Important Innovations

Using Artificial Intelligence to Track Your Feathered Friends                                                  Source: Bird Buddy Bird Buddy If you love to watch and feed birds, this new technology will enthrall you as it takes you into a new space of flight.  It's a smart bird feeder called Bird Buddy that through artificial intelligence and, a lot more technology, acquaints you with the species of birds coming into your feeder for a treat.  It recognizes more than 1,000 bird species including your favorite locals like Robins, Blue Jays and Chickadee's.  But, you also learn about migrating birds from faraway places who are making a stop at your smart feeder as they travel across oceans and visit your backyard.  It lets you know if your backyard is an international destination place.  You can even add a solar roof to pr...

  GetGo - New Technology Experiment at Tesco in London                                             Source:  Tesco Supermarket Chain UK & Amazon Palm Pay Mobile Apps & Seamless Checkouts - Big New Grocery Trend Tesco, the United Kingdom's largest supermarket chain, is testing a scan-less - just walk in and walk out - grocery payment system that is based on a mobile app.  The trial is called Tesco GetGo.  To buy groceries without scanning the items or going through the checkout, the shopper, when they enter the store, needs to download the Tesco mobile app.  All items that the shopper selects are tracked and charged to the shopper's Tesco account.  The transaction is finalized on a QR code that is scanned by the customer's phone. Tesco says a receipt is provided to the customer within minutes.  This time-savings, no cu...

  IATA Travel Pass                                                                                  Source:  IATA Moving Toward Quarantine Free Travel The global airline industry is launching a free, new app to help passengers get back to quarantine-free travel.  It's called the IATA Travel Pass and is being spearheaded by the International Air Transportation Association or IATA, on behalf of its 290 airline members. Digital Identity The app provides four primary functions: Global registry of health requirements for each country so that passengers know what they need to provide to enter their destination Global registry of testing and vaccination centers so passengers can make an appointment before their departure to the destination Lists of...

  Google App, Smartphone, AI & a Runner's Determination                                             Source:  Thomas Panek's 5K Blind Runner Does 5K Run With No Human or Dog Assistance This is a news story that is so uplifting! A blind runner, in New York City, ran a 5K or 3.1 miles in Central Park without a guide dog or any human help.  He did it on his own with navigation provided by artificial intelligence through his headphones connected to his smartphone.  The runner is Thomas Panek, who is a well known blind person dedicated to running and also to running his Guiding Eyes for the Blind, that trains guide dogs to assist the blind.  Panek is an innovator and adventurer who just keeps on pushing the limits of his own successes.  Those successes have a great deal of application to all of us. Personal Journey to Google Panek ...

VOIXATCH with Bluetooth Headset Built-In Source:  VOIXATCH Watch with Artificial Intelligence and a Voice The VOIXATCH smartwatch's capabilities seem endless.  It has all the functionality of a smartphone on a cellular enabled smartwatch with a built-in Bluetooth headset.  You can detach the headset from the watch with the press of a button and place it around your ear.  It enables you to answer calls coming in over your smartwatch. You can also listen to music, other audio sources and send voice texts.  And, that's not all. Multitasking Smartwatch VOIXATCH has a heartbeat sensor, a gyroscope, GPS, LTE, Google Voice Assistant and its own Google voice assistant. It also has its own SIM Card. Lots of Battery Time The system has a battery life of 48 hours. And, the headset can be instantly recharged by anchoring it back inside the watch.  You can even provide voice commands through the watch's artificial intelligence.  It's ...

New Polaroid Lab Device Source:  Polaroid Lab From the Cloud to the Real World Polaroid Lab has invented a device that enables you to turn digital images from your smartphone to instant Polaroid photos. These are hard copy photos from digital images that you can put in a photo album or place on your fridge to remind you of the "Polaroid moment". Elegantly Simple The new device is simple to use.  You select an image from your phone using a companion app.  Then, you place the phone with the selected digital image face down on the Polaroid device.  You push a button and with a combination of light, mirrors and Polaroid "chemistry" the system gives you an instant photo copy of the digital image.  This takes your digital photos from the Cloud back to the real world as tangible photos. It's full circle technology.

Hot, Foldable, Smart Phone:  Samsung's Galaxy Fold Sells Out in South Korea & Coming to US and Europe Samsung launched its Galaxy Fold smartphone on Friday in South Korea and it proved to be a sell-out as soon as it went on sale.  The foldable smartphone that folds out into a tablet sold out in one day.  Another round of pre-ordering will start in South Korea on September 18th and it will be launched in the US in upcoming weeks. A First This is Samsung's first, foldable smartphone.  It includes 5G mobile connectivity.  It's priced at $2,000.  It will be going on sale in Germany, France and the UK within two weeks.  The US launch follows after that.  The device has been greatly anticipated.  An April launch was delayed by screen defects in samples. Phone and Tablet The Galaxy Fold opens into a tablet with a 7.3 inch screen that can display up to three apps simultaneously, if you like to multi-task like I do....

