In Your Own Backyard

Start by looking at the sky. Google SkyMaps (free, Android) identifies celestial beings from your point of view. Point the phone at any location in the sky and the app will tell you what you’re seeing. Planets, stars, constellations – are all unveiled. Apple users who want a prettier map can download SkyApp from Celestron (iPhone/iPad).

A surprisingly handy app, Flashlight (iPhone/iPad) transforms your phone screen to a bright white light. For reading menus, finding a keyhole or just getting somewhere in the dark, it’s a handy addition.

Gardening fanatics have a huge number of app choices. Those who prefer an encyclopedic approach will enjoy Botany Buddy ($9.99, iPhone/iPad). It provides an almost overwhelming description of every plant and shrub in existence – all searchable by name, location and description. Cooks should look at iPlant ($1.99, iPhone/iPad), a culinary guide. If your garden is infested, you need Garden Insects (iPhone/iPad), the 99-cent guide to garden insects.

For getting in shape, use your smartphone as a pedometer with Pedometer Pro GPS+ ($2.99, iPhone/iPad). Since it knows your location through its GPS, it can calculate how far and fast you’ve walked and run, through what kinds of terrain. Set your personal goals and get started.

Weather buffs and outdoor party planners might download WeatherUnderground’s free app (Android/iPhone/iPad), where local folks like you contribute weather information in real time. Crowd-sourced weather at its finest!

Looking for a local event to pass the time? From movies, to concerts, to fairs and art, Eventful (free, iPhone) lets you follow upcoming concerts, performances and other live events through the site. Eventful goes a step further by giving fans a place to demand an event. 

On the Road

AccuTerra Unlimited (iPhone) is the hardcore map and GPS tracker for hiking, running, biking, and skiing. We’re talking five million square miles of terrain and trail maps. The maps are beautiful and have been optimized for the iPhone. You’ll want to download just the maps that you need to use (the app can get quite large). This all-access pass comes at the hefty price tag of $29.95.

When you’re off the trail, Where You Go (free, Android) is an app with 500 preset categories that can locate anything from drug stores to restaurants to points of interest.

Campers and RV enthusiasts should head to Camping Road Trip ($2.99). Available on iPhone and Android, it provides a complete list of 15,000 RV parks and campgrounds and lets you share your notes and ratings with others.

On the Interstate? Download iexit ($.99, iPhone) and find out what restaurants and hotels are just off the next exit – without ever exiting.

An app I find especially handy for summer travels is Park n Find ($.99, iPhone). Park your car, take its photo, and the GPS coordinates are captured and reported back to you. You’ll never be the last car out of the lot again because you’ve forgotten where you’ve parked.

TripIt (free, Android, iPhone/iPad, Blackberry, Windows) watches as you book your flights, hotel , rental car information and turns it into your personal itinerary. Trip Advisor (free, Android phone/tablet, iPhone/iPad, Windows) shares the often very vocal opinion of travelers everywhere. Read before you book. 

Striiv, a smart pedometer that caters to casual exercisers who like rewards, thinks that collaboration with a friend is going to increase the likelihood of using your device effectively. Last year the company introduced a pedometer that allowed the user to either win game play or make a donation to charity upon meeting goals.

The new version released this week adds the “friend” element. You can now see your goals and progress side by side with others in your group. Dan Wang, the company CEO calls it the “social pedometer” where the motivation comes from games, rewards, friends and charity.

Other devices like BodyMedia, Fitbit, and Jawbone focus on data analysis – tracking your movements. Fitbit keeps a record of caloric intake, BodyMedia does that plus tracks sleep. Jawbone now lets users post a food photo diary to share with others, and offers online incentives.

More serious athletes turn to devices from Polar and Garmin. Polar offers built-in coaching as well as endurance and recovery time training in their devices. Garmin offers special devices for runners, cyclists and even golfers.

The benefits of using technology to monitor your workouts have become nearly undisputed. But is monitoring yourself with friends more effective than going solo? 

Research presented in the Economist gives examples of group training being more effective (the secret is endorphins). And the Telegraph in the UK found similar results. Women in particular do better exercising with friends, says a Motley Fool advice column. On average, their article finds a women will lose 10 pounds more if they exercise and diet with a female friend, and that 20% of women that exercise alone do not lose any weight at all.

