As a reminder, Beacon is an indoor positioning system developed by Apple to trigger and send relevant information to your smartphone when you are walking inside a shop. Beacon work on Bluetooth low energy to detect when a customer’s phone is close to a sensor.

There are many potential real world use cases, and this is what makes Beacon interesting. For example, when you enter a clothing shop, you can receive a push notification with all the latest promos. When you enter a coffee shop, you could get the brew of the week on your phone. Or a shopping mall could display a map to help you find the right store. It could power a new payment system as well, essentially a Square Wallet on steroids.

Hardware startup Sensorberg just raised $1 million (€750,000) from Technologie Holding GmbH and undisclosed angel investors. Part of the Microsoft Ventures Accelerator in Berlin, Sensorberg is one of the most promising iBeacon startups in Europe.

The hard part is to convince big retail chains to use iBeacon. These customers have the potential to develop a good mobile app, get a large user base and integrate iBeacon features. In the U.S., Macy’s is experimenting with iBeacon. Apple will take advantage of its technology as well.

But for now, it remains a novelty. It can go either way and become a massive retail technology or end up like QR codes. Remember QR codes (A.A.)

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(The KitKat Android official video in “Apple style”)

Google says that “it’s our goal with Android KitKat to make an amazing Android experience available for everybody.”  Google plans to use its next Android release in smartwatches, gaming consoles, low-cost smartphones, and even laptops. (A.A.)

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And if Big G has decided to release an app as “All Access”, there would be a reason. But the question is different: what is the future of music? And above all, how will people continue to listen music? Will a world be where people close themselves between two earphones? The core business is to increase the fidelity of the consumers. Offering unlimited music 24/7 for a fraction of the price of traditional media.

That’s the brilliant idea behind these apps. That’s the reason because it’s was a piece of cake to capture million of customers around the world. Millions of customers who now have an opportunity to listen to their lovely music when they want. With the risk, maybe, that they shut themselves away much more than last years, when the people have been become used to Social networks, tablets and smart phones, which alienate themselves from the rest of the society. That’s our future, for sure follow through with an amazing soundtrack but without other people. Just you and your  on-demand world. (A.A.)

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Immediately following Jobs’ death, it seemed like his dream might never come true. But since then, Apple has made a big push to integrate its Siri technology into vehicles. Meanwhile, automakers are finding ways to get iOS apps to work on the dashboard. These and other moves have set Apple on a collision course with Microsoft and Google in a market that’s still very much up for grabs.

Although voice recognition has been available in cars for several years through technologies like Ford’s SYNC (powered by Microsoft), Apple’s Siri is making serious inroads with multiple automakers. Chevrolet already offers Siri integration in its Spark EV, as does the 2014 Cadillac CTS. Other manufacturers — including Audi, BMW, Chrysler, Ferrari, Jaguar, Land Rover, Mercedes and Toyota — are expected to bring Siri into their cars in the near future.

Siri Eyes Free mode is a specialized version of Apple’s voice-controlled digital assistant that interfaces with a vehicle’s own voice-control feature. Users sync their Siri-equipped iPhone with their car’s infotainment system via Bluetooth or USB, and activate the feature by pressing their vehicle’s voice-control button, usually mounted to the car’s steering wheel. Siri Eyes Free lets you do everything from make calls and play music to hear and compose text messages while you’re behind the wheel.

Siri Eyes Free differs from the standard version of Siri found on the iPhone and iPad by limiting the software’s functionality to combat distracted driving. Features removed from Siri Eyes Free include the ability to perform Web searches and anything that requires the user to look at the iPhone’s display. If, for example, you ask Siri what a waterfall is, it will say it is unable to provide you with that information, as the reply generally provides users with a picture of a waterfall.

“Siri Eyes Free is going to be a step in the right direction,” said Ben Bajarin, an analyst at technology research firm Creative Strategies. But where is Apple going next? (from mashable.com)

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