wearables

Top app predictions of 2016: From tvOS and Google Now on Tap, apps are eating the web [appannie.com]

On 12/08/2015, in Augmented Reality (AR), cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, computer science, Google, programming, trends, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, wearables, by Daniel Christian

Top app predictions of 2016: From tvOS and Google Now on Tap, apps are eating the web — from blog.appannie.com

Excerpt:

Every company that has an app is a publisher and apps are the new normal to deliver content, entertainment, utility, productivity, commerce, transportation, etc. 2016 promises to be another exciting year of developments and launches. Our analysts predict the top 10 app trends to watch for in 2016:

Google Now on Tap: Deep linking and contextual discovery to ease app discovery
eSports: Set to become an emerging revenue stream for game publishers
Messaging: Cultural factors to maintain messaging divide between the East and the West
Online-to-Offline (O2O) Services: Asia primed for a wave of consolidation because of challenging unit economics
Productivity Apps: New input methods to spur app innovation
Financial Services: Retail banks face “death by a thousand cuts”
tvOS: Set to unlock the smartphone as a powerful second screen device
YouTube Red: Catalyst for indie long-form content
Wearables: Watch for vertical-specific and enterprise use cases
Augmented And Virtual Reality (AR/VR): Major content players to spur initial adoption, but still more hype in 2016

tvOS: Set to unlock the smartphone as a powerful second screen device

The Living [Class] Room -- by Daniel Christian -- July 2012 -- a second device used in conjunction with a Smart/Connected TV

IBM and Apple are now very much involved in healthcare

On 11/11/2015, in 21st century, 24x7x365 access, analytics, Apple, data related items, health, IBM, platforms, tools, vendors, wearables, by Daniel Christian

IBM Watson, Boston Children’s team on rare pediatric diseases — from medcitynews.com by Neil Versel

Excerpt:

Here’s another practical application of IBM Watson technology in healthcare: Boston Children’s Hospital is going to tap the supercomputing platform to improve diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases.

Researchers at the Harvard-affiliated hospital’s Manton Center for Orphan Disease Research will train Watson in nephrology by reading medical literature and scanning data on mutations for a kidney disease known as steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. They will then give Watson retrospective genomic data from patients in an effort to teach the computer to assist physicians in interpreting genome sequences as they look for abnormalities.

Wearables will see mass adoption via educated patients and digital health stores — from medcitynews.com by Shahid Shah

Excerpt:

In a fees-for-services (volume-driven) world, selling healthcare products and services to individual institutions is certainly time-consuming but reasonably straightforward. In an outcomes-driven (fees for value) world driven by shared risks and shared rewards, selling healthcare solutions across multiple disciplines, multiple stakeholders, and multiple institutions is much harder and even more time-consuming. That’s because there’s no easy buyer to identify. Population health is all the rage but our current $3 trillion + healthcare industry was never devised nor incentivized to work together as a team for long-term patient or population benefits (it’s reimbursed mainly for episodic care).

Our country’s healthcare industry is more about sick care and episodic transactions rather than longitudinal care. But, since we are moving to population and outcomes driven care where the patient is more responsible for their own care management and payment, it would seem patient education and digital health tools are more important than ever. So, perhaps we need to get together and innovate around how we’re going to present next-generation solutions from across multiple innovators and showcase them to patients and their caregivers.

Watch users claim Apple wearable improves health — from fiercemobilehealthcare.com by Judy Mottl

Excerpt:

Nearly two-thirds of Apple Watch users are exercising more often and for longer periods of time, and 72 percent claim the wearable is improving their health and fitness levels, according to a new report.

IBM forms new health data analytics unit, extends Apple partnership— from zdnet.com by Charlie Osborne
With the help of Apple, acquisitions and new partnerships, Big Blue plans to tap into the vast amount of data offered by health-tracking devices.

After medical school, IBM’s Watson gets ready for Apple health apps — from zdnet.com by David Shamah
The Watson Health Cloud – set to become an important component of Apple’s health platform – is targeting medical care, IBM says.

Excerpt:

“Watson went to medical school, and now it’s set to graduate,” said Dr Aya Soffer, director of big data and cognitive analytics at the Israel facility. “We’ve had it study the medical literature, and now it’s ready to apply its natural language processing skills to real-life applications.”

Just in time, too. Last week, IBM announced the launch of Watson Health Cloud to “provide a secure and open platform for physicians, researchers, insurers, and companies focused on health and wellness solutions”.

The platform will be used by health companies Johnson and Johnson and Medtronic, as well as by Apple. The Mac maker has its own platform and hopes to become a top health company itself. It has established a new business unit, called Watson Health Cloud, to administer the big data apps that will use Watson’s intelligent analysis and understanding of medical data.

Addendum on 11/13/15:

NYU Medical Students Learning How to Analyze Big Data — from imedicalapps.com by Brian Wu
Excerpt:
Big data is changing the way information is shared in the medical field. Current technologies such as IBM’s Watson are working to merge data from multiple sources to make it easier to access as well as share. Even ten years ago most doctors would not have known anything about big data, and it was definitely not taught in medical school. Today big data is becoming a crucial part of the healthcare field including the diagnosis and treatment of patients. It is important that doctors not only understand the importance of data but know how to properly access and interpret the data. The NYU School of Medicine requires that its first and second-year students complete a health care by the numbers project. Students are given access to a giant database with more than 5 million anonymous records, which includes information on every hospital patient in the state for the preceding two years.

10 items regarding wearables

On 11/02/2015, in education technology, emerging technologies, Google, health, higher education, trends, United States, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, wearables, by Daniel Christian

Wearables & Virtual Reality: Where Higher Education is Headed — from higheredtechdecisions.com by Jessica Kennedy
EDUCAUSE seminar predicts wearables and virtual reality solutions will take higher education learning to a new level.

Excerpt:

Even though fitness trackers like FitBit are increasing in popularity among college students, Georgieva and Craig predict wearables and immersive and virtual reality spaces will become must-haves on college campuses.

“It’s a tremendous opportunity for teaching and learning,” Craig says. “[It provides] headgear for the eyes, virtual and augmented reality, and wearables for the brain.”

Georgieva says that as technologies like wearables evolve, students’ learning styles and visual literacy shift.

Students are more immersed in a visual culture and rely on pictures to communicate, analyze and learn.

7 up-and-coming wearable technologies — from campustechnology.com by Leila Meyer
Sensory messaging devices, stress-reducing headpieces, biometric authentication bands and more — these cutting-edge wearables could soon be coming to your campus.

How the Internet of Things will revolutionise medicine — from techradar.com by Jamie Carter

Excerpt:

Anyone who’s been in hospital will know how long nurses spend taking hourly measurements for blood pressure, and much more besides. If a hospital could put a wearable device on each patient to automate the process, the time saved would be enormous – and that’s just the beginning of how the Internet of Things (IoT) promises to change healthcare.

Over the next five years the traditional ‘doctor-patient’ model will completely open up as self-monitoring devices do away with the need for routine check-ups and appointments, and IoT sensors in our homes and on our bodies increasingly allow us to look after ourselves.

1 In 5 U.S. Adults On Board With Wearables Now — from readwrite.com by David Nield
And smartphones are driving the change.

Excerpt:

Forrester released its annual report on US consumer technology use on [9/28/15], and the findings make encouraging reading for wearable developers, manufacturers and enthusiasts.

Twenty-one percent of all “online” adults in the U.S. now own a wearable device of some kind, with the younger generation leading the way in adoption.

Future wearables could be sensors you ingest and implant, Jawbone CEO says — from cnet.com by Shara Tibken
Hosain Rahman also says sales of his company’s fitness wearables haven’t been hurt by the Apple Watch.

Excerpt:

He added that wearables will play a key role in the move to connect everything to the Internet, known as the Internet of Things.

Blocks modular smartwatch hits Kickstarter for $285 and ships in May 2016
What you need to know about specs, prices and modules before backing Blocks

Basis Peak Fitness and Sleep Tracker — from humanplus.design

Google Glass 2.0 – Specs, Price And Release Date — from wtvox.com

Excerpt:

Everybody is talking about Google Glass 2.0. To paraphrase from Lavoisier’s “Traité Élémentaire de Chimie”. “Rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée, tout se transforme.” (“Nothing is lost, nothing is created, everything is transformed.”)

I’m sure you’ve heard that Google Glass is dead. Believe it or not, it is still alive. Google Glass never died. Google Glass “reborn” into a second version. Like the phoenix bird.

There is much misinformation about Google Glass at the moment. Let’s get the facts straight. Here is everything you need to know about the new Google Glass 2.0.

Google Glass 2.0: Versions And Design
Google Glass 2.0 is in good hands. The old Glass team is now called Project Aura and behind the new team is Tony Fadell. You might now Mr. Fadel as the founder of NEST. But, few of you know that he designed the first iPod in 2001.

A Wearable Device with the Pitcher In Mind — from insightreplay.com by Graham Clark

Excerpt:

A wearable sensor that tracks strain on a pitcher’s elbow is making waves in major league baseball (MLB). The mThrow, by Motus Global, is a simple, lightweight sleeve, designed to be worn every time a pitcher throws. The smart throwing sleeve and companion iOS app collects and analyzes real-time biomechanical data from each game and practice, and uses that data to calculate workloads and recommend daily throw limits. This season, 27 MLB teams and their minor league affiliates are trying out the device, in the hope that it will help monitor pitchers’ workloads, improve pitching mechanics, and prevent injuries.

Wearables to U.S. adults: You’re putting me on — from news.investors.com

Back to the Future Day: A look at our technology in 2045 [Gewirtz]

On 10/27/2015, in future, intelligent systems, internet, machine-to-machine communications, Microsoft, robotics, technologies for your home, wearables, by Daniel Christian

Back to the Future Day: A look at our technology in 2045 — from zdnet.com by David Gewirtz
The classic geek movie Back to the Future Part II sent Marty McFly 30 years forward to October 21, 2015. We asked top technology experts to check their digital crystal balls and describe what they see in store for us 30 years from now.

Excerpts/topics include:

Robots, for those who can afford them
The personal network and the future of the smartphone
Wearable biometric sensor networks
The future of the data center
The future of shipping
Our changing lifestyle
Microsoft and the future of the PC

5 items from Microsoft’s big event held on 10/6/15

On 10/07/2015, in computer science, education technology, human-computer interaction (HCI), Microsoft, programming, tablets, tools, vendors, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, wearables, by Daniel Christian

Everything You Need To Know From Microsoft’s Massive Hardware Event — from techcrunch.com by Alex Wilhelm

Excerpt:

Microsoft [on 10/6/15] announced a grip of new hardware, including Surface products, high-end smartphones, a wearable, Windows 10 for the Xbox One and its first laptop.

The laptop, called the Surface Book, stunned in an event marked largely by products Microsoft watchers were expecting.

Introducing Surface Book & Surface Pro 4 — from microsoft.com

Microsoft’s HoloLens Developer Edition Gets Date and Price — from vrfocus.com by Jamie Feltham

Excerpt:

Speaking at a Windows 10 briefing [on10/6/15] the company confirmed that applications for a HoloLens development kit are now open. Successful applicants will be able to pick up a kit for some $3,000 USD, and it will be arriving in the first quarter of 2016.

.

First HoloLens Prototypes Showcased — from vrfocus.com by Jamie Feltham

Excerpt:

Microsoft’s HoloLens mixed reality (MR) head-mounted display (HMD) is still a relatively new concept, having only been revealed to the public in January 2015. The device has remained shrouded in mystery since that time, making a handful of showings at events such as E3. The company has revealed a lot more about the kit [on 10/6/15], though, confirming that the anticipated Development Edition will be arriving in Q1 2016 for applicants in the USA and Canada at a price of $3,000 USD. Now a new video has been revealed giving a glimpse at the kit’s origins.

The new Microsoft Band offers Cortana integration, VO2 monitoring and Golf cards — from digitaltrends.com by David Curry

Excerpt:

Microsoft announced the second generation of the Microsoft Band at its event [on 10/6/15], a small update adding a new, more functional design and two sensors to track elevation and VO2 monitoring.

Addendum on 10/9/15:

Windows 10 ramps up universal apps ecosystem — from businessinsider.com

Top wearables across 10 key sectors [Orton-Jones]

On 10/01/2015, in Apple, business, emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, Google, health, ideas, innovation, wearables, by Daniel Christian

Top wearables across 10 key sectors — from raconteur.net by Charles Orton-Jones
Useful applications of wearable technology are multiplying fast as innovators across numerous sectors find lucrative ways of putting the tech to work. Here are ten of the best…

Sectors covered include:

Finance
Retail
Manufacturing
Entertainment
Insurance
Field Service
Transport
Security
Childcare
Fashion

Addendum on 10/2/15:

This is the first cellular Android Wear smartwatch: LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition — from techradar.com by Matt SwiderExcerpt:
Strap on the LG G Watch Urbane 2nd Edition and feel free to walk away from your smartphone, because this is the first Android Wear smartwatch with untethered cellular connectivity. Compatible with both Android and iPhone, this revision of the first LG Watch Urbane makes and receives calls and data over 4G and 3G as well as the normal Wi-Fi and Bluetooth methods.

Announcements from yesterday’s Special Event from Apple

On 09/10/2015, in Apple, corporate / business world, higher education, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, interactivity, internet, K-12 related, Learning from the Living [Class] Room, multimedia, music, technologies for your home, technology (general), television, TVs, wearables, by Daniel Christian

From DSC:
On 9/9/15, Apple held their September Event 2015. Below are some of the articles/items that capture some of the announcements from that event.

From Apple.com:

Apple Introduces iPhone 6s & iPhone 6s Plus
Apple Brings Innovation Back to Television with The All-New Apple TV
The App Store, Siri Remote & tvOS are Coming to Your Living Room
Apple Introduces iPad Pro Featuring Epic 12.9-inch Retina Display
Apple Pencil & Smart Keyboard Bring Breakthrough Levels of Precision & Utility to iPad Pro
Apple Introduces watchOS 2 with Native Apps and New Gold & Rose Gold Aluminum Apple Watch Sport Models
Native Apps, New Watch Faces, Time Travel & More Arrive with watchOS 2 September 16

Apple Watch Finally Getting Native Apps, New Features Next Week — from wsj.com by Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Excerpt:

Native apps will arrive on the Apple Watch as a part of a major update known as WatchOS 2. The promise is that native apps will be able to run faster on the watch, though the watch isn’t free of the iPhone yet. The Apple Watch doesn’t have it’s own cellular connection, so any information an app wants to pull from the Internet (like live sports scores, transit times, or messages from friends) it’ll still rely on an iPhone to pull all that off.

Still, the promise of any added speed here is significant. Unlike smartphone apps which are built to consume your attention for minutes at a time, Apple Watch apps are built to get you in and out with the information you need in a matter of seconds.

Developers can register now to apply for a new Apple TV hardware ahead of general release, supplies limited — from 9to5mac.com

Apple unveils next generation iPhone 6s, 6s Plus — from by Jason Cipriani
The tech giant introduced a new touch-sensitive technology called 3D Touch to its next generation smartphones.

Excerpt:

Apple added pressure-sensitive technology to its new iPhones, which the company is calling 3D Touch. The technology can launch features and perform a variety of functions when varying levels of force are applied to the screen.

A side comment from DSC for those students involved with graphic design, digital media, and/or with communications:
Study the work that the folks did who were in charge of presenting the complex, technical information — but doing so in a way that was extremely polished, engaging, and professionally done. The videos, for example, were very well done. My hats off to these extremely creative folks — they are clearly at the top of their industry.

Addendum on 9/11/15:

New Apple TV release date, specs, price and news — from techradar.com by Nick Pino

The benefits & challenges of designing for AR; the need to start thinking of products as connected services [Lowry]

On 09/04/2015, in Augmented Reality (AR), business, design, emerging technologies, human-computer interaction (HCI), ideas, innovation, interaction design, internet, machine-to-machine communications, user experience (UX), wearables, by Daniel Christian

Augmented reality is the future of design — from thenextweb.com by Jessica Lowry

Excerpt:

That’s why there’s more to AR than just wearable devices.

In this piece, I’ll explain the benefits and challenges of designing for augmented reality, then dive into why we must start thinking of products as connected services instead of standalone items.

Photo credit: Peter Morville. Creative Commons.

New tools, emerging technologies, HCI, & resources to check out

On 07/13/2015, in Artificial Intelligence/Agents/LLMs/and Related, Augmented Reality (AR), chemistry, cloud-based computing / apps / other cloud-related, CMS/LMS, computer science, digital learning, digital video, education technology, educational games / serious games, Microsoft, user experience (UX), user interface design, Virtual Reality (VR) / worlds / learning, wearables, by Daniel Christian

Augmented Reality Chemistry Experiments with Elements 4D — from whiteboardblog.co.uk

Excerpt:

Elements 4D is a neat Augmented Reality chemistry app for iOS and Android devices which provides a fun way to look at various different chemical reactions.

The app uses blocks that are inscribed with the symbols of 36 elements from the periodic table. The site will eventually sell ready-made cubes, but you can download paper templates for free here.

When viewed through the app, these blocks instantly transform a simple, inanimate object into dynamic, dimensional, 4D representations of each element.

Also see:

elements4d’s website

Toss your manual overboard—augmented reality aims at big industry — from arstechnica.com by Lee Hutchinson
Papers, diagrams, and checklists would be replaced with intuitive visual tools.

