Android Wear Update

Google has just updated its Android Wear with the some pleasant and useful features. This includes Wi-Fi support that gives you more freedom to roam around and always-on screen view (no tapping, twisting or shaking required to see what time it is).

If you get into artistic mood, a watch can recognize the on-screen drawings and turn them into emoji icons. And if you happen to forget your phone, you can always ask your watch where it is.

More information on Google Official Blog.

[Image Credit: Google Official Blog]

Impasto Art Featured in Art Radar Journal

Impasto Art  – one of our projects – was featured among five most innovative art apps by Art Radar!

“Move away from smart phones and tablets towards luxurious home-viewing with Impasto Art. Freshly launched last month, the app offers free-of-charge streaming services that enable the enjoyment of some of the world’s finest masterpieces – in full-size, high-resolution quality.”

We Need To Get The Internet Of Things Right

Here is a good article from Dave Evans giving us some food for thought of how important it is to get things right with the Internet of Things (IoT). Now.

“Having grandiose visions for IoT is one thing, but IoT really does have the power to transform even mundane things into something remarkable … We must get to the point where technology works for people, rather than people working for technology. IoT is here, but our work is just beginning.”

[Image Credit: CHOMBOSAN/SHUTTERSTOCK]

NailO – a thumbnail track pad from MIT

Fresh from the MIT campus – a new wearable device that turns the user’s thumbnail into a miniature wireless track pad.

Inspired by the colorful nail stickers, the invention can be solution in moments when hands are full. For example, when cooking you might need to answer the phone or scroll through a recipe.

The researches will present their concept next week at the Association for Computing Machinery’s Computer-Human Interaction conference in Seoul.  Read more on MIT website.

Save the Internet

Most of us might not even know that there is a fight for the open internet happening right now in Brussels.

Net neutrality is the founding principle of the internet. It guarantees that all data packets are treated equally. This principle guarantees that the internet will remain diverse, innovative, and free. Telecoms companies want to change that. They want to establish new business models based on discrimination and restrictions. We cannot give up the economic and social value of the internet just to help a handful of companies to make more money.

Learn more about the issue on this site. Then go to Take Action section and contact a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) of your country asking him/her to defend the net neutrality in Europe.

AWS Announces Amazon Machine Learning

Good news for the development community: last week Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) has announced Amazon Machine Learning, a fully managed service that makes it easy to use historical data to build and deploy predictive models.

This means machine learning technology is now available and affordable to the developers of all skill levels – no need to learn complex ML algorithms and technology as Amazon did the job already.

Amazon Machine Learning provides visualization tools and wizards, and once the models are ready, it should be easy to get predictions for own applications using simple APIs without having to implement custom prediction generation code or manage any infrastructure.

Sounds really promising! We just cannot wait apply the service in our projects.

More information in the official press release and on the AWS website.

Nieuwsbite: the news platfrom where your opinion matters

Want to stay up to date about the actualities but have no time to dig into the daily news? Want to have a place to express your opinion and see what the rest thinks about the matter as well? Then we have good news for you!

Nieuwsbite – our latest assignment – has just gone live! It is a digital platform that brings news in an engaging way and offers a simple and quick way to get involved with what’s happening in the Netherlands and around the world.

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The YipiY editorial team (our lovely office mates) selects 10 important news items per day, and offers you a chance to state your opinion about them.  You can also share your votes via Facebook and Twitter. And there is a video break – a funny video –  that accompanies each article so that you can unwind a bit!

New connections: USB Type-C

Are you wondering what that thing USB Type-C is? The answer is very simple – it is a faster, more versatile and conveniently reversible connector that replaces USB, power and other types of cords. Also the Type-C port measures just 8.4mm by 2.6mm. This means it’s small enough to work for even the smallest peripheral devices. With Type-C, a USB cable’s both ends will be the same, so you don’t need to worry about plugging it in upside down.

Apple was the first major company to throw its weight behind USB Type-C with a flagship product – the new MacBook, but Google isn’t far behind. We have noticed that the search company launched its own brand new notebook – Chromebook Pixel, with the same USB and according to Google Product Manager Adam Rodriguez  Type-C will be appearing in Android phones soon.