Posts tagged smartphones

AOTW: Ridiculous Fishing Is Really Ridiculous

0
10 years
by in TOTWs

Apps, especially game apps, should be slightly self-explanatory, and also funny or catchy for extra effect. The name of the game Ridiculous Fishing is certainly self-explanatory. The game, built in a modern/minimalistic sort of way is addicting, fun and quite ridiculous. And all you is fish.

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There are already some fishing games out there on the market, but RF takes it to a whole new perspective. Instead of making a realistic fishing app, where you flick the phone to cast the line, and spin your finger to reel it in. RF is more of a puzzle/strategy game like Candy Crush or Threes turned fishing. In a good way.

To play, all you do is tap the screen, and you cast the line down the screen, which is like a cross-section of a ocean. On the way down, you have to avoid odd-looking fish so you can get deeper. When you hit a fish, you hook it and start going upward. On the way up, you try to HIT the most fish, hooking them so you can sell them at the top.

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There is many ways in RF that keep you playing. To have a good game, you must have rewards or features that keep the game interesting. Otherwise, the gamer will lose interest and move on. There are exceptions, like Flappy Bird, but Ridiculous Fishing isn’t one of them. There is one way, when the deeper you get the species of fish get more divergent. When you hook a certain amount of fish, you can move on the next location. The second, lesser incentive is gaining more money to buy items.

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Everything about Ridiculous Fishing is well thought out and designed. It may sound like I’m just being paid to say this, but you’ll just have to trust me. The modern design really looks great with the game, everything from the fish, to the wood grain on the boat, to the numbers look great. It has everything a game needs, and nothing about it could really be pointed out, like “Ohhh, the programmers really forgot about that, that’s bad.” If you don’t like the game, it’s just not your type. But I like it. (even it’s website is well made)

TOTW: We Hardly Knew Ye, Flappy Bird

0
10 years
by in AOTWs, TOTWs

Every once in a while, a game or an app goes big on the app store. Angry Birds, Doodle Jump, Candy Crush, or Threes, for example. Usually, especially in the case of Doodle Jump and Angry Birds, they come out with many sequal apps, varying in sponsors and themes. No doubt they make loads of money, and are practically set for life. Even though this is a rare situation, the short, yet odd story of Flappy Birds is one in a billion.

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First, for those of you who don’t know what this game is or how to play it, the one good thing about it is that it is incredibly simple and repetitive. You tap the screen. The bird, which you will learn to hate as a reincarnation of the devil, will jump up, then immediately start plummeting until you tap again. You will quickly reach a set of tubes, hanging like stalagmites and a stalagmites, which you have to navigate the Flappy Bird through. If you get through the first tube on the first try, you are either incredibly, amazingly skilled or a god. If you don’t, you’re normal. Sooner or later, you will get through, then even later maybe 10 – 20. But, if you get addicted to the incredibly simple game like more than 50 million other people did, you will learn why Flappy Bird is, well, @#$%!. Sometimes, you can get 24 or higher, and you celebrate like you won the lottery, and you try again thinking you have finally found the golden method and will do better. Then you get 0, and you get so mad you could have easily just won the lottery, just to have it stolen by your long-time rival. Even if you are well mannered and not easily made mad, don’t underestimate the power of that small 8-bit bird.

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A Game Over Screenshot

Some people, before they download Flappy Bird, say “Well, it’s just a game, it can’t be that bad”. Don’t listen to them. But if it is so frustrating, or as @trainwreckniall said on Twitter, “Flappy Bird is like the new Angry Birds only this time I’m the angry one.” why is it so popular. It does have one good trait, behind the simple graphics and gameplay, which is, the well known gaming quote, by the Atari founder, Nolan Bushnell, “A good game is easy to learn, and hard to master.” Flappy Bird is definitely easy to learn, and almost impossible to master.

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The Devil Himself

Switching over to the personal side of the game, the Vietnamese creator, Dong Nguyen was, after the app blew up, $50,000 a day, he told The Verge, all of advertisements. After all, his app was topping the free charts in China, UK and US. But, it was so much of a success he was soon pressured to make a android version and getting angry messages from people who either lost at the game or didn’t like that it made it big. It, I am assuming, was just to much for the indie game designer, so he tweeted these:

And he did. Soon after his Tweet, he took down Flappy Bird, ending the surge of popularity, to the gamers who were late to the party, and also slowing down the booming anger management clinics. That was not the end of it, though. After the take down, people quickly decided to take advantage of the hit and make their own parodies of the game, ending up with not only Flappy Bird, but Splashy Fish, City Bird Flappy Flyer and Ironpants, 123 on the US free app list. You might think the saga will end there, where everyone with the app will keep it, there will inevitably be parodies, and over time it will peter out of style. Oh, no, Google and Apple were not done with the annoying game just yet.

