a turn lane (activating the arrow lights). Detectors can be everything from lasers to rubber hoses filled with air. The most common detector is the inductive loop which is a coil of wire embedded under the road's surface. Inductive loops work by detecting a change of inductance. When cars are parked over the wires, the inductance will be much larger because of the large amount of steel (the magnetic core) positioned in the loop's magnetic field. A traffic light sensor constantly tests the inductance of the loop in the road, and when the inductance rises, it knows there is a car waiting, and thus knows to change...and there ya have it!

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/safety-regulatory-devices/question234.htm

Week 5 (#1): Invisible-Invisible Fence

 

All of us have heard of invisible fences, right? They're those things that you bury into your yard to keep your dog from going where he shouldn't. My roommate, who is a crazy dog-person, was telling me last night that a new kind of invisible fence is on the market now...what I think should be called an "invisible-invisible fence"... a wireless dog fence. Unlike current invisible dog fences, these new fences don't use burried wires and are easier and more convenient to install. Instead of digging trenches and burying wires, you simply position a transmitter unit, plug it in and turn it on. The transmitter emits a signal that the dog's receiver collar can detect. The transmitter unit can be adjusted to create a smaller or larger circular area in which the signal is detectable. The receiver collar is constantly searching for the transmitter signal, which it is able to find as long as your dog stays within the designated area. If your dog moves too far away from the signal, he will hear an audible warning signal. If your dog continues moving forward, the collar will eventually lose the signal. Once this happens, the dog will receive a harmless 'static correction sensation.' You can create a larger and more customized area for your dog by combining multiple transmitters.

Perhaps the wireless fence's greatest advantage over traditional invisible fences is that a wireless dog fence is portable, allowing you to take it with you when you move or travel.

Week 4 (#3): "Google Glasses"...what is the world coming to??

On my drive into work this morning I heard something on the radio that made me question if I was awake and really driving my car, or if I was actually still lying in bed and just having a really bizarre dream. The radio host was talking about a really unique and seemingly far-fetched product that Google plans to launch later this year, called "Google Glasses."  These glasses are eyeglasses that will project information, entertainment, and advertisements on the lenses. The glasses are not being designed to be worn constantly but are expected to be used only when needed, with lenses serving as a see-through computer monitor. The glasses will be equipped with GPS and motion sensors as well as a camera and audio inputs and outputs. 


Personally I think this product is an example of technology going too far. My initial thought is safety. If people are wearing these glasses and driving or walking, it would be 10x worse than people texting and doing these activities...not only will they be distracted but will they even be able to see clearly through the glasses into the real world?? Not to mention, these users will look really weird to onlookers who don't know what virtual images are being seen on the other side of the lenses; people could be dodging and ducking virtual objects while playing games, etc. Security and privacy is another issue...if facial recognition software becomes accurate enough, the glasses could remind a wearer of when and how he met the vaguely familiar person standing in front of him at a party. 


These glasses are being built in a secretive laboratory near Google's main Mountain View, CA campus and will use the same Anroid software that powers Android smartphones and tablets. 


Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/23/technology/google-glasses-will-be-powered-by-android.html

Week 4 (#2): Nook vs Kindle Fire...Gloves are Off

This post serves as a follow-up to my earlier post regarding the Amazon Kindle Fire doing stellar in the tablet marketplace. The newly introduced 8GB Barnes & Noble Nook is selling for $199 (about $50 cheaper than the flagship model), which puts it in direct competition with the Kindle Fire. Although this Nook has reduced memory capacity and half the RAM of the original version, Barnes & Noble is trying to capture some of the market share that the less-expensive Kindle Fire had claimed. While Amazon and Barnes & Noble are fighting for the low-cost tablet crown, they need to be aware of stealthy competition that may be heading their way, which may offer better performance for a similar price. We'll have to see how this battle wages.


Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/21/8gb-nook-tablet-officia/

Week 4 (#1): Smartphones...a Necessity??

I found an interesting article online that explains Nielsen's recent findings relating to Smartphone users, specifically their age and income. It seems that, thanks to lower prices of Smartphones, the devices are successfully penetrating young, lower-income individuals. Over 56% of those making less than $15,000 a year (aged 18-24) are Smartphone owners. In the 25-34 age group making less than $15,000 a year, 43% are owners of Smartphones. This data indicates that Smartphones are increasingly becoming a necessity rather than a luxury and that young individuals are finding a way to afford them. Although it is not clear if these owners are single, married, supporting families, etc, this ownership among young lower-income individuals can help developers, publishers, and advertisers reach this important target consumer group.

Source:
http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/20/for-the-young-smartphones-no-longer-a-luxury-item/

Week 3 (#3): Is Apple Kicking Themselves in the Butt...?