So which type of fitness buff are you? The lone Rocky Balboa or the grab a buddy and go?

Hopping on the “body as sensor” technology movement, the Huffington Post announced GPS for the Soul, a movement designed to tame the stress monster. It will take the form of an app created in partnership with HeartMath (creators of EmWave2, a handheld biofeedback like device that tries to achieve what  they call “heart coherence”) and bLife, an app developer that specializes in health-related apps.

The goal is to provide people with tools, techniques and technology to take charge of stress and find more joy, peace and quality in life.  The GPS for the Soulwebsite on HuffPo is already providing content devoted to reducing stress and enhancing spirituality and mindfulness.  

Unrelated to the HuffPo campaign, we’re seeing attempts to bring rising stress levels under control. I’ve been playing with ZEO, a $99 bluetooth-enabled sleep monitor that works with your smartphone and an app to track sleep patterns, diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors for achieving optimal REM and deep sleep. Better sleep quality, according to research, leads to less stress.

And just for kicks, according to the American Psychological Association, Americans are masters of stress, with 22% reporting being extremely stressed, and study after study linking stress to chronic disease.

There was a time when the only tax time jitter you had was getting things done in time and coughing up your dough.  Now, the problems are compounded digitally.

Between now and April 15, approximately 155 million people are filing tax form, making identity theft  a larger concern, if only by the numbers.  Add to the recipe the fact that more and more people are filing electronically.  According to comScore, one in seven people in the U.S., ), visited online tax sites in January. While no one can say with any certainty that tax time increases the number of identities compromised, it certainly increases the possibilities.

I spoke via email with Robert Siciliano, online security evangelist for McAfee, who cited these scams and remedies.

Phishing scams. An unsolicited email or fake websites that poses as a legitimate site.  It will often appears to be from either the IRS or an organization closely linked to the IRS, such as the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS).  Often they tell you that they’re missing some key pieces of information in order to process your files.

What to Do? The IRS generally contacts people by mail and will not email or text consumers, so take care not to respond to emails or messages from the IRS. Just delete them.   If the emailers get especially adamant about needing your information like your social security number, it’s a good tip off that they’re not the IRS.

IRS scams. Beware of scammers posing as IRS agents via phone or email. They are often prepared with a few personal details that were likely gleaned from public records.  They may offer you a tax refund, pressuring you to comply with their request.  It gives the “we’re the IRS and we’re here to help” a new level of terror.

What do Do? Refuse to provide information.  Tell them to contact you via mail.  In January, the IRS announced the results of a massive, national sweep cracking down on suspected identity theft perpetrators as part of a stepped-up effort against refund fraud and identity theft.  Working with the Justice Department’s Tax Division and local U.S. Attorneys’ offices, the nationwide effort targeted 105 people in 23 states.

Rogue tax preparers. Sometimes the scam is physical according to the Citizens Voice. A group actually comes into town and rents and office space.  The scammers prepare a false tax return with a large refund that goes to the scam artists, not the people.

What do Do: The takeaway here is to use a reputable firm that‘s been in your neighborhood for awhile and doesn’t make insane promises. Siciliano cautions against questionable return preparers who will skim off your refunds, charge inflated fees and make false promises.  Anyone can hang out a shingle and claim to be a credible accountant but that shouldn’t be enough to persuade you to disclose all your financial records.

Checking licenses is always smart, he says. Each state has a division specifically for licensing. The account should be able to provide a website address and license number. Any legitimate CPA will have no problem providing this information. Avoid rogue tax preparers by finding them in reputable places (via referrals, for example) versus places like Craigslist. Don’t respond to any who have emailed you directly, and definitely don’t use one that opens shop from February to April.

Other Tips:Have your refund directly deposited into a bank account, so you don’t have to worry about a paper check being stolen from your mailbox. It will also get you your money faster: within 10 days instead of six to eight weeks, he said. You can track your return on the IRS website.

Read the IRS  Dirty Dozen list of the most common tax scams. http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=254383,00.html .  Also included on the list are offshore money, claiming zero wages, inflated income and others.  For the full list visit the IRS Dirty Dozen.

