Friday Poll: TED Attendees Talk Top Technology Trends
As you may know, each Friday we do an informal poll to find out what Mashable readers think of a particular topic du jour. This week, since we’re at TED with some of the best and brightest minds working hard to change the world, we thought we should take the Friday Poll on location and find out what TED attendees have to say about this week’s topic.
We asked a number of TEDsters the following question: “What do you think is the most interesting thing happening in technology right now?” Below is a sample of the answers we got back, featuring a range of responses as diverse as the contributors they came from. What do you think is the most interesting technology trend today? Let us know in the comments.
Di Winkler, CEO of Summer Foundation — Tools and innovations that help people with disabilities do things they otherwise wouldn’t be able to and even in some ways to become superhuman.
Jane Wulf, TED scribe — Open data. As transparency increases in government, the supply chain and elsewhere, we have so much more access to information and are able to use it in so many ways.
Rod Beckstrom, CEO of ICANN — The explosion of smartphones in the developing world, increasing education and community organizing there. Also, the movement to keep the Internet unified, not Balkanized and forked by different countries’ interests.
Andrew Bird, musician — Philosophy is more interesting than technology. Mashable: What do you think about tools that bring music creation to aspiring artists more cheaply? Andrew: I think live performance has become even more valuable because it allows for improvisation and unexpectedness, in contrast to tools that can allow too much perfection in the studio.
Lakshmi Pratury, founder and co-host of TED India — How technology is being used to further the human mind. We’ve finally gone beyond tech for tech’s sake and are using technology to make a difference in the world.
Perry Chen, CEO and co-founder of Kickstarter — Mark Roth’s work on suspended animation. Also Microsoft Pivot, for starting to bring whole new ways of browsing the web.
Juliana Machado Ferreira, biologist at Sao Paulo University and TED senior fellow — Whole genome sequencing.
Dean Guida, CEO of Infragistics — Cloud computing and collaborative software that allows distributed teams to work together across place and time.
Julianne Wurm, founder of R-cubed educational consultancy — Microsoft Surface and touchscreens in general; MIT Media Lab’s Siftables; and the iPad. I’m in education, and I think these kinds of tools are going to be incredibly important there.
Ralph Simon, CEO of Mobilium and chairman emeritus of Mobile Entertainment Forum — The emergence of smartphone components in entry-level phones in the developing world, which is accelerating Internet access for so many people who wouldn’t otherwise have it. Also augmented reality, mobile health applications, and mobile money for the unbanked.
Virginia Miracle, SVP of digital strategy at Ogilvy — The collision of our online and offline identities and the concept of an open universal identity.
Farhad Mohit, founder and CEO of Dotspots — Tim Berners-Lee’s concept of an open web of linked data. We’re enabling a kind of “information militia” that can make better, more informed decisions. Information is power and when people have power, everything changes.
Rachel Pike, Ph.D. and atmospheric chemist at the University of Cambridge — Personal and scientific data sharing, and the crowd-sourcing of science making more vital data publicly available.
Kimberly De Los Santos, associate vice president, Arizona State University — Social media. Not any specific platforms per se, but the connections across cultures they enable.
Donald Samuels, managing partner at Pictorial Offset Corporation — QR codes. They’ll become ubiquitous and all our devices will read them and take us directly to information.
Jenny Lam, co-founder of Jackson Fish Market software company — Threadless, Blurb and other tools that let artists create something physical and get it out to the public on-demand and at high quality.
Hillel Cooperman, co-founder of Jackson Fish Market — The falling cost of creating software, and new devices that have commerce built in so that customers can get payments to software developers, are both contributing to a renaissance in software development.
Debra Silver, international board member of Save a Child’s Heart — Touchscreens. I’m a sculptor so I love to see computers getting more tactile!
Peter Knights, executive director of WildAid — Work on cold fusion. Energy solutions are the most important thing right now. And the Nexus One Google just gave me is pretty cool too!
Todd Grant, creative director of Switzerland West — The disappearance of technology as it becomes a natural and intuitive part of our daily lives, so much so that we don’t always notice it.
David Wish, founder of Little Kids Rock — Gift economies and the impact that the web is having on economics overall.
Sunny Bates, partner at Icarus Talks — Microsoft Pivot, Bing Maps and real-life photo integrations, and all the new ways of visualizing information coming online.
