Weekly#122

  • Better Than Waterproof: Gadgets That Float
    Amp up your poolside fun with floating speakers, cameras and walkie talkies: the Monster SuperStar BackFloat, JVC Everio GZ-R320 and Cobra CXT 1035R FLT (WSJ)
  • Apple’s Mac is now the only major PC brand that’s growing
    • Mac shipments reached 5.1 million during the second quarter, according to research firm IDC, representing 16% year-over-year growth.
    • Apple was the only of IDC’s top six global PC makers to grow shipments last quarter.
    • Overall industry shipments declined 12% to 66 million, according to IDC.
      Lenovo, the global leader, increased its share to 20%.(QZ)
  • PC Sales Continue to Fall
    Worldwide PC shipments saw their sharpest decline in nearly two years in the second quarter of 2015, dealing continued damage to retailers and makers of computers, chips and PC software.Shipments fell 9.5 percent, year on year, to 68.4 million units, according to the research firm Gartner. Rival researcher IDC, which doesn’t include tablets in its tally, tracked an 11.8 percent drop, year on year, to 66.1 million shipments during the quarter. Both firms released PC sales reports on Wednesday.(WSJ)
  • From Twitter (Abraham Thomas)
    • 0/ Ever wonder who built/owns the self-driving pods in Minority Report? Uber finally shows us how we’ll get there from here.
    • 1/ Unlimited, on-demand basic resources (food, shelter, transport) have long been a characteristic of science fiction.
    • 2/ The power of the “sharing economy” is that it offers a capitalistic (and hence realistic) model of how to deliver these.
    • 3/ With sufficient network density, sharing algorithms unlock dramatic economies of time, space and scale.
    • 4/ The efficiency gains at scale are large enough to subsidize network participants *and* pay the owners of the algo platform.
    • 5/ That’s where Uber, Airbnb, Sprig and their ilk come in. They get paid to coordinate the usage of otherwise idle resources.
    • 6/ Software is eating the world: this is the breakthrough that eluded every previous top-down resource allocation method (eg socialism).
    • 7/ Localization + computing power + increasing returns from network effects solves Hayek’s information problem. Moore’s Law wins.
    • 8/ People focus too much on the micro aspects of resource-sharing (labor policy, taxation, unit economics). They’re missing the macro.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly#121

 

  • Japan Unleashes a Robot Revolution, Its domination of the industry is challenged by Korea and China
    At the opening of Japan’s Robot Revolution Initiative Council on May 15, Abe urged companies to “spread the use of robotics from large-scale factories to every corner of our economy and society.” Backed by 200 companies and universities, the five-year, government-led push aims to deepen the use of intelligent machines in manufacturing, supply chains, construction, and health care, while expanding robotics sales from 600 billion yen ($4.9 billion) annually to 2.4 trillion yen by 2020.
    …
    Yet the government says Japan’s premier position is at risk. China has 530 robotic companies, and its market share on the mainland grew from 4 percent in 2012 to 13 percent in 2014, a worrisome trend for Japanese companies that have enjoyed solid profits there.
    …
    South Korea has doubled the size of its robot sales since 2009 to 2.4 trillion won ($2.2 billion) in 2013.
    …
    Cheaper sensors, motors, and computing power have driven the cost of some industrial robots to as low as $25,000, down from $100,000 just a few years ago. That means small and midsize companies can afford advanced machines. With Japan’s declining workforce, job displacement won’t be as much of a barrier to rolling out more machines as it would in the U.S. By 2025, Japan’s robots could shave 25 percent off factory labor costs, says BCG.
    (BusinessWeek)

 

  • South Koreans win Darpa robotics challengeThe contest is a battle of robots on an obstacle course meant to simulate conditions similar to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster.
    Team Kaist’s DRC-Hubo humanoid robot defeated 22 others to win the top $2m prize from the US Department of Defense’s Darpa research unit.
    The robots had an hour to complete a series of tasks, such as a driving a car and walking up steps.
    The challenge involved a series of tasks for the robots to complete, somewhat autonomously, with intermittent connectivity with their operators to simulate real disaster conditions. (BBC)

 

  • Why Gene-Editing Technology Has Scientists Excited
    Researchers explore the idea of treating disease by replacing defective genesA new technology for “editing” defective genes has raised hopes for a future generation of medicines treating intractable diseases like cancer, cystic fibrosis and sickle-cell anemia.Drugs of this type wouldn’t hit the mass market for years, if ever; pharmaceutical firms are only now exploring how to make drugs using the gene-editing technology, called Crispr-Cas9. But the approach offers tremendous potential for developing new treatments for diseases caused by a mutated gene. (WSJ)

 