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The Current Top Free Apps In The US

Since the parodies kept coming, Apple and Google decided to put a stop to all the madness. Since they both have the ability to not accept apps into Google Play and the App Store, they used that ability to it’s full potential. They have started rejecting apps that have the word “flappy” in the name. It’s good that they did that. No more ridiculous Flappy Penguin or Flappy Justin Bieber. Eventually, the game must stop attracting so much attention, but until then, if you want to keep your sanity, STAY AWAY FROM IT. Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.

TOTW: Muse, The Brain Sensing Headband

0
10 years
by in TOTWs

Brain sensing technology is definitely one of the most futuristic and long-awaited technology ever. People have been fantasizing of a time where you can control computers and robots with your mind, or police having the ability to read minds for a long time. These times are still yet to come, but with technology moving so fast, it can’t be too long. For now, we have minor brain sensing products, including Muse, a brain sensing stress tamer.

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The Headband

Muse, shown off at the CES 2014, is a headband. But not a normal headband, obviously. On the underside of the band, there are sensors that can take in your brainwaves, sort them out, and then diagnose whether you are relaxed, stressed focused and more. Just with this data, you can help yourself. But Muse wanted to make this a full experience, not just a data collector. So they paired their device with an app.

To start, the Muse app takes in your data and allows you to look at it in charts and other helpful ways. But, in a way you couldn’t do by yourself, it gives you mini-games, utilizing your Muse, that help strengthen your focus and relax you when you’re stressed. If you use these games, over time, you could work more efficiently and hopefully make your life better.

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A Sample App Screenshot

That is just a hope, though. Many products, especially new ones, don’t deliver like they’re supposed to. The software is too slow, it breaks, it’s ugly (in Pebbles case) or another problem like that. I know it’s not ugly, since we can see the close-to-final product, but the if the software or the sensibility is off, the whole thing could come crashing down. Still, it has worked at the demos and it worked at the CES, so I have high hopes for this one. We’ll just have to wait and see. Or think, for that matter. Wait and think.

TOTW: What To Come In 2014 For Technology

10 years
by in Speculations, TOTWs

2013 was a great year for technological breakthroughs. New iPhones, new iPads, curved screens and more are just some of the things that were developed in 2013. But there is one question that is still being asked: what does the new year hold for us? There have been many promises, leaks and hints throughout the end of last year, and we can only wait and see if they become true. But we can predict.

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There are many things that are very likely to happen in 2014. One of which is the highly awaited public release of Google Glass. When Project Glass was released as a concept to developers back in Google I/O, the frenzy of publicity began. Everyone was completely memorized by the possibility of a computer on your glasses, and apps soon began popping up everywhere for every usage. These glasses and almost certainly being released on the early 2014 Google I/O. Of course, millions and billions of people will learn about these glasses and become intrigued enough to buy one, and Google Glasses will soon be seen everywhere. This will certainly cause some controversy, but will probably blow over soon enough.

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We can’t forget Apple, though. At the 2014 WWDC, we can reasonably expect a new iPhone 6, which will probably be 50% percent lighter and 30% thinner. The retina will be better, and all the other stats will be much improved. The new Macbooks and iPads will most likely come at the later Apple conference, since at the last conference they were updated. After the release of the iPhone 5C, there is a chance that Apple will go down the color path with their other devices, especially the iPad Minis, which would definitely be a big surprise and a hit with the younger generation.

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iPad Mini “C” Concept Webpage

There has been one Apple product that I have been skirting around, but will now address. The iWatch. Samsung have already released their smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear, but the early version was slightly disappointing. First of all, it is not a stand-alone product, but only works if paired to a Galaxy smartphone. The functions of the watch itself is limited to answering call, which you then have to get you phone out to answer, checking social and SMS notifications, and using Samsungs 70 third-party app like Path, Evernote, Runkeeper and more. The design is not fantastic and somewhat slow if you are used to Apple products, so we can hope that Apple improves on that. What Apple would do to make the iWatch significantly better is (1) make it faster and more reactive and (2) make it stand-alone from Apple’s other devices. If they do that, then it might justify Samsungs price of $300.

