They may not be able to afford them, but homeless people need cellphones too. Those who can afford them tend to be disconnected after a while for not being able to pay their bills – a problem that takes them out of the social services loop. But a recent hackathon from a Silicon Valley non-profit […]
Google, Facebook Vie for Africa; AI Threat; Kaspersky Denies KGB Ties
Posted March 24th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Battle for African Internet Users Stirs Freedom Fears Africa is expected to have as many as 360 million smartphones and 50 percent Internet penetration by 2050, according to data from McKinsey Consultants. And Google and Facebook are paying attention and offering controversial freebies as they vie for the continent’s Internet users. […]
Mobile Spans Language Gap to Aid Human Trafficking Victims
Posted March 6th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Technological wizardry is quick to provide solutions to many of the world’s problems these days — from sanitation and water purification to connectivity. The latter is now coming to the aid of millions of enslaved people around the world. A mobile solution from the Mekong Club, a non-profit group dedicated to fighting slavery, helps identify […]
Future of Mobile; Robot Aides; Apple, Google Security Woes
Posted March 4th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Will Robots Help the Bedridden See the World? Seven museums are participating in a beta program to test Suitable Technologies’ Beam telepresence robot. The remotely-controlled, camera-equipped mobile robot can be steered from a laptop to help bedridden people explore museums they are otherwise unable to visit in person. Five Keys to Future of […]
Mobile in 2015; Bionic Arms; Printed Leaves; Rise of China’s Brands
Posted February 25th, 2015 at 2:47 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Mind-Controlled Bionic Hands Are Medical First No, it’s not science fiction. There are already three men in the world today outfitted with bionic arms that they control with their minds. The patients, who suffered nerve damage in climbing and motorcycle accidents, had their hands amputated and replaced with robotic hands in a […]
3D-Scanning Ethiopia’s History; Lenovo’s Superfish; Indonesia Smartphones
Posted February 24th, 2015 at 2:46 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: 3D Laser Scanner Makes Haunting Works of Art Historians Charles Matz and Jonathan Michael Dillon use 3D Lidar scanning — a technology that uses pulses of light to map 3D structures — to help preserve Ethiopia’s historic sites. Inadvertently, they turned their scanning device into a tool for creating works of art. […]
Watson Learns Japanese; Hospital Robots; Samsung’s Smart TV Debacle
Posted February 11th, 2015 at 2:00 pm (UTC-5)
Today’s Tech Sightings: Gaming Can Give Troubled Teens Another Shot at Learning Game developer Kuato’s game, Hakitzu, a hit in London schools, already has been used in more than 1 million coding sessions. The game lets students, some of whom have had various issues, learn how to code by leading a robot through an adventure-shooter scenario. […]
The Pope’s Hangout; Privacy Invasions; Sleeping With Your Gadgets
Posted February 4th, 2015 at 2:16 pm (UTC-5)
Pope Francis to Address World’s Children on Google Hangouts Pope Francis is getting ready to host his second video chat on Google Hangouts on Thursday. Sponsored by his educational entity Scholas, the Pope’s chat will feature questions from children with special needs and disabilities from Spain, Brazil, India and the US. China to Ban Online […]
Apps That Connect, Apps That Help
Posted January 23rd, 2015 at 3:02 pm (UTC-5)
There is a mobile app for everything these days — from chatting to gaming, from learning to health and fitness. More recent apps glean users’ tastes to match them with others like them or parse their language to connect them with people they might be looking for. And then there are apps for emergencies that […]