Concept incredibly the thin Apple iPhone 6 Air

 December 26th, 2013

 By GloriaSt

 Posted in Concept future, Phones of the future, product design, Technology future

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Even in a world of concepts designers,which too is interested in futuristic ideas,  recall some framework. But this time we see something incredible, if not fantastic. We are talking about a concept called the Apple iPhone 6 Air, the most notable advantage is the incredibly slim body. To our great regret, in the coming years this will be impossible. 
The thickness of conceptual iPhone 6 Air roughly one-fifth the thickness of the actually existing mobile phone Apple. At its thinnest point, the figure is 1.5 mm and the thickest reaches as much as 3 mm. Housing smartphone, of course, the metal,underneath lurked all the necessary filling up 10 – megapixel camera with two flashes.

However,the smartphone also lost the frame on the left and right side of the display, it stretches the entire width of the front panel. Screen size is 5 inches and a resolution of the author does not specify. The handset has a 13 cm long and 6 cm wide. Presumably, iPhone 6 Air received more powerful processor and new generation capacity battery. However, still do not understand how it all fit in the shell thickness of 1.5 to 3 mm. Here’s a concept! Will or will not, time will tell!    

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SocialRadar: A personal data aggregator in your pocket

Now Taylor Swift can say "I knew you were trouble before you walked in."

SocialRadar, a mobile app launched today for the iPhone, finds people in your social networks who are nearby and then tells you everything you want to know about them -- their location, profile data and recent posts from multiple social networks. "There are 1 billion smartphones in the world that are location beacons and there are profiles in the cloud. No one has combined those," says Michael Chasen, CEO and founder.

The app, launched by startup SocialRadar, functions as your personal social network data aggregator. It pulls information from Foursquare, Facebook, Instagram Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ for everyone in your social networks: People who you have friended, that you follow, with whom you have connected or have in your circles, says Chasen. "It shows you how you're connected and what you have in common."

     Source: SocialRadar

The free app is available today for the iPhone, with rollouts planned for Android and Google Glass.

SocialRadar isn't the only mobile app pulling data about people from multiple social networks and aggregating it to present an up-to-the-minute dossier on individuals of interest. Current Caller ID, the Android app introduced by Whitepages.com in 2012, does something similar, although the context is your contacts list. Current Caller ID app pulls data from your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn networks and presents profiles and recent posts assocaited with people you are about to call or who are calling you.

With SocialRadar, the context is your location and identifying who you might know who's nearby. It can be used to scan a meeting room to double-check people's titles, or in a bar, to check whether someone is married or in a relationship (which sounds a little creepy). Users can also modify the data to add information such as a person's gender or age.

SocialRadar retrieves location data from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Foursquare, as well as the GPS coordinates from other SocialRadar users.

Want to cast a wider net? Users can set a range within which the app will scan, from the entire US down to  within 50 feet of where you're standing. The app also can alert you when a person of interest comes within a specified distance of your current location, and it includes a compass feature that points you in the direction where that person is located, along how far away they are in feet - or miles. If the person is miles away, the SocialRadar also offers driving directions.

SocialRadar is accurate to within 25 feet if the subject is also running SocialRadar, Chasen says. It's less accurate -- to within about 50 feet -- when relying on location data shared from other social networks, such as Facebook or Foursquare, he says.

SocialRadar users can avail themselves of a privacy mode that limits what other users can see about them. For example, they might be able to see that you're in the vicinity but not your exact location. SocialRadar has three privacy settings: "only your friends, anonymous or invisible." The latter still reveals some information about you, but not your identity, Barenholtz says. People in your social network who don't use SocialRadar but want to control what information you see about them must either turn off location sharing, unfriend you or use whatever  privacy settings are availble within each social network to restrict what you can see.

It's all about you

In a sense, apps like SocialRadar define people in a new way, by showing a consolidated view of their online social network identities and activities and pushing that out to people in their networks -- and those people may be accessing that infomration in many different contexts, such as in a bar, at a wedding reception or in the boardroom. It's a mashup of all of your social network personas and interactions.

And that's something to think about. "Aggregated bits of data, when combined, can tell a lot about you," says Alex Fowler, head of privacy and public policy at Mozilla.