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A quite, may I say, interesting concept of what an iWatch may look like.

Smartglass will certainly take a leap in the new year. Transparent phones are already being prototyped without any software (so it’s useless for now), but it still has a few noticeable spots of chips, cameras and such visible. Since, as in Corning’s brilliant video, A Day Made Of Glass 1 and 2, smartglass will be everywhere in every shape and size in the future, we cannot hope too much for this coming trip around the sun. Although, significant progress will be made, and curved or curving glass will definitely be upgraded, almost to the point of public release.

A Day Made Of Glass 2, paused and explained by Corning

All in all 2014 is certainly going to be an interesting year. Breakthroughs will be made in not only technology, but science, physics, and almost any other field you can think of. The big events to look out for this year is the Google I/O, the Apple WWDC, the 2014 CES, Macworld/iWorld Expo, and more. Just as in 2013, at just these events thousands of products and concepts will be released and showcased, its amazing that all this could be accomplished in one year. But for now, all we have to do is wait and let the scientists and engineers work their magic.

Top 10 Apps Of The Year

0
10 years
by in Speculations, TOTWs

Top 10 Apps Of 2013

The time has finally come, when we at Fast Forward have to make the toughest decision of the year: the choice of the top 10 apps of the year. These apps that I have picked are my favorite apps from throughout the year, mixed in with the new, exciting, and most popular apps of 2013, year of the snake. Here they are:

#1: Waze

Maps and directional apps are becoming increasingly important in today’s society, especially since people are relying more than ever on smartphones rather than memorizing street names and how to get around. Waze definitely dominates, allowing users to post problems like bad traffic, police, fallen trees and more. This year, I have definitely used Waze more than even Google Maps, and was essential to living this year. All hail the Waze god!

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#2: QuizUp

QuizUp is truly the epitome of a great game. Trivia games don’t really have a high expectation, but with Quizup on the market, all the other apps have no chance at all. The very well designed and modern game allows users to play online users in a humongous variety topics, ranging from ancient history to dogs to Harry Potter. A social aspect allows you to thoroughly review your recent game, look at your stats and add friends which you can challenge. It’s so good, it would’ve done equally as good even if it was a paid app. This game certainly earns it’s spot in number 2.

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#3: Vine 

The Vine sensation has been sweeping the world, a social network dedicated to showing 6 second videos, which anyone can take right from their phone. This type of video has been popular for anyone to make a short film, topics ranging from art, experimental, cats, and most popular, comedy. Funny and incredible Vines have been topping the charts, such as a prank or someone throwing a basketball off a 60 story building and making it. The giant amount of users and videos makes what the app what it is, and it really is a great social network.

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#4: Duolingo

Duolingo has really sprouted into the big leagues in the past year, becoming the best and most popular language learning app. The unique social aspect of Duolingo’s approach to teaching sets it ahead of the rest, even the famous Rosetta Stone (the app, not the artifact). The app itself is also amazingly designed, allowing the user to surf through languages and lessons with ease. Learning languages has never been easier.

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#5: Candy Crush Saga

Candy Crush Saga. Who hasn’t heard of this sweet game that has taken over it’s category. The addictiveness of Candy Crush and it’s achievements, rewards, Facebook integration left everyone thinking “just one more level than I’ll go back to work”. Candy Crush is so immersive and addicting you could easily play for 10 minutes, then look up from the game and it turns out that it’s 2045. This is the ultimate game for wasting your life away, and has adults and kids global under it’s spell.

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#6: Snapchat

Taking pictures on the fly is really something phones excel at, and people (especially teenagers) like to take advantage of that by using Snapchat. Snapchat is essentially a social network that’s a mix of What’s App and Instagram. The great design lets you take a photo, then draw on it, add a caption to it and send it to another Snapchat user. But when it gets there, the other user holds their finger on it and only gets to look at it for 1-10 seconds, then it disappears forever, erasing the need to go back and delete texts or photos because of limited space. Snapchat is a very practical and fun social network, and it’s amount of downloads and users show that it’s idea is a success.

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#7: Clash Of Clans

It’s in our nature as a human being to want to control more and defeat our enemies. It’s called REVENGE. Clash of Clans is a village building strategy that lets us get the satisfaction of beating our opponents and stealing their gold. This multiplayer online game allows you to build up your village and grow in technology and land. The layout of the game makes it easy to run your village and at the same time chat with your Clan members in a social aspect. Tons of people all over the world are roughing it out with Clash Of Clans, and it has become very popular and a classic game.

