Touchscreen Kiosks to Take Over New York Subways

In the middle of March, New York City’s famous subway system has been invaded. Admittedly, there are no aliens involved, but the technology does look decidedly futuristic – interactive, touch screen kiosks have landed.
They look like they could have been in Minority Report or Blade Runner, and have well and truly modernised the old system of dirty, rusty, static maps. Designed from the ground up, specifically for the subway system, these touch screens have brought the future to an aging traffic service.
A Vision of Futurism
The touch screen kiosks measure 47 inches on the diagonal, and are set to touch down in the busiest stations first, such as the world famous Grand Central Station, and Jackson Heights in Queens. Sure, they’re essentially just glorified subway maps, but we predict that they’re on course to change the way you travel forever.
Designed by the Big Apple’s very own Control Group, they will be installed at no cost to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, who are currently struggling with their revenue, and the bill will instead be footed by their designers. Don’t worry that Control Group are about to bankrupt themselves, however – they have done this in exchange for full creative control, which will include any profits that the machines might bring in.
They are currently on a pilot scheme, scheduled to run for about thirty months, after which it will be decided whether to expand upon the rollout or not. Of course, this means that the current kiosks are not working to their full capacity, but even in their present state, they’re nothing short of an information revolution.
Not Your Average Kiosk
Sure, current touch screen kiosks are nice, but this is a whole new ball game. Most screens use capacitive tech – these don’t. Oh no, these use a completely new kind of kiosk touch screen technology, one which uses what is known as “dispersive signal” receptors.
The touch layer, instead of being electrically conductive, has sensors in each corner, which measure the vibrations from your touching the screen and use them to calculate where exactly you prodded. This means that you’ll need to change how you press – instead of using your fingertip, it’s best to give it a bit of a flick with your nail.
If you’re a bit of a germophobe, here’s some good news – you don’t even have to touch the screens with your hand! Just use a pen or a coin; it’s fine! They’re said to be nigh on indestructible, so there’s no need to worry. And there’s no panic if they get dirty; they can just be hosed down!
So What Do They Do?
Well, for a start, they’re a vast improvement at telling users about any service disruptions – they can be updated in real time, giving you the very latest information at the touch of a button. And with their in-built notification system, you don’t have to go searching for info about delays; it’s already there.
And best of all, try going to Grand Central Station and tapping, say, Union Square. The map will give you the quickest route, and even tell you how long it should take. When you get there, the map can tell you interesting things to do in the area! The future is coming.

Feedly gets 3 million users in just 2 weeks!

Feedly has received 3 million new users following the announcement of the closure of Google Reader; that too only within 2 weeks. A number really unbelievable! And as the startup does not keep both feet in the same shoe, it advances its application continuously. For proof, Feedly today announced a new version of its RSS aggregator for mobile / tablet and computer. The first visible change when it connects to the player via Desktop is the automatic expansion of the play area to the entire screen. -An advanced search engine, faster and allows auto completion and displaying the results (with related tags) in real time as and when you type the keywords. Content discovery is (besides our RSS feed added) among the 50 million streams identified by the aggregator. A file-"Must Reads" which allows you never miss the most important items among the feeds that matter most. You must go to each feed are considered important Must Reads check the box and the file will appear at the top left, just below "Today" and before "All". See the overview screen Smartphone below: To refresh the content on your phone in 1 second, Feedly has added a "Pull to refresh". Always mobile, the new default view (my favorite) is the one that shows only the Securities News (can scan faster news a glance). Buttons-sharing and backup: they are numerous and really take time to practice on Feedly. In one click, you can send an article about Twitter, Facebook, Google +, the email or any application available on your phone, in Pocket (to read later) or saved items of Feedly (File "Saved for Later") in Buffer (to post later), copy the link of the post in the clipboard, etc. About its business model now, according to Techcrunch, Feedly will opt for the Freemium: free for everyone and paying for users who want to have more options, such as Dropbox and Evernote integration in particular, but also access to newspapers usually Pay by subscription. Charging is quite healthy and will reassure the sustainability of the service in the long term. For RSS readers have top but not sure they will succeed to survive in six months, it's not looking that most aggregators users.