Here's another point to ponder: Aggregating data about you adds value, and in this case the aggregation point for that data is SocialRadar, a startup with $12.5 million in funding. Users are paying for the free SocialRadar app by agreeing to open up the pipes to their social network feeds and pumping all of the profile, posts and location data for themselves and their friends through its servers. How does SocialRadar plan to monetize the service? Chasen declined to say, although he did say that they encrypt the data they pull from all sources.

     Source: SocialRadar

As SocialRadar and similar apps continue to proliferate, users of social networks may want to think about the fact that a post on one social network may be pushed to peoples' smartphones in unexpected contexts. Do you want everyone in your social network who calls you to be reminded of that you think President Obama is a $#%$% idiot the next time they look up your number? Robert Hansen, an application security researcher and technical evangelist at WhiteHat Security, advises caution in general while posting online."If it's something I even briefly pause about I don't put it on social networks," he says."I only post things I would divulge in casual conversation."

Chris Babel, CTO at Truste, likes the idea behind SocialRadar. "It sounds like a very cool app that adds a lot of value for the consumer," he says (Truste works with businesses to help them build trust with consumers). "The key is to know how they're doing it and whether they're doing it well."

But this app is not necessarily meant for baby boomers like me, or even Gen Xers -- at least not right out the gate. "It's for millennials who just got out of college," those are the people who are likely to be the most receptive initially, Chasen says. And eventually, he predicts, "the adoption of this technology will be utilized by everyone, and will change the way people meet and connect."

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Apple TV: What to expect

While it hasn't said as much Apple's move to give Apple TV its very own spaceon its online store tells us it's become very serious about the former "hobby", and it seems pretty clear the main components of the next-generation device will focus on the two things people most want from television: content, and control.

[ABOVE: You are becoming the media.]

Content

If you’ve been watching you'll have noticed Apple's been quietly introducingnew channels through the Apple TV. This will continue. To grab a slice of the multiple display present, broadcasters recognize they must innovate broadcasting, offering content via dedicated apps is just one of these innovations. More here.

The next opportunity will inevitably be distribution of channels on a subscription and pay-per-use basis. Once broadcasting figures out how to progress old models of territorial licensing, it seems inevitable you'll be able to pick up hot channels or shows (Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad) wherever you happen to be, for a fee. More here.

These distributions will complement Apple's existing iTunes offering, I imagine you will add new channels simply by purchasing them via Apple's trusted and secure media distribution service.

When channels and shows are made available this way it's a no brainer to anticipate broadcasting rights groups will lay the smack down even harder against the unlicensed torrent sites that currently distribute TV/movie content. We saw this before with iTunes Music Store. People who make the shows you love want to be paid. If you want free content you'll have to figure out a business model they can accept.

More content

Content won't be confined to music and movies. It is also inevitable Apple will enable your Apple TV to play games. These should end up being relatively good games, built to exploit your television's HD display and designed to test the until now underutilized processor inside the Apple TV.

Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft will have another fight on their hands as Apple aims to take the world's most popular Web TV box and transform it into theworld's most capable console. You'll be able to play a game on your TV, then continue that game on your iPhone exactly where you left off.

There's been heaps of activity leading toward this across the last few years.

Control

One word: Siri.

For example:

"Siri, what's on TV at 7pm?"

"Siri, what movies are on later?"

"Set a reminder to watch the news."

That's voice.

There's also been talk of gesture-based controls using the built-in iSight camera (though given this year's tidal wave of NSA-related revelations I'm not convinced I want my telly to have a camera).

Voice and gesture will be nice, but it will also be interesting to find out what work Apple has done to enable the Apple TV to receive and display the channels provided by your cable and satellite operators. Wouldn't it be nice to explore what's available in a highly visual, legible and simple way? It seems Apple's been working towards just that.

The Apple television?

Is there a business in television? There might be, at the high-end. I believe it possible Apple will introduce a 4K Apple TV in addition to a much-improved Apple TV box.

