Techno-News Blog

by The Next Web

If you have a penchant for snapping, shooting and sharing the world around you through your smartphone, 2012 saw a slew of handy apps to help you in your endeavors. Indeed, The Next Web covered thousands of apps throughout this year, from nifty new browser extensions, to the latest game-changing Android and iOS apps, so we sifted through the archives and pulled out some of best photo, video and camera apps of 2012…just for you.

http://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/12/24/heres-the-x-best-photo-video-and-camera-apps-of-2012/

by The Next Web

Latin Americans spend 56% more time on social networking sites than the worldwide average, research firm comScore reports. It also released interesting data on the most popular networks across the region. According to the findings, Argentina is Latin America’s most “social addicted” country, with an average of 9.8 hours on social networking sites in November, closely followed by Brazil, which ranked second at 9.7 hours. Peru, Chile and Mexico also appear within the top ten global markets in that respect.

http://thenextweb.com/la/2012/12/24/comscore-latin-americans-spend-56-more-time-on-social-networks-linkedin-passes-twitter/

By Bridget McCrea, Campus Technology

Blended learning programs are booming in higher education as a growing number of institutions adopt this model to meet the unique needs and learning styles of an increasingly diverse student population. But blended learning programs are not without their hurdles. Building an effective program means knowing–and addressing–the challenges that can impede learning and instruction. Here’s a look at what institutions should know as they consider implementing a hybrid learning approach.

http://campustechnology.com/articles/2012/12/19/overcoming-blended-learning-obstacles.aspx

Dan Lyons, ReadWrite

The company is called Leap Motion, and if you want to get an idea of how much everyone in San Francisco is buzzing about them, consider this: A few weeks ago I was visiting a different hot new startup in San Francisco, and in the middle of their demo the executives said, “By the way, have you heard about Leap Motion?” Then they interrupted their own demo to show me a video showing what Leap Motion’s software does. That mindblowing video has been viewed more than 7 million times since Leap Motion put it on YouTube last May. Basically the engineers at Leap Motion have invented the 3D user interface of the future. You don’t use a keyboard and mouse; you don’t even use a touch screen. You just move your fingers in the air, and, as if by magic, with zero latency and pinpoint accuracy, stuff happens on your screen. Think of Microsoft’s Kinect controller, but way better. Leap Motion claims its device is 200 times more accurate than anything on the market and can track your finger movements down to 1/100th of a millimeter.

http://readwrite.com/2012/12/24/is-this-the-hottest-tech-company-of-2013

by STEVE O’HEAR, Tech Crunch

Julian Ranger‘s iBundle and 1minus1, has announced that it’s raised £250,000 (~$400k) in what’s being called a Series A round. That’s because Ranger, who is a prominent angel investor in the UK, has already funded the startup to the tune of £300k, bringing the total raised by SocialSafe to £550k (~$885k). Today’s round comes from Marco Sodi, plus other unnamed UK-based angels, and is said to be used to “fast-track” the technical development of the app to add new functionality such as analytics and support for more networks, including Pinterest.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/24/socialsafe/

by Adam Popescu, ReadWrite

Bruce Schneier is a bestselling author, TED speaker, and the founder and chief technology officer of BT Managed Security Solutions. ReadWrite got the chance to speak with the candid technologist about digital feudalism, widely considered one of the foremost voices in the world of security and privacy, government regulations and the reality of cyber warfare.

http://readwrite.com/2012/12/24/schneier-on-digital-feudalism-cyberterrorism-and-zombie-sopa

BY CRAIG WEISS, eLearningInfo247

The year kicked off with lots of potential, lots of excitement in the air and lots of customers gearing up to purchase new systems, despite global economic woes.

LMSs – Finally vendors took notice. Sadly though many still are in the dark on true mobile learning – i.e. not accessing their platform via a mobile web browser

Authoring Tools – With only a small sample of vendors that are SaaS based, pickings are slim. Sure there were exceptions on the desktop side – most notably Articulate Storyline, but overall until desktop vendors see the advantages of SaaS, especially with real time collaboration and peer review, tablets will be slow going

Web Conferencing – You would think that all these services would have a native app for tablets. You would think that they would maximize the power of the iPad 2 and iPad 3? You would be wrong. Frankly a few deserve coal in their stockings.

