New Florence. New Renaissance.

Your drug store is watching you

A startup named Cooler Screens is piloting a new door for commercial freezers and refrigerators that’s equipped with a camera, motion sensors, and eye tracking in six Walgreens pharmacies around the country, including the one off of Union Square. The doors can discern your gender, your general age range, what products you’re looking at, how long you’re standing there, and even what your emotional response is to a particular product.

The company says that the doors don’t store any of this data, which is anonymized, meaning that it won’t know that when you go to your local pharmacy you always buy ice cream (however, studies have shown that anonymized data, especially in cities, is possible to de-anonymize). Instead, it will use the data it’s collecting on you in real time to show you ads and promotions that the algorithm has determined might be relevant to you.

Fast Company

FullDoorOfVideos2 from Cooler Screens on Vimeo.

 

 

 

Dashboard hologram

EyeLights’ Eyedrive smart device, that allows a driver to see GPS directions, music playlists and incoming calls through a hologram that appears on the car’s window. A tablet-like device sits on the car’s dashboard, and, once connected to the phone’s GPS and music apps, will project the directions or music track onto the windshield — large enough that everyone in the car can see it. Since it’s activated by voice or gestures, the driver never has to look away from the road.

New York Times

 

Not your Dad's pickup truck

With all-new heavy-duty trucks coming from cross-town rivals Ram and Chevrolet (as well as GMC), it's no surprise that Ford is eager to update its 3-year-old F-Series Super Duty. When it goes on sale this fall, the 2020 Super Duty will bring new engines, updated styling and an extensive list of active-safety technology to the big-truck fight.

Read this CNET article for all the mind blogging features such as the 10-speed 7.3-liter pushrod V8 and towing capacity of 35,000 pounds.

Watch this vid for tech for other features in this monster

 

Bird is the Word

But many residents of this beachfront community--long a haven for cyclists, skateboarders, inline and roller skaters, and Razor scooterers--proved far more enthusiastic. Chaos quickly ensued. Citizens piloted Birds on the sidewalk (illegally). Teens caused mayhem by ignoring traffic laws while double-riding. Pedestrians tripped over discarded scooters that clogged the walkways. There were accidents, serious head injuries--Birds zip along at 15 miles an hour, and few trying them out wore helmets--and hundreds of tickets issued to riders. There was a protest. There was a counterprotest. Six months after the scooters appeared, Bird agreed to pay $300,000 to settle a nine-count misdemeanor criminal complaint levied by the city attorney's office.

In other words, everything went more or less according to plan. Bird unleashed a cultural phenomenon, sparked a VC frenzy, and remains the clear leader of a renegade group of e-scooter rideshare outfits that includes Lime, Scoot, Skip, Spin, Jump (owned by Uber), and Lyft, with more seemingly arriving every day. "Bird is the classic example of a startup looking like a toy and people underestimating and dismissing it," says David Sacks, an early PayPal executive who invested in the company's seed round. "It's low-cost transportation that's perfect for cities."

Inc's company of the year

 

Porsche 911: The definition of continuous improvement

Porsche’s answer is as simple as it is brutal: It will advance the 911 in perpetuity by making every conceivable metric and component just a hair better, over and again. If you bump everything by just 2 or 3 percent, you might enjoy a 2 or 3 percent improvement in lap times, which Webber will attest is enough to stay ahead of the pack, at least on the track.

In the case of the new 911—known by Porschephiles by its internal 992 designation and initially available as the S model and the all-wheel-drive 4S—that means tweaking key chassis, body, powertrain, and electronics elements. In the rear, the new 3-liter flat-6 engine receives new, more precise fuel injectors, higher compression, and asymmetrical valve strokes that improve fuel efficiency and smooth out performance. Larger, now symmetrical turbochargers respond faster, improving efficiency and power delivery. The improvements push the engine from 420 to 443 horsepower, and torque from 368 to 390 pound-feet.

Wired

The video shows some of the history and design of version 7 of the classic and its introduction at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show.

Digital License Plate

Yes, the stubbornly unchanging, unconnected rectangles that have been identifying cars for well over a century are finally getting a new look. The makeover, which comes courtesy of Silicon Valley startup Reviver Auto, is an Amazon Kindle–like display that bolts onto the front or back of the car, and does more than just show the standard plate number and state-celebrating miscellany. It lets you update the registration stickers on your car through an app instead of dealing with the DMV. It can display Amber alerts. It can be used as a miniature, knee-level billboard (when the car is parked). If someone steals the car, it can read “$NDHLP!” or the more serious “Stolen Vehicle.” It can double as your E-Z Pass, FasTrak, or whatever RFID-based device you use to pay tolls. It can track your car’s location, so you can keep tabs on your teenager. “It’s a platform that supports a lot of different functionality,” says Reviver cofounder and CEO Neville Boston. “I see it less as a license plate and more as a communication portal.”

