The Evolution Of The Smartphone

     When Google announced their new project, Google glass, many in the world started laughing and were skeptical about the whole thing, but turns out this project is a real possibility and one that has caught the attention of some really powerful competition. Apple's CEO met with Valve this last week to discuss this very thing, the guys at Valve are going to work on a "wearable computing" project that is due to come out in the next 3-5 years, meaning if Google and Apple are both taking this seriously then we should start to do the same. This is really exciting, it is the next step in the computing evolution for sure, it was bound to happen and thank God for it happening so soon, the benefits of it are immense.

     When was the last time you made a phone call? This is an interesting question to ask, so many times have we heard the phrase "calling takes so long, texting is way better", this is a product of our generation, and one we think is a good thing but some still believe it to be a bad thing. Let's start with the negative critiques, people fear the loss of communication between people, in many respects we feel this is silly and an exaggeration, it reminds us of the time when televisions were coming out and the previous generation kept saying that TVs would melt the young generation's brains, silly really. We think the evolution of the phone is a beautiful thing that encourages communication quite significantly, here's what's up.

      Ellen Degeneres in her new book "Seriously...I'm Kidding" has a chapter dedicated to this very concept, the concept that via text we can get a full 4 pages worth of information within one paragraph. The chapter is brilliant, she obviously over uses abbreviations, but the point is made clear, that communication is becoming faster and because it is faster more people can partake in the conversation, thus the increase and not the decrease in communication due to technology. To answer the question that started this point, phone calls have gone down significantly with the addition of text and smartphones to the big picture. The mass text invention changed the game even further, no longer do you have to call 20 friends to make a plan, now you can just text all of them at the same time and be done with it, it solves a 2 hour process in less than 2 minutes, that is a beautiful thing.

    Another huge thing here is that smartphones and Ipads are quickly replacing laptops, this might seem silly but it is not, this is the future. There is no reason to check your laptop anymore, save writing long papers, but even there there are people that have become accustomed to using their Ipads to write long papers, the laptop is a dying breed, trust us on this, its a fact. Think smartphone for a second, within  it you have your email, all your social networks, Google and your other search/reference networks, Youtube, Pinterest, and even Break all have apps, you have games and a camera even, with all those things at your disposal rarely does using a laptop seem practical, you have a computer that is more powerful than most 2-3 year old laptops on the palm of your hand, that is the future.

     This is why the invention of the computing glasses is such a big deal, this is the next evolution when it comes to technology. John Scalzi and other science fiction writers have described this evolution, John takes it a step further saying that soon we'll have a chip implant where we'll be able to use computers just by thinking, you might think that this is a far off concept but its not, its a 10-20 years concept. In the next 3-5 years we'll have all the computing power of a smartphone and laptop being a wearable thing, this will be done via voice command technology, video games are also going to incorporate such a concept with Microsoft already copyrighting projects that incorporate such a device for their newest videogame system that is due to come out some time in Q4 of next year. This is the future, and it is happening now.

     Virtual reality has been a human dream for countless generations and now we are approaching an age where that could be a possibility, this is a great thing for sure. To focus on what is happening right now though, with Apple on the race to get their wearable computing out sooner and better than that of Google's, be sure that more news on this will be coming out, not only that but be sure that the competition will be fierce and the evolution of the smartphone will occur in the next 3-5 years, possibly in the next 3 years. What this means is that smartphones will phase out laptops soon enough, just as laptops have been phasing out desktops which phased out typewriters and so forth. It is the natural evolutionary process of technology and it is a beautiful thing to be a part of it and see it happen.

    What do you guys think of all this? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Do you think it will be practical or will it bomb? We are in high hopes for this project, surely we'll have more to discuss when both Google and Apple unveil their devices. We hope your week has been going well and pray that it finishes well.

Love from your humble blogger,

Google's New Project, Next Gen Sytems and Catching Fire

        This month has been full of interesting stories so far, from next gen console rumors and news to new Google projects, this month has been filled with revelations, surprises and speculations, it sure is exciting to see so many new projects being announced. Technology should never be stagnant, we should never be stuck in place or ever think "there is no room for improvement" thus the plethora of news about new developments happening are always welcomed. So here are a few new projects you should know about and a brief update on the "Hunger Games" sequel "Catching Fire" who is facing some problems.

    Project Google Glass

   You can always count on Google to be pushing the limit when it comes to next gen tech, thank God for that. This new project consists of glasses that pretty much work like a smart phone interface who responds to voice commands and has an in built camera. The video shown reminds us a little of Siri, it's as if Siri was always with you helping you navigate the world. For those of you that are not familiar with Siri, she is the little voice tech on the IPhone that answers your commands and saves you time, so instead of typing something out you just say "where is the closest gas station?" and Siri finds them for you, she is quite useful. Obviously there is great speculation when it comes to the Google glasses, from if they will work properly to how much they will be and so forth, so much buzz has been created that parody videos have already started to circulate the web, it sure doesn't take long now-a-days for memes to be born but in the end this project is really exciting.

