new facebook filters let you control news feed

Facebook's newest improvement is one that for once probably won't generate drama and complaints. This is because it makes it easier to sort through the news feed. Drop down menus allow users to view only what they choose to. Users can also choose from lists of friends. However if you move from the page you are on the choices you previously made don't stay. The stand-out filter is the Status Updates, which is a streamlined way to read what your friends are up to without the clutter of photos, links, etc. Ultimately this is a cleaner and easier way to utilize the news feed which could improve the user's experience.

Retro iPhone Dock

Although there are many iPhone docks out there, a newly designed one actually converts your iPhone into retro land line phone. The iPhone X has been designed by a Japanese home electronics company to function as a land line phone while simultaneously charging your phone. Once docked into the iPhone X your iPhone will work as a keypad for the land line phone and the receiver can easily be used as it is used in regular land line phones. It will also be able to be synced to iTunes if needed. I'm not sure how much more useful this is than just using the phone regularly but I guess it could be useful or fun in the novelty sense of it.

Virtually every search engine, companies with a big web presence, etc. gather user's browser history and other personal information in order to improve their services and better target the user. The FTC is proposing a "Do Not Track" feature for Internet browsers that would allow users to opt out completely and protect their privacy. Users do not always have control over the amount or type of data stored by companies and that data can therefore be used against the user's wishes. If you have a Google account you are able to keep this data in check, however this isn't true for all search engines. All major search engines gather history for a period of time (3-18 months) unless explicitly blocked by the user.

The FTC states that industry efforts to address privacy through self-regulation "have been too slow, and up to now have failed to provide adequate and meaningful protection". In addition to making policy recommendations, the FTC has said it will take action against companies that cross the line with consumer data and violate consumers' privacy. Consumers should be presented with choices about the collection and sharing of their data at the time and in the context in which they are making decisions.

Green Computing

The latest way to be more environmentally conscious is to save your computer files differently. The conservation organization WWF has recently launched its own file type. Basically it is identical to a PDF with one exception-it can't be printed. This is an attempt to try and reduce the amount of paper wasted in offices around the world. Offices and educational settings use ridiculous amounts of paper for mostly unnecessary reasons only to simply discard the print outs soon after.

For files that don't need to be printed, users can choose this format (.WWF) and then distribute the documents electronically. Users would then be able to view the document but not select "file-print". To use this file type a small bit of software needs to be downloaded from saveaswwwf. Additionally, a little note about saving paper is added to the bottom of all documents.

While I'm unsure this file format will actually be embraced, it seems like a step in the right direction to reduce paper wasting, and if anything will at least spread some awareness. The WWF format is essentially a plugin that is Mac-only for now, but coming to Windows soon.

ZTE Peel Case

Although extremely popular the iPod Touch has always been seen as an “almost-iPhone”. The one thing it lacks is a mobile wireless antenna and without 3G it will never replace a smartphone. Sprint is trying to change all that with its new ZTE Peel, which is basically a 3G hotspot that takes in a 3G signal from Sprint that provides a wi-fi network that any wi-fi device can access. Although there are already similar technologies out there this one is specifically designed for the iPod Touch.

In fact an iPod Touch with a ZTE Peel even has some advantages over an iPhone. It is a cheaper device that is contract free. The ZTE Peel can support up to two other Wi-Fi devices, a feature for which AT&T charges $20 per month on the iPhone. Additionally this product is for Sprint, which many claim is a more reliable service than AT&T.

Still, this isn’t exactly an iPhone. Most obviously, an iPod Touch is more than twice the thickness of the iPhone 4. Secondly, the case only supports the second and third generation iPod Touch even though the newest generation is more like an iPhone 4 with a camera , ultra sharp screen and speedy processor. Also there’s the fact that there is no possibility of a voice plan. Lastly, an encased iPod Touch suffers from a reduced battery life.

Despite the few drawbacks, being able to give your iPod Touch instant phone like capabilities seems pretty cool. For many people a voice plan is pretty unnecessary anyway and eliminates expensive contracts. The ZTE Peel is $80 in Sprint stores and all you have to pay is $30 for 1GB of bandwidth.

Idle Chatter

If you are a heavy conversationalist on Facebook, there is a new desktop based alternative to the standard Facebook chat application called Chit Chat. This app is designed specifically for chatting with your Facebook friends and offers a user friendly and intuitive interface. After downloading and installing the software all you have to do is log in using your Facebook username and password. You can then import whatever contacts you want from Facebook. Although you log in using your Facebook credentials, Chit Chat runs independently of Facebook, so you are not actually logged into the site. This allows you to chat with your contacts without viewing everyone's status updates, etc.

