Tag Archives: Google Glass

GNC #963 – Guest Host Mike Dell

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Todd is still out for one more show, enjoying his Vacation somewhere in the lower 48, I’m Mike Dell, from Podcast Help Desk, former Geek of the North and I will be your host for tonights show. Most of you don’t know me unless you have been around podcasting a long time. I used to do a show called Geek of the North which was a Tech Show. I have since Podfaded that show and I now do a relatively new show called Podcast Help Desk  at podcasthelpdesk.com where I talk about the geeky techie side of podcasting and help people get setup and going with their podcast.

It’s great to be back with the GNC listeners!  I last hosted this show on November 10th 2008 Show #415.   A LOT of water has gone under the bridge since then!

NO VIDEO Today.  I have a Face for Radio :) g

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Show Notes:

 

Smaller, better Google Glass?

Square Phones?  What are they thinking??

Android Screen Mirroring to chromecast is out now

Drone Operators Arrested in New York

Cockpit cameras – Good idea or bad?

Solar Sail craft to hitch ride with Spacex in 2016

Want a tour of the USAF Museum restoration hangers?

Smartwaches reviewed

Aereo uses Supreme court ruling to get back in business as a cable provider.

Company with $39 in assets now worth over $5billion!

Happy 6th Birthday Apple Appstore

The most common misconceptions about the big 8 tech companies

Applebees No Tech Tuesdays

5 to 8 times more battery on your tech toys!

10 highest paying Tech Companies to intern for

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Does “Seeds” Change Your View of Google Glass?

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Google Glass logoWhat is your first thought when someone mentions Google Glass? It might bring up the antics of a few well known people who have behaved badly (or strangely) while using Google Glass. Or, you may be among those who have concerns about glass wearers recording you or taking your photo. In short, there are many who don’t necessarily view Google Glass through “rose colored glasses”, so to speak.

Google itself is aware of the negative perception that some people have of Google Glass. It put together a guide or Glass Explorers earlier this year. One of the suggestions included began with “Don’t be creepy or rude”.

Would a heartwarming film, that was shot entirely on Glass, change your view of Google’s innovative, wearable, product? “Seeds” (video below) was created by alumni and students from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts as part of the Glass Creative Collective. This short film was shot entirely on Google Glass.

You see the film through the eyes of the main character, a man who is traveling far from home to visit with his mother. The filmmakers note that “Seeds” is their way of saying “Thank you, Mom”. It was released on YouTube shortly before Mother’s Day of this year.

I won’t give away the ending of the film in this blog. What I can say is that film is one that is designed to pull at the viewer’s heartstrings. It evokes strong, positive, emotions from the viewer. Could this “feel-good” film make people reconsider their view of Google Glass? I suspect that it might (even though the film was not intended to do so). It is a vivid example of someone who is out in public and using Google Glass in a way that doesn’t seem the least bit harassing to the people around him.

http://youtu.be/nvo6ls7edUQ

Using Google Glass to Automate Your Home

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Wonder what Google Glass can do? How about fully automate your home! Vectorform, a company that develops new app technologies have come up with the concept to open a garage door, close shades or change the thermostat using Google Glass.

As Kevin Foreman said on the Vectorform blog:

After receiving our pairs of Glass, we’ve been ideating, designing, and developing with them over the last few weeks to see what new types of experiences they enable. In addition, I personally have decided to go “all in” with Glass, wearing the device throughout my entire day to find all of the benefits and drawbacks the device brings with it.  Follow me after the break to experience what it’s like to live with Google Glass.

4 ideas of Vectorform were accepted by Google explorer program. Of course, you will need a smart home and your Glass will need to be tethered to your smartphone so the commands can be delivered over Wifi.

Still, this concept shows us how Glass can change our hands-free lives.

 

Google Glass + Home Automation from Vectorform on Vimeo.

 

It’s Time for Dual-Band Bluetooth Please!

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170px-Bluetooth.svg[1]So this first week with my Google Glass has come with a lot of fun tasks like getting out and capturing the city through this new device. Yet, it also brought some annoyances – mainly the pairing of Glass to a mobile device. Whenever I got in my car, my Jabra hands-free unit kicked the Glass out and Glass never re-paired with it unless I manually re-paired.

Its not just Google Glass. I have a ZAGG folio on my iPad. I also have a Bluetooth headphones which I cannot use at the same time. I would like to use both – listen to music or podcasts and create an article or two. Instead, I pair the headset to my phone and the keyboard to my iPad.