Stephen Petranek, editor-in-chief at Weider History Group magazines — Applications made possible by putting genetic code onto discs. Imagine taking your DNA sequence on a chip to the supermarket and having it tell you what foods you should be eating.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, ericsphotography
Reviews: Mashable, blurb, iStockphoto
Tags: Augmented Reality, Bing Maps, blurb, cloud computing, crowd sourcing, digital identity, energy, genetics, ipad, microsoft pivot, nexus one, open data, poll, QR Codes, Science, smartphones, social media, technology, TED, ted 2010, threadless
Detroit Red Wings Make Game Programs Interactive With QR Codes
The Detroit Red Wings are a socially savvy bunch. The NHL team recently started including QR codes in their in-arena distributed Red Wings Today program, and the effort is proving to be a big hit with fans in attendance.
After seeing Esquire’s use of augmented reality, the team decided to get creative and make their print program interactive (embedded below) to include digital media accessible via QR codes.
The codes in question appear in the program and include a prominent call to action that reads, “Smartphone interactive, scan here.” A mobile device scan of the QR code brings up the following video for fans to watch instantly:
Instead of letting fans figure out QR codes on their own (a rather complicated concept to people unfamiliar with the technology), the team got smart and put together an instructional video that now airs on the big screen during games. That video can be seen below:
What’s more important is that the experimental approach to a traditionally old-fashioned print publication is paying off big-time. Fans are actually using QR code bar scanners on their mobile devices to access the video, and sticking around to enjoy it. The Red Wings’ Social Networking Coordinator Nicole Yelland tells us (bolded for emphasis):
“In tracking this effort, the Wings have found mobile devices to be the #1 viewing medium fans are using to see videos accounting for an overwhelming 22% of fans viewing linked videos nearly 2,000 times all the way through. We’re very excited at the possibilities this technology provides our team in giving more access and we’ve only just begun to tap into the capabilities it provides us in both marketing to our fans and giving them exactly what they are asking for in terms of access to their team.
Moving forward, we’re looking to create exclusive video content that is complimentary to stories included in the magazine, create opportunities for our advertisers to include offers in their ads via QR codes and put our fans in the driver’s seat when it comes to giving them information on the Detroit Red Wings.”
We’ve seen plenty of impressive social media sports initiatives (especially around the Super Bowl), but this has got to be one of the most innovative approaches to driving home the connection between the team, its fans, online content and the in-game experience.
Tags: detroit red wings, MARKETING, NHL, QR Codes, sports
Weather Channel distributes Android app via on-screen QR code
Google’s been doing some pretty slick stuff with QR codes lately, and now it looks like The Weather Channel’s getting in on the fun — it’s running a little on-screen graphic prompting Android owners to download their app by scanning their TV screens. Sure, it’s not the craziest thing in the world — it just takes you to the Android market listing — but it’s certainly fun, and one of the more mainstream uses of QR codes we’ve seen in a while. Check the video after the break.
Update: We originally said it takes you to the webpage; in actuality, it takes you to the the Android market. (Thanks, Caleb!)
Continue reading Weather Channel distributes Android app via on-screen QR code
Weather Channel distributes Android app via on-screen QR code originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 15:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
ShopSavvy Barcode Reader for Android: Now With QR Code Support
When Google’s Android platform first launched in late October of 2008, ShopSavvy from Big in Japan was easily one of the most impressive apps available for the platform. Using the phone’s built-in camera, ShopSavvy scans barcodes of any product and then uses the data connection to search the Internet for the best price. It’s one of those really genius mobile app ideas, and it is no surprise that ShopSavvy was one of the winners of Google’s Android Developer Challenge in 2008.
Although the ShopSavvy team has been busy with ShopSavvy for the iPhone, they haven’t neglected Android users. ShopSavvy 3.6 is available in the Android Market now and in addition to some bug fixes and extra UI polish, the newest version adds a very, very cool feature: QR code support!
QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes created in Japan back in 1994. The idea behind QR codes is that you can store far more information in the code than you can with a standard one-dimensional barcode. However, outside of Asia and the manufacturing industry, QR codes haven’t really become something consumers in Europe and North America interact with.
That’s now starting to change, as companies like Google start to find ways to utilize the data storage power of QR codes. Recently, Google mailed QR code stickers to more than 100,000 local retailers as part of its Google Favorite Places program.
Businesses can affix these stickers in their store windows or in other easy-to-access areas and customers can scan the barcode with their mobile phones. The code will take the user to the business’ Places Page where they can read reviews, find coupons, and star or rate the business.
ShopSavvy has shied away from embracing QR codes in the past, but now that Google is rolling out the Favorite Places program, they’ve decided to integrate the feature into the latest version of the Android app.
What is your favorite mobile app for price checking? Let us know!
