Digital Trends has collected a number of resources for parents to use while, keeping safe, sane, and happy at home. They have links to share with your student’s parents to help your students with activities beyond the classroom. When they are not sure what to do next, there’s an online resource for that.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/topic/education-in-isolation/
…Read MoreThe Wall Street Journal’s Amir Efrati has raised eyebrows with an article (subscription required) saying Google is working to stay ahead of its rivals in internet search by introducing more so-called “semantic search” technology, Digital Trends reports. The idea is the Google’s search box wouldn’t just be a place for users to type keywords or specifically-formed queries, but a box that had an actual understanding of many of the terms, names, verbs, and references people type in — and could apply that knowledge to users’ searches. In theory, semantic search should be able to return results that reflect a searcher’s intent, and in some cases improve Google’s ability to give an answer right away without referring users off to another site. But wait — is this anything new? Doesn’t Google already put some answers right up front? And how could semantic search potentially help Google maintain its lead in the internet search business?
…Read MoreCloud computing evangelists have been pronouncing the death of the PC for years; now Gartner, the world’s leading IT research firm, has weighed in on the issue with a new report that predicts personal cloud services will replace the traditional PC as the dominant form of business computing by 2014, Digital Trends reports. Although that date seems a bit hasty given how long large scale IT changes typically take in the corporate world, Gartner analysts identified five “megatrends” that they predict will come together and lead to the rapid adoption of the cloud in business. Among them: The consumerization of tech, virtualization, and a dramatic increase in user mobility.
“Major trends in client computing have shifted the market away from a focus on personal computers to a broader device perspective that includes smartphones, tablets and other consumer devices,” said Steve Kleynhans, research vice president at Gartner, according to a press release. “Emerging cloud services will become the glue that connects the web of devices that users choose to access during the different aspects of their daily life.”
The innovative Raspberry Pi project has entered the home straight, as production of the first wave of computers has begun, Digital Trends reports. The brainchild of David Braben, best known to many as the co-writer of the epic space-trading game Elite, the idea behind Raspberry Pi is to encourage high school students to learn computer programming, without the school needing a huge budget. As previously reported, there will be two Raspberry Pi models. Model A will cost £16/$25 and come with 128MB RAM, while Model B will have 256MB RAM, an Ethernet port at a price of £25/$35. The tiny computers use Linux and have a 700Mhz ARM 11 processor, a USB port and an HDMI-out. The Raspberry Pi Foundation announced via their official blog that the first run of 10,000 Model B PCs has already begun, but added that initial plans to manufacture them in the UK had to be canceled thanks to prohibitive taxation. As the Foundation is a charity, it was important to make the most of their funds, hence moving production to the Far East…
…Read MoreFollowing news that Nintendo will introduce an application store with their forthcoming Wii U console, a rumor has appeared that they’ll introduce an eBook download service too, Digital Trends reports. This builds on the speculation that Nintendo wants their next console to be more than just a games machine. Quoting an unnamed software developer who has been working with Nintendo, Forgetthebox.net was told of a complete eBook download service, featuring not only books, but comics, magazines and newspapers too. One of the Wii U’s unique features is its 6.2-inch touchscreen controller, and it’s here that the eBooks would be read, using the standard page turning swipes to browse through them…
…Read MoreSome of us are quite attached to our mobile devices, much to the chagrin of anything and anyone that isn’t a smartphone screen. Apple and Google are reportedly looking to change that, Digital Trends reports. They want to integrate our smartphones into daily life better by developing wearable mobile devices that act more like a window to the real world, rather than a screen. According to the New York Times Bits blog, Apple has been secretly working on a wearable computer, much like the wrist worn iPod Nano, which will integrate Siri. The NYT sources say that a small number of Apple employees have been rounded up for “conceptualizing and even prototyping some wearable devices.” One device the company is toying with was described as a wrist worn “curved-glass iPod…”
…Read MoreAmazon took another step toward pulling its hardware and digital content into an increasingly tight package on Wednesday when it announced the launch of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library, Digital Trends reports. As its name suggests, the new service, which allows users to borrow one digital book per month, is open to anyone with a Kindle device, such as its popular Kindle e-reader, or its soon-to-be-released Kindle Fire tablet. Users must also be a member of the Amazon Prime service, which costs $79 a year and offers access to almost 13,000 movies and TV shows, together with free two-day shipping for goods purchased from its online store…
…Read MoreApple has announced that it is switching up its back to school promotion this year. Instead of getting a free iPod Touch, this time students will be offered a $100 gift card to buy apps with, reports Digital Trends. The $100 app store credit comes with purchase of a Mac with Apple education pricing during the period of time between the months of June and September 2011. The qualifying Mac can be bought at an Apple retail or online store, as well as your campus’ store. The credit can then be spent on the Mac App Store, the iOS App Store, iTunes or the iBookstore…
…Read MoreWe already know that tablets are going to take a bite out of PC sales and robots will take over social networks, but what else is happening in the next five years? Well, IBM has a few guesses, reports Digital Trends. The company recently unveiled its annual “Next Five in Five,” showcasing five innovations it thinks will hit the tech market in the next five years. This year’s list is filled with better batteries, 3D holograms, computer heat energy, better GPS, and citizen scientists.
Here’s the list:
Better batteries: Though battery capacity and power have traditionally only improved about 7 percent a year, IBM thinks we may see smaller batteries that last 10 times longer than today’s.…Read More