Chit Chat resembles older versions of MSN Live Messenger so anyone with previous experience with that or any other instant messenger should be able to use this with no problem. The interface is pretty simple and can't be customized design-wise, but offers a good selections of features for chat.

Contacts are shown as either offline or online and the user can categorize them as they choose. The chat window is presented as floating tabs which represent the conversations that are open at the present time. You can type text which you can format simply (bold, italics) and insert emoticons. You can also save and log conversations.

Basically all Chit Chat is is a slightly more sophisticated version of Facebook Chat. If you're used to an IM with all the trimmings this probably isn't for you. However if all you want is a more convienient way to Facebook chat this does the job.

Adobe Edge

A tool being developed by Adobe, called Edge, is an HTML5 tool that makes it easy for web developers and designers to create animations and transitions without having to go through lines of HTML5 code. As with the announcement of HTML5, Adobe Edge is predicted to further quicken the demise of Flash. Edge will focus on choreographing various elements within an animation. Creating an animation with HTML5 is not in itself difficult, although getting the movement and transformation of various elements to move where you want them to, when you want them to, can be. Adobe is working to bring these elements into an actual tool.

Edge's interface will be similar to Flash. It will have a stage window displaying the layout of the HTML5 page, a timeline window that will show the modifications of elements over time, and a layers panel to indentify DOM elements. By selecting a layer you would be able to see that layer's properties in the property explorer, which supports the new CSS transformations in 2D and 3D. Furthermore Edge will also use "actions" and "symbols" like Flash and offer a source code editing system like Dreamweaver, so users should have at least some knowledge of coding in order to identify and avoid problems within the code. Adobe Edge is still a prototype but has been demoed; various concepts are being looked into to make this an actuality sometime in the near future.

iHome for iPad

iHome, the leading supplier for iPhone/iPod speaker solutions, has announced the availability of the iA100 Bluetooth Stereo System for iPad, iPhone, and iPod. iA100 is an app-enhanced, Bluetooth enabled FM radio alarm clock. This is the first product from iHome to support the iPad and its unique capabilities. It is also one of the first docking speaker products designed to dock and charge the iPad while you sleep.

The iA100's top docking system has a universal, highly versatile dock design that supports charging, playback and app-enhanced communications. Once you connect a device (ipad/iPhone/iPod) via Bluetooth pairing, the iA100 becomes a wireless entertainment multi-tasker with a variety of features. These include: a stand-alone speakerphone with echo cancellation, turning all Bluetooth enabled phones into a speakerphone; streaming of audio from music and movies, and customized connections with iHome apps (iHome+Sleep and iHome+Radio). Lastly it uses 4 speakers in a compact stereo configuration to deliver superior quality sound. The iA100 is available for purchase in stores nation wide or on www.ihomeaudio.com.

3D Slideshow: LightSpace

It's possible that soon no one will ever have to sit through a boring Power Point presentation ever again. Microsoft's LightSpace Technology is about to make presentations fun. The LightSpace prototype projects the contents of a Power Point slide onto any solid surface. You can then touch and pick up virtual items from the display. You can move items and even carry them across the room.

The technology works by using projectors, motion tracking sensors and depth sensing cameras. A projected light beam will serve as the central control. To perform commands you would move your hand along the light beam to select a specific function, then hold your hand over that menu for a few seconds to activate the command. LightSpace creates a full 3D image of the room and then identifies the projected media that a user is interacting with.

Microsoft stresses that this is still a prototype and has a long way to being completed and out on the market. Researchers are still exploring how to make it the most effective and how it will interact with multiple users. One downside that must be kept in mind is the possibility that a presentation with multiple active surfaces could be distracting or hard to follow. However if used wisely it could help to engage audiences and make presentations more interactive. LightSpace is due to be demonstrated this week at the User Interface and Software Technology Conference in New York City.

Awareness! The Headphone App

Sometimes we just want to shut out the world around us and put on our headphones. Unfortunately this can be a dangerous move for pedestrians or cyclists. There have recently been a series of incidents where teenagers and cyclists have been hit by cars because they were listening to music with headphones in. Due to this a company called Essecny has released "Awareness! The Headphone App". This app will allow users to listen to music but will not completely block out other sounds, resulting in the person remaining safe and aware.