Keep Your Anti Virus and Anti Phishing Software up to date.   If your PC is riddled with malicious software, you risk having their identity stolen and taxes filed by a hacker.  While McAfee  is one of these, Norton AntiVirus, Kapsersky, AVG, Trend Micro are all solid brands that can keep you out of trouble during tax season.  To read more about phishing.

The basic idea is that you have a photo or video you like and you share it by pinning it on your pinboard. You organize our board based on some topic, places to go, food love, personal style, etc. You can share your pinboard with others and repin other photos from people that you follow. All of this ends up looking a bit like a glossy magazine layout on your screen.

Since the interest in Pinterest is skyrocketing, I sent out some mail to about 2,000 friends asking them to tell me about their Pinterest interest.

Here are the major findings:

Pinterest is for girls: As Don Willmott, a tech writer, commented, “it seems to be exponentially more attractive to women than men.” Adding some cred to Don’s hunch is this recent study from BlogHer. When asked whether they trusted different social media sources, 81 percent of women representing the general U.S. population said they trusted blogs and Pinterest, while 67 percent said they trusted Facebook and 73 percent said they trusted Twitter. Maybe because it’s because Pinterest hasn’t yet been infested by the marketing world? The irony of the girl thing is that the site was started by 3 guys. (OK, one had a stamp and coin collection so he comes by his Pinterest legitimately).

Pinterest is for the visually inclined: With 11 million unique visitors a month (according to recent numbers from comScore), Pinterest got its big push, not from the tech community, but the design community. That explains a lot. Fashion, décor, landscaping—it’s a scrapbook of lusciousness. Judy Bott, a long time tech consultant attributes her “visual inclination” to her love of Pinterest.

Virtual Collections are Tidy: Haircuts to show my haircutter, outfits to remember to try on, weekend craft instructions, no more tear sheets and messy paper. Camilla Webster, author of The Seven Pearls of Financial Freedom, calls it “the bomb for designers”. Liora Bram, a PR agent thanks Pinterest for keeping her organized about storing recipes and design ideas. She’ll use her iPhone while shopping to check Pinterest see if the chair she’s looking at is like the one she pinned. Beth Segal, a designer, says is her visual inspiration. It helps limit the chaos of pages torn from visual magazines floating around the apartment.

Casual Browsing: Most everyone admitted their Pinterest was, at this point, a casual browse for eye-catching stuff. Does it have the potential to become more? At Forbes, contributor Erica Swallow warned companies against “haphazardly joining Pinterest” without a smart, well-considered strategy. Namely, “posting visually stimulating, marketing-free content” intended for the site’s key demographic of “mature female consumers.” And Pat Meir Johnson pointed me towards http://www.hubspot.com/how-to-use-pinterest-for-business/download/ an ebook to help use Pinterest in your business. (Though she worries about affiliate marketing.)

• Social Research: Search on the hashtag #pinterest and 90% of what you get are people asking each other what they’re using it for and how they like it. The other 10% are starting to lean heavily to the “look at my pinterest” – sometimes with a purchase in mind. Its’ pretty clear that Pinterest is at the “throw it against the wall” phase and its users are searching for the ROI on their time and investment.
• Is it legal? Today I read about a lawyer who took down her pinboards after reading the fine print. While people are supposed to attribute where the photos they post come from, it’s happening pretty fast and furious out there. The fine print on the user agreement basically says that the user is responsible for their pins; Pinterest is just the board. Trouble? Could be. Here’s the fine print: “YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SITE, APPLICATION, SERVICES AND SITE CONTENT REMAINS WITH YOU.”
• What will it be when it grows up? According to Creative Beans, Pinterest today has over 3.5 million users and it’s growing faster than either Facebook and Twitter did. People are sharing on Pinterest more than anything else, with over 80% of pins being ‘repins’ rather than new content. And Pinterest has grown 148% since the first of the year.

It could look like many things.

Mary Couzins, a toy expert has both personal and business pin boards and is fascinated that her Toy and Game Inventor board has so many followers. It could look like eBay—with all sorts of things for sale. It could look like Itzy for crafters and artisans. It could be a vacation market, a wedding planner, a tour guide service—no shortage of ways to monetize what’s there. It’s doubtful it’ll turn into a music sharing network or book buying site. There are already plenty of those. And while politicians and sites like ProPublica are trying to get Pinterest into the Election 2012 world, it’s doubtful that will happen, too.

