Did You 'Ear' Apple's Plans

First, Apple bought us the iPod, then the iPad, and more recently plans have been shared about the iWatch, but Apple have also outlined plans for an EarPod.

Just when you think you’ve seen or heard it all, the bigwigs at Apple dropped another technological bomb. The EarPod is a clever little fitness tracker system fitted inside a pair of sports earphones so you can track a number of statistics during a workout.

Apple confirmed the patent application was granted last week and has discussed how skin-sensing technology will be able to monitor heart rate, perspiration levels and even body temperature. This isn’t all though, the device could feature a volume control that is controlled by a tilt of the head. We’re also led to believe there will be accelerometers that will assist with the activity tracking, which will send data to an iOS device – cool huh?

The filing for this idea was actually submitted in 2008, so it has taken some time to get to this point, but we are still unsure of when we will actually be seeing the product available to buy. In fact, we can’t even be sure Apple has started producing it yet.

The iWatch is expected to be released sometime this year and there is a lot of speculation surrounding this product and whether it will feature some kind of fitness-focussed tracking. It could well be that this is not the case anymore given the news about the EarPod and the focus on that being a sole-fitness device but with the iWatch likely to be released first, this is not off the cards.

Either way, 2014 could be a brilliant year for Apple to jump on board the wellness trackers bandwagon, given the popularity of them and how useful they are already proving to be for people who own them already.

This could be a very busy year for Apple, and a year that could bring a great deal of excitement to budding technology enthusiasts … and gym fanatics too.

What To Expect From MWC 2014

It’s that time of the year again (well, it will be come Monday) and the Mobile World Congress is back.

MWC 2014 kicks off on the 4th February in Barcelona and is hosted by none other than Mark Zuckerberg, where we get a chance to see what smartphones are coming in the year ahead.

This annual mobile technology event, where virtually every mobile phone company will share their latest models for the following spring/summer contract renewal market, is likely to be jam packed with some interesting technology.

So what can we expect? Well, Samsung have been dropping subtle hints for some time now that they could be giving us a glimpse of the Galaxy S5. They have sent out invites in advance of the event covered with little number 5’s, we’re no rocket scientists but it’s pretty nailed on we’ll get to see that.

What we’re unsure of though is whether they will show us one variant or two.  Rumours are saying we could see one encompassing a metal frame with a high-resolution screen and the other a polycarbonate version that follows the traditional 1080p display.  Other rumours are dropping hints at Samsung bringing the Galaxy Gear sequel to the event too – exciting stuff!

Nokia are another company we are interested in seeing. After partnering with Microsoft and having a couple of successful months since releasing the Lumia 1520 and Lumia 2520 tablet, we could end up seeing a few more tricks from the sleeves of Nokia. One smartphone heavily tipped to feature is the Nokia Normandy and this is the big news to come out of Nokia according all of the people in the know.

The third company we are hoping to see is HTC. HTC used to be a banker during the MWC but it turned its back on the event in 2013, so we hope they will change this in 2014. We’re not entirely sure what they will unveil at the event but we just hope they turn up and bring some interesting gadgets.

So, some interesting technology is expected to come out of the Mobile World Congress 2014 and we can’t wait.

The Rise And Fall Of Flappy Bird

It’s simple, it’s frantically annoying to play and everyone has been talking about it; it’s Flappy Bird.

The most successful game of 2014 so far came, it conquered and now it’s gone again, because its creator couldn’t handle the popularity.

The short-lived success of Flappy Bird was clearly underestimated by Vietnamese creator, Dong Nguyen, after making him around £30,000 a day through advertising. During its short life span it managed to collect over 50 million downloads which all became a bit too much for Dong, who said via his Twitter page: “I can’t take it anymore!”

This deceptively difficult app that involved trying to manoeuvre a small pixelated bird through pipes using a retro style, one-button tap control exploded out of app stores similar to Temple Run, Candy Crush Saga and Doodle Jump thanks to social media spreading it around like wildfire. In fact, #FlappyBird was trending on Twitter with people sharing images of how far they managed to travel and there were hundreds of YouTuber’s venting their anger at how difficult it was to get past a certain level.