You'll have a choice: use your existing set with an Apple TV, or enjoy Ultra-HD movies on your beautifully-designed Apple television set, which integrates those features. Even if this doesn't happen, I anticipate iTunes will eventually offer an UltraHD version of 4K television content.

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Why Chrome apps on Android could be a very bad thing

Roll out the welcome mat, my friends: Chrome apps are officially coming to Android. Yup -- the same utilities designed for your computer's browser will soon be able to run on your phone and tablet, too.

Google announced the newsin a blog on Tuesday. In short, developers can now use a special tool to wrap their Chrome apps in a shell that'll let them work on mobile devices. The tool is built specifically for the types of apps featured in the Chrome Web Store's "For Your Desktop" section -- apps with offline support that look and act like native desktop applications.

At a glance, this might seem like good news. More apps on Android has gotta be better, right? Not necessarily.

Stop and think for a moment about the actual implications -- what this will really mean from a user perspective. We've just reached the point in the last couple of years where Android apps are starting to look both good and consistent, generally speaking, thanks to the design guidelinesGoogle introduced with Android 4.0 and has been subtly refining ever since. There's finally a unified design language within the platform, with elements that carry throughout the experience and make it easy for users to get around.

Remember back around 2009, when many Android apps looked like they were just lazily ported over from iOS? It didn't make for a very good user experience -- either visually or in terms of behavior, where there was no consistency in how basic things like navigation and menus worked.

The Android team has worked hard since then to get developers on the same page -- to get them actually developing for Android. And it shows. Now we're actively encouraging developers to lazily port over programs from another platform, without putting in any effort to make them look and function like Android apps? It's déjà vu all over again.

Okay, let's pause for a second. Am I jumping the gun with my apprehension? Maybe. We won't really know how this'll play out until developers start submitting ported Android apps and we have a chance to use 'em. But based on everything Google's saying so far, there's certainly cause for concern.

Just look at the sample Google posted to show off a list-making Chrome app ported into Android, at left. Compare it to Tasks, at right, a list-making app developed natively for Android with the platform's design guidelines in mind:

The first one looks like a Web app wrapped up and running on a phone. The second looks like an Android app, with styling and navigation that fits properly within the platform. Both visually and functionally, the difference is immense.

We've been seeing more and more signs of this sort of cross-platform pollination since Chrome and Apps VP Sundar Pichai took the reins of Androidlast year. It's understandable from a business standpoint, and some of the changes have actually been positive -- like the integration of Google Search into Android's phone app and the move of Google Cloud Print into the system level.

Encouraging developers to port over apps from other platforms without tailoring them to Android, however, is a dangerous move that threatens to erode the level of quality and consistency the Android development team has worked so hard to achieve. We've reached the point where quality is the focus over quantity. The numbers are already there. We don't merely need moreapps; we need more apps that are well-designed for the platform.

In the short term, I can only hope the new Chrome-ported apps are clearly designated as such so users can understand the difference and know what they're getting. In the long term, I can only hope this isn't a sign of a broader philosophical shift ahead.

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Why Google's Motorola sell-off is very good news for Windows Phone

Google's sale of Motorola to Lenovo is the best news that Windows Phone has had in a long time. It could mean a serious Lenovo-Motorola commitment to Microsoft's smartphone operating system.

Before Google bought Motorola Mobility in mid-August, 2011, Motorola was eying developing a Windows Phone device. Motorola Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Jha told an investors conference less than a week before the sale that "we'll certainly be open" to Windows Phone, according to Bloomberg.

Once the sale was announced, though, it was clear that Windows Phone was not going to be in Motorola's future. Google was not going to build a phone based on Microsoft's smartphone operating system. Google CEO Larry Page made that clear when he said this in announcing the buyout:

"Motorola Mobility's total commitment to Android has created a natural fit for our two companies. Together, we will create amazing user experiences that supercharge the entire Android ecosystem for the benefit of consumers, partners and developers."

Now that Motorola will be part of Lenovo, things may change. Earlier this month, Lenovo confirmed that it's investigating developing a Windows Phone handset. JD Howard, vice president of business operations & worldwide business development at Lenovo's Mobile Internet and Digital Home told ZDNetthat his division has proposed a Windows Phone to top management, and that if it gets the go-ahead, Lenovo will likely release a Windows Phone handset in 2014.