For me, Pinterest is one my slice of my social media pie that will need attention. So far, I’ve got a walking tour of dead people in Paris, a few books I like, and a bunch of photos from my company’s events. Much of that work was redundant – already on Google+ , Facebook and our company websites. How’s a girl supposed to manage? We’ll just have to, I guess.

The best line I saw about Pinterest scrolled by so quickly on Twitter that I can’t attribute it: Pinterest is to women as masturbation is to guys. And we can’t understand why the opposite sex spends so much time doing it, either.

Far from the madding crowd’s ignoble strife
Their sober wishes never learn’d to stray;
Along the cool sequester’d vale of life
They kept the noiseless tenor of their way.

The poem is a bittersweet lament at the new industrial world invading the pastoral setting of England.

Here’s a look at some of the popular apps that rely on the crowd, and your proximity to a crowd. For the most part, they’re designed to facilitate human encounters in the cyborgian world of mobile apps.

When You Meet a Stranger

Yobongo is a chat room that launched to help people chat with those nearby.  Recently they were acquired by Mixbook – a company that creates customized photo books. One can now expect to see photo books go mobile.  Now does someone a few seats down from you on the subway care to share your photo book?  Who knows?

Another “meet a stranger” site that’s taking Sxsw by storm is Highlight . If someone around you is also a Highlight user, then their profile show up on your phone. You can see their name, their photos, friends, and interests. Think Facebook with promise of meeting new friends with shared interest within close proximity.  Fascinating, yes? Highlight is available for free in the iPhone App Store.

Another darling at SXSW is Glancee, an app that combines your location with the likes and dislikes of other smartphone users nearby.  It’s avaialbe for iOS, Android and on Facebook.

Similarly EchoEcho http://www.echoecho.me/default.aspx supports all smartphones and will let you share your location with anyone in any of your address books.

Visual Group Think

Echoer is currently available in Canada, but will be available on iOS in the US soon.  Think “thought bubbles”. Now imagine that the bubble that’s got the most “followers” is biggest.  That’s the simple idea behind the very visual Echoer.  Ideas that are most worthwhile are echoed the loudest — that could be anything from thoughts shared during a political debate, to a great burger deal in town, to the way to a party you’re just finding out about.

CrowdCloud focuses on real-time information for local venues: restaurants, merchants, mass transit systems and other community events. The iPhone app is offered free to users. The company is working with partners to provide special perks and deals. Share your best restaurant tips or even let friends know you’re at your fav venue.

Business Focus

Mingle is a social app for the professional crowd — kind of the LinkedIn of ambient crowd sourcing apps.  Looking for a researcher at a conference?  It’s the way to go.  I looked at NYC which was pretty thin on professionals but I could have my pick of restaurateurs’ to mingle with .

Going Somwhere?

Pick upPal is a social network rideshare service that connects drivers and passengers everywhere. Use PickupPal to find or give a ride to work this morning, go to a conference tomorrow and get to a concert on the weekend. PickUpPal is available for the iPhone.  Try Piggyback for the Android.

What PickUp Pal does for car travel, Zamp does for air travel.  It’ll let you find  other nearby travelers, find friends or soon-to-be friends on your flight.. Zamp can even get you access to travel lounges and special affinity points.

Of course my parents are already walking/talking Personal Emergency Response systems. They can report the spread of a disease announced on CNN, or the grandkid with the fracture, faster than any old Internet can. Their daily medical reports make House look like a rank amateur. Still, when the emergency is theirs we needed a way for them to spread the word, quickly.

Personal emergency systems come in many flavors.  The best of the batch typically have a service fee attached so that a trained professional is there for them as the first line of duty.  But you can ease into the world of PERS, too.  Here are three systems.  One that’s good for accidents that happen at home; one that’s good for locating folks and setting up virtual fences, and one that’s the whole enchilada.  See what you think and let us know if you’ve had any good experiences with other products.