   Wii U: Nintendo's Demise?

   As per tradition every 5 years or so Nintendo releases a new system and this is the year that their new console Wii U will be releasing, some have dated it as early as November 12th. The system will be unveiled at E3 this June so everyone is very excited about that, the console itself has not been revealed but specs on the controller were released a few months back revealing the touch screen they will be releasing with it. Though we trust Nintendo to pull through and deliver a good product we have heard recent news as of late that claim that Nintendo's next gen's graphics aren't up to par. If the rumors are correct the new system has inferior graphics than  the 360 and PS3, which means that Nintendo will not be able to compete graphic wise, this is a big blow to the new system. When asked to comment Nintendo simply stated that gameplay was their main concern, this response, though expected, made many hardcore gamers worry that this new system will disappoint as much as the Wii did, only time will tell, in two months we'll either see the brilliance of Nintendo or the final years of Nintendo.

     The "Used Games" Controversy

   There have been rumors circulating the net about how the next gen systems for Microsoft and Sony will both require Internet access 100% of the time and will not run used games, in fact there is even talk about not needing for physical games anymore and just downloading games directly to your system. If this were to occur your local game retailer would die, and thus the controversy is set. These are but rumors, that's something we should all remember when dealing with these issues, Sony and Microsoft are both not stupid, to make a move so drastic as this would not only hurt the company but it would decrease their fan loyalty by a ton. People don't like to see big companies hurting the little guys, and any move by big distributors to try to remove retailers is never looked upon lightly by the people, thus why this future of no used games will probably not come to pass, it would be business suicide for companies to jump on this bandwagon. Though this is a push that will happen in the future, this is not the case for us today, maybe in 10-20 years we will see a very real push towards all online games but for now this is simply not a practical reality.

   "Catching Fire" Director Problems

   As it turns out the project has lost its director, Gary Ross has decided to step down from this project and will not be returning for the second movie. This puts Lionsgate in a very tight schedule, we will surely be receiving news very soon as to whom will be taking over this big project. On top of that, turns out that the shooting for Xmen: First Class 2 is being delayed for next year so that Jennifer Lawrence (she plays Mystique) might be able to finish shooting "Catching Fire" for its 2013 release. Thus this all means that yes we will have a sequel next year, it will be filmed this year and Lionsgate is on the lookout for the next director. What this means for the direction of the movie no one really knows, the next movie might look very different from the first one or it might follow suit, let us hope that whoever takes over the project learns from the mistakes that Ross committed and provides us with a better movie overall.

     We hope that you all had a good break this Easter and that this week might be  fantastic. It is never fun to come back from vacation but at the same time there is a sense of continuity when coming back to real life. We pray that this week might be a safe one for you.

Love from your humble blogger,

The Google Empire

           Let me start this off by saying that I'm a big fan of Google, so this is not a knock on Google by any stretch, it's just a thought exercise, if you will.

         Google right now has a lot of influence over the populous, I mean, a lot. Think about it, whenever you are in an argument and no solution is drawing near we almost always say something like: "I'll Google it" or "I'll look it up later when I'm home" which basically means "When I get home I'll Google it". With the addition of smart phones this becomes even more frequent, and though I enjoy destroying poor fools that spout off nonsense with a good "Let's Google that, before you talk more and rob me of my intelligence", this dependence on Google has me wondering if this is a good thing.

            The Google auto-finish feature is clutch I agree, and so is it's guidance when spelling words. This is a new one I've come to realize, the amount of people using Google as a dictionary is astounding, and why wouldn't you, Google has the biggest resource or answers in the whole net, if Google doesn't know it then no one does. Or at least that's what we've come to accept in our culture, and worse in the new sprouting generations.

             Google is a search engine monopoly, but this is not the scary part, the worry comes in that everything Google does it does well, and recently Google has been doing almost everything. We got a Google phone, Google car, Google +, Gmail, and a TON more (click on ton to see the rest, and yes I found that using Google), there is no telling what they will do next.

             So either Google will continue to grow and remain being the benevolent company we love, or it will become a main villain, merge with Apple Inc, build T1 robots and be our very own "real life" Skynet, bringing with it the end of the world.

           Maybe that's a tad over-dramatic, but if you don't believe me that the threat is real then Google it and you'll see I'm right. Google is never wrong.

       What are your thoughts on the ever growing Google empire?

     Love from your humble blogger,

Google + And The War on Facebook

            We've recently done a post about the sale of Myspace for considerably less then it was bought for, and how much the market changes so quickly. Also we mentioned Google + and how it is now engaging in war with facebook for the social network standard. The war of the social network titans has begun, and it has been a fierce battle. Not that the other two titans in the industry mind of course.

