The High Tech Society Build Your Knowledge
The High Tech Society’s Tech News Recap
November 25-30th 2012
This week has seen a lot of varied tech news. We have had game leaks, new features and functions for iTunes, Adobe Photoshop rumors, retina implants, and the imminent death of a do not track browser button. In this article, we are going to give you a brief recap of the latest tech news for the week from November 25-30th, 2012.
Staples Announce 3D Printing Service
Earlier this week, the office supply store Staples announced that it is planning on launching a 3D printing service during the first quarter of 2013. This service will launch in Belgium and the Netherlands, and will then slowly move to other countries.
This new service will allow customers to upload their 3D designs to the Staples website for processing, and then either pick up the printed 3D projects at their local store, or have them shipped to them. At the moment, there is no projected date as to when this service will be available in the US.
Retina Implants Could Help the Blind to Read
Retinal implants have been developed that can read text on signs and menus and then convert it to braille, essentially enabling a blind person to read, giving them a sense of freedom and independance.
This new technology was developed by an artificial sight technologies company called Second Sight. The retinal implant will read text, and then transmit it to vision sensors located at the back of the eye, and then translating it into braille text. The first implant, the Argus I only offered low resolution, but the latest, the Argus II offers improved resolution and has been tested with an accuracy rate of almost 90% on short words.
The Death of Do Not Track
Nobody likes their online behavior being tracked, but the ‘do not track’ technology, a small button that can prevent ads from tracking online behavior is quickly dying. Almost a year ago, the Obama administration, privacy advocates, browser designers, and digital advertisers agreed to create a ‘do not track’ system for internet browsing. But the tool is still nowhere near ready for use, and it may never become a reality.
Every week, the various parties involved get together to attempt to agree on how this technology will be implemented, however, after months of negotiations and discussions, an agreement cannot be met. In fact, they can’t even agree on what ‘tracking’ involves. Because of this, the initial plan to have the ‘do not track’ button running by the end of 2012 is not going to be possible and unfortunately, we may never see it at all.
Solar Power in Our Schools
Solar power is a renewable energy that is being embraced all over the world. In fact, many schools are now beginning to convert to solar power to try and reduce their monthly energy bills. Germany has been credited as being a leader in solar power and related technologies, but schools all over the world are beginning to convert to this clean, renewable power source. Many schools around the US have initiated the process of converting and becoming completely solar power dependent, a process that can take up to two years.
Schools in California, Tennessee, New Jersey, and many other states have decided to become more Eco friendly and convert to solar power. California currently has the largest amount of solar powered schools, with 17 currently running on solar power in Los Angeles, and 9 more scheduled to begin the conversion.
Flashing Glasses Used as a Learning Aid
The wacky ‘shutter shade’ glasses made popular by Kanye West are now being used as a technological learning aid to help encourage more people to learn computer coding. The Bright Eyes glasses kit, comes with a pair of ‘shutter shades’ made out of circuit boards and covered in over 170 LED lights, with each light being controlled separately. These lights can display scrolling text, videos of flames or generate almost any moving image. The manufacturers have stated that it is their mission to encourage people to learn how to program by teaching people how to operate and adapt the glasses.
Adobe Photoshop CS6 Retina Display Ready?
On December 11th, Adobe will be holding its ‘Create Now Live’ event, and the biggest question on everyone’s lips is whether they will announce that their newest version of Photoshop (CS6) will be Retina Display Ready. The speculation and rumors stem from a video that was released by Adobe that shows a MacBook pro with Retina Display running Photoshop CS6. Adobe is staying very quiet about these rumors and it seems that they are happy to make us wait until December 11th, 2012 to find out.
Zynga and Facebook Move Apart
Zynga and Facebook have been closely related for many years, but earlier this week the companies signed papers to distance themselves from one another. Regulatory filings submitted on Thursday have revised the terms of a deal signed by the companies in late 2010. The new agreement eases some of the restrictions on both companies.
Under the new agreement, Facebook will be able to develop its own games, which is not great news for Zynga, who has already had to cut many employees. However, the agreement has also free’d Zynga from many of the restrictions, and the company is planning on building a stand alone gaming website in the near future.
iTunes 11 Released.
Apple originally stated that it was going to release iTunes 11 in October, however because of difficulties, it was not available for download until earlier this week. This version of iTunes has had a complete overhaul, so there are many new changes that existing users may not like. The new iTunes 11, sports a more modern look and a simplified interface, and includes a lot of fixes, changes, and updates. Read a review on the new iTunes, and find out more information here.
Please join us every Sunday for a quick recap of the past week of tech news, delivered by The High Tech Society’s, Trish Rounsaville.
You can sign up to have our news delivered to you every morning via email or by going to FeedBurner.
Check out this weeks Tech News starting here: http://thehightechsociety.com/tech-news/
