Top Bananas | Tag Archives: innovation

The Smart Toothbrush

Posted on July 18, 2017 by admin Posted in Hardware, Medical Leave a comment

What it is: Philips Sonicare is launching a new smart toothbrush that connects to an app via Bluetooth.

Most people brush their teeth without knowing how well they’re really doing until they get feedback six months to a year later from their dental hygienist. Such lengthy times between feedback means that dental problems caused by improper brushing can persist and cause problems without being detected.

To solve this problem, Philips Sonicare offers a Bluetooth enabled toothbrush that connects to a smartphone app. By viewing the app on your smartphone, you can see which parts of your teeth you’ve brushed properly and which areas you may have missed. Now based on this immediately feedback, you can correct the problem before it gets out of hand.

The idea of as Bluetooth-enabled toothbrush might seem a bit like technological overkill, but it does present the idea of immediate feedback in ways that ordinary toothbrushes can’t match. Knowing how well you’re brushing and seeing a picture on a smartphone app can turn brushing into both feedback and a game. By proper brushing, under the guidance of a smart toothbrush, you can take better care of your teeth.

Real-time health monitoring is the killer app for wearable and mobile computers. Anyone want to monitor their heart rate using a regular PC? Want to exercise and track your calories burned by lugging a laptop around all the time? Mobile and wearable computers are reaching into areas that traditional computers can never access, which means we can expect new health breakthroughs beyond real-time tooth brushing feedback.

As more devices get smarter, it’s not hard to believe that routine eye exams, hearing exams, and even medical exams can be conducted entirely on smartphones and wearable computers. While some people don’t see a need for a wearable computer like an Apple Watch, everyone can see a need for maintaining their health through mobile and wearable computers. Initially, expect the elderly and the sick to embrace health monitoring apps and wearable computers. Then expect ordinary consumers to embrace real-time health monitoring to prevent problems before they can occur.

Apple is already testing a non-invasive glucose monitor that can show you the effect certain foods (candy, ice cream, soda, etc.) can have on your body while you’re eating it. Once you can see how negatively certain foods affect your body, you can modify your behavior (hopefully) based on this immediately, real-time feedback.

Health monitoring will be what makes wearable computers essential to practically everyone. While a smart toothbrush might seem like a gimmick, you can already imagine how its real-time feedback feature can be valuable and worth the price for better dental care. If you value yourself and your teeth, why wouldn’t you want a device that could improve your health at minimal cost?

To learn more about the Sonicare, smart toothbrush, click here.

Seeing AI

Posted on July 13, 2017 by admin Posted in Software, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Microsoft has released a new app called Seeing AI, which helps blind people “see” what’s around them.

The main purpose of technology isn’t to focus on incremental improvements in a laundry list of technical specifications. Instead, technology is meant to improve our lives. As smartphones have become common with built-in cameras, Microsoft has taken advantage of these developments with a new app called Seeing AI.

The idea is that by pointing your smartphone camera at people, objects, or even text, the Seeing AI can tell you what the camera’s looking at including descriptions of people, buildings, or reading text. More amazing is that Microsoft is giving the Seeing AI app away for free.

When you see enabling technology like Seeing AI, you realize how technology can make people’s lives better. Even if you have decent eyesight, you could still use the Seeing AI for reading text out loud. Instead of relying on another person to watch your back while playing a game like paintball, you could strap a smartphone to your arm and let the Seeing AI provide another set of eyes to scan for approaching people.

Seeing AI is proof that Microsoft can innovate. If Seeing AI had been available on the Windows Phone platform, that could have been a major game-changer. As it stands now, Microsoft has seemingly given up on their mobile operating system plans and seem content to focus on making great apps for Android and iOS. That’s great for all smartphone users (at least if you’re running Android or iOS) because now you get the benefits of using Microsoft’s apps without the drawback of being stuck on Microsoft’s operating system.

With apps like Seeing AI and OneNote, Microsoft has consistently proven they can innovate on the mobile computer platform. As long as Microsoft focuses on making technology offer clear benefits to people, they can’t go wrong. It’s when they (or any other company) forgets about providing benefits to actual people that any product will ultimately fail.

Analyst Stupid Reigns Supreme

Posted on July 10, 2017 by admin Posted in Business, Hardware, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Analyst Andy Hargreaves claims Apple only has weeks to fix its fingerprint sensor on the next iPhone.

If there’s one thing you can depend on, it’s stupidity from Wall Street analysts. One of the latest blatant examples of faulty thinking comes from analyst Andy Hargreaves who claims that Apple only has a few weeks to fix the fingerprint sensor on the iPhone screen. Andy Hargreaves goes on to further claim that if Apple omits the fingerprint sensor on the next iPhone, then the next iPhone won’t support Apple Pay, which you can use by holding your fingerprint on the iPhone.