             I got a Google + account about 2 weeks back and after playing around with all the features within it, I've become a very big fan of Goggle + fast. They won my loyalty over facebook by their slick looks, their security/privacy set up system (social network bubbles), no ads anywhere, and just information sharing at it's best. Plus it's invite only right now so there's only a portion of the populace exploring this new domain, thus so far rounds one through three of this epic titan fight go to Google +.

Goggle+ vs Facebook by Zirta

             Of course facebook will remain relevant for the years to come, it's not as if Google + will be successful in defeating facebook in a year or so, but maybe in two to three years either we'll be seeing some significant changes to facebook (in order to compete) or a massive amount of people flow leave facebook to join Google +.

 

             We've seen facebook battle many an opponents who were hungry for the title and win, but facebook has never come face to face with something as massively awesome and powerful as Google +, and thus I look forward to this battle continuing, in the end we are the ones that win, we get more content, better services, and a better social network, all thanks to competition.

Google+ by *Octans

         
          How do you feel about Google +, better or worse then facebook? Do you think Google will win in the end?

          Hope you all have a fantastic weekend, and a glorious Friday,

   Love from your humble blogger,

myspace.com Sold!

     Myspace was the first big social media site to come out years ago, leading us to a new era of sharing information and being connected via the internet. Though it was the Godfather of social networks at one point, as of late myspace has been forgotten, not just forgotten but has become irrelevant. This is a scary thing about the internet, you're talking a site that got first sold to News Corp for $550 million has now been re-sold to Specific Media for $35 million, for those of you at home not wanting to do the math that is a $515 million dollar loss, truly a significant loss.
     The scary thing about the internet is how quickly it all happened, we're talking a 6 year period for myspace to not only devalue significantly but for it to become utterly irrelevant in the market. Which raises the question of is $35 million too much for a site that has such little traffic and customer loyalty?
     But there is another competitor on the horizon, Google has just recently released beta of their own social media program Google +, which is invite only for now, and looks fantastic. Everyone that has taken a look at it has only spoken kind words about the program. So is facebook in trouble?
     Facebook is an empire, true, I understand, but so was myspace and look at it now. Google is a big enough name and has big enough funds to take over the social network scene if they desired. Can anyone stand up to Google, well Facebook surely could, we are about to witness a battle between two internet giants, and also let's not forget that with myspace being sold, that this can only mean that Specific Media has plans of trying to get the fallen giant back in the game. Which brings us to a vicious battle that will soon take place between the industry Giants and the fallen underdog.
      This is not all bad, this is actually a very good thing, this means that Facebook and Google will both begin to evolve and offer us the consumer more options, better services and so on, in order to get our loyalty. Which is always welcomed, evolution is always a good thing.

        One big advantage brought up by XKCD this week is that our families are not in the Google social media, facebook has become so big that parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, all have accounts, meaning they all have access to your posts, pictures and so forth. The argument for different security settings can be made, but honestly, who even messes with that stuff anyway, a very limited amount of paranoid people, the rest of us just don't post very personal pics and posts there as to avoid being reprimanded by a family member or getting in trouble at work/church/school/etc.
       Phillip De Franco does a pretty good job covering this whole story too, check his Thursday vlog HERE
    
 What do you think about this whole social network battle that is underway?  Leave a comment bellow and let us know what you think :)

   Anyway, hope you all had a fantastic week and that this weekend is a great one,

      Love from your humble blogger,
      


 

I want my flying car now!

        In the near future sales representatives will no longer be having to drive themselves anywhere. Our kids will look at us and say "What? You actually pressed the pedals and drove yourself?! Unreal!". (Yes, "unreal" will be a hit slang in the future).

      This is not new news to most of us, I understand, but I feel as though this particular project has finally begun to get the recognition and respect it deserves only recently.
       The concept of having a computer drive your car for you sounds appealing to most, but to some it sounds tragic. There are many skeptics out there, and thank god for them, without their constant barrage of questions and problems, we most likely would not be able to find and fix all the flaws/problems the google car might face.
       The Google guys had this quote basically stating that 'if the computer had been created before the car then we would  have done this a long time ago', and I agree. This is an incredible step forward. The dream of flying cars could only come true if this invention were to be implemented, and I want my flying car. Just imagine being able to sleep on your way home from work, or to work from home. To be able to do homework in the car, to be able to get in your car and not worry about the fact that you're too exhausted to drive. We're talking an instant reduction of car accidents, speeding fines, insurance cuts, increase in productivity, and tons more. The upsides of living in a world where cars drive themselves is paramount.
        This project has been worked on continually for a significant amount of time now, enough time to not only be taken seriously but to actually earn the right to have our attention and hope. After this is implemented, we will be one step closer to having our dreamed of flying cars. And as I stated before, I want my flying car.
        I'm going to leave you with this bit of genious comic goodness from XKCD I found a while ago:

     We at So Danca hope you have a fantastic weekend, full of awesomeness. Don't forget about the picture contest, it is underway, so send your pic entries to news@sodanca.com

          What do you think of the whole Google car thing? And how come?

         Love from your humble blogger,