Although this app was taken down by its creator there have been some rumours about another version hitting the app stores, which we’re sure is music to many Flappy Bird-addicts’ ears. The original version is no longer available to download from any app store but if you really want to get your hands on a copy, there are hundreds of listings on eBay that are selling for thousands of pounds because they are fitted with the game.

With apps like this one being such a short-lived success and with similar success from Candy Crush, Temple Run and so on, it seems that apps are no longer built for longevity but purely for a quick craze. What does this mean for future gaming apps?

Who knows which app will explode onto our smartphones and tablets next but hopefully its life will last longer than a quick flap of Flappy Bird’s wings. Our bet is the next phenomenon will be something simple, easy to use and highly addictive, what about you?

Facebook turns 10!

The social network super-giant turned ten years old on Tuesday and celebrated the occasion by celebrating its user members.

Facebook introduce the Look Back feature which allows users to share a video, with friends, of their life during their time on the social network. This video compiles about 15 of your most popular images through the years as well as the statuses that gathered the most likes and important life events, to create a montage from the date you joined.

The small team behind this Look Back feature spent months crafting the videos for the ten year anniversary. This cool feature is just one of many things Facebook has bought its members over its ten year period and we will have a look at some of those features.

Here’s a list of some of the things Facebook has accomplished during its ten-year rein:

• Started as a semi-private network for Harvard students only and has grown into a publicly-traded company.
• It changed names from ‘The Facebook’ to just Facebook.
• Allowed it’s users to share photos with friends and family.
• Introduced ‘The Wall’ – a place for people to post updates and images to their own profile.
• Added the ‘Like’ button which meant people could put a ‘thumbs-up’ symbol to things they enjoyed.
• Made poking someone seem acceptable by adding a ‘poke’ function.
• Bought Instagram.
• Added the Look Back feature to celebrate its tenth birthday.

There is no denying Facebook has had an impressive life story and it seems quite apt that they decided to give its members a gift to celebrate the occasion. Facebook may have been going strong for ten years but it hasn’t been without its controversy.  Questions about just who exactly invented the social network have been expressed publicly and was even turned into a film.

A lot can happen over ten years and Facebook has arguably become the most popular social network available on the internet with over 800 million users signed up to its ranks. Although it is celebrating its tenth year anniversary this week, we can’t help but think it will be around for a lot longer.

Happy Birthday Facebook!

Driving The Future of Technology

Driverless cars have been at the forefront of the media recently and could well be one of the top revolutionary technologies to be launched on the world in a very long time.

We love apps, gadgets and computers, but driverless cars is exciting stuff and something we should all be interested in.  They could be hitting our roads very soon and their key benefits include:

• Massively reduced emissions
• An increase in productivity and could boost the economy
• End the trouble of congestion in a world that seems to get busier
• Help the disabled and elderly to become more mobile
• It could save around a million lives every single year

The car changed the world some 100 years ago with its introduction and the driverless car could do the same again. These benefits could solve a lot of the problems we face on our roads over the coming years, which is an extremely exciting prospect. People who enjoy the experience of driving may disagree with those that just see a car as a way to get from A to B though.

Although this sounds extremely simple, it is a lot more complex than this, which is partly why the idea hasn’t been produced at any point prior to this. There are problems facing the driverless car which will take some ironing out, including the sudden dart out of an animal in front of the moving vehicle for example. Most human drivers would react in such a way as too try and swerve around the animal, whereas the driverless car may not as it's interest is in keeping the driver safe. Grim as it may sound, technology is never perfect and people will need to understand that.

Anyway, this is a small speed bump and should not stand in the way of an idea that is absolutely incredible and one that could completely revolutionise the car market and the environment. This invention could very well be up there with the transformative technology for the next 50 years. All we know is that this is something we will be keeping a close eye on for the next few years.

