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| 6 Cuddly Mascots Created by Tech Companies | |  Trying to gain attention in the tech industry can be daunting. If you don't make a booming first impression or raise millions in your first VC round, you could be destined for obscurity. In order to stand out from the crowd, some startups adopt mascots for their products. However, a mascot's success all depends on the public's reaction. (See Microsoft Word's Clippy or the Pets.com hand puppet for examples of what not to do.) The trick is to make your product lovable enough that the public embraces whichever mascot you've chosen. URL shortener Bit.ly's pufferfish is a great example. The company introduced a clever mascot to make the brand more three-dimensional. Here's a few mascots that caught our eye. Know any that we overlooked? Let us know in the comments. |
| Funding Frenzy! iPhone-Friendly Watch Nets $1 Million More on Kickstarter | |  Remember when the Pebble, the watch that talks to your iPhone or Android device via an array of open-source apps, was asking for a mere $100,000 on crowdfunding site Kickstarter? Well, actually, the Pebble is officially still only asking for $100,000 on Kickstarter. But the Internet has responded with a loud chorus of "shut up and take my money!" The Pebble's funding hit $500,000 Wednesday evening. It reached $1 million in investment, just 28 hours after the Kickstarter launched. By midnight Friday ET, the hot little e-paper wristwatch had blasted past the $1.5 million mark. There are 35 days remaining in the Kickstarter. Not bad for a device nobody has actually tested in the wild yet. (Though some own its predecessor, the Android-only InPulse watch.) SEE ALSO: iPhone-Friendly Watch Gets $500,000 Kickstarter Funding in a Day Each early investor gets a Pebble at a slight discount ($115 versus $150). But what the funding frenzy really suggests is a burning need that has so far not been met -- to extend the capability of your smartphone, especially your iPhone, to other wearable devices. But only in a way that makes sense. Part of the Pebble's appeal is this: it's a relatively simple, dumb device that lets the phone do the heavy lifting. It communicates with your apps, rather than trying to replicate them. Perhaps most importantly, the information is displayed using a technology -- Kindle-like e-paper -- that isn't likely to drain the watch's battery. (What the constant Bluetooth communication does to it remains to be seen.) Meanwhile, the celebration is only beginning at Pebble Technology in Palo Alto. "We popped a bottle of champagne at $200k, because we missed the $100k milestone," founder Eric Migicovsky told Mashable. At this rate, he'll be on caviar and oysters by day 35. How much funding will the Pebble get? Place your bets in the comments. |
| XLR8 Turns Your Ford Focus Into a Ferrari | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 10:23 PM | Emily Price |
|  We can't always hit the road in the wheels we'd like to. A new app called XLR8, however, can at least make your family sedan sound like the sports car of your dreams. Using your phone's accelerometer, XLR8 plays sounds similar to what your car might sound like if it was something a little fancier. The audio revs up as you start, just like a vehicle does. It idles when you're stopped at stop lights, and pays attention to your vehicle's acceleration, responding accordingly. "I'm a race car aficionado as well as a sound designer with a passion for the sound of a well-tuned engine," Robb Rinard, Creative Director at 2XL told Mashable. "When I was little, I was the kid who would sit at the breakfast table and make race car sounds with my mouth for fun while dreaming about tearing up the track. "When I grew up, I had the great fortune of partnering with programming genius Rick Baltman (he's done stuff like program Auto Pilot in unmanned spy planes). It was Rick who made my idea for XLR8 a reality." The app uses Hollywood recordings of real supercars. While it's designed to be used in your car while you drive, it can also be used in manual mode when you're not driving. The manual mode lets you control the virtual engine by hand, turning your sofa into a super car. XLR8's Android and iPhone app includes just the Classic V8 Muscle Car. However, a NASCAR engine, Ford GT40, and the exotic Ferrari and Lamborghini sports cars are all available as in-app purchases. What do you think about XLR8? Would you use it while driving around town? Sound off in the comments. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, gmalandra |
| Is Boeing Developing a Super-Secure Spy Phone? [VIDEO] | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 8:44 PM | Kate Freeman |