Freedom in Your Home

Personal Freedom Alert let me buy two systems, one for mom and one for dad.  These systems are medallion based with a unit that talks to you. The good news is that you can call any of your relatives or doctors that are pre-programmed into the system, which works with any landline. The system first calls the family and doctors’ numbers that are programmed in, and if they are unavailable then it calls 911. We had our parents try it at Thanksgiving, and I guess we entered some numbers incorrectly. So, after the device tried and failed to call my phone and my siblings phones, it did what any clear thinking device would do and it dialed 911. This worked and the responders arrived shortly!  The system was affordable, and easy to set up, but only works with a landline, meaning it’s an “at home” solution. It also requires a button press to call for help, which only works in some of the possible scenarios.

Freedom to Be Located

Most of us boomers know that taking care of our parents has a lot of similarities to taking care of our kids. Hence the PocketFinder, for anything that you’ve lost. There’ a PocketFinder People, PocketFinder Pets and PocketFinder Vehicle. The people and pets versions cost $149, the car version is $189, and they all have  a $12.95/month service fee. The thing I like best about PocketFinder is that no one has to go daffy. Whether you’re an alternate side parking forgetter like me, a “did I say I was going to Jimmy’s?” like my son or “I was walking on the beach and I couldn’t find the path back”, like my parents, the PocketFinder is a useful solution. The $150 device uses GPS and cellular communication to show you the location of your pet, parents, or car.  Setting up the parameters can involve a bit of trial and error, especially for locating people. For example, you can set up a geo-fence so you are notified if the person goes outside the boundaries you’ve specified. The PocketFinder People can be a great way to track a teen travelling cross country or an ageing relative.

Freedom to Talk to a Pro

A third device is the LifeComm bracelet. LifeComm had me at the mother daughter video moment on their web site.  LifeComm is a set of devices (bracelet, pendant, belt clip) with automatic fall detection. If the wearer falls, the device contacts a trained LifeComm dispatcher. Of course you don’t have to fall, there’s also a button to contact the dispatcher. Calling the service, which is 24x7x365, has obvious advantages over calling friends, family, or your doctor’s midnight answering service. They are always there, and can respond appropriately.

Situations vary, so you should think about what will fit your needs. Aging in place is a great idea, but it takes a lot of thought to locate the right products. And sometimes it requires an extra visit from 911. (And special thanks to our 911 responders; they were very understanding.)

Read the patent, published here on the website of the US Patent Office.

There was a time when the people’s vote meant something. Either it meant you trusted the company, you had a passionate interest in its product, or you simply thought it was a cool idea. Why else would you show up to vote?

This year will mark the end of a decade of trusting in the people’s vote and it’s all because of social networking.  Today, the winner of the people’s vote is content-free; it’s a cross between a popularity contest, a shouting match, and a hacker’s club.

This year’s popular vote for The Last Gadget Standing and Mobile Apps Showdown made Florida’s hanging chads look like child’s play. Here’s how we noticed that our world had changed. A product that hasn’t even been announced yet starts to get thousands of votes on our people’s choice voting page – so many votes that our servers  crawl to a halt.

Suspicions heightened, I make a call to the company asking how it’s possible for them to have such a strong lead. They proceed to tell me the story of the ShayTards – evangelical followers of a guy named Shay Carl, whose disciples hang on to his every blog. “He’s our spokesperson,” the company tells me, “his people will do whatever he tells them to do.”

Who knew? Now, I call a few other companies to see what they’ve been doing to garner votes and it runs the gamut from email blasts to hiring professional bloggers. The comment fields for each product are filled with useless endorsements like “Cool product”  at best, or “I was told to vote here” at worst.   Meanwhile, the website is nearly at a standstill and my office is under siege from voters complaining about not being able to access the site.

A quick call to our hosting company results in an upgrade to more space. No improvement. A second call results in a second upgrade. Like the kid who keeps getting detention in school we start to realize we’ve got bigger problems than server space. Turns out there were 40 “denial of service” scripts running against our voting page. They made it impossible to vote and they were equally impossible to track down to a source.

Finally we moved our vote to a hosting company that’s probably one level below DOD clearance (at great expense, I might add). We believe that we’re back on track. But who knows?

The point of the story? If you’re naïve enough to believe that crowd sourcing is really indicative of what the crowd thinks, or that the people can be trusted to vote thoughtfully based on real information…think again. I used to believe that the people knew best; now I believe that they’ll do whatever it takes.

