Times are definitely changing as schools are starting to incorporate more technology, such as introducing the use of tablets in the classrooms versus more traditional tools of teaching. However instead of merely using tablets as a means to teach, 11 […]
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Chris Powell was tasked with helping Jason and Rachel save their marriage — as well as lose weight — on the latest episode of “Extreme Weight Loss.” The couple were on the brink of divorce, but they wanted to find a way to save their marriage, as well as lose weight, for the sake of their 5-year-old twins.
The pair were a combined 350 lbs. overweight. Neither of them carried that weight when they got married 18 years ago, so it was symbolic of their struggles and the darker side of their fractured marriage. But the “Extreme Weight Loss” process isn’t an easy one, and at times it looked like this experience would only push them further apart.
Jason struggled with self-doubt, not just about the workout but about holding his family together and even about his job. Chris helped talk him through the emotional struggles to get him back on track with his weight loss goals. As the pounds came off, the couple found new passion for one another. Jason even re-proposed to his wife at the same place they originally got engaged: on top of the Empire State Building.
It looks as if nine months of hard politicking is coming to an end, now that the FCC has reportedly rubber-stamped the deal to tie up Softbank with Sprint and Clearwire. Bloomberg’s cabal of insiders have said that two out of three commissioners have voted to support the transactions, meaning that Dan Hesse and Masayoshi Son should soon start cracking open the champagne and cigars. Now that the pair have charmed shareholders, convinced the Justice Department and bloodied Joseph Clayton’s nose, all that’s left to do is tell John J Legere that his services are no longer needed.
Filed under: Wireless, Mobile, Sprint
Source: Bloomberg
A Facebook phone isn’t cool, you know what’s cool? An Internet of Things-styled ‘Like’ counter for local businesses who want to proudly display their Facebook page metrics. Admittedly, it doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but the Fliike, from French startup Smiirl, not only looks cool but serves an interesting purpose by providing a bridge between a venue’s virtual presence and its physical one.
The Fliike isn’t the first product of its kind — digital signage that ties into Facebook has been offered before — but Smiirl co-founder and CEO Gauthier Nadaud says that existing offerings tend to target large companies and international brands with “very complicated and costly installations”. In contrast, Smiirl is gunning for smaller, local businesses. Tellingly, the default Fliike stops short of 100,000 ‘Likes’, though the company is open to producing customised versions.
It also shuns a digital display, using a more mechanical design to increment the counter every time a company’s Facebook page gets a new fan. “Screens are everywhere, that’s why we provide a simple design using mechanical interactions, thus giving [the] Internet some tangible aspect,” says Nadaud.
Making a company’s virtual presence or digital identity tangible in the real world is one way of looking at Smiirl’s mission. More specifically the problem it’s set out to solve is that for a local business there’s no easy or cool way to physically display how popular it is on social networks and to use this ‘social proof’ as a way to drive customers in store. In the same way that people are more inclined to go to a busy-looking cafe or shop, if a business is deemed to be popular online, displaying that popularity can have a similar effect offline.
In addition, Nadaud says that it’s also “very hard to convert a satisfied in-store client into a Facebook-fan or a member of any digital community”. Seeing a business’s Facebook page ‘Like’-count on display, especially if you happen to catch it going up, is a subtle way of encouraging you to also become a fan. Who wouldn’t want to click the ‘Like’ button just to see that happen.
Going forward, the Fliike, which goes on preorder today for €300 plus taxes/delivery but appears to be throttled for now to the first 500 orders, is only the first product in the pipeline. Longer term, Smiirl says it wants to create and build an ecosystem of connected social objects designed for businesses to help them “reconnect their social identities to their physical presence”, name-checking the likes of Instagram and Spotify as other services that could be supported.
Finally, Smiirl, which is self-funded aside from its participation in French non-profit accelerator Le Camping, plans to generate revenue primarily on the margin it has selling each device, though Nadaud hints that the startup has further ideas regarding services that would build on the ecosystem its hoping to create with its connected social objects, thus generating additional and recurrent revenues.
Nokia’s turmoils and subsequent mass layoffs have freed up plenty of smart people in the Finnish workforce to do their own thing. Rovio with Angry Birds, Jolla with Sailfish and now Adaia. The 16-person startup, led by former Nokia employee Heikki Sarajärvi, has revealed that it plans to launch a range of premium Android handsets at some point in 2014 in the US, UK and of course, Finland. By premium, we’re looking at anywhere between $1,300 to $6,500, in return for the promise of extra ruggedness and durability as well as potential satellite connectivity. Why Android? Heikki says “there is no alternative,” something we assume Stephen Elop would strongly disagree with.
While there are no pictures to share today, local publication Digitoday got a chance to play with a prototype. They say the phone has a 4.8 inch screen and features the ability to hot-swap batteries without needing to turn the device off, though that feature hasn’t been fully ironed out yet. One thing that might potentially turn some people off, aside from the exorbitant price, is the phone’s weight — final units are estimated to come in at between 240 and 250 grams, which is 60 grams heavier than even Nokia’s tank-like Lumia 920. We’ve reached out to Adaia to request pictures and more info to find out what’s the cause of all that bulk, so stay tuned.
Filed under: Cellphones
Source: Digitoday (Translated) (1), (2)
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