|  Earlier this week it was reported that aerospace and defense firm Boeing is developing its own mobile phone for the James Bonds of the world -- namely, the defense and intelligence communities. The phone will compete with other "highly secure communication devices," but will have a lower price-point than what's currently available, said the National Defense Magazine's blog. The Boeing phone -- for that's it's name -- will be released late this year, and was developed on Android's open source operating system. Brian Palma, vice president of the company's secure infrastructure group, told the blog, similar secure, encrypted devices cost $15,000 to $20,000 per device and use proprietary software and hardware. With the Android platform, they can lower the cost of the phones, but not to a level where the average consumer will purchase it, Palma said. The magazine reported that the President of Boeing Network and Space Systems Roger Krone told reporters in Arlington, Va., that the phone likely marks the first time the company will offer a communication device designed to use cellular networks. The blog also noted a trend Boeing reported in employee device preferences: "Boeing sees a larger business trend where employees once went to work to take advantage of information technology because it was far superior to what they had at home. Nowadays, it is the opposite. The consumer products have outstripped the office IT, and they wonder why their work has far less robust computers and phones." Boeing, a company that's mainly known for making airplanes, introduced its Dreamliner jet last summer. The 787 Dreamliner has 19-inch windows that can be electronically dimmed, plus the cabin has a higher humidity to increase comfort. What do you think about Boeing making phones? What do you think would be a fair price for this phone if it hit the consumer market? Tell is in the comments. ?Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, webphotographeer ? |
| Elon Musk: Why I'm a Space Junkie [VIDEO] | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 7:25 PM | Lance Ulanoff |
|  If all goes well on April 30, Elon Musk's Dragon spaceship will become the first private space vehicle to rocket off into space and dock with the now-completed International Space Station. It will be yet another major milestone for Musk, who seems to make a career of them. The 40 year-old entrepreneur runs not one, not two, but three major businesses revolving around his two of his key interests: renewable energy and space travel. Musk is also keenly interested in the Internet and began his entrepreneurial career by building, running and then selling PayPal over a decade ago. Today, he's chief designer and CTO of the private space company Space Exploration Technologies (better known as SpaceX), Co-Founder of Tesla Motors, which makes electric cars, and Chairman of Solar City, the U.S.'s largest solar power company, which Musk told me may IPO later this year. Still, with the launch date nearing, Musk will have to turn more of his attention to SpaceX. Mashable wanted to understand what led Musk to take on this high-risk enterprise. Was Musk a space junkie as a child? Not so much. In fact, Musk, who was born two years after the first lunar landing had trouble pinpointing the first space mission he witnessed on TV. To be fair, he lived in South Africa at the time, which had terrible television options. "We literally had one channel and it was only on for half a day," Musk says. Musk said his interest in space came not so much from witnessing the work NASA had done before, but from his own firm belief that "we should be a multi-planet species." Even so, he never thought he'd be working on space-related projects -- because "I thought that was the province of large governments." Musk started pitching the idea of a small greenhouse on Mars ("Mars Oasis," he calls it), mainly so he could get people excited about traveling to and beyond the Red Planet. As NASA wound down its manned space missions in the early part of this century, Musk began to ramp up. Eventually SpaceX, which also makes the Falcon 1 rocket, was competing to be the first private business to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station, potentially taking over from the Russian Soyuz capsule. SpaceX's Dragon is currently the only cargo option, according to Musk. Musk, by the way, is not a manned-mission purist. He said that most space travel will be unmanned and even this first Dragon test mission will be guided not by human hands, but by Dragon's own robotic mind. "The thing that's interesting and slightly scary is that Dragon is a robotic spaceship, automatically navigating itself to the space station," Musk explained. "It does pause at various points and ask if everything is OK. So it asks permission to proceed." Musk paused and added with a laugh, "But who knows, it could be like Hal 9000, 'Open the pod bay doors,' and it doesn't do it." Not everyone is on board with privatized space travel. Astronaut Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin have reportedly criticized NASA's increasing reliance on Musk's company, claiming it threatens U.S. space dominance. Still, Musk's SpaceX is all but embedded within NASA -- and vice-versa, since the company has both ex-NASA employees and actually NASA employees hard at work on the Dragon project. "It's important to acknowledge the role of NASA," says Musk. "I would not have been able to start SpaceX without what the amazing work NASA has done in the past. Nor would SpaceX be where it is today without the help of NASA." For as much as Musk respects NASA, he's quick to acknowledge one of the key benefits of SpaceX's vehicle: It costs eight times less to fly the Dragon than it did the Space Shuttle. So what does the future hold for the billionaire entrepreneur? Space, of course. Musk says that five years from now he'll make the journey himself. |
