| Talk to Your Computer: Chrome Listens and Translates (Through HTML) The latest stable release of the Chrome browser today contains a cool new feature: speech input through HTML. This means that you can talk into your computer's microphone, and your recorded audio will be translated to text and typed out for you. That's great for speech-to-text input in general - for the purposes of dictation and transcription. But as Google demonstrates, there are a number of other ways in which this can be utilized, including in Google Translate. The text-input box for Google Translate now accepts voice input. Simply speak the word or phrase you'd like translated - no typing necessary. (You can also hear the translation spoken aloud too.)
Continue reading »
 
News Corp Has Finally Had It: Accepting Bids for Myspace The death knells of the first generation of social media platforms continue. A day after Friendster announced that it would be deleting photos and blog posts from its platform, reports surface that News Corp is selling off Myspace and is starting the bidding at $100 million. News Corp bought the one-time social media titan in 2005 for $580 million and it has been bleeding money for several years. The move by News Corp to accept bids is akin to a sports franchise that tries to trade an underperforming player to get some nominal value before it has to just cut its losses and release him from the team.
Continue reading »
Apple Finally Responds to iPhone Location Tracking Issue It's been a week since data scientists Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden published their discovery that the iPhone has been keeping track of users' locations and storing the data - unencrypted - on the phone as well as any machine with which you sync the device. Although the news spread like wildfire, Apple has remained silent until now. The company has finally issued a statement on its collection and use of location data. We've reprinted the press release in full below. Apple insists it is not tracking the location of your iPhone. "Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so." It maintains that what Warden and Allan found was a database of Wi-Fi hotspots and celltowers around your current location, information that will help your iPhone quickly calculate your location when requested.
Continue reading »
Why Color May Be The Next Twitter Love it or loath it, the smartphone app Color is one of the most innovative Web products to have launched this year. It has a user experience that is as unique and different as Twitter was 5 years ago. This has led to confusion about how to use Color and questions about its value. In this post we look at the early uses of Color and analyze its chances of emulating the success of Twitter. Color launched last month in a whirl of hype, mostly due to the eye-opening $41 million prelaunch funding. But since then, the user experience has been the center of focus. Many people have complained that the app is difficult to understand - mainly because the benefits of the app are only clear once you use it amongst a crowd of people and in real-time. The user interface of the app has also been accused of being confusing and inconsistent.
Continue reading »
Add Location-Based Q&A With the Localmind API Localmind, the iPhone app that lets users engage in Q&A based on their location and Foursquare check-ins, announced the availability of an API last week. Right now, the app lets users ask questions of each other that could only be answered by someone on the scene and the API will bring that functionality to other apps. According to Localmind co-founder Lenny Rachitsky, the move is part of its plan to become the "platform for knowing what's happening anywhere in the world, right now."
Continue reading »
Got Windows Phone 7? Microsoft's Tracking You Too It might be time to state the obvious: If you have a smartphone in your pocket, someone knows where you are, right now. First, we found out that Apple, maker of the uber-popular iPhone and iPad, has been storing and tracking location data on its devices for more than a year now. Next, we learned that Google, the company that likely knows what you'll be having for dinner before you do, was also in on the fun. Now, it looks like Microsoft has been collection location data on devices running the Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system. Surprise!
Continue reading »
Love House Hunting? New iPad App From Realtor.com Rocks
Above: A much more expensive house than the one I bought; click for larger view
My wife and I thought that once we bought a house, our love of looking at homes for sale would be over. Turns out it's just plain fun to look inside, at the backyards, around the neighborhoods and at the prices of houses available for purchase. I enjoy it, at least, and if you do too - you should check out the free iPad app released by Realtor.com this week. (iTunes link) I think it's my favorite in the field. I wish we'd had it when we bought our house in Portland, Oregon.
Continue reading »
Instapaper Founder: Apps Don't Need To Be Free Have you noticed that the free version of Instapaper, the app that captures online articles and stores them for offline reading on your mobile device, disappeared from the app store about a month ago? Neither had we, but today, Instapaper founder Marco Arment tweeted that he pulled the app "as an experiment" and, rather than what you might expect, things have run smoothly since then. Perhaps, contrary to what might be popular opinion, you don't need a free app after all. Instead, as Arment alludes, if you make a good enough product people will be willing to pay for it.
Continue reading »
Update: Personal Data of 70 Million Sony Customers Exposed in Hack The hack that has plagued the Playstation Network for the last week is much worse than simply taking down the platform. Sony reports on its Playstation Network blog that personal data of its 70 million users has been exposed by the hacker, including the possibility of credit card numbers. According to the Playstation Network blog; "we believe that an unauthorized person has obtained the following information that you provided: name, address (city, state, zip), country, email address, birth date, PlayStation Network/Qriocity password and login, and handle/PSN online ID. It is also possible that your profile data, including purchase history and billing address (city, state, zip), and your PlayStation Network/Qriocity password security answers may have been obtained."
Continue reading »
Worried About Brand Damage From Social Media? Get Tweet Insurance You have done it. Your co-workers have done it. You have seen it effect companies, athletes, celebrities. It is the curse of Stupid Tweet Syndrome. Well, it is time to get some Stupid Tweet Insurance. Kiln Group, an insurance specialist underwriting firm at Lloyds of London, wants to protect companies from the damage that Stupid Tweet Syndrome (our name for the disease) can cause. Details are not clear as to what exactly the insurance would pay out but if a brand is substantially damage by a vindictive or careless tweet, Kiln Group would be able to cover it.
Continue reading »
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment