Tag Archive for: Google I/O

Weekly Tech Blog, Week of June 5-9, 2017

Drones might save the planet.  A Seattle-based company called Droneseed might have a solution to make reforestation scalable.  Right now, a skilled worker can plant about 800 seeds per day, but the automated drones can plant about 800 seeds per hour. In addition, finding laborers for tree-planting jobs is difficult because it is backbreaking work. The pay for these employees is very high because of the physical toll. The company has created specialty drones to complete reforestation tasks in a matter of days. According to the company website, the drones can survey and map a site in a few days. They also state one drone can seed half an acre of land in a single run. The project is still in the R&D stage; but if it proves viable, the company can reduce the costs of reforesting by ten times. In addition, it could make replacing valuable trees in delicate ecosystems like the Brazilian rainforest much easier.  I will report back as more news about this remarkable technology comes out.

Your cheat sheet to the best of Google I/O. Google being Google, the tech giant had a plenitude of new tech to unveil at their annual developer conference.  The best by far, though, is the AI that the company is developing.  Google lens smartphone camera has a passel of possibilities.  According to the folks at Google, the smartphone camera will not only take pictures of an image, it will comprehend the image and assist you with further action. In the demo, they showed a picture of a flower and then identified said flower for the user. The camera can also do plenty of other useful things. It can connect you automatically to wifi simply by taking a picture of the stickers on the router. There is also the possibility of connecting the app into Google assistant, which means that it can do things like add events to your calendar; translate text; get reviews of a local restaurant, and in turn score reservations at that restaurant.  All of this can be done just by clicking a quick picture of these things.  If it is as intuitive as the demo made it out to be, the Google lens may be the best thing the company has created in a while.  

Chevy finally put on some big-boy pants. I grew up with an unabashed gearhead for a father, so I have always had an appreciation for great cars, even if I don’t share my dad’s formidable knowledge. Normally, I would associate the Camaro with boys in my hometown who wore camo on dates and had an omnipresent ring in their back pockets from cans of dip. All that has changed. Chevy has come out with the throaty, tire-searing Camaro GT4.R, and the thing is everything a great American muscle car should be. With a gigantic 6.2-liter LT1 small block V8 engine, adjustable traction control and a six-speed sequential Xtrac transmission, this car screams. Stevenson Motorsports debuted it at the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series. Here is a video of the beauty in action.

Did you know that Commercient has created its own IoT integration app? Take a look at the possibilities!

 

Weekly Tech News, Week of May 15-19, 2017

Windows haters, back off. Yes, I know that the tech giant is far from perfect.  I mean, Windows Vista?! Awful.  They have redeemed themselves beyond all recognition in recent weeks, though. First, they unveiled a bunch of amazing new tech at the Microsoft Build Conference this year.  If any of it works as well as promised, detractors may soon become avid fans.

The coolest thing they came out with is an intelligent, intuitive video editing program which is a mix of machine learning (AI) and apps called the Microsoft Story Remix. At first glance, it just seems like another video editing tool–but Microsoft didn’t stop there.  It doesn’t just collect and edit your media. Editing tools and integration with Microsoft’s Remix 3D service add “mixed reality” digital images and animations to your projects. You can choose a highlighted “star” for you movie, and remix it instantly. It then adds a soundtrack from MS Groove Music service, and you have a stellar video worthy of Cannes.  Early reviews on the product have been universally good, which is pretty unusual in the tech world.  Here is a video of Story Remix in action.

 

The tech giant also introduced a universal clipboard and some new mixed-reality motion controllers. 

And on that note, Google’s ginormous dev conference, Google IO 2017, is next week. Rumors are swirling about what the folks at Google will have to present. If you can’t go this year, fear not–the entire event will be live-streamed so that tech nuts short on cash flow can still get their fix. Regardless, it should be nirvana for fans of the search-engine giant. Reports of improvements to previous Google products are in the works.  In addition, the company has announced the release of Android O–we don’t know what delicious dessert will bear its namesake yet. There has also been talk of adding phone calling to Google home, as well as other features.  We will definitely be tuning in to the live stream!