Excerpt:

GE is focusing efforts on constructing an extensible “field maintenance manual” intended to be used for industrial equipment. The use case being tested in the labs is with oil and gas; researchers in GE’s Research Center in Brazil are building software that they hope will replace the need to deal with bulky printed maintenance manuals—manuals which have to be kept up to date and which lack any kind of interactivity.

New Microsoft Tool Takes the Pulse of Higher Education
Bing Pulse in the Classroom, a new student response system designed for higher education, launched this week.

Excerpt:

A new student response tool designed by a team at Microsoft will soon be giving teachers instant feedback on how their lessons are going.

Bing Pulse in the Classroom, a free online tool designed to make higher education lectures more dynamic, was released Thursday. The technology lets teachers ask students questions to get a real-time “pulse” of the lesson to ensure a teacher isn’t getting too far ahead of the class.
…
A feature not included in Pulse in the Classroom’s first iteration was live video streaming. Nesho says this capability will soon be added, and it could be a game changer for higher education classes that incorporate distance learning. Using a live video stream along with the Pulse feature set, the platform comes closer to an all-inclusive classroom experience.

Microsoft pioneers new ‘machine teaching’ technology to bring machine learning to the masses — from winbeta.org by Joseph Finney

Excerpt:

Tech companies are constantly building and testing technology which could cause the next paradigm shift in how the world communicates, creates, and consumes. Many big names including Google, IBM and Microsoft are investing in machine intelligence and machine learning. Now Microsoft believes they have created the next generation of machine learning which they call machine teaching. While the name ‘machine teaching’ does not instantly communicate the purpose or intent of the new tech the underlying concept is simple.

Essentially, like Henry Ford brought the automobile to the masses, Microsoft wants to bring machine learning to everyone. Many companies are focused on making their machine learning algorithms more accurate, but Patrice Simard believes more advances can be driven by bringing machine learning to the masses.

Also relevant here/see:
What Every Manager Should Know About Machine Learning — from hbr.org by Mike Yeomans
A primer on machine learning — from loop.ai
A tour of Machine Learning Algorithms #BigData #MachineLearning — from mo-data.com
In this post we take a tour of the most popular machine learning algorithms.

Microsoft launches site for teachers taking Minecraft into the classroom — from theguardian.com
Minecraft in Education portal aims to get educators sharing tips on how Mojang’s popular game can be used to teach children

The Scoop on Periscope: Broadcast Live Video to the World — from learninginhand.com by Tony Vincent
[Tony includes a nice infographic in this posting.]

First Look: Jaunt’s VR Camera Codenamed NEO — from by Jonathan Nafarrete

Excerpt:

Jaunt has announced the launch of a new professional grade VR camera series codenamed “NEO” that will enable the next generation of filmmakers to produce the highest quality VR experiences.

Industrial Design by LUNAR.

Leap Motion’s Augmented-Reality Computing Looks Stupid Cool — from wired.com

Excerpt:

This demo, in which a standard desktop computer is reimagined as a three-dimensional workstation of the future, offers a glimpse of what that might look like.

The project came out of a hackathon at Leap Motion, whose nifty gesture-recognizing sensor acts as a sort of finger-scale Kinect for desktop software. Using a prototype Leap sensor, a developer-kit Oculus Rift, a team of engineers built an augmented-reality work environment in which regular desktop applications jump out of the computer and into 3-D space. It’s a new computing interface hovering in front of a traditional personal computer sitting on a wood table—three generations of the “desktop,” one on top of another.

Apps That Rise to the Top: Tested and Approved By Teachers — from kqed.org by Katrina Schwartz

EdTech 2015: What’s Coming Down the Innovation Pipeline — from medium.com by Daniel Rezac
Brace Yourselves for a New Wave of Classroom Integration

Office 365 Open Source plugins for Moodle: getting better all the time — from msopentech.com

Excerpt:

[On June 26th, 2015] we shared the news that the upcoming Cypress release of Open edX, the most popular open source MOOC (massive open online course), will include new features for tighter integration with Office 365. Those features are the result of our open source collaboration with members of the Open edX community.

In addition to the new work we’re doing with Open edX, we continue to work with Remote-Learner (a leading Moodle partner) to make improvements and additions to the open source Office 365 plugins for Moodle. Moodle is the most popular open source learning management system (LMS), and the Office 365 plugins were released in January of this year. In this post, we’d like to share a few details about the great work Remote-Learner is doing to evolve the plugins.