Last Gadget and Mobile Apps will continue, but you better believe that the rules will change.

For now, we’re still honoring the people’s vote. Head over to Mobile Apps Showdown or Last Gadget Standing and do your civic duty.

Thanks for making AutoVerbal the #1 iPad & #2 iPhone Medical app!* AutoVerbal is the Elegant & Affordable AAC alternative! Now even better! You asked, we answered! CUSTOM PHOTOS, Male & Female voices & 3 ways to speak: (1) 100′s of built-in phrases in over a dozen categories (2) Program several buttons to speak your CUSTOM messages such as your name, address, family, etc. (3) Type ANY message and have it spoken using TEXT-TO-SPEECH! Empower yourself or people with Autism & Non-Verbal patients you care for! One low price for iPad, iPhone & iPod touch!

Elegant interface, quality recognizable images & customizations allow for quick & easy communication! Very affordable! Don’t pay hundreds out of pocket or worry about Medicare or rationing devices. Everyone can have AutoVerbal!

- iPad, iPhone & iPod touch universal support! Pay one price!
– Users/caregivers can customize the first row of buttons by touching HELP to enter CUSTOM MODE!
– 100′s of buttons use Premium TTS voice, prerecorded, even when the Internet is not available!
– Custom TTS phrases can use Premium voices when Internet is available, Standard built-in voices otherwise.

The GrandCare System is connected to any dedicated Internet Connection and communicates with “wireless” sensors throughout the residence. Designated caregivers can log into the GrandCare Website to send communications to the Loved One, view Activity & Tele-wellness sensor information, and customize the automatic caregiver alerts. A caregiver may choose to receive a call, email or text message if specified conditions occur (medication noncompliance, unusual activity, door opens at unusual time, etc).

The Loved One may enjoy the socialization, entertainment and communication portion of the GrandCare System. Family can virtually send pictures, messages, emails, reminders, calendar appts, voice messages, family videos, music and more right to the GrandCare System (Interactive Touch & Non-interactive TV models available).  The Loved One may also choose to play games, engage in brain benders, listen to favorite music, watch old film clips, view news & weather reports and more, right from their own GrandCare System.   It’s easy and requires ZERO computer experience.

Learn more: http://www.grandcare.com/

Reliable easy to use product + excellent customer service = COMPUTING SUCCESS

MyGait creates simple, failure-free computing experiences for senior citizens. With over 10 years of senior computing experience, we understand the senior computer user. Our software has grown with the needs of our senior users and will continue to be current, based on the evolving needs of older adults.

Whether you are in the comfort of your own home or in the library of your retirement community, the MyGait system encompasses a dependable PC, quick setup, and ongoing support, which ensures that our users are able to master the power of email and the internet. Our users maintain a strong link with friends and family as well as improved quality of life as a result of using the MyGait Senior PC.

Life is already complicated. You don’t need complicated software or a computer that doesn’t fit your needs. We have proven success in getting a brand new computer user up and running in a few clicks of the mouse. The MyGait computer will do whatever it is that YOU want it to do. Learning a complicated computer isn’t necessary.

Learn more:  http://mygait.com/

The Story of Great Grabz
“I would rather fall than have my friends think I have a grab bar!”

Those words changed the world of Abbie Sladick, sending her on a fantastic journey of creativity and innovation in a seemingly dull industry.

For over eight years, Abbie had been making dreams come true by designing and remodeling extraordinary bathrooms for her clients. She used products from all over the world for her projects but when one of her clients refused to use a grab bar – Abbie was stumped.

How could she create a beautiful bathroom with an ugly grab bar?

Never to be discouraged, Abbie decided if she couldn’t buy a stylish grab bar… then she would design one. The company’s signature Wave bar was the result. Now Abbie and the Great Grabz team look towards the future redefining safety in the bathroom by creating stylish products that allow people of all ages and abilities to maintain their dignity and independence.

Learn more:  http://www.greatgrabz.com/

Livemocha is the world’s largest online language learning community, offering free and paid online language courses in 35 languages to more than 11 million members from 196 countries around the world.