First, consider the second claim. Why would Apple keep Apple Pay off the next iPhone when Apple Pay is a critical part of its services division? That bogus claim alone should make Andy Hargreaves’ claim appear as useless as it really is. If Apple did cut Apple Pay from the next iPhone, that would truly be a monumental blunder of colossal proportions.

Second, consider the idea that Appel only has weeks to fix the fingerprint sensor on the iPhone screen. Would Apple rush the fingerprint sensor to manufacturing or would they simply have a fallback plan in case they can’t get the fingerprint sensor to work on the entire touch screen instead of a dedicated fingerprint button? If anyone at Apple has a brain, you would think they would simply have a fallback plan in case the touch screen fails to recognize fingerprints accurately.

Far too many analysts make outrageous claims for attention, and then quietly disappear when their outrageous claims don’t even come close to being true. Such analysts might as well write for The National Enquirer and claim space aliens are in the White House or that Bigfoot is secretly running GreenPeace to protect the rights of animals.

When analysts or other commentators make outrageous claims, take a moment to think about them. Then take a moment to remember what these claims are and who said them. That way in the future, you’ll be able to recognize the people most likely to say something for attention and then conveniently ignore their past mistakes so they can keep making more outrageous claims in the future to a public that keeps forgetting about their poor track record of inaccurate predictions.

Here’s what we know about the next iPhone. It may offer a fingerprint sensor through the entire touch screen, or it may have a dedicated fingerprint sensor like today’s iPhone does. Either way, a fingerprint sensor is crucial for not only using Apple Pay with the iPhone, but also for using Apple Pay on a Macintosh. It’s highly unlikely Apple will dump Apple Pay on the next iPhone.

Also Apple needs a lengthy manufacturing time to produce products, so they likely pursue several goals at once with fallback plans in case some of those ideas can’t be implemented properly. For any analyst to claim that Apple has a limited time to fix problems may be accurate, but omits the details that Apple likely has fallback plans so they can continue producing products without delay.

How analysts have a job making wild claims is a mystery. If you want a job where you have no accountability and can say what you want without bothering to research facts, then you want to work as a Wall Street analyst. If you want to use logic, then you’ll have to get a job doing something else.

To read Andy Hargreaves’ report on the future of the next iPhone, click here.

The Death of Jawbone

Posted on July 7, 2017 by admin Posted in Business, Hardware, Medical Leave a comment

What it is: At one time, Jawbone was a major competitor in the fitness tracking market. Now they’re liquidating their assets.

Pebble and Jawbone, along with Fitbit, were the leaders in the fitness tracking market. Then the Apple Watch appeared, which spawned rivals like Microsoft Band and Android Wear. Yet after several years when critics complain that the Apple Watch isn’t a big hit, rivals in the wearable computer market have faded away. Pebble is gone. Microsoft abandoned Microsoft Band after two versions, and now Jawbone is shutting down.

Meanwhile, Android Wear hasn’t achieved massive success and market share like Android, and Fitbit is struggling against the Apple Watch. Sales of the Apple Watch aren’t massive, but they’re steady and growing, proving that the Apple Watch isn’t a flop like the cylinder Mac Pro, but also isn’t a massive hit like the iPhone. Yet the demise of so many fitness tracking companies shows that the Apple Watch is killing the wearable computer market.

In the old days, there was a netbook market too. Then the iPad killed that. In the old days, there was also a smartphone market led by Blackberry, Nokia, and Microsoft. The iPhone killed that. Although the Apple Watch hasn’t proven massively successful, neither was the iPhone in its first few years of existence. Only after the iPhone offered an App Store and spread to more carriers did sales take off.

The Apple Watch will likely follow a similar path. For most people, it’s not a crucial product, but when Apple starts offering more intensive real-time health monitoring sensors such as a non-invasive glucose monitor, expect sales of the Apple Watch to skyrocket. That’s when the Apple Watch will more closely resemble the massive success of the iPhone.

Until then, the Apple Watch is succeeding simply by not failing like Jawbone, Pebble, or the Microsoft Band. Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has hinted that he wears a glucose monitor, but never mentioned who made that glucose monitor. It seems unlikely that he would mention another company’s products for no reason, so given the intense rumors about Apple researching non-invasive glucose monitors, it seems logical that Tim Cook was hinting about Apple’s own glucose monitor. When that arrives, expect the Apple Watch to become the massive hit that the iPhone is right now.

In fact, expect the Apple Watch to exceed the iPhone. The iPhone is a necessary luxury that people can do without by either getting another smartphone or avoiding smartphones altogether. But in today’s world, a smartphone is a near necessity like owning a car in most parts of America. Tomorrow, the Apple Watch will become a critical luxury that everyone concerned about their health will want. When people can see exactly how the foods they’re eating is affecting their health, expect to see fewer customers wearing Apple Watches eating at places like McDonald’s.

The Apple Watch is going to change the world like the iPhone has changed the world. While most people want a smartphone, they’re going to practically need a real-time health monitor like the Apple Watch. The Apple Watch will still be a luxury, but it will be one that people will want just the same.

