28 Apr 10
The Edit
The latest from our Futures & Implementation Team
Voice command your smartphone in the car
There is now one less excuse for handling your mobile whilst driving, with the announcement that Ford are extending their SYNC voice command communication and entertainment system to control smartphone applications. The in-car Microsoft system, which enables drivers to ‘voice command’ digital media, mobile phones, and other vehicle functions, has now been upgraded to also control Android and Blackberry applications. Debuting with Pandora, OpenBeak for Twitter and Stitcher radio, Ford have allocated a dedicated resource to network with Android and Blackberry developers to encourage SYNC support to be incorporated in future applications.
Smart phones just became smarter
Smart phone users will soon be allowed to pay for their purchases at retail points with new mobile application payment systems. Developers, supporting different technologies, are racing to the market eager to establish their technology as the default standard. One example, FaceCash is an application that acts as a debit card via a barcode-scanning technology, and is available on iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones. Alternatively, NXP and Inside Contactless will launch an open-source application for Android which supports contactless payments, deploying a similar swipe payment system to the Oyster card. These technologies permit smarter and more convenient standalone payment systems from banks, and may just outsmart the older card system.
Game on with Google O3D
Google have launched a new software called O3D to deliver accelerated 3D graphics to browsers. Not to be confused with Avatar-style 3D, the O3D open-source software plug-in allows developers to introduce ‘3D graphics’ to the web. The rapid migration of the 3D experience to the web will add a new dimension to consumers’ web-browsing, interactive application and, more importantly, gaming experiences.
Sony to stop selling floppy disks from 2011
30 years after Sony launched the first ever floppy disk data storage solution, it was announced this week that as of 2011 the manufacturing and direct retail sales of the product will finally draw to a close in the Japanese market. Sony began retreating from retail sales of the disks in most international markets last month. This decision has been made in the light of diminishing demand for floppy disks and competition from other storage formats, such as USB sticks, and an increasing willingness of consumers and businesses to rely on cloud storage facilities. The initial death knell for the disk was triggered in 1998, when Apple decided to not include a floppy drive in its G3 iMac computer.