Global interest in language learning is exploding. Trade, immigration and travel are conducted across countries and continents like never before in human history. The result is a powerful desire shared by people around the world to communicate with one another and understand different cultures. Not surprisingly, the size of the language learning market is estimated at a staggering $50 billion USD.

In a world hungry for new language skills, and increasing broadband Internet access and VOIP adoption, our mission is to provide a more accessible, affordable, and engaging way to learn a language. Livemocha allows people around the world to help each other with language learning, and provides our community with opportunities to learn and practice new languages together.

Learn more: http://www.livemocha.com/

Sometimes predications are a matter of WHEN not IF. As mom always says, if you wait long enough, anything can happen. So where do the next few trends fall on the predication radar screen? Beep…boop…beep…boop…

NOT ANYTIME SOON

3D – By all measures except perhaps kids’ movies in theatres, 3D has been a bust. Nintendo’s 3DS made a weak showing. Much to the dismay of the industry, very few of us are sitting in front of our TVs with glasses affixed to our noses, watching things reach out to try and touch us. Glasses-free, glasses-less, universal glasses…it doesn’t seem to make much difference. Until the ecosystem of content and delivery gets a shot of adrenaline, 3D will remain on the fringe.

The Internet of Connected Things – Lots has been written about the Internet of Things, where every appliance in your home from TVs to fridges to toasters has its own IP address and can be controlled remotely from anywhere. Smart appliances like LG’s lineup get toted out for display each year but never seem to sell particularly well. Controlling your oven remotely is a recipe for a fire drill, though new models like Connectio are on the horizon.

DOABLE

The Minority Report – There will be no more passwords, as increasingly powerful phones and sensors will store your personal biometric information, enabling machines to automatically know that YOU are YOU. Most professional laptops already have finger swipe security and many are beginning to look at face recognition.

GOING THE WRONG WAY

The Internet Connected Car – Two forces are at play against each other here: the need to be always connected and entertained at the same time, versus the need to be safe. Sadly, the entertainment part of the Internet Connected Car (Bluetooth, iPod hook ups, internet in the car) is progressing faster than many of the safety devices. Toyota Entune, BMW/Mini Connect, Audi Connect, Hyundai BlueLink, and Ford Sync AppLink are all showcasing connected entertainment systems. Onstar-like devices, drowsy alerts, and parking/vision aids are few and far between. At this year’s International CES there will be a bevy of car companies though few in the safe drivers-tech zone. Read more here.

QUIET REVOLUTIONS

Translation Engines – Like autocorrect, translating a website from one language to another was the butt of lots of internet jokes. The ability to translate a site, or an email, using free tools like Google Translate has made the world a smaller, closer place.

The Mobile Revolution – There’s no going back now: phones, tablets and new ultra books have made it possible to live the truly un-tethered life. Cloud storage, for the most part, is a pretty easy transition for  consumers used to sharing photos, music and other media from “somewhere out there”.

On the Prediction Horizon for 2012

Body-Monitoring Tech – Monitoring our vital signs from blood pressure to weight, from miles walked to heartbeats per minute will provide an increasingly accurate picture of what we’re made of. What we decide to do with all of these monitors, that’s another story. We’ll become increasingly convinced that life is a game. You’ll get points for shopping, exercising, eating well and lowering your carbon footprint – all redeemable for stuff you like. Wearable technology will become increasingly real, but lead by companies like Adidas, Columbia Sportswear and other outdoor-minded leaders. Skinner would have a field day with this stuff, but ultimately this will be the year of “a better you” because of tech.

Happy Techy New Year!

Nest’s founders are Tony Fadell, team leader for the first 18 generations of the iPod and 4 generations of iPhone at Apple, and Matt Rogers, an Apple software veteran. The Apple attention to small design enhancements is obvious: the display turns blue when it’s cooling and orange when heating. It tells you how long reaching your optimal temperature will take. And a leaf icon pops up to show you when you’re saving energy. If you’re using the Nest in a second home, or a home that you’re spending lots of time away from, Nest lets you warm things up before you get there with a remote application.

The company says that the Nest thermostat can be installed by anyone who has an existing thermostat in their home.  You can’t use it in buildings like mine where the heat is controlled by the all powerful building super. Nest’s website has a compatibility check so you can be certain your Nest will work.