| Apple Ebook Buyers to Get Compensation from Publishers | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 6:23 PM | TechNewsDaily |
|  After getting slapped with an antitrust lawsuit, publishing houses Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins and Hachette have agreed to compensate people who bought ebooks from Apple's iBookstore at elevated prices. Apple and ebook publishers have been accused of price-fixing. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Apple, as it prepared to launch its own ebook store, persuaded publishers to price ebooks at $13 and $15, or about $3 more than the same books being sold through Amazon and other outlets. Formerly, it was retailers like Amazon, and not publishers, that set consumer prices. As part of the deal, Apple allegedly got a 30% commission on each ebook sold. Amazon and others felt compelled to adopt the new model, and now most Amazon Kindle books start at $13. After a two-year investigation, the Justice Department filed an antitrust suit against Apple, Penguin, Macmillan, Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster. The bottom line, based on documents filed by the Justice Department and news reports: Amazon's $10 ebook price scared the hell out of publishers. The plan to end Amazon's iron reign took place in secret CEO meetings in private New York dining rooms beginning in the fall of 2008. Sixteen states and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico have filed a suit of their own in Texas. Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia and Puerto Rico have demanded compensation for their citizens. Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins and Hachette are avoiding the states' suit by agreeing to "provide restitution" to people in those states that had purchased their books from Apple. The publishers said they will "use a formula based on the number of states participating and the number of eBooks sold in each state" to determine amounts due, but did not specify how consumers will be reimbursed — by check, a discount on future purchases, or some other mechanism. Details are to be finalized in the coming weeks. |
| Barnes & Noble Lights Up Simple Touch Ereader With GlowLight [HANDS ON] | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 5:30 PM | Lance Ulanoff |
|  In a darkened room, on a bed no less, Barnes & Noble today introduced us to its latest E Ink innovation: in-screen lighting. Called GlowLight, the new integrated, LED-based lighting system on the Nook Simple Touch is a smart and likely welcome idea for those unwilling to give up reflective E Ink technology for its brighter, LCD-based tablet counterpart. It's also an idea that's been tried before. Sony's PRS-700 E Ink reader (released way back in 2008) offered two built-in LED side-lights. That now-discontinued reader, however, was larger and much heavier (10 ounces versus just under 7 ounces) than the new Nook Simple Touch. So Barnes & Noble isn't the first, but it has found a way to update its touch-screen ereader without increasing the weight or, the company promises, ruining battery life. Barnes & Noble introduced the patent-pending technology today as part of its latest Nook ereader, which looks exactly like the last Simple Touch, but is actually 5% lighter. It's now the lightest of all Nook products. The company backed up the GlowLight introduction with some very obvious stats about bedtime reading. In a poll conducted earlier this year, the book seller found that two out of three Americans read in bed (stunning) and reading lights in bed actually interrupt sleep more "than a frisky partner's midnight moves." More interestingly, 50% of respondents said they'd read in bed more often if it did not impact their partner's sleep. The desire to read in bed is probably as old as reading. However the relatively new innovation of ereaders, both E Ink- and LCD-based, changed the in-bed reading landscape. Many read with their LCD-based iPads, Nook Tablets and Kindle Fires. Unfortunately, some believe that "unnatural" LCD backlighting can keep you awake. E Ink readers, which typically need an external light (like a lamp or the sun) are most like reading a book, but still require that in-bed reading lamp. Barnes & Noble competitor Amazon now sells a Kindle ereader with an LED lamp built into the Kindle holder. The Nook Simple