A Lenovo Windows Phone could be a big win for Microsoft. Windows Phone now does reasonably well in Europe, with a 10% market share according to Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, but it's struggling in the world's two largest smartphone markets -- the U.S. and China. In China, it has less than a 1% market share.

Lenovo, based in China, could give Windows Phone a big boost in that country. So with Motorola freed from Google, and Lenovo itself already considering Windows Phone, Microsoft has a chance of making some inroads.

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10 Upcoming Technology That May Change The World

We have seen great leaps in digital technology in past the past five years. Smartphones, cloud computing, multi-touch tablets, these are all innovations that revolutionized the way we live and work. However, believe it or not, we are just getting started. Technology will get even better. In the future, we could live like how people in science fiction movies did.

(Image Source: YouTube)

Today’s post is about 10 upcoming, real-life products that is set to revolutionize the world as we know it. Get ready to control the desktop and slice Ninja fruits with your eyes. Get ready to print your own creative physical product. Get ready to dive into the virtual world, and interact with them. Come unfold the future with us.

Read Also: 20 Futuristic Concept Gadgets That Really Inspire

1. Google Glass

Augmented Reality has already gotten into our life in the forms of simulated experiment and education app, but Google is taking it several steps higher with Google Glass. Theoretically, with Google Glass, you are able to view social media feeds, text, Google Maps, as well as navigate with GPS and take photos. You will also get the latest updates while you are on the ground.

(Image Source: YouTube)

It’s truly what we called vision, and it’s absolutely possible given the fact that the Google’s co-founder, Sergey Brin has demo’ed the glass with skydivers and creatives. Currently the device is only available to some developers with the price tag of $1500, but expect other tech companies trying it out and building an affordable consumer version.

2. Form 1

Just as the term suggests, 3D printing is the technology that could forge your digital design into a solid real-life product. It’s nothing new for the advanced mechanical industry, but a personal 3D printer is definitely a revolutionary idea.

Everybody can create their own physical product based on their custom design, and no approval needed from any giant manufacturer! Even the James Bond’s Aston Martin which was crashed in the movie was a 3D printed product!

(Image Source: Kickstarter)

Form 1 is one such personal 3D printer which can be yours at just $2799. It may sound like a high price but to have the luxury of getting producing your own prototypes, that’s a reaonable price.

Imagine a future where every individual professional has the capability to mass produce their own creative physical products without limitation. This is the future where personal productivity and creativity are maximized.

3. Oculus Rift

Virtual Reality gaming is here in the form of Oculus Rift. This history-defining 3D headset lets you mentally feel that you are actually inside a video game. In the Rift’s virtual world, you could turn your head around with ultra-low latency to view the world in high resolution display.

There are premium products in the market that can do the same, but Rift wants you to enjoy the experience at only $300, and the package even comes as a development kit. This is the beginning of the revolution for next-generation gaming.

(Image Source: Kickstarter)

The timing is perfect as the world is currently bombarded with the virtual reality topic that could also be attributed to Sword Art Online, the anime series featuring the characters playing games in an entirely virtual world. While we’re getting there, it could take a few more years to reach that level of realism. Oculus Rift is our first step.

4. Leap Motion

Multi-touch desktop is a (miserably) failed product due to the fact that hands could get very tired with prolonged use, but Leap Motion wants to challenge this dark area again with a more advanced idea. It lets you control the desktop with fingers, but without touching the screen.

(Image Source: Leap Motion)

It’s not your typical motion sensor, as Leap Motion allows you to scroll the web page, zoom in the map and photos, sign documentss and even play a first person shooter game with only hand and finger movements. The smooth reaction is the most crucial key point here. More importantly, you can own this future with just $70, a price of a premium PS3 game title!

If this device could completely work with Oculus Rift to simulate a real-time gaming experience, gaming is going to get a major make-over.

5. Eye Tribe

Eye tracking has been actively discussed by technology enthusiasts throughout these years, but it’s really challenging to implement. But Eye Tribe actually did this. They successfully created the technology to allow you to control your tablet, play flight simulator, and even slice fruits in Fruit Ninja only with your eye movements.