An article titled “How the iPhone 4S boosted Kindle Fire sales” discusses how Apple’s slip of share in the fourth quarter of 2011 in the tablet market may have Amazon to blame. Pricing the Kindle Fire at just $199 proved to pay off for Amazon and was a brilliant pricing strategy. After many Apple-loyals paid at least $199 for the new iPhone 4S, they may have opted for cheaper tablets, like the Kindle Fire, rather than spending a hefty $499 on the iPad. Apple iPads slipped from 64% market share in the third quarter to 57% share in the worldwide tablet market in the fourth quarter; while the Kindle Fire had a 14.3% share of the tablet market. Although Amazon won’t reap a wide profit margin pricing the Kindle Fire at just $199, it did succeed in stealing customers away from the competition (Apple in particular). Perhaps the attraction of a low-price tablet will result in lower tablet prices across the entire tablet market; good news for us!!

Source:
http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/16/technology/ipad_market_share/index.htm

Week 3 (#2): Frank & Oak Helps Twentysomething Men Dress Themselves

Speaking in generalities, men do not like shopping. Very seldom do I hear a guy say “I can’t wait to go to the mall this weekend and get some new clothes.” There are a million other things my boyfriend and guy friends would rather do with their time than shop. A new site called Frank & Oak wants to target these men and “take the headache out of clothes shopping for men between 20 and 35;” which builds on the assumption that men would rather get something shipped to them than have to go out shopping.

The site is a new product from men’s clothing company Modasuite that is aiming at a younger audience with clothing that is more affordable and the process simpler. How the site works is that subscribers go to the site and enter their clothing preferences. Then, once a month, the subscribers get an email newsletter with a list of items tailored to their interests. The newsletter goes out only monthly because CEO Ethan Song said men in their 20s and early 30s don’t want to buy clothes more often than that. Subscribers select up to 5 items, which are shipped to them free of charge. The ones they don’t like or that don’t fit, they send back and the subscriber only pays for the ones he keeps.

Song says the goal behind this site is to “create the most hassle-free experience I’ve ever had.” Manpacks has a similar business model where men can sign up for deliveres of underwear, socks, and other necessities. The Modasuite team designs the clothing and has direct relationships with the manufacturers which mean products can be of high-quality and relatively low-price. Frank & Oak shirts cost about $40 and accessories cost about $25. This is just another example of how technology (particularly the internet) is making life easier and more hassle-free for us…and maybe even putting joy into shopping for men!

http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/15/frank-and-oak/

Week 3 (#1): The Magic Behind EZ Pass

Most of us are quite familiar with what EZ Passes are used for, but we probably weren't too familiar with how they worked until we learned about RFID in class. These are the main components of the EZ Pass system: transponder, antenna, lane controller, and host computer system. The transponder is the EZ Pass device that is placed on the inside of the car's windshield behind the rear-view mirror. The transponder is a battery-operated RFID unit that transmits radio signals. The RFID transponder has some basic account information stored in it, such as ID number and whose name the account is in. The antennas, which are the electronic readers, are positioned above each toll lane. The antennas emit radio frequencies that communicate with the transponder; with a detection zone of about 6 to 10 feet wide and about 10 feet long. Some toll systems use light curtains. A light curtain is a beam of light that is directed across the lane and when the beam is broken, the system knows a car has entered. 

Here is how the EZ Pass system works:

1) As a car approaches a toll plaza, the RF field emitted from the antenna activates the transponder.

2) The transponder broadcasts a signal back to the lane antenna with some basic info.

3) That info is transferred from the lane antenna to the central database (host computer system).

4) A toll is deducted from the driver's prepaid account.

5) The lane gate opens via the lane controller (computer that controls the lane equipment).

6) A green light indicates that the driver can proceed. Some lanes have text messages that inform drivers of the toll just paid and their account balance.

Since this whole process takes only a few seconds, electronic toll-collection systems allow traffic to move faster. EZ Pass lanes are monitored using video cameras so if a car does not have a transponder, the camera records and takes a snapshot of the license plate and the vehicle owner will receive a violation notice in the mail...and believe it to be true; personal experience!!

Source: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/e-zpass2.htm

Week 2 (#3): No Need to Count Calories!

There were a lot of great future RFID ideas mentioned in class this week, and on my drive home I got thinking about other potential ideas for the use of RFID in the future...


Tons of people are constantly trying to lose weight; whether it's by watching what they eat, working-out more, trying new weight-loss programs, using apps that log what they eat, etc. Wouldn't it be amazing if there was an RFID chip implanted into our bodies that was able to measure the number of calories we consumed and burned each day??? This would eliminate the need to be super conscious of what we eat, and we would no longer need to log our food consumption in a daily journal. All we would need to do is look at an app on our cell phones that would give us our net caloric intake for the day; in order to lose weight, one has to reduce the number of net calories. This way people could monitor if they are 'allowed' to have that candy bar before bed or if they 'need' to go on a 2 mile walk that afternoon. This would be nearly 100% accurate, opposed to current apps that can only estimate the number of calories that are in a given piece of food.   