  • UK plans world’s first artificial blood transfusions by 2017
    Specialists from NHS Blood and Transplant will work with scientists from the Universities of Bristol, Oxford and Cambridge to create lab-produced red blood cells using stem cells from adult and umbilical cord blood. The manufactured cells will then be transfused into 20 volunteers, who will be given between 5 and 10 milliliters of artificial blood. The results will then be compared transfusions via normal donations. (Engadget)

 

  • Health-Data Donors Aim to Aid Science
    One of the newest ways for people to use their medical information is offering it to researchers studying health problems that affect them or their loved ones. The concept started with rare diseases and is spreading fast to more common conditions like epilepsy and depression (WSJ)

 

  • Swedish scientists create an artificial neuron that mimicks an organic one (Kurzweilai)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly#120

  • “California has more than 800 data centers, the most of any state, according to an estimate by tech consultancy 451 Research LLC that excludes smaller computer rooms that businesses use. Based on that and estimates for water use, the state’s data centers consume roughly as much water in a year as 158,000 Olympic sized swimming pools …
    … A midsize 15-megawatt center uses between 80 million and 130 million gallons of water a year for cooling, according to industry estimates. At the high end of that range, each new facility is akin to planting 100 acres of almond trees, adding three hospitals or opening more than two 18-hole golf courses.”(WSJ)
  • Samsung Safety Truck

  • “In 2014, a robot arm that connects into the electrical activity in muscles was approved for commercial sale by the US Food and Drug Administration. The arm allows amputees to do things like climb walls and eat sushi, albeit a little slowly. It was created by DEKA, the company founded by Dean Kamen (the man behind the Segway), and funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

    Now DARPA wants to develop this technology into something that can be controlled by the brain, as easily as a human arm, by amputees, quadriplegics, or anyone in need of a new limb.” (QZ)

  • Hugo Barra Discusses Xiaomi’s U.S. Plans at Code Conference (Full Video)

  • 32,600 new planes worth nearly US$5 trillion in the next 20 years.
    From the world’s first commercial flight in 1914, to today’s 32 million flights annually, aviation has become part and parcel of our everyday lives. With some three billion air passengers, and 50 million tonnes of freight carried every year by planes, it is estimated that aviation contributes US$2.4 trillion annually to global GDP. (Airbus) [PDF]

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

Weekly#119

  • Airbus is going to build micro satellites for Oneweb to provide internet services from the space. 700 satellites will be orbiting around the earth in 2018. Each satellite weighs 150 kg. Competitors of internet service from space are
    • Elon Musk, 4000 micro satellites
    • Facebook, drones
    • Google Project Loon Baloons and Solara 50 solar powered drones (TheNextWeb)
  •  SoftBank Corp. has enlisted Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. to support its plan to bring humanoid robots out of movies and comic books and into the real world.

 

 


 

 


 

 


 

 

 

Haftalık#118

  • Twitter CEO’su Costola yerini yeni CEO atanana kadar Twitter’ın Mayıs 2007 – Ekim 2008 arasındaki ilk CEO’su Jack Dorsey’e bırakıyor.
  • Facebook messenger aylık 700 milyon aktif kullanıcıya ulaştı. Mart ayında 600 milyondu.
  •  WWDC 2015 eventinde Apple yeni MacOSX işletim sistemi olan El Capitan, iOS9, Watch OS 2 ve Apple Music’i tanıttı. Split View, Multitasking ve klavyedeki trackpad özellikleri daha büyük ekranlı iPad Pro’nun habercisi. News uygulaması Flipboard ve Zite’i etkileyebilir.
    • WSJ liveblog
    • WWDC 2015 Keynote Video

    • The Verge’in 12dklık WWDC 2015 Video Özeti
  • Homescreen ekran görüntü paylaşımı ve yeni uygulama keşfi, web sitesi ve uygulama üzerinden
  • Andy Weir’in Marslı (Martian) kitabı filme çekiliyor. Başrolde Matt Demon var. Kitabı ocak ayında okumuş ve oldukça beğenmiştim. Kitap aynı zamanda goodreads’in 2014’te en iyi bilim kurgu kitabı seçildi.

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Haftalık#117

  • Uber 5. yaşını kutluyor.
  • Google yemeklerin fotoğrafından kalori hesabı yapan bir AI uygulaması üzerinde çalışıyor.
  • Fallout 4 trailer’i yayınlandı.