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#8: Plague Inc.

The strategy category of games have recently exploded with a bunch of great apps, one of which is Plague Inc. Plague Inc is a hyper realistic game where your goal is to, well, kill the world and everyone in it. You start out with a basic bacteria and your goal in a game it to spread to all the world and kill everyone, but not too fast or your hosts will die but not to slow or the cure will be discovered. Plague Inc brings out the villain in everyone, showing you a world, with amazingly realistic events in a newscast above, where you can collect DNA points and evolve your disease. Definitely the best strategy game of the year.

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#9: Drafts

Many productivity apps are only useful to the overworked and people in need of organization, but Drafts places its uses right in the perfect spot. Everyone could profit from using Draft’s easy interface and it’s ability to distribute information. All you have to do is customize the settings, and when you, say, need to send yourself a quick reminder or post something to Facebook and Twitter at the same time, Drafts is your solution. You can quickly type something into the top section, then send it to one of Drafts many options, such as markdown, Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Email, Text, Email to _____ (customizable), and many, many more. Drafts can serve you in many more ways than you could imagine, and is definitely a must need app.

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#10: Spotify

Pandora has been dominating the music services apps for years, now, but the time has come when a new option has arrived. Spotify. Spotify is a music app that you can download or play almost ANY song you could think of. There is also a radio, with no advertisements, unlike Pandora. You can make unlimited playlists and radios, but there is one small catch: it has a small monthly fee. Still, it is definitely worth it for those of us who spend ridiculously big amounts of money on iTunes, and is a very useful app for on the go music.

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And that’s it. If any of you don’t have any of these apps, I would highly recommend getting all of them. Below I have given out awards to three different apps; best design, Most Popular App, and Most Practical App. Watch out for my top tech and top app posts for 2014.

Best Design: QuizUp

Most Popular: Candy Crush Saga

Most Practical: Waze

 

 

TOTW: Smarty Ring, Bringing Technology To More Unnecessary Things

0
10 years
by in TOTWs

With all the recent talk about Google Glass, and the releasing of Galaxy Gear and Pebble, it was inevitable that someone would eventually say “What if we put all the useful things from your phone on a ring to!”  Sure, a ring is something small and not noticeable, but really, taking out your phone doesn’t take that long. Still, it’s not like it wouldn’t be helpful. So now that everyone is putting technology on every wearable item there is, the creators of Smarty Ring jumped right ahead and made a, you guessed it, smart ring.

Ok, so maybe watches, especially smart watches, are not for everyone. The Smarty Ring is a good alternative, unless of course you don’t like rings either. Then you would go for the more expensive Google Glass, but for the sake of this article, lets just say you do. The Smarty Ring, based off of their Indiegogo campaign and conceptual designs, is a stainless steel ring, with a curved screen on one side and some media (play, pause, ect.) controls on the side. It’s very sleek, and a cool ring by itself even if it just showed the time, but lets see what how useful it is with the other functions added in to.

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The Conceptual Smarty Rings

Smarty Ring can handle anything a normal smart accessory would. Of course, it can show the time, but it also has a stopwatch (or stopring), a timer and an alarm. It notifies you when you have a email, text, call (which you can pick up on your phone as usual), or updates from Twitter, Facebook, Skype and Google Hangouts. Smarty Ring claims that it could reduce the times you check your phone a day by 60%, but when it notifies you that you have a call or a text, you just take out your phone and answer. They say that it stops you from digging around to find your phone just to have no notifications, and I admit, that has happened, but maybe 60% is a bit much.

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The Conceptual Smarty Ring Charger

And that’s pretty much it. You can control music and other media on your phone through the Bluetooth controls, but if you take away the phone it’s connected to it’s just a fancy watch ring. I’m not saying that it wouldn’t be helpful, but unless you spend every second of your free time checking Facebook or Twitter, the Smarty Ring isn’t really necessary. Though it pretty cool.

AOTW: Dots Puzzle Game – Warning, Very Additctive

0
10 years
by in AOTWs

Puzzle games have been growing substantially in the mobile gaming ratings, being a very good way to waste time. Nowadays, when you are on the subway, walking to work, or even just in an escalator, you just have to grab your phone and work on that puzzle game you just can’t solve, or that game that you really really want to break the record for. Games such as Candy Crush and Spell Tower are skyrocketing, and Dots, a simple puzzle game, may end up going through the roof.

