Google glasses: Ask not when, but why

Google has just announced that it's searching for test subjects for one of the company's newest projects, a pair of Internet-connected eyeglasses called Google Glass. Testers are expected to pay $1,500, plus tax, for the privilege of trying a pair of glasses that display information on a minuscule screen at the top of a person's field of vision. In the promotional video, users are shown flying airplanes and biking in traffic, which to me suggests an obvious question: Will Google be including an organ donor card with the glasses kit?

A number of other obvious questions appear to have been neglected, not just by Google (a company that seems to have forgotten the phrase "core business strategy" in recent years) but also by the mostly fawning reporters who cover it.

Those questions mainly concern "the public," most of whom do not have the time, the money or the interest to be early adopters for an idiotic-looking head device but will have to deal with the sorts of people who are already eagerly plugging the Twitter hashtag "#ifihadglass" into their application.

OK, I said "the public," but I'm talking about myself.

I'm talking about the most basic things, really. I'm talking about the number of people who walk straight into me on the street every day because they're too busy scrolling on their smartphones to watch where they're going, and never think to apologize for it.

I'm talking about feeling tired of not being able to go into any public place without the risk of having my picture taken without my permission by someone who wouldn't even know what the idea of permission means.

I'm talking about how much our basic social standards have already been eroded by "smart" ubiquity, and how as a society we haven't even digested what we've already got.

I'm really not interested in the questions that are being asked about Google glasses (When will they be for sale? What will the retail price be? Is hipster eyeglass company Warby Parker really going to be designing them? How will they be serviced?) when the simplest one hasn't yet been discussed: Do we need these right now?

When something new comes on the market in this tech-obsessed region, it's always considered crazy talk to ask why instead of why not. But the truth is that these products create changes in behavior that affect us all. If the loss of civil public behavior doesn't bother you (or if you're part of that problem), there are still fundamental matters that need to be addressed.

I recently read that pedestrian deaths are up 4.2 percent and injuries up 19 percent nationwide and that 1,152 people went to the emergency room last year thanks to "distracted walking." (That number's considered to be very underreported, because people are still rightfully embarrassed to admit to lacking common sense. Sadly, that sense of shame is likely to erode, too.)

Imagine the numbers a few years after a flock of people have started wandering the streets with a computer plugged into their eyes.

It's not the business of either Google or any other technology company to think about manners or public safety and certainly not common sense. It's up to the rest of us to consider those things. Unfortunately, when it comes to the basics, our vision right now is as cloudy as those silly glasses.

When something new comes on the market in this tech-obsessed region, it's always considered crazy talk to ask why instead of why not.

Caille Millner is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. E-mail: cmillner@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @caillemillner

Smartphone users check mobiles 150 times a day: study

People are increasingly becoming dependent on their cell phones, checking them every six-and-a-half minutes, according to a new research

In total, users check their smartphones an average of 150 times during a waking day of 16 hours, the study found. 

Looking at their phone is the first thing many people do each day - as they use its alarm function - and is also the last, the study commissioned by a mobile phone brand found.

In between, phones are used to check the internet and read emails, as well as to make calls and send texts, the 'Daily Mail' reported. 

Even people who have less-sophisticated devices check their phones frequently, it was found. 

A person just using a phone with basic functions will rack up dozens of uses a day. Mobile technology consultant Tomi Ahonen who analysed the study, wrote on his blog that people make, receive or avoid 22 phone calls every day. 

They also send or receive text messages 23 times a day, Ahonen said, and check the clock 18 times. 

"The average phone user places three calls per day and also receives three calls," Ahonen said. 

"Where are the other 16 times? Interruptions! We have a dropped call (one per day) or we make a call attempt that won't go through (one per day)," he said. Setting the alarm, playing games, changing songs, taking pictures and plugging and unplugging the phone all added to the number of phone views, he said.

-MidDay

Google announces India's first ever mapping competition 'Mapathon 2013' to help improve India Maps

Google has just announced its Mapathon 2013, which calls on users to improve the India version of Google Maps. To know more about the campaign click here.

The Mapathon begins on 12 February and goes on till 25 March. There’s a prize for those who log on to improve Google maps. The top 1000 mappers in India stand a chance to win Android tablets, smartphones, gift vouchers and Google merchandise. To register for the competition click here.

And how can you improve Maps?

The Google Map Maker is an easy-to-use tool that will allow you to add more detail to Google Maps through a few simple clicks.

Using the tool, you can select a specific area on Google Maps and add new information based on your own local knowledge and experience or by referring to the satellite imagery on Google Maps. Click a second time to save and submit your input — and once the submitted edit has been verified, the new information will be added to Google Maps.

Only edits made by users in India, will be considered for submission.

-FirstPost

Samsung to launch Android-powered fridge

Samsung will launch a fridge with a built-in Android tablet and an internet-connected washing machine by the end of the year.

By Matt Warman, Consumer Technology Editor

The Samsung refrigerator with built-in Android tablets will help people keep track of ingredients, order groceries and act as baby monitors using built-in cameras. The company’s flagship washing machines can be controlled remotely using mobile apps.

