Cisco Meraki has launched a new service called Presence that provides data about mobile behavior across location and automatic log-in to wireless hotspots using a person’s Facebook account. Presence additionally provides an API that allows integration with real-time location data into CRM and other business systems. Presence also allows for third-party data integration that can be analyzed with location-based information. Merak was acquired by Cisco last November for $1.2 billion . According to Josh Constine’s post, Meraki began as a research project at MIT in 2006. It provides mid to large-size companies, schools, and organizations with on-premise mesh Wi-Fi networking and security devices plus the software to manage them. Its technology is now integrated into Cisco access points. Read more »
Adobe Updates Edge Animate HTML Animation Tool With Motion Paths, Lets You Host Your Files On Adobe’s CDN
As part of its general update to Creative Cloud , Adobe today announced the latest version of Edge Animate , its timeline-based tool for creative HTML5 animations. While this is one of the minor updates on a day where the company launched new versions of Photoshop, Illustrator and virtually every single other one of its tools, Edge Animate is worth keeping an eye on, especially given that even though it’s still a newcomer in Adobe’s lineup, its focus on HTML5 makes it one of Adobe’s more cutting-edge tools as it switches its focus from Flash to web standards. In this new version, Edge Animate gets support for motion paths, for example, something Flash developers have long had access to. With this, developers can now use the tool to “animate elements along fully customizable, fine-grain motion paths for highly expressive movements,” as the company noted in today’s announcement. With this update, Adobe is also introducing template support in Edge Animate, so users can now save their custom templates for quicker access to their reusable assets. For developers who focus on mobile projects, this new version also adds support for left and right swipe events for mobile-focused projects. One of the coolest new features, however, isn’t even about how you create animations in Edge Animate. Adobe now allows you to host your Animate runtime files on its own content delivery network, which is powered by Akamai Read more »
10 Pics From My Dog’s Google Glass
Humans are foaming at the mouth over Google Glass . The tiny projection screen, voice commands and user-friendly experience could very well be the technology of the future. But what about dogs? Could our four-legged friends benefit from Google Glass? Would anyone actually buy this technology for a dog? Considering that people buy $3.2 million collars for their dogs, why wouldn't they? SEE ALSO: SNL Mocks How Google Glass Can Be Used "Discreetly" We went undercover to learn what it would be like to be a dog wearing Google Glass, playing with a canine friend. Read more »
Backed Or Whacked: Bridging Worlds Without Words
Editor’s note: Ross Rubin is principal analyst at Reticle Research and blogs at Techspressive . Each column will look at crowdfunded products that have either met or missed their funding goals. Follow him on Twitter @rossrubin . One of the hottest areas of tech right now is the Internet of Things, wherein everyday objects communicate with each other. As doorknobs and clothing learn to communicate, we can only hope that they will protect their language better than the humans who have seen English reduced to abbreviated gibberish in the face of texting and Twitter. If Kickstarter campaigns are any indication, though, objects have a lot to say without speaking at all. Whacked: Lively Read more »
Smart Money: Scientists Embed Radio Chips in Paper
From hotel towels to soccer jerseys , just about everything seems to be tagged with radio frequency identification (RFID) chips these days. Now scientists have developed a way to embed these chips in paper, which could pave the way for so-called smart money. SEE ALSO: Washable RFID Tags Help Catch Hotel Thieves Developed by a team of researchers from North Dakota State University, the RFID-equipped smart paper could potentially be used in legal documents, tickets, package labels and banknotes. Researchers say the technology could help prevent fraud and counterfeiting. While RFID-equipped paper already exists, other versions on the market rely on thicker chips, resulting in bulky and bumpy paper that can’t be printed. However, researchers at North Dakota State developed a process called Laser Enabled Advanced Packaging that creates ultra-thin silicon chips that can be seamlessly embedded in paper. Read more.. Read more »
Facebook’s Q1 Lobbying Spend Soars 277 Percent To $2.45M; Google Down 33 Percent
It’s no secret that the amount of time that tech companies are spending in Washington, D.C., is at a high . And money spent on lobbying has also been reaching peaks for a number of well-known technology giants, including Facebook. In the first quarter of 2013, Facebook spent $2.45 million on lobbying efforts, a 277 percent increase from $650,000 a year earlier. In the fourth quarter of 2012, Facebook spent $1.4 million on lobbying , so this is a big jump both on a quarterly and yearly basis. So what did Facebook spend on this quarter? International regulation of the Internet and freedom of expression; privacy and security policies and the education of these policies; education of online advertising; immigration reform; cyber security and data security; and discussions on tax issues and stock options. Read more »
The Nook HD and HD+ Get Google Play, Knocking Down The Wall On The Barnes & Noble Android Garden
The Nook HD and HD+ got a great update late last night (via Engadget ), as Barnes & Noble finally moved away from its closed and system-specific app and media ecosystem. The two Android tablets now offer Google Play, and new devices will ship with the app pre-loaded, while existing owners can get it via a software update over-the-air or via direct download. Other changes with this update include the introduction of some stock Android apps, including Gmail, Maps and Chrome (which replaces the Nook’s existing web browser as the default option). Essentially, Barnes & Noble is turning the Nook HD line into a very cheap Android tablet play, and not in the limited way it was doing so before. Where once the Nook brand was a reader first, with Android-powered full-color readers with some tablet functionality, now it looks like we’ll see Barnes & Noble embrace the tablet identity much more fully. Another sign that the book seller is banking on tablets as a much broader attempt at reaching customers is the fact that the Nook Tablet and Color don’t get the Play update, meaning we could see those left behind in terms of future hardware updates. Read more »
Tumblr of the Day: ‘White Men Wearing Google Glass’
Google Glass has tech-types drooling — and squinting — with delight. The hoopla around the wearable device has even inspired the creation of the not-so-PC Tumblr " White Men Wearing Google Glass ." It's a pretty self-explanatory (and somewhat controversial) concept: white dudes sporting the latest in fashion technology. SEE ALSO: This Is Why Google Glass Is the Future Twitter users have chimed in with their thoughts on the Tumblr and about the perception that Google Glass might lack on the hip factor White Men Wearing Google Glass. This doesn't make me want a pair bit.ly/10oixlU — Jason Zada (@jasonzada) April 29, 2013 Read more... More about Tumblr , Humor , Gadgets , Watercooler , and Pics Read more »
Walk The Floor With Us At TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013′s Startup Alley
Today at TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2013, there was a brand new batch of startups on display in Startup Alley, and we hit the floor this morning to check them out. There was a healthy mix, including the Italian pavilion as well as a number of mobile and media startups and companies concerning themselves with privacy. We saw a way to create an animated storybook with Toon Hero, a crowdsourced bounty-setting platform for lost items with CrowdFind , a way to motivate group action around an issue with Crowdshout and a museum and culture recommendation and reservation tool with Musement. Overall, it was a varied and extremely interesting mix of companies from around the world. Read more »
Robot Learns to Gently Touch Objects
Humans are able stick their arms into cluttered areas like a refrigerator or reach across a table set for dinner without knocking anything over. Robots aren’t so good at that. In fact, until now, researchers generally design robots to not touch anything except for the object for which they’re reaching. However, a robotic arm developed by a team lead by Charlie Kemp, associate professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, has sensors that cover its entire “arm,” helping it touch other objects gently, while reaching for a specific item. The technique gives robots a more effective and realistic method for dealing with real-world circumstances, where obstacles and clutter are usually an issue. Read more... More about Robots , Science , Tech , Gadgets , and Medical Science Read more »