I enjoyed reading JiaYi Liu’s blog post about how Apple has taken the Black Berry Messenger (BBM) and turned it into a free app for iPhone users. Jasmine Chen’s reflection on Jia’s blog was also very interesting and got me thinking. If the leading company for smartphones (Black Berry) has been over run by Apple and Samsung, what will over run those two giant phone companies? Will anything?

After some quick research I came across an in depth concept of what the future phones could be like. “Phonebloks” is an idea of a phone that has interchangeable parts where people will have complete customization ability to make their phone suit their specific needs. This concept will be revolutionary if it works and has already been shown worldwide support, which means that once this new phone is on the market, Apple and Samsung are going to be face with a rapid decrease in sales for their own phone products. Already quickly on the move, Phonebloks has decided to work along side with Motorola to further develop this new phone concept. This new phone will help to greatly reduce phone waste and give customers a phone worth keep. I look forward to seeing this product being developed and can’t wait for it to be on the public market. Watch out Apple and Samsung cause there’s soon to be a new phone in town!

References:

Phonebloks: https://phonebloks.com/plan/

JiaYi Liu’s Blog : https://blogs.ubc.ca/jiayiliu/2013/10/24/start-downloading-bbm-on-your-smartphones/

Jasmine Chen’s Blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/jazchen/2013/11/18/reponse-start-downloading-bbm-on-your-smartphones/

I read an intriguing blog post on Katrina Gao’s blog talking about the world’s first Bitcoin ATM here in Vancouver. Users deposit cash into the ATM where the bills are then read and money is exchanged instantly on the VirtEx exchange for bitcoins that are then deposited to an online wallet. The users can also withdraw cash from the machine in exchange for bitcoins in their virtual wallet. More can be read on Katrina Gao’s blog.

The name “Bitcoin” reminded me of cool concept for a new kind of credit/debit card that is already in the process of being made. A start up company based in San Fransisco has shown the world of their revolutionary “coin” card which will replace the need for an over filled wallet of credit, debit cards, reward cards, any card really. Simply just put all of your essential cards on to the coin card and take it wherever ever you go, it works just like a regular credit card but you can easily swap between different accounts and cards with the touch of a finger! So far they have raised around $50,000 and are claiming that this product will be available to the public for $100 in the summer of 2014. Coin also comes with an app for smartphone which gives the user the ability to keep track of purchases online and will also remind them if they have accidentally left their card at the bar, restaurant or wherever they may be. I think that this concept will be extremely popular and a huge success and will not only help save the environment by reducing the amount of credit cards produced but also make it convenient for users to use, a win-win! Have a look at the video below for a visual explanation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9Sx34swEG0

References:

Katrina Gao’s Blog: https://blogs.ubc.ca/katrinagao/2013/11/18/electronic-currency-breakthrough-worlds-first-bitcoin-atm-goes-live-in-vancouver/

Vancouver Sun: http://www.vancouversun.com/100K+traded+through+Vancouver+Bitcoin+week+with+video/9145774/story.html

Forbes: http://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2013/11/14/coin-tries-to-make-credit-cards-history/

Sony’s brand new release of their PlayStation 4 on Friday November 15th has had thousands positive and negative reviews in which most of them described this new system with one word; “sleek”. In just two days Sony claims to have already sold 1 million consoles in North America alone and expects that number to greatly increase over the months as they get ready to launch the PlayStation for across Europe and Australia on the 29th of November.

Everyone knows that with the release of a new product there are bound to be problems and complaints. A major issue which some of their customers are facing with this new system is when they turn it on the only thing that is displayed is a flashing blue light indicating a hardware malfunction. Already named the “blue light of death” in reference to Microsoft’s Xbox’s “red light of death”. With this and some other minor faults, Sony has calculated that this affects less than 0.4 percent of all new systems released to date. Compared to the Playstation 3 where Sony lost around $5 billion in it’s first year, this new console is a much bigger success and is more appealing to the public. With all of this said, I think the PlayStation 4 will be the gaming console of the year, or at least until the next model is released. I look forward to reading more reviews on this product and to even try it out myself!