  • Sergey Brin’in yatırımcılara gönderdiği mektup
  • Microsoft 2004 yılında 32 milyar doları temettü olarak dağıtmış. Chris Dixon tweet’inde acaba o dönemli internet şirketlerini satın alsaydı daha iyi olur muydu diye sormuş.
  • Ericsson Mobilite Raporu Haziran 2015 [pdf]
  • mCommerce’ün 2015 sonu %40’a ulaşması bekleniyor.
  • Öğrenciler artık uzay deneyleri yapabiliyor. Arduino tabanlı Ardusat Space Kit 150$a satılıyor.
  • Ertesi güne ait hava tahmini gösteren kutu

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Weekly#116

    • 5 Things From Google I/O That You Should Know About (WSJ)
    • Oculus Gives Ballpark Pricing for Running the Rift: $1,500 (WSJ)
    • Airbnb Is Approaching One Million Guests Per Night (re/code)
    • Google Brings Turn-By-Turn Directions To Offline Maps (Tech Crunch)
    • 4 ways Netflix data is used to improve service
    • The domestic airline industry, looking to capitalize on luggage fees and other new revenue streams after a string of profitable years, is turning to an unlikely inspiration in a new service push: Amazon.com  Airlines, including Alaska Air Group Inc., Virgin America Inc. and JetBlue Airways  re developing software to facilitate in-flight purchases through passenger mobile devices and to analyze transaction data. (WSJ)
    • Will Your Job Be Done By A Machine? (NPR)Will_Your_Job_Be_Done_By_A_Machine____Planet_Money___NPR

    • “Google Jump, unveiled at the company’s I/O developer conference, deals with the other side of the equation: How will content creators be able to easily create media for these elaborate headsets?… Jump is all about making more of that stuff. The camera system, which Google is open-sourcing, provides a way for creators to capture high-quality 3D video relatively easily. “Relatively” because you still need multiple cameras to do it — the first Jump camera, made by GoPro, has 16 of them. But Jump does the heavy lifting of ensuring all those cameras are synchronized, not to mention splicing all the footage together.” (Mashable)

    • GoPro: Land, Air and Sea – A Virtual Reality Experience

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekly#115

  • The Next Billion: London, Quartz’s forum on the mobile world (QZ) (Video Stream)
  • Google’s YouTube will now allow for live video streams that run at a high rate of 60 frames per second, double its prior limit of 30 fps. 60 fps is important for fast-growing market of videogames as spectator sports (WSJ)
  • Google added shopping elements to YouTube’s skippable pre-roll video advertisements, known as TrueView ads. During some TrueView ads, viewers will also see product offers from the same advertiser, with prices, images and a button to click that will take them to the advertiser’s website. (WSJ)
  • Google reportedly developing ‘Brillo,’ an OS for the Internet of Things
    The lightweight version of mobile operating system Android would help smart devices communicate better with each other, according to a report in The Information. (Cnet)
  • Spotify wants to keep you locked into its service by morphing into a one-stop media shop. (Cnet)
  • How accurate is the Apple Watch’s step counter and distance tracking? (Cnet)

  • 10 New Jobs People Will Have By the Year 2030

 

 

 


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Weekly#114

  • Google Says Driverless Cars Involved in 11 ‘Minor’ Accidents in 6 Years (WSJ)
  • Tesla Motors Inc. is looking at the good old-fashioned turn signal as a potential solution to a liability debate associated with driverless vehicle technology.

    The Palo Alto, Calif., electric-car maker soon will begin activating semiautonomous features, including the capability to pass other cars without driver intervention, in its Model S sedans. A driver can trigger the passing function by hitting the turn signal, according to people familiar with the technology. That action not only tells the car it can pass, but also means the driver has given thought to whether the maneuver is safe. (WSJ)

  • Uber is positioning itself as a logistics company. The goal is to deliver people and things within cities as quickly as possible — relying heavily on Google’s Maps in the process…Uber has submitted a bid for Here (Nokia Digital Mapping Service) (Nytimes)

  • Uber Fund-Raising Points to $50 Billion Valuation (Nytimes)
  • Robots, Hungry for Power, Are Too Weak to Take Over the World
    “Even the best ones are roughly 10 times less energy dense than the sugar and fat [humans eat],” Gill Pratt, Darpa’s program director for the robotics contest said on a media call.

    Worse, the robots ungainly movements consume a lot of energy.

    “Robots are also much less efficient than animals,” said Dr. Pratt, using as much as 100 times more energy to complete the same task. “You should expect to see a lot of robots fall down,” he added. (WSJ)

  • Long-Range Iris Scanning : An engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon says he’s invented technology that can identify someone from across the room with the precision of a fingerprint. (The Atlantic)
  • Carl Icahn Takes $100 Million Stake in Lyft (WSJ)

  • Dropbox has acquired Umano, a startup that provides voice actors who can read content for recordings that can be added to websites and applications. Umano announced the news today in a posting on its website. The service is shutting down. (Venture Beat)

  • Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. is testing a new use of the technology that underpins the digital currency bitcoin, in a bid to transform the trading of shares in private companies.

    The experiment joins a slew of financial-industry forays into bitcoin-related technology. If the effort is deemed successful, Nasdaq wants to use so-called blockchain technology in its stock market, one of the world’s largest, and potentially shake up systems that have facilitated the trading of financial assets for decades. (WSJ)