Speaking at the manufacturer’s European Forum in Monaco, Russell Owens, Samsung’s head of sales for digital appliances, said the T9000 refrigerator and the 12kg washing machine will be available in Britain later in the year.

Samsung’s flagship web-connected home appliances have previously been available in North America and Asia, but have not been available in Europe.

The T9000 refrigerator was launched at CES in Las Vegas in January, with Samsung suggesting that the built-in Evernote application could allow busy couples to share shopping lists as soon as they ran out of something.

Although pricing has not yet been announced, a T9000 refrigerator without the touchscreen is sells in America for around $4,000 (£2,500).

Mr Owens said that Samsung would concentrate on developing its premium appliance range in the UK, and that consumers increasingly associated the brand with connected appliances because of the “halo effect” from the company’s phones and TVs.

He described the category as “a major growth area” for Samsung. Consumers in the UK currently replace appliances because they are broken in two thirds of cases, but only replace them every ten years, or every 15 if they are built-in. Rival manufacturers including LG are also focusing on similar products, but have not announced UK availability.

Samsung also announced in Monaco that its S9 ultra high definition television would retail in Europe for 40,000 euros (£35,000).

-Telegraph

Teenager signs no-Facebook agreement, to get $200

A man in Massachusetts, US, is paying his teenaged daughter $200 to keep her off social networking website Facebook. Paul Baier, who is the vice president of an energy firm in Boston, posted on his blog the picture of aFacebook Deactivation Agreement his daughter Rachel signed to stay off the site in exchange for $200. 

What's surprising is that this idea of staying away from the popular social networking website was Rachel's. The father told The Daily Dot that she did this to "earn money and also finds Facebook a distraction and a waste of time sometimes." 

As part of the deal, she will not log on to the website for a period of four months and 22 days and will be paid in instalments. She will receive $50 in April and the remaining $150 in June. Rachel's father will have full access to her Facebook account and has the right to reset the password as well as deactivate the profile, the agreement says. 

Wondering what she will do with her 'hard-earned' money? The agreement Rachel has signed states, "I plan to use the money for the following purposes: Stuff." 

But it's not goodbye forever to Facebook. Paul Baier said that Rachel plans to get back to Facebook once the agreement expires.

-TOI Tech

Facebook profiles may reveal mental illness

Photo by: Digital trends.

A person's profile on Facebook may reveal signs of mental illness that might not necessarily emerge in a session with a psychiatrist, a new study has suggested. 

According to study researcher Elizabeth Martin, a psychology doctoral student at the University of Missouri, social media activity when used as a tool in psychological diagnosis can remove some of the problems associated with patients' self-reporting, the CBS News reported.

Martin's team recruited more than 200 college students and had them fill out questionnaires to evaluate their levels of extroversion, paranoia, enjoyment of social interactions, and endorsement of strange beliefs.

The students also were asked to log onto Facebook. They were told they would have the option to black-out parts of their profile before some of it was printed out for the researchers to examine.

By asking patients to share their Facebook activity, we were able to see how they expressed themselves naturally. Even the parts of their Facebook activities that they chose to conceal exposed information about their psychological state, Martin explained.

Participants who showed higher levels of social anhedonia -a condition characterized by lack of pleasure from social interactions-typically had fewer Facebook friends, shared fewer photos, and communicated less frequently on the site, the researchers found.

Meanwhile, those who hid more of their Facebook activity before presenting their profiles to researchers were more likely to hold odd beliefs and show signs of perceptual aberrations, which are irregular experiences of one's senses. They also exhibited higher levels of paranoia.

However, it should be noted that participants higher on paranoia did not differ from participants lower in paranoia in terms of the amount of personal information shared, the researchers wrote in their study detailed Dec. 30, 2012, in the journal Psychiatry Research.

That finding suggests this group might be more comfortable sharing information in an online setting than in the face-to-face interactions with the experimenter.

The researchers said information culled from social networking sites potentially could be used to inform diagnostic materials or intervention strategies for people with mental health issues.

-HT

Facebook for Android update brings voice messages

New Delhi: Following the big announcement of Facebook Graph, which lets you search within Facebook, Facebook has updated its Android app. While the image browsing feature has been tweaked to make it better, the update also brings two new features.

The following are the revamped and newly added features:

- Open and view photos faster. share with

- Share your friends' stories to timelines, pages and groups.

- Send voice messages when you have more to say

Firstly, with the updated app, your pictures will now load faster. This isn't much of a significant improvement, as it may again vary on your device and network connection. The two newly introduced features will definitely earn Facebook some brownie points.

One of the major update is how you share stories on Facebook. You now have greater control on the posts from friends or links you may want to share. Earlier, you could share only on your timeline, but thanks to the update, you can now choose whom you want to share with. You can choose to share with friends, pages or even groups.

Now to the most exciting update. With your Facebook app for Android, you can now send voice messages to your friends. The ability to send voice messages via Facebook app will certainly be an added bonus. However, this is certainly not a new feature, as it was recently introduced for Facebook Messenger app for Android and iOS.

-IBN Live