References:

The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/18/ps4-launch-us-sales-europe

Gamasutra: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/203811/PlayStation_4_preorders_much_higher_than_its_predecessor.php

Snapchat is an app for smartphones that enables users to send short pictures and videos messages to anyone that they have as friends. Recently Snapchat was offered $3 billion in cash from Facebook and $4 billion from Google both of which were turned down founder Evan Spiegel. An interesting blog by Timothy B. Lee on the Washington-post helps to explain why Snapchat will soon be worth more than $4 billion.

Timothy goes on to explain how “Snapchat has recently revealed that it serves about 350 million “snaps” per day” and compares that to Twitters timeline views. Twitter served 287 billion timeline views in the first half of 2013 where it made $253 million in revenue.

Timothy then suggests that if each snap generated on a daily basis can bring in the same amount of revenue of Twitters daily timeline views then the company would be making around $100 million a year, with a lot of growth potential. To me this clearly shows the capability of Snapchats potential and the reasons why it turned down Google’s and Facebook’s offers. With the correct advertising and marketing skills, Snapchat will quickly be worth a lot more than $4 billion and therefor I think that Even Spiegel made the chose of turning down those two generous offers.

References:

WashingtonPost Blog: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/11/13/of-course-snapchat-could-be-worth-3-billion/

CNET News: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57602049-93/snapchat-rivals-facebook-in-photos-with-350m-snaps-per-day/

Thousands of people don’t like to wear bike helmets because they are uncomfortable and inconvenient and therefor put themselves in danger on a regular basis when traveling on by bike. Two Swedish industrial design students developed a concept of a new helmet in 2005 that replaces the traditional helmet but is essentially invisible and safer to use.

“The Invisible” helmet, or the “Hövding” as they call it, is an strong nylon airbag that is easily concealed around the users neck in a fashionable way and is deployed when a trigger mechanism based on an algorithm of traditional accidents senses potential danger. The above picture shows how the Hövding looks like when concealed and deployed.

Recently put out in the Swedish market and already with 3000 sales, one can purchase the Hövding at $558 but isn’t available in Canada until sometime next year. I find that this new helmet innovation is very intriguing and great for those who don’t enjoy wearing a traditional helmet. I also think that this new concept will not only catch on quickly and essentially replace the need for bicycle helmets but will also eventually be developed for people riding motorcycles.

References:

Global News: http://globalnews.ca/news/953302/innovative-new-invisible-bike-helmet-makes-its-way-to-canada/

The Hovding: http://www.hovding.com/en/how_it_works/

Apple released its new iTunes Radio on September 18th 2013 in the U.S.A and five days after launch bragged that it “had 11 million unique listeners on its radio service”. (The Globe and Mail) This is a huge threat to the worlds most popular streaming music platform, Pandora, who has more than 80 million users and a library of around 800,000 songs. An apparent 50 percent of Pandora listeners require an apple device to tune into their radio service, giving Apple the advantage with their new iTunes Radio app. Apple “could suck away 15 per cent of Pandora’s “listening hours” over the next six months.” (Globe and Mail)

Most of the big named players in the radio streaming industry are not in Canada because for a while Canada thought that “radio streaming [isn’t] for us” (Globe and Mail) which means that Apples iTunes Radio will be among the first, beating Pandora, to stick its foot into the vast industry in Canada. Apple will also be making iTunes radio available to the UK, Australia, New Zealand and various Nordic countries. This new iTunes radio has already shown to be boosting Apples revenue as a result in a rise in its shares of 1 percent. Apple plans to expand their new radio feature to hundreds of different countries over the years with their catchy slogan, “hear where your music takes you” (Apple) iTunes radio will be a great thing to come to Canada because the vast majority of people already own iPhones and users will now feel like an unlimited amount of music streaming capability is right at their finger tips.

Sources: Apple http://www.apple.com/itunes/itunes-radio/

The Globe and Mail http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/gadgets-and-gear/gadgets/apple-will-bring-itunes-radio-streaming-music-to-canada-report-says/article14740224/

Bloomberg http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-07/apple-said-to-expand-itunes-radio-to-u-k-before-pandora.html

Vehicles with Wi-Fi capability are the next big thing that is soon to arrive in Canada. Launched in the U.S last year, this new technology will be available to Canadians in 2014. Rogers Communications Inc. is partnering with Sprint Corp to start the process of developing a car with wireless internet capacity that enables drivers to access the internet right in their car no matter where they are on the road.