(Image Source: Eye Tribe)

It’s basically taking the common eye-tracking technology and combining it with a front-facing camera plus some serious computer-vision algorithm, and voila, fruit slicing done with the eyes! A live demo was done in LeWeb this year and we may actually be able to see it in in action in mobile devices in 2013.

Currently the company is still seeking partnership to bring this sci-fi tech into the consumer market but you and I know that this product is simply too awesome to fail.

6. SmartThings

The current problem that most devices have is that they function as a standalone being, and it require effort for tech competitors to actually partner with each other and build products that can truly connect with each other. SmartThings is here to make your every device, digital or non-digital, connect together and benefit you.

(Image Source: Kickstarter)

With SmartThings you can get your smoke alarms, humidity, pressure and vibration sensors to detect changes in your house and alert you through your smartphone! Imagine the possibilities with this.

You could track who’s been inside your house, turn on the lights while you’re entering a room, shut windows and doors when you leave the house, all with the help of something that only costs $500! Feel like a tech lord in your castle with this marvel.

7. Firefox OS

iOS and Android are great, but they each have their own rules and policies that certainly inhibit the creative efforts of developers. Mozilla has since decided to build a new mobile operating system from scratch, one that will focus on true openness, freedom and user choice. It’s Firefox OS.

Firefox OS is built on Gonk, Gecko and Gaia software layers – for the rest of us, it means it is built on open source, and it carries web technologies such as HTML5 and CSS3.

(Image Source: Mozilla)

Developers can create and debut web apps without the blockade of requirements set by app stores, and users could even customize the OS based on their needs. Currently the OS has made its debut on Android-compatible phones, and the impression so far, is great.

You can use the OS to do essential tasks you do on iOS or Android: calling friends, browsing web, taking photos, playing games, they are all possible on Firefox OS, set to rock the smartphone market.

8. Project Fiona

Meet the first generation of the gaming tablet. Razer’s Project Fiona is a serious gaming tablet built for hardcore gaming. Once it’s out, it will be the frontier for the future tablets, as tech companies might want to build their own tablets, dedicated towards gaming, but for now Fiona is the only possible one that will debut in 2013.

(Image Source: Razer™)

This beast features next generation Intel® Core i7 processor geared to render all your favorite PC games, all at the palm of your hands. Crowned as the best gaming accessories manufacturer, Razer clearly knows how to build user experience straight into the tablet, and that means 3-axis gyro, magnetometer, accelerometer and full-screen user interface supporting multi-touch. My body and soul are ready.

9. Parallella

Parallella is going to change the way that computers are made, and Adapteva offers you chance to join in on this revolution. Simply put, it’s a supercomputer for everyone. Basically, an energy-efficient computer built for processing complex software simultaneously and effectively. Real-time object tracking, holographic heads-up display, speech recognition will become even stronger and smarter with Parallella.

(Image Source: YouTube)

The project has been successfully funded so far, with an estimated delivery date of February 2013. For a mini supercomputer, the price seems really promising since it’s magically $99! It’s not recommended for the non-programmer and non-Linux user, but the kit is loaded with development software to create your personal projects.

I never thought the future of computing could be kick-started with just $99, which is made possible using crowdfunding platforms.

10. Google Driverless Car

I could still remember the day I watch the iRobot as a teen, and being skeptical about my brother’s statement that one day, the driverless car will become reality. And it’s now a reality, made possible by… a search engine company, Google.

While the data source is still a secret recipe, the Google driverless car is powered by artificial intelligence that utilizes the input from the video cameras inside the car, a sensor on the vehicle’s top, and some radar and position sensors attached to different positions of the car. Sounds like a lot of effort to mimic the human intelligence in a car, but so far the system has successfully driven 1609 kilometres without human commands!

(Image Source: Wikipedia)

“You can count on one hand the number of years it will take before ordinary people can experience this.” Google co-founder, Sergey Brin said. However, innovation is an achievement, consumerization is the headache, as Google currently face the challenge to forge the system into an affordable gem that every worker with an average salary could benefit from.

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