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The Game In Play

Dots is based of a simple childrens concept: connect the dots. In childrens books, you connect the dots to make shapes. In dots, you connect the correctly colored dots to gain points. The board consists of a 6×6 grid of dots, and each dot could be one of these colors: red, blue, yellow, black or pink. You can connect dots of the same colors, only horizontally and vertically, to get points. Logically, the more dots you connect, the more points you get.

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There are 2 ways to get more than the usual amount of points. First of all, if you make a square out of dots in a game, and connect them, you get a big bonus. Also, all the dots of that color disappear, leaving room for more and more rectangles. It is a cycle that you want to gain access to. The second way to gain more points is to use your power-ups. One power-up adds 5 moves or 10 seconds onto you clock, the second one takes away one dot, and the last one takes away all of one color, just like a square. The most helpful one is the last one, or expanders, but you have to buy all of them using points you earn during each game.

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A Sample Situation

There are 3 modes of play in Dots: timed, 30 moves, and Endless. Timed is where you only get a minute to get as many points as you can. The trick in that type is just try to go fast- it doesn’t matter how small the ones you get are. The second one is 30 moves, which as you can probably tell, you have 30 moves in.To get a high score, contemplate the consequences of your moves and see if you can make a square. Endless, the last one, is a (obviously) infinite game that just keeps on going and keeps adding to your score. You can also quickly turn on gravity, which make the balls float around a fall to whatever side is near the ground, and when you turn it back on, they are shuffled.

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A Dots Screenshot

Dots is overall a very fun and time consuming game. But, even though the regular game is consuming, it is one of those awesome games that you can start and quickly stop playing constantly and never even disrupt your game or your mind-set. In fact, while writing this, I was playing Dots off and on, and yet I still broke my personal record. The great new iOS 7 style interface and colors work great together, and it is just a great game for the busy, working person.

TOTW: Nike Fuelband SE – The Lax Exercise Device

0
10 years
by in TOTWs

Nike not only makes clothing and equipment. They have also delved into the industry of fitness devices. This type of devices track how many steps you take, how long you ran and other statistics like that. There are many apps, devices that go in shoes, clip-ons and wristwatches that can do these tasks. Nike+’s new Fuelband will try to make a wristwatch that the world hasn’t seen before. Nike Fuel, Nike’s all around unit of exercise, will be leading this charge.

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The wristwatch is different than most watches. For instance, there is no face, making it more of a wristband. There is a button on the side that activates Nike’s clever screen. Lights flash underneath the rubbery surface, which actually are visible through the surface. The customizable scrolling interface is not the fastest, but for someone who only cares about a couple statistics, it’s perfectly fine. On the bottom, a clip has placed so that you can unclip it and plug it into a USB port. That probably wouldn’t be needed though, since it can be Bluetooth connected to your mobile device. The battery is surprisingly long-winded. I have been wearing mine for 1 week now and have been constantly checking it, but it is only a quarter through.

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The Band

Nike Fuel is like a unit of measuring your exercise in a very lax way. If you are really paranoid about knowing what exactly happens when, you probably would want to spend more money on a more expensive watch. I’m not saying that the Fuelband can’t track sessions of different activities, because it can. You can start a session, select your activity, and have it record all the usual statistics. But the difference between Fuelband and other devices is that it is ALWAYS tracking. While you are walking around the house, while you are working, even while you are sleeping if you wear it.

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A Simplified Version Of What’s On The App

Nike’s Fuelband app also adds to the experience. There, you can look at your daily stats, see if you beat your goal, or at least got into the green area of the color scale. You can see interesting statistics, like when you do your most exercising, your best day, and your total Nike Fuel. Trophies are also a big part of Nike’s app. Trophies are basically landmarks, such as “double your daily goal” or ” win 10 hours in 1 day”. They also come with cool animations, which are fun and motivating.

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Some Of The Scroll Options

Nike Fuel is basically a wristband for anyone who is interesting in how much they workout each day with out trying and is satisfied with how much they are, or for someone who just wants to lose weight or something like that. If you keep upping your goal like Fuelband suggests, you can easily use Fuelband for that type of activity. Overall, it is a fun, motivating way to exercise and find out how much you do, just in daily life. That puts them ahead of any other device in that category, and I recommend it to the average Joe, which unfortunately that fit in the US. Hopefully Fuelband, along with the other devices and companies can fix that.

