Environmentalism and Social Media

In a recent article I read from Mashable Tech, it encourages social media users to use their influence to help save the environment. Most of the research was done by a company called Recyclebank, which rewards companies for going green. According to Recyclebank, “if everyone on Facebook shortened his or her shower by one minute, we would save enough water to fill 1,136,364 Olympic-sized swimming pools.” These kinds of statistics are showing up on social media websites to help inform the public, and show them how they can make a difference. There are a lot of other really cool statistics on the website too.

Kids Send Camera Into Space on a Ballon

Some kids from Wonderland Elementary School set up the first ever stratospheric 3D video shoot using a balloon.

The footage shows the durability of modern HD cameras. It is crazy to think that this camera can survive the immense heat and pressure of traveling to and from space. If you watch the video you will see very cool images brought by this little camera attached to a contraption and a ballon. It is really cool to see how technology will be able to benefit us so greatly in the future.

Motorola Droid Razr 32GB Review

Since one of my family members recently purchased a Droid Razr over an iPhone, I decided to take a look at what people were saying about this phone to see why it was so great. I took a look at a review of this phone from cnet.com. The feature that I think is the coolest is the fact that this is one of the first smartphones to be water-repellent. Before if you wanted a really tough phone, you would eliminate the “smart” capabilities of your phone. This phone also offers cool features like a very large display, thin and attractive design, 8 Megapixel camera, and Verizon’s 4G/LTE speeds. I am definitely not ready to give up my iPhone for a droid right now, but this phone looks really cool. I might have to play with my dads for awhile to get used to it. The iPhone has one thing that an Android phone will never have, easy use-ability.

A Watch That Sync’s With Your Smartphone?

In a recent article that I read from Mashable Tech, there is a kick starter idea for a watch that that sync’s with your iPhone or Android. The watch allows you to change songs, check the time, and also look to see who is calling/texting you. The idea put on kickstarter.com got $500,000 of funding in one day. It seems to me like people really like this idea and it is going to be huge. As of right now, April 14th the watch has about 2.5 million dollars of funding right now. The watch is going to sell for $149, which doesn’t seem too bad to me.

Nokia Lumia PureView Concept

This new windows phone, is supposed to be Nokia’s next big phone. In this article, it talks about the features of the phone as well as other things. This phone will feature a 4.3 inch curved HD touchscreen and Nokia’s intriguing 41-megapixel camera sensor. The thing that I find most fascinating is the curved glass used for the touch screen. I heard something about Apple trying to make a phone with curved glass which is a very cool concept. The article is still skeptical about this phone but again it is a cool concept. I would like to see lesser phone companies like Nokia start to make a better name for themselves.

Are Google Glasses the Future?

In a recent article I read from PC World, the article talks about whether Google’s glasses are just hype or reality. This new technology that Google plans to release soon, I believe is the future of technology. The video on the website shows how you can interact with everyday life with wearing these glasses. It is really a cool concept, and I think it will change the way people go about their everyday life. The article says that the video just isn’t possible with todays technology. It doubts that these glasses will be released anytime soon. I still think it is really cool to think about though.

Did Forbes April Fools Joke Go To Far?

Earlier today Forbes ran a story that said:

“In a surprise move, Mitt Romney announced today that he is ending his presidential campaign and throwing his support behind    Rick Santorum. The move shocked observers, including Senator Santorum, as Governor Romney seemed poised for a decisive victory in Wisconsin.

The governor, however, said he concluded that he has ‘no chance’ to win the general election in December and that a Santorum candidacy in 2012 would be in the ‘best interest of the party.’”

In an article I read from Mashable Tech, not to everyones surprise the news article ran by Forbes ended up in Googles number one news spot. Google News wasn’t very happy about this April fools joke which makes me a little angry. Isn’t Google the company every year that always has the crazy April fools jokes? If anything, companies and consumers should get mad at Google for doing pranks like saying they were partnering with Nascar or introducing Google Tap which reduces a keyboard to just 2 keys. They have pulled some pretty funny pranks in their time, but they can’t get mad at another company, Forbes, for trying to have a little fun too.

Is RIM all but out of the Smartphone Industry?

In a recent article I read from Mashable Tech, it talks about how RIM has posted its first losses in seven years. The smartphone giant at one point, which produced Blackberry’s, is struggling with the success of Apple, Google, and Microsoft in the market. The article then goes on to talk about Blackberry 10, which is Blackberry’s new device software, and how it is the last glimmer of hope for the company. If Blackberry 10 doesn’t work the company probably won’t survive at least in the consumer market. RIM will be an interesting company to follow to see what they do if Blackberry 10 doesn’t meet expectations.

Apple’s iPhones too small?

In a recent article I read from cnet.com the topic of choice was the iPhone being too small. Also, the article talks about rumors of the iPhone 5 as well. The rumors of lately are talking about a larger screen for the iPhone 5. While iPhone’s have been seemingly getting slightly smaller, Android phones have been making their screens slightly larger. The author personally talks about how he is not in favor of a large screen, because after all he wants his phone to still be compact. I can see the pros and cons of both but what I think Apple should do is keep the same body for the phone but just stretch the screen out more to cover more of the face of the phone. With so many iPhone 5 rumors circulating the net these days, it is very hard to tell what is true and what is not. I guess we will have to wait til the summer time to know exactly what it will look like.

Pinterest To Release API

In a recent article from TechCrunch, it talks about what we talked in class about API’s. I know we mentioned in class about how Pinterest would come out with an API soon and here it is. The article also talks about how they are updating their terms of service to make way for the API. The new terms of service are becoming like the ones for Facebook. They “put a much stronger emphasis on how Pinterest can commercially use the information you post on the site.” It looks to me like Pinterest is here to stay for awhile and the website is going to get bigger. More about the API, the article states “The Pinterest API will likely bring more of the functionality of Pinterest out of the site, but also make it easier for users to pin content to Pinterest from other places.” It will be very interesting to see how this thing develops and where it goes.