Reviews: Android, Android Market, Google
Tags: android, barcode, barcode scanning, google favorite places, QR Codes, shopsavvy
ShopSavvy Barcode Reader for Android: Now With QR Code Support
When Google’s Android platform first launched in late October of 2008, ShopSavvy from Big in Japan was easily one of the most impressive apps available for the platform. Using the phone’s built-in camera, ShopSavvy scans barcodes of any product and then uses the data connection to search the Internet for the best price. It’s one of those really genius mobile app ideas, and it is no surprise that ShopSavvy was one of the winners of Google’s Android Developer Challenge in 2008.
Although the ShopSavvy team has been busy with ShopSavvy for the iPhone, they haven’t neglected Android users. ShopSavvy 3.6 is available in the Android Market now and in addition to some bug fixes and extra UI polish, the newest version adds a very, very cool feature: QR code support!
QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes created in Japan back in 1994. The idea behind QR codes is that you can store far more information in the code than you can with a standard one-dimensional barcode. However, outside of Asia and the manufacturing industry, QR codes haven’t really become something consumers in Europe and North America interact with.
That’s now starting to change, as companies like Google start to find ways to utilize the data storage power of QR codes. Recently, Google mailed QR code stickers to more than 100,000 local retailers as part of its Google Favorite Places program.
Businesses can affix these stickers in their store windows or in other easy-to-access areas and customers can scan the barcode with their mobile phones. The code will take the user to the business’ Places Page where they can read reviews, find coupons, and star or rate the business.
ShopSavvy has shied away from embracing QR codes in the past, but now that Google is rolling out the Favorite Places program, they’ve decided to integrate the feature into the latest version of the Android app.
What is your favorite mobile app for price checking? Let us know!
Tags: android, barcode, barcode scanning, google favorite places, QR Codes, shopsavvy
Google Goggles brings visual search to Android; Favorite Places brings QR codes to restaurant reviews
digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/software/Google_Goggles_brings_visual_search_to_Android_Video’;
Looks like Google’s been busy on the camera tip lately — not only is it launching a new QR code-based Favorite Places mobile search product today, it’s also demoing Google Goggles, a visual search app that generates local results from analyzing mobile phone images. Favorite Places isn’t super-complicated, but it sounds like it’ll be pretty useful: Google’s sent QR code window decals to the 100,000 most researched local businesses on Google and Google Maps, and scanning the code with your phone will bring up reviews, coupons, and offer the ability to star the location for later. (It’s not implemented yet, but you’ll be able to leave your own reviews in the future.) Google hasn’t built this into the Google Mobile app yet, so you’ll need something to read QR codes with — Android devices can use the free Barcode Scanner, and Google and QuickMark are offering 40,000 free downloads of QuickMark for the iPhone today. We just tried it out using QuickMark and it works pretty well — although we’ll wait to see how many QR codes we see in the wild before we call this one totally useful.
Google Goggles is a little more interesting from a technology standpoint: it’s an Android app that takes photos, tries to recognize what in them, and then generates search results about them. Goggles can recognize landmarks, books, contact info, artwork, places, wine, and logos at the moment, and Google says it’s working on adding other types of objects, like plants. Pretty neat stuff — but how about linking these two services together at some point, guys? Check some videos after the break.
Google Goggles brings visual search to Android; Favorite Places brings QR codes to restaurant reviews originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Why Google’s Slapping Decals on Small Businesses
QR codes are those funky-looking barcodes that you’ll sometimes spot on print marketing materials or even pedicabs. While QR codes do offer you a unique way to use your mobile phone camera to capture/scan the code to retrieve a message, they haven’t been embraced by the mainstream population. But can Google change that?
In an effort to beef up attention for their Place Pages project within Google Maps, which is in direct competition with Yelp, Google has started an online and offline program. The new initiative is centered around putting decals with QR codes in store windows, designed to draw your attention to the Favorite Places in your neighborhood.
Google is sending window decals to more than 100,000 U.S. businesses that they’ve identified as the most sought-after on Google and Google Maps. Much like the Yelp stickers you’re accustomed to seeing in businesses around town, these decals will appear in store windows and highlight the business’ status as a Google Favorite Place.
The decals also include prominent QR codes that you can scan with your mobile device to pull up the locale’s place page and get reviews — and possibly even coupons — for a particular establishment. At some future date, you’ll also be add a review from your phone (you can already draft a review using Yelp’s mobile app).
The problem with QR codes is that they require your mobile device to have an app that can scan the codes. iPhone owners and Android users are covered, (Google has made the iPhone app QuickMark free for a limited time), but QR codes are still a fuzzy concept for most consumers. Plus, the decal maneuver is clearly part of a catch-up scheme to usurp Yelp’s stronghold over consumer reviews. Whether or not it will be effective remains to be seen.
Watch the video below to see the decals in action:
Reviews: Google, Google Maps, Google Wave, QuickMark, Yelp, iPhone
Tags: favorite places, Google, QR Codes