TOTW: A New Way To Teach Kids How To Code, Play-i

10 years
by in TOTWs

Today wouldn’t be the same if computers hadn’t been invented. Everything would be run manually, not to mention the lack of the World Wide Web, the average Joes greatest information source. Unfortunately, to create anything from scratch on a nowadays computer, you have to do it in code. Being a Coder, or Programmer, is now a very popular and important job for the economy and businesses. There are many codes, such as Python and Java Script, some being easier or more useful than the others, but they are all hard to learn. That is why teaching kids to code is very important for the next generations success. Some websites have sprouted up, such as Codeacademy, and they’re not bad, but for some younger or more visual learners, the websites are not for them. A new technique, using actual robots is starting to be used, and great example of that is the new robots Bo and Yana by Play-i.

There are many simple robots for kids out there that have an easy visual coding system and flash colors and move, but Bo and Yana are probably the most advanced yet. Yana is a small ball, which can move around and be set as a character by emitting sounds and lights. Bo is 3 of Yanas stacked into a pyramid. Bo not only moves, but can detect objects, take in more complicated code, and have accessories added to it like a xylophone mallet or a plow. Together, these robots make Play-i, a fun and more interesting way to learn the basics of coding.

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Bo (Left) And Yana (Right)

The difference between Play-i and other coding robots is that Bo and Yana are more like an actual creature with a brain and eyes, unlike other robots that look like a big stepped on ball of wax. It gives kids a way to feel like they are doing more than coding. They are creating this creature. Also, another great feature of Bo and Yana is that they do not only take Play-i’s visual language. For older kids, you can even coding in other more-well known languages. Scratch and Blockly are even accepted, which is a first for robots in education.

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Bo Skillfully Playing His Xylophone

Bo and Yana are just more ways that people are trying to influence kids to learn to code. As Play-i says, coding nowadays is almost as important as reading and writing. If you can think of a job, you probably have to know how to use a computer. Coding is an important skill in the technology industry, and you’d be crazy if you said that wasn’t the biggest industry currently. So to teach kids programming should be rightfully high on the education list, something that it isn’t. Bo and Yana are certainly helping that and it’s starting to turn around.

TOTW: The Voice Control Technology Has It’s Spokesperson: XOWi

0
11 years
by in TOTWs

Voice recognition software has boomed in the last year of two, especially becoming famous when Google released plans for their Google Glass, a augmented reality glass that is almost entirely based off voice controls. Even before that, Apple added Siri to their iOS, the infamous voice dictation system that allows you to ask it questions and easily move around the phone. This feature was criticized continuously for it’s bad recognition, causing it fail and be shunned by users. Even after the ups and downs of the tech, many people still think it can be very helpful to average Joes everywhere. Some of those people are the creators of XOWi, the always-helpful mini clip assistant.

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XOWis

XOWi itself basically is a lot like Apple’s iPod Shuffle, besides for the fact that the only thing the Shuffle does is play music. The XOWi, a little clip, can be put on computers, lamps, books, but it is mainly meant to be put on your shirt’s collar, or as a necklace. To activate XOWi, all you have to do is press the little button that takes up most of XOWi’s hardware. XOWi is really only about the size of a small mint can. Meanwhile, Siri is the size of an iPhone (obviously) and still takes up both of your hands. The great thing about XOWi is that it speaks back the answer like a human would, unlike Siri or Google Now, which usually shows you a list or map.

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All The Different Capabilities Of XOWi

 

XOWi has many different functions, including the ones Siri has, except XOWi has more that would be more useful without a phone in everyday life. For instance, XOWi can take notes that you can easily have played back to you, or tell jokes. Another feature that is quite useful, if not more for the younger generation, is the Quiz feature. XOWi can even quiz you on certain topics. All these features, plus more, are being added to by developers everywhere.

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The XOWi Founders

XOWi is the perfect tool to illustrate the new age of technology. A crowd-funded project, XOWi is a small startup in need of money. Their product is a tool to make you life mobile phone-based and more handsfree. It uses speech-recognition tech to let you do many thing that otherwise would involve a smartphone. Right now, we are on the computer a big percentage of the day (not counting night). XOWi, and other wearable tech projects such as Google Glass and Galaxy Gear are still technology, but they are trying to let you live your life at the same time.

 

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