Technology & Business
Apple launches HomeKit with a handful of partners
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2500”] Photo by Insteon [/caption] We knew it was coming but didn't know exactly when. Apple's home automation platform, HomeKit, finally launched and you can expect the first slew of products to hit retail shelves shortly. Launch parters include Insteaon, Lutron, Elgato, Caseta and Ecobee. “We’re excited to be shipping our HomeKit-enabled Insteon Hub and releasing the Insteon+ mobile app, enabling the mass consumer market to live in a world where all of their connected devices work together in perfect harmony,” “HomeKit streamlines home automation for consumers, brings together multiple manufacturers and offers advanced features like remote control and voice control through integrations with Siri.
Microsoft to launch global wifi network for enterprise customers
Microsoft's Skype entity already offers a product called Skype WIFI (link) which allows you to buy WIFI access in millions of locations by the minute. A barebones webpage now may indicate that Microsoft has bigger plan for it's WIFI resale business and may be branding it Microsoft WIFI (link). The service (purportedly) will offer access to its millions of WIFI access hotspots to Office 365 Enterprise subscribers, Surface 2 owners or buyers of the Work & Play bundle. The DNS lookup of the website seems to indicate that it belongs to Microsoft so I am assuming it is legitimate but it is still very sparse and missing tones of information.
Eye2TV color correct's TV for the colorblind
We have witnessed an onslaught of "smart" HDMI dongles from the Chromecast to the chromebit to Intel's PC on a stick. These are all very cool technologies but do they really improve your life in a measurable and tangible way? Colorblindness isn't as serious as many other human afflictions but it's great to see a Kickstarter campaign trying to create a device to help improve their lives. The Eye2TV is an HDMI dongle that plugs into your TV an automatically (immediately) upgrades the image to compensate for the things colorblind people don't see.
Is the LifeProof waterproof iPhone case worth it?
LifeProof isn's a new company but interestingly I receive a handful of reader emails every week asking whether the $89.99 investment is justified. The questions I see the most are: Does the Lifeproof case work? Does the Lifeproof case leak? Will the Lifeproof case protect my iPhone from my toddler Interestingly reviews on the the internet are split. There are large organizations and hard users that swear by Lifeproof cases and then there is a vibrant boisterous anti-Lifeproof community that tries to have its voice heard everywhere.
Google may offer free international roaming
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2500”] Image by Moyan Brenn used under Creative Commons License [/caption] We have been hearing rumors that Google will be launching its own MVNO ( mobile virtual network operator) in the US. Now The Telegraph (link) is reporting that one of the goal's of this new (unannounced) MVNO will be free international roaming. The report claims that Google is talking to Hong Kong based Hutchison Whampoa (a diversified holding company). Hutchison Telecom Hong Kong Holdings' customers already roam in many countries roaming-charge free (with the appropriate data plan).
Technology Zen with the Google ChromeOS Chromebook
When I write a blog article or am working on a long form document, I try to enter a writing zone where I remove all distractions and concentrate on my work. We have seen many writer apps that create these minimalist writer interfaces. “MINDFULNESS: a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique.” — Google Mindfulness is the state writers are looking for with these tools and minimalist interfaces.
Infinite USB cables promise to add USB connectivity to your devices
Regardless of how many USB ports your devices seem to have, you are always short a couple of ports. Now the creators of the Infinite USB cable believe they have solved the problem once and for all. The promise is that you can keep connecting their nesting USB cables (plugging one cable into another cable over and over). The idea sounds incredible at first but... Remember that most USB ports have limited power which means you will quickly make become unable to power the USB devices you are plugging into them.
Is Google's Chromebook the ultimate in secure travel computing?
When I first heard about the Google Chromebook, I couldn't understand why anybody would buy a computer that only "ran a browser". Sure you could buy one for $300-500 but then again, you can pickup a "cheap" windows based laptop for about the same price. Notes from my day job My day job is being the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of a large multinational manufacturer. When our employees travel to high risk locations, they are equipped with a special laptop with a hardened image and they are instructed to only load the bare minimum amount of information needed during this trip.
How to find how many Twitter fake followers you have
[caption id="" align=“alignnone” width=“2000”] Image by Patrik Nygren used under Creative Commons License [/caption] When web placement was paid per click or per view, Twitter importance was measured by the number of followers you had. Those days are long gone because modern tech savvy social media users understand that engagement is the ultimate measure. In some cases, people bought Twitter followers to make themselves look better but there are times when those fake followers are added by bots. Why? Because many people automatically follow back all of their followers and these SPAM accounts get a decent following quickly.
Nokia Here Maps finally available for IOS
It has been a good week for IOS device owners. First we were gifted an official Google Calendar app and now Nokia has released its Nokia Here Maps for IOS. This is one of the Nokia units that was not acquired by Microsoft and it seems they take mapping very seriously. In addition to offering turn by turn navigation, voice guidance, real time traffic alerts and public transit routing, it offers users the ability to download maps locally for over 100 countries.