New math app turns 2-D problems into 3-D solutions for Nova Scotia students — from trurodaily.com by Zane Woodford, Metro Halifax

Excerpt:

HALIFAX – A new augmented reality application for iPhones, iPads and Android devices brings math problems off the page for Nova Scotia students – illustrating angles, curves and the dreaded Pythagorean theorem in three dimensions.

© Metro Halifax/Jeff Harper
Grade 9 student Nathaniel Jarmash uses an augmented reality app
to work on his math problems at Sir Robert Borden Junior High School.

The NMC Horizon Report > 2015 K-12 Edition is now out.

Description:

What is on the five-year horizon for K-12 schools worldwide? Which trends and technologies will drive educational change? What are the challenges that we consider as solvable or difficult to overcome, and how can we strategize effective solutions? These questions and similar inquiries regarding technology adoption and transforming teaching and learning steered the collaborative research and discussions of a body of 56 experts to produce the NMC Horizon Report > 2015 K-12 Edition, in partnership with the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). The NMC also gratefully acknowledges ISTE as a dissemination partner. The three key sections of this report — key trends, significant challenges, and important developments in educational technology — constitute a reference and straightforward technology planning guide for educators, school leaders, administrators, policymakers, and technologists. It is our hope that this research will help to inform the choices that institutions are making about technology to improve, support, or extend teaching, learning, and creative inquiry in K-12 education across the globe. View the wiki where the work was produced.

> Download the NMC Horizon Report > 2015 K-12 Edition (PDF)
> Download the report preview (PDF)
> Download the interim results (PDF)

Augmented Reality – hype, or the future? [mybroadband.co.za]

On 06/29/2015, in 21st century, Augmented Reality (AR), corporate / business world, digital learning, education technology, emerging technologies, marketing/social marketing, technologies for your home, wearables, by Daniel Christian

Augmented Reality – hype, or the future? — from mybroadband.co.za by EE Publishers
The concept of Augmented Reality has existed for many years now – and commentators have remained rigidly sceptical about whether it will truly materialise in our everyday lives.

Excerpts:

Essentially, AR describes the way in which a device (such as a smartphone camera, wearables like Google Glasses, or a videogame motion sensor) uses an application to “see” the real world around us, and overlay augmented features onto that view.

These augmented features are aimed at adding value to the user’s experience of their physical environment.
…
We predict there will be three primary areas in which we will initially engage with AR:

The way we consume information: Imagine going to a library or museum and being able to have a “conversation” with key people throughout history, or instantly transform the world around to you resemble a bygone era.

The fields of product development, marketing and customer engagement: Overlaying new digital services into retail environments opens up a host of new possibilities for organisations to tailor products to their consumers.

Back office/operational functions within the organisation: Companies are already finding ways to use AR in their supply chain, logistics and warehousing environments. Find out, for example, if a particular unit is missing from a shelf.

From DSC:
I wonder how Machine-to-Machine communications, beacons, GPS, and more will come into play here…? The end result, I think is a connection between the physical world and the digital world:

DanielChristian-Combining-Digital-Physical-Worlds-Oct2014

Everything you need to know from today’s Apple WWDC Keynote — from techcrunch.com by Greg Kumparak

Excerpts:

The Next Version Of OS X — Apple announced OS X 10.11, or “OS X El Capitan”.
iOS 9
Siri is getting smarter
Split Screen iPad Apps: Perhaps the biggest feature of all, and something that has been rumored for ages: the iPad is getting split screen apps. You’ll now be able to run two apps at once, side by side. (Split screen iPad apps are limited to the latest/most powerful iPad hardware: the iPad Air 2)
Picture in picture video
CarPlay goes wireless
Swift 2: Apple also announce Swift 2, the second iteration of their new programming language.
watchOS 2
Apple Music: As long rumored, Apple is launching a Spotify/Rdio competitor. It’s $9.99 per month, or $14.99 on a family plan (with support for up to 6 accounts)

The Apple Watch just got a lot more useful — from fastcompany.com by John Paul Titlow
Apple’s WatchOS 2 is here and it will let developers build native, much more capable apps.

Excerpt:

If you had your doubts about the Apple Watch, Cupertino just made it much more interesting. At the Worldwide Developers Conference this morning, Apple announced WatchOS 2, a new version of the watch’s operating system that lets developers build native apps for the device.

Watch OS 2 will also ship with a number of new features, like the ability to set photo watch faces, reply to email, take FaceTime audio calls, use Apple Pay’s new virtual loyalty cards, and get mass transit directions.

Apple introduces “News”: An old idea with big potential — from fastcompany.com by John Paul Titlow
WWDC 2015 Update: Apple just unveiled News, a Flipboard-Style news aggregation app that will ship with iOS 9.