The application uses the built in microphone on the iPhone and iPod Touch to record and recognize outside sounds. Then once it determines the street level noise it will bleed in all louder noises through the headphones. No matter the volume level of the music the user will still be able to hear sirens, shouts, direct conversation or any other important sounds.

To avoid filtering in nearby conversations or other unnecessary sounds the user can manually adjust the microphone level. The user can also control what types of sounds they want to be interrupted by, such as car horns or train platform announcements-all without having to remove their headphones. While this app aims to create more street safety I wonder how effective it can actually be. I think this is a good starting point to work towards a higher level of street safety but I wouldn't depend on it entirely. In busier cities like New York it's pretty impossible to escape a cacophony of sounds so how would the device be able to distinguish from warning sounds and everything else going on around you? Or without compromising listening quality? Also if users can customize and pick and choose between what sounds they deem important then it almost defeats the purpose of the whole thing. Overall I think people just need to be more conscious of themselves at all times and if they want to use this app as additional security then that could prove helpful in some ways. Lastly, this app is only compatible with the iPhone 4, iPod Touch 3 and iPod Touch 4 which could prove somewhat limiting.

JPEG Alternative

     In today's world we want everything-and fast. This statement could not be any more true for the web especially. But is it fast enough? For most things we use it for, I would say the answer is probably yes. Still, Google is planning to revolutionize still images on the web with a new format called WebP. Research indicates that this new format could cut image file sizes by 40% compared to a JPEG format. This is important information to users since Google estimates that 65% of bytes on the web are from images. The higher compression efficiency measurement came from a sample of one million images that Google took from the web. About 90% were JPEG and 10% were PNG and GIF. If WebP is well received and adopted by users it will allow for faster file transfers and lower network burden.

     Although this sounds like something that could be useful for making the web faster for users in all aspects, it still faces a lot of challenges. JPEG is probably the most used format, probably because it is often the default format therefore people feel comfortable with it. That isn't going to change overnight. Microsoft has also tried to promote an alternate format (JPEG XR), for years in fact, with little progress. JPEG XR format offers greater dynamic range, a wider range of colors and more efficient compression. However it doesn't receive support aside from native- Internet Explorer and Windows. Google acknowledges that launching WebP will take a lot of effort and promotion.

     Google is taking the first steps by talking to browser makers and trying to get vendors to support WebP. Since Google is a dominant browser and has several other successful webpages they have a good chance of making this a successful and real technology whereas other companies have not been able to. Google plans to release WebP software which will let users convert graphics to WebP images and judge the quality for themselves.


This image has been encoded with WebP. Because browsers can't show WebP natively today, this WebP image actually is displayed here as a PNG graphic that captures the WebP version without changes. In its WebP incarnation, the image is 36,154 bytes.
(Credit: Google)

The same image encoded with JPEG. Its file size is 46,768 bytes.
(Credit: Google)

Untagged

      New technology is allowing researchers to track and study animals without having to tag them with identity and radio tags. Normally biologists use plastic cattle tags that are numbered, but these often fall off and are stressful to the animals because they have to be captured and sedated in order to be tagged. Scientists have now learned that animals can be tracked by their identifying features, for example spots and stripes. It is better to use these “fingerprints” to their advantage since they do not change over an animal’s lifetime.  Tags are not only stressful, but they often fall off over time, resulting in the loss of valuable information.

     The Dutch Center for Mathematics and Computing  in Amsterdam has developed an algorithm that can identify leatherback sea turtles from their pink spot, a patch on top of their heads unique to each turtle, and convert it into a biomarker.  A conservation network called Wildecast tested this technology on digital photos of sea turtles and now plans to add this system to its Obis-Seamap database, where biologists can upload photos of sea turtles and where they have been spotted. From the database they can find out if the turtle has already been electronically IDed and get details about its age, where it has been seen before, and where it’s from.  Basically anyone who comes across a sea turtle and has a camera could take a picture and upload it to the database if they wanted to. Once the photos are uploaded and identified researchers can then build a profile for each specimen and track its activities and locations. Other researchers are hoping to continue this process on penguins by the spots on their chests and on sharks by the jagged line patterns on their dorsal fin.  Eventually this technology will be used to track other animals as well.

      Ultimately this is a much easier, safer and more organized way to keep track of animals and gain more consistent research on them.  Now anyone from researchers to photographers to hikers could possibly contribute to specific studies or just expand the database that easily and quickly. 
 

Twitter Re-design

     Within the next few weeks Twitter will reveal its new website which will make viewing information on the site easier in all aspects. Even the co-founder of the website admitted, "...he was surprised that so many people use the service-160 million- given how difficult its website is to navigate". Although the site has been up since 2006 they have not had the resources for the re-design until now, which is unfortunate since apparently the site has many flaws and crashes frequently.