Panasonic Lumix GF6 unfolds!

Panasonic on Tuesday unfolded the Lumix GF6, successor of the Lumix GF5 which is a hybrid device. Its sophisticated menu includes Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity. The new device from Panasonic offers a built-in flash, a new Live MOS sensor of 16 megapixels, but also with Wi-Fi Direct and NFC connectivity. The monitor is of 3-inch tilting touch screen, can also be rotated up to 180 degrees so you can use the particular device self-portrait. Finally, GF6 can reach a sensitivity of ISO 3200 and ISO 25600 automatic mode to manual mode. In video, GF6 captures movies in Full HD to 50i. As such GF5, it offers 19 different photo filters and the ability to create stop motion animation with several shots. The main new features, Wi-Fi and NFC allow such as Smartphone or tablet to remotely trigger the camera in order to capture images remotely. The Panasonic Lumix GF6 is available in black, white, and brown and red. It will be released mid-May to 699 Euros for the version with motorized lens Powerz oom 14-42, 549 Euros for the standard kit with 14-42 lens and 749 Euros for a double kit with 14-42 lenses and a second 45 - 150.

Intel Announces Next Generation Thunderbolt

Intel announced next generation of Thunderbolt with Ultrafast connectivity that would be twice as fast as today. Intel disclosed in a press conference that they were already working on an evolution of its connections. In doing so, the Thunderbolt is gradually approaching the promise of 100 Gbits per channel promised Light Peak, the original concept. Today, the Thunderbolt can send and receive data at 10 Gbps. Version 2.0 will double this rate to a increase of 20 Gbps. Coupled with its ability bidirectional transfer, this increased speed allows the user to watch a Ultra HD video while transferring a file at the same time and all this with a single cable connected between the computer and an external disk at the same instance. This new version of the Thunderbolt will be available in 2014 Intel added.

To take advantage, it will market a PC and devices with a chip Thunderbolt fourth generation and is code name "Falcon Ridge". In addition to his prodigious rates, the Thunderbolt is able to chain several devices together. Connected to each other, they communicate the same way with the computer as the first device connected to it. At the beginning of the project, Intel was mocked because they used copper in the very beginning instead of optical fiber which is the darling of manufacturers. While Apple was the first to trust Intel Thunderbolt implanting in its machines, it is now more than 200 manufacturers have taken a license.

Apple acquires WiFiSlam

Apple confirmed on March 24 the acquisition of a start-up in Silicon Valley, called WiFiSlam specializing in designing map applications for smart phones. Apple hopes to develop its expertise in the field of inland navigation, facilitating the movement of users of such technology within public buildings. Technology WiFiSlam uses WiFi nearby user to determine the exact position - with an accuracy of 2.5 meters - of the smart phone holder. As usual, Apple has confirmed the purchase, but without giving details about it. The news was leaked at first by The Wall Street Journal, citing a person familiar with the case and that the Cupertino Company would have paid a whopping $ 20 million for the sapling.

Apple (Plans) and Google (Google Maps) are in a race to provide their users with better mapping and GPS tools. The company led by Tim Cook had even publicly apologized to the poor quality of the first GPS tool developed at the launch of the iPhone 5. Paradoxically, WiFiSlam be the work of two former Google employees. According to TechCrunch WiFiSlam could count on the support of angel investors including Naval Ravikant, Don Dodge and Felix Shipman. Recall that Apple has a war chest of about U.S. $ 137 billion in combined cash and investments, without calculating the cash flows generated from the last quarter. The Apple also presents its latest financial results on April 23. As its stock (AAPL-Q) is currently trading around U.S. $ 443, after playing in a swing between 419 and $ 705 range.