Touch GlowLight is along the top edge, under the protective touch screen, yet sheds even light on top of the E Ink screen below. SEE ALSO: Barnes & Noble's Nook Color Welcomes Netflix, Comics, More Apps It's also, at least according to Barnes & Noble, quite energy efficient. The company promises 30 days of reading -- if you read 30 minutes a night -- on one charge (the light can last for 60 continuous hours on a charge). While the current Nook Simple Touch costs $99 (same as the current Amazon Kindle Touch), the new GlowLight model will run you $139. Nook officials counter that you're saving money on an external light and the anti-glare screen, which is now built into the Simple Touch reader. In practice, using the new ereader is easy. Barnes & Noble set us up on a comfy bed in the penthouse of a swank New York City hotel to get the full experience. We turned on the light by holding down for two seconds the signature "n" button on the device. You can adjust the light's intensity by going to settings (also under the "n"). During our test drive, the brightness was turned all the way up. The screen looked great, the text was as clear as ever and the Nook Simple Touch's screen reacted swiftly to our gestures. The new Nook Simple Touch with GlowLight goes on pre-order today and should arrive in Barnes & Noble Stores in May. Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch sales may not have been as strong as the company hoped, but this latest update indicates it's sticking with the technology (even as it continues push its LCD-based Nook Tablet). What do you think of this latest innovation? Would you buy a Simple Touch over a Kindle Touch because of it? Sound off in the comments. |
| Why Getting Women Into STEM Matters | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 4:38 PM | The Jane Dough |
|  Oh, the hours folks have dedicated to figuring out why women aren’t represented in science, technology, engineering and math — otherwise known as the “STEM” careers. There’s ample data to show women are just as good — if not better — than men in the STEM career track. And some reports show that simple bias keeps even elementary school-age girls from advancing in math and science, putting the kink in the pipeline at the very earliest stage. But here’s a question: Exactly why is it so crucial to get women into math and science in the first place? Gender diversity not good enough for you? You need practical reasons for this big STEM push? For the non-believers, a new report from the White House Council on Women and Girls provides some answers — and suggests that non-participation in STEM may be costlier than ever for women. First, the basics: The report (which we found via U.S. News) shows that women make up just 25% of the STEM workforce. Overall, women make up about 47% of the total labor force, according to recent U.S. Labor Department data, so there’s your discrepancy. But why does that matter? Why should we care about this disparity? Aside from the fact that we need as many smart, science-y people around as we can possibly get — which, actually, isn’t a bad reason. But let’s approach it from an ensuring-women’s-financial-future standpoint. For starters — and this really isn’t a big shock — STEM is a growth industry. In fact, the White House Council report showed that it’s set to grow by about 20% in the next 10 years. So if we’d like women to have skilled jobs that might be available at some point in a decade’s time, we should probably shuttle them over that direction. That is, those of us who didn’t fight like hell to survive basic high school math. I’m not pointing fingers here… unless I’m standing in front of a mirror, in which case, I'm pointing fingers. Moving on. In fact, there’s ample evidence to show that healthcare (i.e. doctors, i.e. science), research and tech are outpacing other careers by a long shot, as we can see from this chart from the BLS:
That giant blue bar at the top represents the kids who took AP Chem, who will be buying their first house before the rest of us pay off student loans. That second, smaller bar, would be all of the people doing scientific research and, generally speaking, saving the world. So, yes, the discrepancy is that big. A decade from now, that could translate to vastly greater job security — job security women won’t have unless they get the chance to move in the STEM direction. And let’s also look at it from a financial standpoint. (After all, despite what some might say, women do care about making a living.) It turns out, despite their lack of representation, women in science, tech, engineering and math face less of a wage gap than their less technologically inclined peers. The report shows that women in STEM fields earn roughly 14% less than the guys, while ladies in non-STEM careers face a 21% gap. Yes, the gap still exists, but it’s a little better in STEM. Of course, there are also lots of other reasons that STEM careers are advantageous for both men and women. Education Insider compiled a good list of STEM-pros, including high pay and job availability. But a cushy gig isn’t the bottom line. We’re in a transitioning economy, one in which STEM remains the brightest star. It’s not just a career opportunity — it may just become the career for women. |
