Technology in the news – Articles from 2011

2012 onwards | 2011 | 2010

Digital news articles

Viewing 1 to 15 of 44 articles

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New York Times online, 15 February
A number of companies are hoping to offer a new product that can take over the real estate of the wrist, and although these devices can tell the time, they can also go above and beyond the old stemwinder your grandfather likely owned.
One watch that is currently being tested, called the Allerta inPulse, acts more like a computer than a timepiece. This device is different because its creators hope programmers and developers will "hack" the watch, creating new applications or uses for it. The Allerta is expected to cost $150.
Stuff.co.nz, 17 February
A computer that was created by IBM to excel at answers-and-questions has bested 'Jeopardy' contestants. The performance was proof that IBM has taken a big step toward a world in which machines will understand and respond to humans.  
Discussion starter:
• What turns a computer into 'artificial intelligence'? What are the possible uses and benefits of artificial intelligence? What are the possible liabilities?
New Zealand Herald, 26 February
Google says it has tweaked the formulas steering its internet search engine to take the rubbish out of its results. The overhaul is designed to lower the rankings of what Google deems "low-quality" sites.
BBC.co.uk video, 2 March
A new machine is being used by the Royal Air Force in Britain to simulate all stages of a live parachute jump and test how people adapt in different scenarios and weather conditions. Malfunctions can be replicated to allow new recruits to learn how to react if something goes wrong.
Discussion starter:
• Characteristics of Technological Outcomes: simulation technology - evaluating fitness for purpose
TVNZ News, 3 March
The Daily has been launched as the world's first iPad only newspaper. Like traditional hard newspapers it's a mixture of news, sport and entertainment but has the bonus of video and audio content as well.
Discussion starter:
• Digital media: publication formats
New York Times, 3 March
What Cable in the United States is doing to fight the internet: 'We're not going to sit here watching the Internet nibble away at our very existence, people. We're not going to behave like the music industry, either. We won't start suing people for going with the technological flow. We need to work with the changing times instead of fighting them.'
NZ Herald article, 14 March
Imagine being able to rebuild Christchurch with the click of a mouse. Architects and engineers produce plans down to the last detail using computer-aided design (CAD) software. Then, hit print and - not quite instantly, but after a few days - completed buildings appear before our eyes.
It sounds like fantasy - yet it's not that fanciful.
Discussion starter:
• Computer aided design and manufacture: Contour crafting; 'additive manufacturing'
NZ Herald article, 16 March
A Christchurch-based web agency that specialises in design, development and online marketing in the tourism sector, learnt after the September earthquake that their business wasn't resilient enough. Changes put in place have allowed the company to keep servicing its clients as normal just days after the February quake.
Discussion starters:
• Technological Modeling: Redundancy and reliability; cost benefit analysis
• Digital Technologies: Digital infrastructure
NZ Herald article, 20 March
First, bookworms were able to buy digital books on electronic readers; now a New Zealand company will print out a single copy of that book and mail it to your front gate.
With technological developments like this, it's little wonder book stores such as Whitcoulls and Borders are in trouble.
NZ Herald article, 22 March
The rapid development of mobile technology is opening up an ever wider range of possibilities and threats for governments, businesses and citizens.
Discussion starter:
• Future of technolog
• Impact of technological change
New York Times, 23 March
The cellphone has been more than a cellphone for years, but soon it could take on an entirely new role - standing in for all of the credit and debit cards crammed into wallets. Instead of swiping a plastic card at the checkout counter, consumers would merely wave their phones. There's just one hitch: While the technology is already being installed in millions of phones - and is used overseas - wide adoption of the so-called mobile wallets is being slowed by a major behind-the-scenes battle among corporate giants.
NZ Herald article, 25 March
New spy software has gone on sale in New Zealand to allow parents to monitor their children's text messages and cellphone calls. The technology even has a GPS tracking device so parents know exactly where their children are at any given moment. However, some groups have voiced concern about how the technology might be abused.
Discussion starter:
• Characteristics of Technology: Social and cultural influences and impacts
• Characteristics of Technological Outcomes: 'proper function' and 'alternative function'
Stuff.co.nz article, 5 April
Computer animation has a problem: when it gets too realistic, it starts creeping people out. Most recently, moviegoers complained about the near-realistic depiction of humans in Disney's 3D flick Mars Needs Moms.
Discussion starter:
• Computer animation issues
NZ Herald article, 6 April
Experts believe cloud players are the way of the future for music listeners.
Ever since the dawn of the internet, music fans have dreamed of a mythical celestial jukebox where every song ever produced would be available at the click of a button.
Now Amazon has sneaked ahead of arch rivals Apple and Google by becoming the first major internet company to unveil a music-streaming service - allowing people to store their music online and listen to the tracks on any computer or smartphone.
New York Times article, 7 April
The line between cyberspace and the physical world is blurring with a new search technology being demonstrated by Autonomy, a British software publisher. In a demonstration, the company was able to duplicate the effect seen in Harry Potter movies of newspapers with the people in their pictures coming to life. The software finds a video of an event captured in the photograph.

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