     Some of the main problems are having to go to new pages to learn more about a post or author of a post, following conversations is difficult and photo links within posts bring users to a new site altogether. Now users will be able to manage information between two panels rather than on a timeline of posts. Posts will be in the left pane and in the right there will be more information about the author of the post, photos and videos. This will eliminate having to click back and forth between pages or being redirected to a separate site. Posts will now be continuous so its easier to follow and manage conversations.

     While I don't personally use this site, I know people who do and it seems like these changes will be really effective. Twitter grew at a rate unexpected by its developers and they weren't able to keep up with the changes. However at least they are now working to make the site better for the users and keeping them in mind for the changes they are making.

Google TV

     For most people, TV is a popular form of entertainment. Even if you don't watch a lot of TV, I'm sure there's at least one show you like to watch from time to time, or consistently follow. However like almost every other type of technology, the way we watch TV is about to undergo some changes.
  
      Recently Google announced that within the next few months Google TV will launch in the United States. Although everyone loves the quality and familiarity of television and home entertainment setups, more and more people are using their  cell phones and especially the internet to get their entertainment. Accessing and finding whatever you want, whenever you want is doable via the web, which TV currently lacks. But not for long.

     Google is working to combine the high quality experience of TV with the ease and possibilities of the internet. With Google TV users can get the channels they want along with websites, videos, music and photo sites. The technology is like a cable box that connects to the TV and uses a search option to allow the user to navigate to whatever specific show, website, app, etc. they want by simply typing it in. You can also browse or get help to find what you're searching for. The Google TV home screen is where you can access your favorites to easily view what you like most. Google is working with a variety of companies to further this technology, some of them being: Jinni, Rovi, Sony, Logitech and Intel. The device is set to go on sale this fall through Best Buy.

     I think this sounds like something that could be pretty successful and useful if it can live up to all it is claiming to do. There is obviously a need and want for this type of technology as it would make entertainment viewing a lot easier for users by combining the most popular forms of entertainment into one system in addition to providing all the content we want available at any time on our TV screen. Other services have tried to do similar things and have not had much success, for example Apple TV and Roku. They allow users to stream from the internet but don't provide live TV. Conversely  Tivo and Microsoft provide the TV portion but are very limited when it comes to the web. If Google TV is able to provide all of the content (which is one of the speculated problems among potential users) it would be able to surpass the other providers.

     Google TV is also leading the way for "social TV", which is what other internet companies are working on. With the success of Facebook and Twitter researchers also want to create technology that allows people to share and discuss what they are watching via their TV screen. I'm sure this would interest people since part of the fun of watching TV has always been talking about what you watched on TV and looking to friends or people with similar interests to provide suggestions on others shows you might like. Learn more about Google TV below!

First Post

This week in class we discussed what we liked and disliked about the way the Amazon website behaves. Ultimately everyone decided that there is just too much information being presented to the user at once and on top of that it isn’t organized in the most utilitarian way. It was concluded that the site isn’t set up for the user but set up mainly for the needs of the sellers. So I thought about a similar site that is organized better in some ways.

A shopping site I use pretty often and sell things on is www.etsy.com. The way the main page is constructed is a lot more user friendly. The left hand side has a navigation bar with a category list making it easy for the user to select what they are looking for. Then once a category is selected, for example, accessories, the left side navigation changes to display all the subcategories, for example jewelry, wallets, etc. while leaving out all previous unrelated information. Amazon does this too, however I feel that Etsy does it in a more organized way with less steps taken to actually getting there. I feel like the way Amazon is set up repeats a lot of the same things over and over whereas on Etsy because it is simplified and better organized it’s easier to navigate. 

Just like on Amazon you can create an account, save items you like and get suggestions about other items you may like. However it is once again done in an organized way that isn’t in your face as soon as you sign in. It is there for the user to navigate to if they choose to. It is also easier to keep track of what you actually like this way. By clicking ‘your account’ in the uppermost left corner you are directed to your page and the left side navigation changes to list ‘your purchases’, ‘favorites’ ‘suggested items’, etc. Once you do click any of these options the information is set up more like a list form with small thumbnail pictures in a clean and coherent way that doesn’t overwhelm the user but actually might encourage them to look through. It’s not that there is any less or any more information to be presented on either of these websites, it just shows that less is definitely more when it comes down to making the experience of using the site better for the people who are actually using it.