| This Alarm Clock Is Determined to Wake You Up [VIDEO] | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 4:22 PM | Kate Freeman |
|  If you feel akin to a bear awaking from hibernation in the morning or find yourself shouting at your alarm clock, "Just five more minutes!" inventor Paul Sammut has an alarm clock you won't be able to ignore. The 25-year-old Hoboken, New Jersey engineer created what some are calling the world's most persistent alarm clock. The Nixie Ramos alarm clock does not let you reset the wake-up time once it goes off, and if you unplug it, it will operate from a battery. There are only two ways to stop the alarm clock from dinging. The first way (which is the way it was designed to be used) is to go to the wireless keypad -- which you should place in another room -- and type in the day's date. The second way, Sammut admits, is to smash it to smithereens, but with a $350 price tag you might want to opt for the first method. The Ramos was also designed to look appealing (maybe so you're less inclined to smash it in the morning). The clock face was created using Soviet Union-produced neon-colored nixie tubes which were originally designed to go in spacecraft and tanks. You can get the alarm clock's wood box frame in one of two finishes: natural teak or dark stain. The Ramos offers a one-time adjustment to personalized settings. You can set the alarm clock so that it gives you one 10-second alarm, waits one minute and then goes off again until you defuse it. But once wake-up time approaches, Ramos won't allow any changes. Oh, and Ramos also talks to you when you're setting it. The alarm clock is currently in final design stage and is about to go into production. It is available for pre-order and will begin shipping out this September. Summut also offers two other alarm clocks. The LED Ramos ($200) is smaller than the Nixie and does not let you select a finish, but does come with the separate defuse panel. The Ramos Custom ($800!) is fully customizable with exotic woods and separate extra wiring should your alarm clock's lights need replacing. Would you buy one of the Ramos alarm clocks? Which one? What features do you like/dislike? Tell us in the comments. |
| Can This App Let You Control Your Dreams? | | Thursday, April 12, 2012 3:30 PM | Sonia Paul |
|  It's common knowledge that dreams reflect our subconscious thoughts and feelings. But is it possible to actually manipulate our subconscious, so we can think, feel and dream however we want? That's the premise behind Dream:ON, a new iPhone app being used as a mass-participation study to test whether people really can influence their dreams. "Getting a good night's sleep and having pleasant dreams boosts people's productivity, and is essential for their psychological and physical well being," said Professor Richard Wiseman, the psychologist behind Dream:ON. "Despite this, we know very little about how to influence dreams. This experiment aims to change that." Here's how it works: After downloading the app free from the iTunes store, participants choose a specially designed soundscape and wake-up time and leave their phones on their beds. Presumably, the accelerometer on the app will measure the sleeper's motions and track when he enters a REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage -- when the most vivid and memorable dreams occur -- and starts dreaming. Once the sleeper is in REM mode, the app will play the soothing sounds he's chosen beforehand. The theory behind the soundscapes is that they'll influence the sleeper's dreams, and under the right conditions, they can help lead to lucid dreaming -- the kind of dream in which you know you're dreaming. With the app, participants have the option of posting a brief description of their dreams to a central database. They can even tag any friends who appear in their dreams on Facebook -- that is, if they're comfortable announcing who they're dreaming about. Results so far from the study, documented on the Dream:ON Twitter account, are mixed. Disappointed with first try of @DreamONapp. No dreams, just broken sleep from the noises played sporadically. Normally sleep & dream well...— Libby Langley (@LibbyLangley) April 12, 2012 @DreamONapp I had the best lucid dream I can remember thanks to your app.Look forward to trying it again tonight.— Ashwin Desikan (@adesikan) April 11, 2012 Still, for Wiseman and his colleagues, that's the point of conducting the study. They hope to have at least 10,000 participants, and after a few months, they'll examine the data to see if it really is possible to influence your dreams. What do you think of this new Dream:ON app? Will you participate? |
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