We would love to know your thoughts and opinions though. Do you think driverless technology is a good idea or not? Leave your comments below.

30 Years of The Mac

This week we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original Apple Macintosh - the piece of kit that kick-started the revolution of the PC.

January 24th 1984 is where it all began for the Mac with its 9-inch display, 128k of RAM and 8MHz 68k all-in-one processor. Who knew that this would open the floodgates of technology, three decades of them.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced this Mac to the world which also boasted two revolutionary applications in the MacPaint and the MacWrite word processor.

A year later the Mac came fitted with two exclusive apps courtesy of Microsoft – Word and Excel. A couple of other milestones were achieved in the next couple of years too, with the Mac getting a major upgrade in 1986, called the Macintosh Plus. This model then had to make way for the Macintosh llx, which possessed a CD-ROM drive – one of the first at the time.

In 1989 though, the first Mac laptop was born which was another forward step for Apple. The following year Apple introduced its fastest computer to date, which resulted in the company claiming 20% of the computing market. For the next few years the Mac was to become faster, stronger and even more popular, selling its 10 millionth unit in 1993.

At this time, Microsoft was also climbing in popularity and power with the company claiming Windows was being used by over 25 million people. After the introduction of the PowerPC chips in 1994 and Apple licencing its OS in 1995, Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1996 after having left over 10 years earlier. He brought with him, his NeXT step operating system which helped Apple to become the company we know it as today.

1998 made way for a new era of Mac; the iMac. Apple had persuaded Bill Gates to buy $150 million worth of shares in the company the previous year, which made more people take the company seriously. The iMac had ditched the floppy disk drive and opted for easy internet hook up and USB which really took the world by storm.

If we take a leap to 2004 when the year was dominated by the iPod, the Mac had a complete revamp with floating LCD screens and hemispherical base which is how we recognise it today. The UK’s first Apple store opened in London. This was arguably the turning point in the future of Apple Mac’s, bringing a series of introductions including the MacBook, the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro and the Mac Mini to name but a few.

The Mac Pro was released just last year and 2014 looks set to bring a number of revolutionary pieces of equipment and gadgets, including the iWatch, better Apple TV, the iPhone 6, the iPad Air 2, a cheaper iMac and a brand new MacBook Pro.

An impressive journey and one that we salute; 30 years and counting for the Mac.

A Change In The Way We Pay

Loyalty cards, credit and debit cards, and good old cash in a wallet has been the same for the last 20 years or so, but that is all about to change.

Some big names in the tech world could be trying to convince us to ditch the metal and the plastic and to opt for new ways to pay.

Just a few days after it was announced that total online sales has risen year-on-year to £11.1bn in December last year, it is no wonder that the likes of Google and Apple are coming up with ways to appeal to the mobile audience.

Digital wallets are just another technology advance that consumers can expect to see in 2014. In fact Google’s wallet service will allow users to put money on their phone to spend in-store, as well as being able to spend it online too. This software will transform an Android phone into a contactless card with near field communication technology.

Similar to Google, Zapp make sure that there is an app for that.  Zapp is a system expected to launch in the autumn which will be made available to 18 million UK account holders. If you hold an account with HSBC, Nationwide, Santander, First Direct or the Metro Bank, you will be able to shop with the Zapp app, which claims to be more secure than card payments.

This clever little app will allow consumers to use their smartphones to pay for their purchases in 2014, making cards and cash seem like a thing of the past. This system will only allow people to pay for purchases made online initially but they expect the app to be branched out to in-store shops not too long after.
Square is another way for us to pay, and this is an idea created by Twitter co-founder, Jack Dorsey.

Dorsey’s aim is to remove cards altogether but this small appendage plugs into a headphone jack of any mobile phone and allows merchants to swipe cards through it in order to take a payment. After a high-profile deal with Starbucks, that means a lot of people could be using this method of payment.

A lot of people have been worried about the security of these methods though, but there is no doubt that this new way to pay will be another technological advance to look out for in 2014.