I suppose in order for this to work, every piece of food would need to carry an RFID tag that held information on how many calories were in it. But wouldn't this mean we would be eating a ton of RFID tags? That can't be good! So perhaps there is a way for an RFID tag to measure the number of calories that pass through the bloodstream, and have an app on our cell phone that could be the receiver and decoder, displaying our daily counts. Hey, you never know!

Week 2 (#2): RFID Chips in Fish at Aquariums!

When researching about RFID technology, I came across the following article http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/8592/1 titled "RFID Chips Tell Fish Tales at Aquarium." I thought this was a very interesting and brilliant use of RFID technology!


The Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center, located in Virginia Beach, uses RFID to help visitors be better able to identify the fish in the 45,000 gallon tank. The fish are implanted with RFID chips and there is an RFID reader installed on the tank's exterior. When a fish swims by the reader, the reader's antenna captures the fish's tag ID number and results in a photograph and description of the fish to appear on the video screen; for example "Ted the black drum fish." The information includes where that particular fish was collected from the wild, its size and growth history, and its species characteristics. Granted, the read range is quite short, only about 9 inches, due to the water's salt content. After the fish swims away, the information remains on the right side of the screen, while a new fish's data will be displayed on the center of the screen once it swims by. Visitors can utilize the touch screen to select a fish that has already swam by and read more about it!


The first known use of this technology was done at the Underwater World Singapore aquarium in 2007 and then at the Underwater World Pattaya in Thailand in 2008. These new attractions have increased attendance at the aquariums and interest in the exhibits! 

Week 2 (#1): Tracking Bobcats in New Hampshire

I want to share with everyone a type of technology that is rather unique and probably not well know. My boyfriend Derek, who is a graduate student at University of New Hampshire, is doing his master's thesis on estimating the bobcat population in the State.

In order to protect and manage a wildlife population, it is necessary to determine the population size, where the animals are located, and what types of habitats they prefer. In the past, researchers have used tracking surveys (e.g. footprints in the snow) to answer these questions. With today's technology, researchers are able to attach devices (collars) to individual animals to record their locations as they move across the landscape. This new technique provides researchers with large amounts of quality data.

From the 1980's to the late 1990's very high frequency (VHF) radio collars were attached to animals that emitted a radio beacon that could be heard using a radio receiver. That signal allowed researchers to estimate the animal's location, using triangulation. As technology advanced, GPS was incorporated into VHF radio collars which communicated with satellites to record the animal's location. This data was stored in the collar and could be retrieved once the collar was removed from the animal. About 5 years ago, cell phone technology was incorporated into these GPS/VHF collars where the devices could then send the GPS data to researchers via Short Message Service (SMS) text messages.

This SMS technology is what is now used in New Hampshire to monitor bobcats. These 'cell phone' collars have saved researchers thousands of dollars that would have been spent on field labor attempting to obtain at best a few, moderately-accurate locations for each animal each week. Instead, these collars (which cost about $5,000 each) provide researchers with approximately 25 highly accurate GPS locations per week over the span of a year without researchers ever having to leave the office.

This large amount of highly precise data allows researchers to accurately calculate bobcat home ranges, determine habitat selection, and produce population estimates for the State quicker and easier than ever before.




Derek and I putting a cell phone tracking collar on a bobcat!



  



Week 1 (#3): Facebook Going Public??

Facebook, the social networking superpower, is anticipated to file for an IPO this week. The funds would help Facebook maintain its expansion and fend off competition from internet rivals such as Google Inc. and Twitter Inc. The company is said to be looking for valuation between $75 billion and $100 billion, which would make it one of the most valuable technology companies in the market (behind Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Google, Oracle, Intel, and Cisco). Right now the company is trying to project investor expectations; the IPO price can't be too high or too low. Some say the price may be set at the low end to ensure the first days of trading are strong. Facebook has to be extra careful in setting a price, especially since many of the newer tech IPOs (like LinkedIn, Pandora, Groupon and Zynga) fell from their opening-day prices. A concern of some industry analysts is that the value of a social networking company is directly related to the number of users and, if user adoption slows, so could revenue growth.


What this means to the public is an opportunity to invest in the world's largest social networking site and, as long as the company continues to perform well, reap earnings! A novice investor may not want to buy at the opening, but rather see how the stock trades for a few days. Having nearly 1 billion current users, I would suspect there are many who would love to get their hands on shares of Facebook stock. To be part-owner in a company that one can so closely identify with is something special. Personally, though, I think investing in such a 'fad' company would be riskier than I'd be comfortable with. Facebook is at its peak right now, but who knows how long it will be before another technology or social networking site is introduced that may leave Facebook in the dust?


Sources:
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-31/facebook-said-to-plan-its-ipo-filing-for-as-early-as-next-week.html


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505124_162-57367651/will-facebooks-ipo-delight-or-disappoint/?tag=mncol;lst;3


http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2012/01/27/facebook-ipo-is-nigh-should-you-buy/