Design always comes with a price tag – $249. My quick search of programmable 7-day thermostats was on average, a quarter of the price.  But they didn’t learn your settings or let you change them remotely via phone app.

But for a thermostat that looks better, is more accurate and tries to save you money, the Nest is on my list. The only thing left for it to do is ask me to put on a sweater.

Imagine this scenario:  You’re walking past Bloomingdales.  They know you love DKNY because of your previous purchases at the store; they know you’re in the ‘hood because of location-based technology in your smartphone. So, they spring into action and pop off a text message offering you 30% off on the new black sweater you’ve been eyeing. You’re late to work, broke, and now stuck in the horns of a dilemma. To shop or not to shop.

That’s the new reality as Near Field Communications (NFC)-enabled smartphones enter the fray. Near Field Communications technology can transmit secure data over short distances, so your phone can talk to their cash register.  Pundits agree that NFC-based mobile payments will total over $750 billion worldwide by 2015, and many predict they will soon begin to replace a typical credit card transaction.

Buying something is as simple as tapping your phone against the cash register. And it doesn’t stop with the purchase of an item. Your phone stores your transactions and can mind your budget. Your loyalty points are accrued. You get to choose your preferred method of payment. The whole thing snowballs and eventually shopping offers, frequent flier miles, loyalty cards, gift cards, and more will all stored on your phone. Hopefully it will be the tidiest wallet in the world – freed of dozens of credit and loyalty cards in your pocket.

On the vendors side, it means being able to reward customers for shopping with them by understanding a shopper’s history and targeting their preferences. It also means upgrading the vendor’s current payment systems to accept mobile payments, but the movement is happening, and quickly.

The three technologies I’ve been watching are Google Wallet, PayPal and Square. They’re dominant at moment, but others are flocking to the space including large organizations.

Google Wallet is available today from Sprint on the Nexus s4G. It supports Citi MasterCard or a virtual card that you load up with any of your credit cards.  While the choices of handset, carrier and credit cards supported are certainly limited today, Google wallet can replace bulging physical wallet’s offers, loyalty cards, and credit cards.   In my NYC area stores like Gristedes, RiteAid and RadioShack are already accepting Google wallet payments.  To pay all you need to do is tap your phone against the POS cashier.  Your wallet is locked with a special pin code for security.

PayPal recently announced a similar service that will be available after the first of the year. Like Google wallet, you tap your enabled phone up against any equally-enabled POS. The demonstration that I saw in NY at Paypal’s showroom showed a few really cool extras. For one, if you’ve bought something with your VISA card but realize that your balance is getting low, you can simply transfer the purchase to another card. It’s not quite a “buyer’s remorse” option but at least you can make sure your bases are covered. You’ll also be able to comparison shop online, and receive special offers from stores that know you and your purchasing habits. Buy a Weber Grill for instance and the next time you walk by the store you might get an offer for cedar chips or a nifty BBQ set sent to you via text message. Not hedging its bets, PayPal is also launching a credit card that’s sort of a like a pocket full of credit cards.  A single PayPal card can hold information about all your cards, and all you need to do to enter one of your cards is take a picture of it with your phone’s camera or read the bar swipe.

What’s most interesting to me about Google Wallet and Paypal is not so much the technology provided, but the convenience of buying at retail is greatly enhanced.  Walk by your favorite lunch joint, and get the discount of the day. Store up your loyalty points with your hairdresser or grocery store. If the offers are relevant and service is good, retail stores may be the biggest beneficiaries. And that means that cities can thrive again because of their customer relationships on Main Street.

Square is a completely different solution with some profound effects on shopping, too. The company, named for its square-shaped device attached to the headphone jack on your iOS or Android devices. The Square swipes credit cards – Visa and Mastercard. Anyone can be a seller with a Square and a smartphone. Even a kid with the local lemonade stand can be their own store – taking credit instead of quarters. More than the other two, which are designed with POS sales in mind, Square opens the world of mobile commerce to farmers markets, food carts and more. A new version of Square called Card Case for iOS and Android sheaths your device and transforms it into a contactless payment service.

Shopping is about to get very interesting, just be careful where you tap and swipe.

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