Muse - The Brain Sensing Headband

Lets talk about futuristic.  IntraXon's Muse headband can actually read your brain, but lets not get too excited, it is only able to read brain activity.  Still, this kind of technology is something out of the future, with brain activity usually monitored by large machines.  Now IntraXon has made a headband which can help you monitor your brain activity when you are meditating or doing mind games.  The headband is said to be helpful when trying to reduce stress, with the user being able to monitor themselves throughout the day.  The Muse headband can also connect with your iOS device to allow the viewing of all the recorded data and to help keep you on the right track.  What I will say is this little piece of tech has changed the way we see our brain. 

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iPad Air - Made to inspire

I recently whatched this video made by Apple, introducing the iPad Air to the world, and I was inspired not only by the advances in technology, but by the philosophy that Apple employees.  Like the products Apple produces, the video represents simple yet elegant, something I have always regarded as Apple's forte.  The iPad Air is no different.  Like many of Apple's Products before it, the iPad Air embodies the massive advances in technology that have occured over the last few years.  Coupled with its simple design and elegence, the iPad Air is the latest of Apple's success.  Lets hope Apple can continue to produce the advanced yet simple tools that makes everyone's life that little bit easier.  

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Adobe - You need to get it together

The past couple of months has seen Adobe post some emergency fixes, for its well know Flash Player, but still Adobe doesn't get the message.  Various vulnerabilities keep coming to light and Adobe's response is to post a quick emergency fix and wait for the next problem to arrise.  Along with Flash Player, Adobe's Reader is also riddled with vulnerabilities and since 2007 the amount of vulnerabilities that effect these products have been increasing.  It comes as a surprise then that Adobe still hasn't gotten their act together to try and fix these problems, with their only response being, sweeping the issues under the rug.  The serious problem is the fact that these vulnerabilities are affecting all operating systems from Windows, to Mac, to Linux with none of them immune to the security risk.  While this is a serious issue for all operating system users, Adobe seems contend to sit back and continue as it is.  Along with the Adobe Flash and Reader vulnerabilities are security issues with Java, ActiveX and Quicktime player.  What do you think??  Is Adobe addressing the security issues present within their products, or are they waiting for someone to take advantage of the vulnerabilities before doing anything about them. 

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Apple Finally fixes Major Security Flaw

Apple has finally released a patch for the Mac operating system that fixes a Major security flaw, which allowed hackers to intercept data and secure access such as email and Facebook.  The security flaw which was present on both osx and iOS systems, was rumoured to be present for over a month.  In the past week Apple released a small patch for iOS which fixed the problem, but until today there was no fix for the osx system.  Finally Apple has got their act together and have fixed a problem which never should of happened in the firstplace.  Apple will not comment on how it came to know about the security flaw, or whether the flaw had been exploit.  After the disappointment and problems with the Maverick operating system, Apple needs to get its head back in the game. 

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iBooks for Mac - What a flop

When I heard that iBooks was coming for Mac, I was thrilled.  Yes there are other eBook readers for Mac, but they don't have the simplistic design that Apple has.  So when I heard that Apple was giving Mavericks away for free I was even more exited.  Little did I know that getting Mavericks for free wasn't a plus and that iBooks was full of bugs that hadn't been resolved.  So I updated my Mac and there was iBooks in my dock waiting to be opened.  So I opened it.  That's when everything went to shit.  Now I have thousands of eBooks and when I went to import them, iBooks froze and then stopped working.  Turns out that iBooks isn't able to handle importing a large amount of books, a bug that Apple is yet to resolve.  If you are thinking of going to Mavericks to get iBooks, don't.  Wait for an updated and stabler version before you make the transition.  Don't make the same mistake I did.  If you want an eBook reader that is stable and reliable, use Calibre while you wait for iBooks.

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Microsoft pushing Windows 8.1 to phones

So along with releasing Windows 8.1 to PCs around the globe, Microsoft confirmed at the 2014 World Mobile Conference that Windows 8.1 would be rolled out to phones running the Window's operating system.  They claim that Windows 8.1 will lower the cost of phones, getting rid of the requirement of phones having to have external buttons.  I'm a bit sceptical of that, but that's Microsoft for you.  Along with announcing the roll out of Windows 8.1, Microsoft also annouced nine new phone partners, including such names as LG and Lenovo.  Nokia, which accounted for the majority of Windows phones sold last year, and which Microsoft is in the process of aquiring, helped cement the Windows operating system as the third option behind iOS and Android.  Microsoft's nine new partnerships could help with this momentumn.  Or could it.  Already we see that Android and iOS have the majority of users, while Windows has a very small marketshare.  Lets face it, people don't want windows on their phones.  With the amount of resistants to Windows 8 and the new 8.1, you would think Microsoft would get the hint.  Make something better. 

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Just out - Whatsapp announces voice call feature

Co-Founder and CEO, Jan Koum announces the release of the voice call feature at the 2014 Mobile World Congress Source: AFP

Well I just published a post about Facebook's aquisition of Whatsapp, but the latest news in regards to the up and coming messenger is the fact that it will now offer voice calls.  That's right voice calls.  Whatsapp CEO Jan Koum announced at the 2014 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that Whatsapp would be adding the voice call feature to the app.  This move will result in further revenue disappearing from the world's largest telcom companies pockets.  This major move by Whatsapp will result in further popularity to the app, getting it closer to the 1 billlion users mark.  Lets hope that the voice call option fits seemlessly into the design of the app, and that Jan Koum hasn't overreached in his latest endevour.  The voice option will be released first on Google's Android and Apple's iOS systems and will later be released on Windows and Blackberry systems later in the year. 

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