Smartphone, New App, Quick Video Selfie of Face Measures Blood Pressure Source:  University of Toronto blood pressure measurement system Innovation from Canada and China Checking your blood pressure may soon be as easy as just taking a selfie on your smartphone.  Researchers at the University of Toronto in Canada, along with Chinese researchers, have developed a new app that's breakthrough.  All that's required is a quick video selfie of the face on the iPhone.  The device has been tested successfully on nearly 2000 Canadian and Chinese adults. 96% Accuracy Rate The app uses the smartphone's ability to detect red light reflected by hemoglobin under the skin's surface.  The technology is called transdermal optical imaging and was invented by Prof. Kang Lee of the University of Toronto, surprisingly for a contactless lie detector system.  He switched gears and invented this on the spot health care device. In the system, an algorithm measur...

New Augmented Reality Tech with Real Time Metrics For Swimmers Source:  FORM Swim Goggles Swimming Goggles with a Smart Display This gadget is brand new innovation for serious swimmers.  The FORM Swim Goggles use augmented reality to let the swimmer know their performance data in real time. This is a swim goggle with a smart display.  Up until now, most competitive swimmers have used a display on their wrist to check metrics, which can break their stride when viewing. Bluetooth-Smartphone Enabled for Specific Data The device has a transparent projection screen that displays metrics like split time, distance, strokes and a lot more data in real-time.  The screen can be placed and viewed over either eye.  And you can select what metrics you want to see for each swimming round.  You can program the system by a Bluetooth paired Smartphone for the data you want.  It's priced at $199.00

Portable, in the Field Gadget, for Healthy Plants & Spot Disease Source:  North Caroline State University new tech for plant health First of its Kind Device to Detect Plant Disease in Minutes A new, smartphone powered device detects disease in plants.  For the first time, plant disease can be detected by a portable device, used by a farmer in the field and the analysis is done on the spot within minutes.  Up until now, plant analysis had to be done in a lab and that could take days or weeks.  This smartphone powered device reads gas concentrations in a plant in the farm field real-time. That analysis tells farmers that they are dealing with the presence of disease in plants and that they should take action. Portable, Down on the Farm Device This significant innovation was developed by a team at North Carolina State University.  The device is designed to attach to a farmer's smart phone above the phone's camera for quick crop analysis....

Get - A Very Smart  Gadget Source:  Get smart bracelet Receive Phone Calls Without Answering the Phone Get is a high tech bracelet developed using bone conduction technology.  It passes audio through the bones in your wrist.  The bracelet decodes sound waves and converts them into vibration. The gadget enables you to take phone calls without pushing a button on your phone, listen to audio and test messages and make payments.  All of these functions while tracking your physical activity, health, biometrics hydration and sleep. It was invented by a team in Turin Italy.  They say it's a hybrid solution between a smartwatch and smart bands. Phone Calls The wearable device has the functionality of a smartwatch with a lot more.  You can leave your smartphone in your pocket.  You take phone calls by simply touching your finger to your ear.  All commands to the device are made by voice and gesture.  There are no screens or but...

FIXD - Car Health Monitor that Puts You in the Driver's Seat Source:  FIXD New Gadget that Can Save Money on Needless Car Repairs FIXD is a car health monitor that goes into operation when a warning light goes on in your car.   You place the monitor in the onboard diagnostics port below the steering wheel and it relays to your smartphone whether or not there's a problem, if it's an emergency, how severe and the likely cost of repair.  You get the diagnostic information to make a decision rather than the mechanic.  For more details in a news blog, go to Important Innovations Collection: Car Monitor Prevents Unnecessary Repairs : FIXD - Car Health Monitor Source:  FIXD New Technology That Puts You in the Driver's Seat This monitoring device was invented by...

Nubia's Red Magic Mars Smartphone Source:  Nubia PC Magazine Top Phone Pick at CES 2019 China based Nubia is committed to retailing its Red Magic Mars Smartphone in the US and North America in the first quarter of 2019.  The price is $399 and PC magazine calls it great tech and great value.  The magazine says it performs as well as $700 competitors. For a great news blog on the China smartphone, go to Important Innovations Collection: China's Very Smartphone : Nubia's Red Magic Mars Smartphone Source:  Nubia Red Magic Mars Coming to US 2019 The Nubia Red Magic Mars is being called grea...

Using Augmented Reality to Sell Limited Edition Sneaks Source:  Adidas AG Cuts Sales Process from Hours to a Few Minutes It's a time consuming and often frustrating process to buy much in demand, limited edition sneakers.  Adidas AG is changing the playing field.  It has just started deploying augmented reality to upend the process. Adidas AR App The company debuted an AR app at its big ComplexCom event in Long Beach, California.  Interested attendees downloaded an AR app that told them where to go in the complex to "Unlock the Drop".  Once there, they used their smartphones to follow instructions to pick a size, check out and where to pick up the sneakers.  All done with no sales staff interaction.  And most importantly the process took a few minutes, instead of hours. Ramping Up AR Adidas says it's focusing heavily on utilizing augmented reality as a means of increasing access to their most desired products.  Company officials say...