Excerpt:

Apple is now a Flipboard competitor. When iOS 9 ships in the fall, it will include a new app called News, a newspaper, magazine, and blog aggregator that will feel very familiar to anyone who’s ever used Flipboard, Pulse, or one of the many other apps of this nature. The new app was unveiled by Apple’s vice president of Product Marketing, Susan Prescott, this afternoon at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

Apple Maps in iOS 9 adds public transit, local business search — from cio.com by Marco Tabini

Kevin shows some of the great things developers can do with the new version of WatchKit.

Trends and resources re: mobile learning

On 04/14/2015, in Augmented Reality (AR), educational games / serious games, future, mobile learning, mobile technologies, second screen apps, social media, trends, wearables, web design and production, by Daniel Christian

New eBook: Mobile Learning in Context — from learningsolutionsmag.com, Janet Clarey, & others; with thanks to Mayra Aixa Villar for this item

Excerpt:

Mobile learning is here to stay: Why be tied to a computer when you can spend the day where you want and learn at the same time? But mLearning isn’t just eLearning on a smaller screen. It has specific demands and offers unique opportunities. Are you making the most of your mLearning? The eLearning Guild’s free eBook, Mobile Learning in Context, might inspire you to rethink your approach.

Rethink your approach
For Mobile Learning in Context, contributing editor Janet Clarey assembled a group of mobile learning thought leaders and asked for their take on the range of mLearning topics. Each of the essays will make you consider the possibilities of mobile learning in a whole new light. Among the eBook’s highlights:

Watch out for these trends in mobile learning: 2015 and beyond — from blog.originlearning.com

Excerpt:

Global mobile data traffic grew 69 percent in 2014 and was nearly 30 times the size of the entire global Internet in 2000
Mobile video traffic exceeded 50 percent of total mobile data traffic for the first time in 2012
Mobile network (cellular) connection speeds grew 20 percent in 2014
In 2014, on an average, a smart device generated 22 times more traffic than a non-smart device.

These are just some excerpts from Cisco’s Visual Networking Index: Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update for 2014 to 2019, but they clearly prove a point. That, the usage of mobiles is growing faster than ever before, backed by the rolling out of quicker internet speeds and smarter phones at affordable prices.

The research has also made important forecasts for the next 5 years, such as:
The number of mobile-connected devices exceeded the world’s population in 2014.
4G traffic will be more than half of the total mobile traffic by 2017.
Because of increased usage on smartphones, smartphones will reach three-quarters of mobile data traffic by 2019.

Now against the backdrop of such information, it is interesting to explore what role mobiles are playing in shaping up the workplace learning scenario. These trends with mobile learning are evidence to the fact that we are on the brink of a new era of learning – through the mobile device.

Learning in a Multi-device World (Infographic) — from upsidelearning.com by Pranjalee Thanekar; with thanks to Mayra Aixa Villar for this item

Excerpt:

According to the Verto Analytics’ Device Ecosystem US 2014 report, the average number of smartphones, tablets and computers used by an average US adult is 2.8 devices. Further, consumers show an increasingly polarised preference towards a particular device and platform as technology evolves. This indicates the increasing dependency on devices, generated by the ease in switching between tasks and the leverage it provides.

Apple Introduces its Watch, ResearchKit, a new MacBook; HBO NOW on Apple TV/iPad/iPhone

On 03/09/2015, in Apple, design, health, human-computer interaction (HCI), innovation, mobile technologies, research, technologies for your home, television, wearables, by Daniel Christian

Also see:

Spring Forward Event — from apple.com
See the Apple Watch in action (in six GIFs) — from fortune.com by Jason Cipriani
Everything you need to know about Apple’s Watch Event — from yahoo.com by Dan Tynan
Apple failed to explain why we need a smartwatch, but it did give us a hint — from businessinsider.com by Steve Kovach

Technology predictions for the second half of the decade — from techcrunch.com by Lance Smith

Excerpts:

Big Data and IoT evolve into automated information sharing
Self-driving vehicles become mainstream
The appearance of artificial intelligent assistants
Real-time agility through data virtualization

EdTech trends for the coming years — from edtechreview.in

Excerpts:

EdTech is about to explode. The coming technology and the new trends on the rise can’t but forecast an extensive technology adoption in schools all around the globe.

Specific apps, systems, codable gadgets and the adaptation of general use elements to the school environment are engaging teachers and opening up the way to new pedagogical approaches. And while we are scratching the surface of some of them, others have just started to buzz persistently.