Watching wearable computer rivals fade away like Jawbone, Microsoft Band, and Pebble is simply the early signs of the Apple Watch’s dominance. In the next few years, expect the Apple Watch to dominate and this health focus will make the Apple Watch the most needed product in the world.

The Next iPhone Feature

Posted on July 6, 2017 by admin Posted in Software, User Interface Leave a comment

What it is: Metaio, a German augmented reality company, posted demos of their technology long before they were acquired by Apple.

As the fall approaches, many people are speculating on what the next iPhone feature will be. Some say it will be facial recognition, others point to wireless charging. Perhaps the obvious answer that most people are overlooking is augmented reality.

At Apple’s developer’s conference, they already announced ARKit, a software framework for letting developers create augmented reality apps. Now it’s only obvious that Apple will eventually release their own augmented reality apps on the next iPhone.

ARKit requires the latest hardware (an iPhone 6s, SE, or 7; or an iPad Pro), which immediately creates a need to upgrade, especially for people who have older iPhones or iPads. Augmented reality will drive sales of iPhones and iPads while being the major focus of the next iPhone.

Just browse through various Metaio demonstrations on YouTube and you can see how augmented reality worked years ago. Now imagine those demonstrations refined to work even better today and that’s what you can expect from the next iPhone.

Augmented reality will be useful for the Maps app to show you various features of streets and buildings such as where a restaurant or hotel might be. The Camera app can also be handy for inserting virtual objects in a picture, letting you pose on the Riviera with a cartoon Pokemon character or morph your face to look like a lizard. Expect Apple to demonstrate their own augmented reality apps with the announcement of the next iPhone and highlight indoor mapping in public places like airports, sports stadiums, and museums.

Metaio is the driving force behind Apple’s augmented reality plans so just look at old Metaio videos, links, and PDF files to see what Apple is planning this fall. The future is already here in plain sight. While wireless charging and facial recognition may still be a major focus of the next iPhone, augmented reality will be the star.

To read about why Metaio sold itself to Apple, click here.

Blind to the Future

Posted on June 29, 2017 by admin Posted in Business, Hardware Leave a comment

What it is: Ten years ago on June 29, 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone.

In hindsight, everything looks obvious. That’s why history books make progress look inevitable and smooth. When people invent airplanes, printing presses, cars, and computers, history books make it sound like society readily accepted these new inventions and warmly embraced them for the advantages they could bring.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Anything new always brings out a rash of heated and dogged criticism. When personal computers first appeared, mainframe users called them “toys”. When cars first appeared, people used to yell, “Get a horse!” When people tried inventing airplanes, critics used “facts” to prove that heavier than air machines could never fly.

Why is it that the human race can be so blind to the future when it’s obvious right in front of their face? That’s the same storm of criticism that Apple faced when they introduced the iPhone. Critics claimed it was nothing special, it would never become popular in the enterprise, and that it could never replace smartphone leaders like Blackberry, Nokia, and Microsoft with their Windows Mobile software that even Palm Computing used on their Palm smartphones.

Look what’s happened since then. Blackberry smartphones are rare and selling fewer units every year. Nokia sold their phone business to Microsoft, which went nowhere. Microsoft dumped Windows Mobile and kept trying to rewrite Windows Phone until giving up completely and going with Windows 10 Mobile instead. All three previous leaders are now also-rans in the smartphone business because of the iPhone.

Yet critics still can’t see the obvious right in front of their eyes. When Apple introduced the iPad, critics said it was nothing but a bigger iPod touch. Then the iPad proceeded to wipe out the netbook market.

When Apple introduced the Apple Watch, critics said it had no purpose. Then the Apple Watch proceeded to kill watch makers and fitness band makers in one stroke. Microsoft tried to compete with the Microsoft Band and gave up after two generations. Android Wear still struggles for acceptance. Meanwhile, the Apple Watch is continuing to grow and will eventually become the leader of the wearable computer market.

If people failed to see the impact of the iPhone ten years ago, how can you expect them to recognize the obvious when they see it today? People generally refuse to accept anything new and actively resist it because they have too much invested emotionally in current technology so they want new technology to fail.

People are still resisting the Macintosh as an alternative to Windows PCs. People are still resisting email and social networks because they feel old fashion telephones and letters sent by mail are still just as good. Even business executives running Sears, JC Penny, and Target are still resisting online shopping because they think retail stores have a future.

As the iPhone showed ten years ago, there’s always a better way of doing something. Sometimes that better way itches on and sometimes it dies of neglect, but that doesn’t mean the old and current way of doing something is always the best and only correct way of life.

When you see all the criticism of people who dismissed the iPhone ten years ago as a fad or gimmick, you realize how short-sighted people can be when the future is obviously staring right back at them in the face.

Keep an open mind and be ready for change because if you aren’t, it’s going to happen anyway.

To read comments from critics who dismissed the iPhone ten years ago, click here.