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 […]
Mobile Spans Language Gap to Aid Human Trafficking Victims
Global Connectivity; Universal Wireless Charging; an App for your Teeth
Today’s Tech Sightings In Race Over Global Connectivity, Everyone Wins Google and Facebook have been thinking of big ways to connect the world’s 4 billion unconnected people to the Internet, including satellites and wireless balloons, among other things. And the CEOs of both companies had a chance this week to rally support for their efforts […]
Future of Mobile; Robot Aides; Apple, Google Security Woes
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 […]
Connectivity vs. Privacy; Huawei Thinks Big; US-EU Digital Gap
Today’s Tech Sightings The Disturbing Consequences of Ultra-Connectivity The meaning of connectivity is taking on a whole new meaning as it extends to everyday gadgets, cars, implants and much more. And that opens up new possibilities for abuse of privacy and security. Mobile World Congress: Huawei Wants to Take on Apple In an interview […]
ITU: No Deadline Extension for Africa on Digital Switch
African countries that fail to make the switch from analogue to digital broadcasting beginning in June will not get an extension and will lose international protection rights, according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies. While the deadlines were reached consensually in 2006 and some African […]
Ramnit Botnet Busted; Lenovo Hacked; Beijing Drops Apple; Vivec Wadhwa
Today’s Tech Sightings: ‘State of Connectivity’ Says Most World Population Not Online A new report from Facebook Newsroom said Internet adoption is slowing down, with only 6.6 percent of the population getting connected in 2014, compared to the 2010 record of 14.7 percent. The report estimated that up to 3 billion people will go online […]
Mobile in 2015; Bionic Arms; Printed Leaves; Rise of China’s Brands
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
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. […]
New Tools Heat Up Censorship Arms Race
Online censorship may be as old as the Internet, but in today’s high-tech world, it is increasingly a perpetual arms race between censors looking for better ways to probe and muzzle, and a circumvention community looking to help the censored get and send information while protecting their digital identity. Circumvention Aids Flashproxy makes it easier […]
Red Envelopes From China; Superfishy Lenovo; Sony; Bitcoin Auction
Chinese Usher in Lunar New Year on WeChat With a Billion Virtual Red Envelopes The annual tradition of gifting red envelopes with token money went online yesterday as the Chinese celebrated the new lunar year on the popular messaging app WeChat, also known as Weixin in China. Weixin users, said to number more than 400 million, […]