Wearables + Nano/Micro Technology + the Internet of Things
3D + 4D printing
Big Data + Data Mining
Mobile Learning
Coding
Artificial Intelligence + Deep Learning
- Adaptative learning: based on a student’s behaviour and results, an intelligent assistant can predict and readapt the learning path to those necessities. Combined with biometrics and the ubiquitous persona (explained below) a student could have the best experience ever.
- Automatic courses on the fly, with contents collected by intelligent searching systems (data mining).
- Virtual tutors.
The Ubiquitous Persona + Gamification + Social Media Learning
Specialised Staff in Schools

Phones and wearables will spur tenfold growth in wireless data by 2019 — from recode.net

Excerpts:

Persistent growth in the use of smartphones, plus the adoption of wireless wearable devices, will cause the total amount of global wireless data traffic to rise by 10 times its current levels by 2019, according to a forecast by networking giant Cisco Systems out [on 2/3/15].

The forecast, which Cisco calls its Visual Networking Index, is based in part on the growth of wireless traffic during 2014, which Cisco says reached 30 exabytes, the equivalent of 30 billion gigabytes. If growth patterns remain consistent, Cisco’s analysts reckon, the wireless portion of traffic crossing the global Internet will reach 292 exabytes by the close of the decade.

9 ed tech trends to watch in 2015 — from the Jan/Feb edition of Campus Technology Magazine

Learning spaces
Badges
Gamification
Analytics
3D Printing
Openness
Digital
Consumerization
Adaptive & Personalized Learning

Even though I’ve mentioned it before, I’ll mention it again here because it fits the theme of this posting:

NMC Horizon Report > 2015 Higher Education Edition — from nmc.org

Excerpt:

What is on the five-year horizon for higher education institutions? Which trends and technologies will drive educational change? What are the challenges that we consider as solvable or difficult to overcome, and how can we strategize effective solutions? These questions and similar inquiries regarding technology adoption and educational change steered the collaborative research and discussions of a body of 56 experts to produce the NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Higher Education Edition, in partnership with the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI). The NMC Horizon Report series charts the five-year horizon for the impact of emerging technologies in learning communities across the globe. With more than 13 years of research and publications, it can be regarded as the world’s longest-running exploration of emerging technology trends and uptake in education.

From DSC:
Speaking of trends…although this item isn’t necessarily technology related, I’m going to include it here anyway:

Career trends students should be watching in 2015 — from hackcollege.com by

Excerpt:

Students Need to Pay Attention to Broader Trends, and Get Ready.
For better or worse, the post-college world is changing.

According to a variety of analysis sites, including Forbes, Time, and Bing Predicts, more and more of the workforce will be impacted by increased entrepreneurship, freelancing, work-from-home trends, and non-traditional career paths.

These experts are saying that hiring practices will shift, meaning that students need to prepare LinkedIn profiles, online portfolio, work at internships, and to network to build relationships with potential future employers.

———-

Addendum on 3/6/15:
Self-driving car technology could end up in robots — from pcworld.com by Fred O’Connor

Excerpt:

The development of self-driving cars could spur advancements in robotics and cause other ripple effects, potentially benefitting society in a variety of ways.

Autonomous cars as well as robots rely on artificial intelligence, image recognition, GPS and processors, among other technologies, notes a report from consulting firm McKinsey. Some of the hardware used in self-driving cars could find its way into robots, lowering production costs and the price for consumers.

Self-driving cars could also help people grow accustomed to other machines, like robots, that can complete tasks without the need for human intervention.

Addendum on 3/6/15:

Top 5 Emerging Technologies In 2015 — from wtvox.com
Excerpt:
1) Robotics 2.0
2) Neuromorphic Engineering
3) Intelligent Nanobots – Drones
4) 3D Printing
5) Precision Medicine

Learning Ecosystems

Top app predictions of 2016: From tvOS and Google Now on Tap, apps are eating the web [appannie.com]

10 items regarding wearables

Back to the Future Day: A look at our technology in 2045 [Gewirtz]

5 items from Microsoft’s big event held on 10/6/15

Top wearables across 10 key sectors [Orton-Jones]

The benefits & challenges of designing for AR; the need to start thinking of products as connected services [Lowry]

Augmented Reality – hype, or the future? [mybroadband.co.za]

Some of the announcements from Apple today

Apple Introduces its Watch, ResearchKit, a new MacBook; HBO NOW on Apple TV/iPad/iPhone

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