This new “connected car” will virtually turn peoples cars into moving living rooms where they will have the ability to use a touch screen dashboard to access weather networks, news, YouTube, Google, etc. The Sprint Velocity technology along with Rogers wireless capability will not only allow people to access the internet but they’ll be able to remotely start their engines from their smartphones thus giving them the ability to heat up their car before hand for those cold wintery days. Roger, along with many other corporate giants, look at this as a huge revenue stream in the very near future because more and more “drivers demand vehicles with the same technology and services they have at home.” (BNN)

As of now not much is known for pricing for the use of Rogers Wi-Fi in vehicles, but they are leaning towards the idea of being able to add it onto an already existing family share plan for convenience and consumers preference. No matter the device, they should all be on the same Rogers family plan; smart phones, tablets, and now even cars. I look forward to seeing this new car technology in Canada in action come 2014!

Source: BNN http://www.bnn.ca/News/2013/9/26/WiFi-enabled-vehicles-coming-to-Canada.aspx

Twitter is working hard to implant itself into the TV advertising economy and in recent months has partnered itself “with television content owners such as CBS, MTV and the NFL through a program it calls Amplify.” (Canadian Business) They seek to up their TV advertisement revenue stream from its current %1 to a potential %5-15 over the next couple of years. Twitter is pursuing to undertake a bigger role in the TV advertising economy because their statistics show that it generates thousands of tweets about live TV shows every hour. For example, “the recent finale of “Breaking Bad” generated a record 1.24 million tweets. The conversation peaked at 22,373 tweets per minute according to analytics firm SocialGuide.” (Canadian Business)

With constant and growing consumer interacting between live TV shows and thousands of tweets, Twitter is looking to use their social networking platform in ways that allows marketers to directly connect with consumers by allowing them to “beam real time video-clips to Twitter users who may have seen —or could be interested in — their TV programming.” (Canadian Business) In conclusion, twitter will be used as another social face for mobile TV advertisement and look to use this as an advantage over Facebook who as of now says they aren’t seeking to earn revenue from TV partnerships but instead “focus on helping people discover great content”. (Canadian Business)

Source: Canadian Business http://www.canadianbusiness.com/business-news/twitter-tunes-into-tv-chatter-sees-future-in-advertising-partnerships-2/

Ever heard of Monsanto? Their Genetically Modified (G.M’s) seeds such as corn, canola, soybeans and cotton have changed todays food industry immensely and that of the life of the everyday farmer. Their products have been modified in ways that help to speed up their growth rate, production size, longevity and resistance to pests and insects and in a way have essentially replaced the naturally grown seeds that farmers used to use. Because Monsanto is an industrial giant  and have the ability to buy out any small business they desire, they now own around 90 percent of the soybean market and huge portions of other food products (corn, canola and cotton) in the U.S and have virtually began taking over the life of the farmers. How?

They’ve patented their G.M seeds and can sue those who are growing them without their consent. Many farmers have lost their land to grow their own products because Monsanto’s seeds would be carried through the wind and start growing on land that isn’t theirs. These G.M seeds have a specific DNA code in which Monsanto is able to identify if it’s their plant or not and in turn can take action to bully farmers into either leaving their land or joining Monsanto’s quest in controlling the food industry with G.M products. They’ve already been putting millions of dollars into research of how to G.M cows so that they produce more milk and faster.

Monsanto claims to have found the solution to world hungry and lack of food and believes they are doing the ethical thing by producing these G.M products for the world but in reality are doing the unethical thing by bullying farmers and giving them no chance of survival unless they join Monsanto and use their G.M seeds. This is a growing concern all across the world because even though Monsanto claims that their G.M seeds are safe and healthy and are doing the ethical thing, we still have no idea what the long term effects are of consuming these products. Maybe thirty years down the road people will start showing signs of cancer and other diseases from consuming these G.M products. I believe that Monsanto is among the top most evil businesses out there and are doing the unethical thing for how they’ve treated the everyday farmer.

Resourses: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805

http://graphics2.snopes.com/message/monsanto.jpg

http://www.jeffreyhollender.com/?p=208