Wired

 

The Super Bowl tech laden venue

The tech-laden Mercedes-Benz Stadium opens up a lot of opportunity for a broadcast team. The stadium won the SportTechie Award for Most Innovative Venue last year and, unlike older venues, has much of the infrastructure in place for CBS to do more.

“New stadiums just make the setup better. They’re wired better, ready for the technology,” said Bryant, also a SVP for production at CBS Sports. “Once you get the base in place, then you can make sure all the new toys and gadgets are working.”

Bryant said he’s going to look into placing cameras “in places that you wouldn’t normally put cameras,” including up high in the stadium’s overhead, circular videoboard. For both the Super Bowl and the season, he added that CBS is exploring additional augmented and virtual reality tools for video and graphics, at least in pregame coverage.

“We’re in a golden age because [technology] continues to get better,” Bryant said. “Every year, there’s a new level of high-speed camera or better quality audio or some type of enhanced replay device.”

SportTechie

The new neighborhood watch

Neighbors, an app launched by Ring, Amazon's smart-doorbell company. It's free to download and use, and lets people share, view and comment on crime and security information in their communities. Most of the posts are video clips shot by Ring video doorbells and security cameras.

Ring CEO Jamie Siminoff said in an interview last month that he sees Neighbors as a major part of his company's development, using the app to help more people work together to reduce crime in their communities. The app, which launched in the US in May, has over a million active users sharing information on alleged crimes and suspicious behavior, Siminoff said.

CNET

 

Smart apps for smart TVs

These days, you can easily run an app on your television—just invest in a software-packed smart TV or a video-streaming device that plugs into your existing set. Whichever option you choose, you'll find that the same program you have on your smartphone works differently on the bigger screen. For one, it spreads the visuals over a much larger display. And in a second difference, you have to control the TV with a remote control or gamepad rather than a touchscreen.

PopSci

Dion Hinchcliffe's "Every Day Carry"

Dion Hinchcliffe is one of my favorite analysts. I absolutely love his coverage of digital technologies. His slides are pure eye candy. 

I look forward to meeting him at events, even though we hardly ever talk enterprise tech. I live vicariously through his tales of exotic travel and foodie meals. And to be honest, I am usually curious about the latest gadget he is tagging along. Its always something new - last time I saw him it was the Insta360 video camera.

I managed to convince him to open up what I call his toy bag – he calls it his "Every Day Carry". If that is his EDC for business travel, imagine the drones, GPS trackers and other stuff he takes on his hikes with his twins. And how wired his car and home must be? 

I think I will have to make his EDC an annual feature for this blog. Bet it is filled with completely new items each year, especially after he discovers goodies at each CES. 

A - Apple iPad Pro 10.5"

B - A5 Memobottle (slides into bag easily and without bulk)

C - Belkin Portable Apple Watch Charger (for my Series 3 cellular)

D - Apple Earpods with Wireless Charging Case (so you can just drop it on a wireless charger)

E - Jawbone Portable Bluetooth Speakerphone

F - Tap Wearable Keyboard (for typing on the go, even when hands full pulling luggage)

G - Insta360 Full 360 Degree Video Camera (shoots everything in every direction, then you extract the shots you want)

H - OmniCharge 20 Ultra High Capacity USB Smart Battery Bank (for keeping everything charged)

I - Tough Braided USB/Lightning Charge Cables (anything else shreds after a few hard trips)

J - Novt Horizontal Folding Keyboard (can slip into blazer pocket for minimal carry, I use for live tweeting/blogging)

K - Micro Bluetooth Earbud - For calls/music with Apple Watch while walking/running, no phone required)

L - Anker PowerPort combined Adapter with Battery and USB-C (backup battery + wall adapter for OmniCharge as well as USB-C plug)

M - JBL Clip (best sounding portable travel bluetooth music speaker, hands down, can be clipped on anything)

N - Lightning adapters for HDMI, power + audio, and VGA

O - Bowers & Wilkins PX headphones (amazing travel headphones with bluetooth)

P - Tumi Card Case

Q - Tumi Coin Purse (for Europe, where they still use coins)

R - Travel Receipt Bag

S - TSA approved multitool including screwdrivers, bottle opener, 18 tools in all (has saved the day several times)

T - Emergency Lightning charger (if all else fails)

U - Smallest Lightning Multicharger (iPad, iPhone, and Apple Pencil at once)

V - Antislip Pads for Electronics on Small Airplane Trays

W - SD Card Wallet and Lightning Reader (always too full of pics and videos)

X - DJI Mavic Pro Drone (best drone on the market until the Mavic 2 came out, I get amazing aerials of tech events)

Y - DJI Mavic Remote Control

Not shown but honorable mention: Beam Authentic Wearable Wireless Name Badge (for custom badges during conferences)