As we continue down the mobile plug-free road, we’re going to be faced with the same problem as HDMI ports on a LCD TV have – too many devices fighting for limited connectors. Worst yet, we don’t want another device controlling our mobile Bluetooth connections in our pockets.

One way to solve would be to create a dual-band Bluetooth standard. This would be where the Bluetooth could pair 2 devices at the same time. Then you can have your headset and your keyboard work simultaneously.

Another option is a pass-through device. For example: device 1 could be a headset and device 2 (the passthrough) could be a keyboard. You would pair device 2 with device 1, then pair device 1 with the mobile. A little more complex and only effective if you have the passthrough device around.

Currently, Bluetooth version 4.0 has a data rate of 24 Mbit/s. A keyboard might not need that high of a data rate, whereas something like Google Glass might when pushing video. That is where data packeting can shine – giving 2 devices the ability to stay paired and the mobile device not overworked.

Of course, we also have to look at power consumption. Bluetooth low energy (BLE) protocol allows for Bluetooth to be in a nocturnal state. The device would have to also work dual-band so if device 1 is on and 2 is not, it can put half the device to sleep.

At any rate, these connection problems are only going to get worse as we rely on our mobile devices to become our primary computers. Current Bluetooth standards cannot meet that demand. With the growth of mobile devices starting to outpace computers (Gartner predicts 467,000 tablets sold vs. 271,000 PC’s in 2017), the list of companies wanting to connect to that device will grow. Soon enough, we may even need 4-band (or more) Bluetooth devices.

Wink to Take a Photo

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bigstock-Businessman-winking-at-you-26984798 Taking a photo with Google Glass just got even easier. The hands free device was designed to enable users to take a photo, of whatever they are looking at, by using a simple voice command. “Ok, Glass take a picture.” To me, that sounds pretty easy. That being said, someone has already found a way to improve upon the ease of use for photography through Google Glass.

Mike Giovanni (who works at Roundarch Isobar) has released something called Winky. It allows uses to take a photo through Google Glass by winking. The voice command would no longer be necessary. Just wink, and Google Glass will take a photo. He posted information about Winky on his Google + page, along with the link where you can grab the code.

I haven’t quite decided whether or not I am comfortable with the idea of Google Glass. In some ways, I can see where Google Glass is basically a hands free improvement over what people already can do with a smartphone. People take photos with their smartphones all the time.

My best guess is that the majority of photos taken with smartphones are of whatever people had for lunch or dinner, or possibly of cats. There is an abundance of cat photos on the internet! In other words, I figure that most people are taking harmless photos. Somehow, though, the idea of connecting the act of winking (which people typically use to flirt with someone) to the act of taking a photo, just feels creepy.

To be clear, I do not believe that Mike Giovanni designed Winky as something that would be used in sneaky and ethically questionable ways. His post mentions a “lifelog”, and I can see where Winky would make doing that a bit easier and how it would streamline the process.

My concern is not with him, or his intent. Instead, I am worried about what other, morally challenged, people would use Winky for. Is the person over there who is wearing Google Glass winking because he had something irritating his eye, or because he was secretly taking my photo?

Image Stock Photo Businessman Winking At You by BigStock

The lunacy begins: Seattle cafe bans Google Glass

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By now most of you have likely seen the viral video titled “How guys will use Google Glass”, and if not, I have inserted it below. Now it seems that one public location has actually taken that seriously. A cafe in Seattle, Washington has announced a ban of Google Glass in advance of the device even being released.

In successive posts to its Facebook page, the 5 Point Cafe first let it be known that “For the record, The 5 Point is the first Seattle business to ban in advance Google Glasses. And ass kickings will be encouraged for violators”. The restaurant then followed that up with “We’ve had a lot of questions about Google ‘Glasses’. Well don’t buy into Googles ‘sexy’ imaging promotion of their new Google Glasses. They are really just the new fashion accessory for the fanny pack & never removed Bluetooth headset wearing set”.

This is almost certainly a publicity stunt, in which case I suppose it has worked. However, it does raise some real privacy concerns about how people will react when encountering an individual who is wearing Google Glass. I personally am not worried about it — I think devices like this could be the future, but I do understand safety implications, especially for women. At the very least, this begins a discussion that could be productive.