http://elearninfo247.com/2012/12/19/lookbackin2012/

by the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies

Here are the Top 100 Tools for Learning 2012 – the results of the 6th Annual Learning Tools Survey – as voted for by 582 learning professionals worldwide. A learning tool is a tool to create or deliver learning content/solutions for others, or a tool for your own personal or professional learning. Below is a summary of the Top 100 Tools 2012 and where the Top 100 Tools are mainly being used – ie for Personal/Professional learning/productivity, in Education and/or in the Enterprise (for training, performance support and/or team collaboration). (Please note that the absence of a checkmark in a column does not mean that the tool is not, cannot or should not be used for that purpose!)

http://c4lpt.co.uk/top100tools/

BY Scott Brave, Baynote

Virtually any article today about big data inevitably turns to the notion that the country is suffering from a crucial shortage of data scientists. A much-talked-about 2011 McKinsey & Co. survey pointed out that many organizations lack both the skilled personnel needed to mine big data for insights and the structures and incentives required to use big data to make informed decisions and act on them. What seems to be missing from all of these discussions, though, is a dialogue about how to steer around this bottleneck and make big data directly accessible to business leaders. We have done it before in the software industry, and we can do it again.

http://gigaom.com/2012/12/22/we-dont-need-more-data-scientists-just-simpler-ways-to-use-big-data/

by Edudemic

As you probably know, the ‘M’ in MOOCs stands for Massive. So just how massive are some of these individual  online learning courses? If they’re taught by some of the most well-known luminaries in their field … they’re quite huge. But numbers aside, it seems that courses taught by “celebrities” are some of the most-watched MOOCs so far. Might explain why Coursera, who features many courses from well-known figures, is causing such a ruckus online (in a good way).

http://edudemic.com/2012/12/the-11-most-popular-open-online-courses/

By Stephanie Mlot, PC Magazine

College campuses have been an American institution for millennia, but not all higher learning is being done in a traditional classroom anymore. Almost one-third of college students are now taking at least one online course, up from only 10 percent in 2003, according to an Online Colleges infographic based on a collaborative study by the Babson Survey Research Group and the College Board. More than 6.14 million postsecondary students are enrolled in at least one online course, a majority of them women.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2413420,00.asp

by Online College Courses

If you’re curious about learning a programming language then you’re in luck: there’s no shortage of resources for learning how to code online. University-level courses, tutorials, cheat sheets, and coding communities all offer excellent ways to pick up a new language, and maybe even a new job, too. Read on, and you’ll discover 50 great places to learn how to code, for free, online.

http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2012/08/06/50-places-you-can-learn-to-code-for-free-online/

by BRAD SPIRRISON, TechCrunch

Nearly six years after the debut of the iPhone, mobile applications are beginning to mature. The best mobile apps of 2012 – with a few notable exceptions – are more about refined practicality rather than anything revolutionary. So while this year’s list lacks medium-defining breakthroughs like Instagram and Shazam, it showcases new and meaningfully updated apps that simply work better than their competitors. In this age of algorithmic aggregation, we also salute titles that have a decidedly human touch.

http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/23/the-20-best-ios-and-android-apps-of-2012/

BY Scott Brave, Baynote

Virtually any article today about big data inevitably turns to the notion that the country is suffering from a crucial shortage of data scientists. A much-talked-about 2011 McKinsey & Co. survey pointed out that many organizations lack both the skilled personnel needed to mine big data for insights and the structures and incentives required to use big data to make informed decisions and act on them. What seems to be missing from all of these discussions, though, is a dialogue about how to steer around this bottleneck and make big data directly accessible to business leaders. We have done it before in the software industry, and we can do it again.

http://gigaom.com/2012/12/22/we-dont-need-more-data-scientists-just-simpler-ways-to-use-big-data/

by Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

It used to be that a new version of the Windows operating system was enough to get people excited about buying a new computer, giving sales a nice pop. Earlier versions of Windows all came out during periods when the PC’s status as the center of computing seemed far more secure. Not this time. Windows 8, the latest edition of Microsoft’s software, failed to pack shoppers into a Microsoft store in a mall here last week, at a time when parking lots in the area were overflowing. The trickle of shopping bags leaving the store with merchandise was nothing like the steady stream at a bustling Apple store upstairs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/technology/tepid-sales-of-microsofts-windows-8-point-to-shaky-market.html

by JULIEN CODORNIOU, Tech Crunch

New social gaming companies are emerging around the world (hot spots right now are Moscow, Tel Aviv and Helsinki), and in my role I get to speak with developers every day. Regardless of the size of the company, their locale, or the platform on which they’re building, I typically hear the same questions:

Do social games translate to mobile?

Are game developers leaving Facebook for mobile?

How do I get my game discovered and installed?

http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/22/whats-next-for-social-mobile-games/

By Jon Fingas, Engadget

If you hadn’t noticed, Dropbox is on a major photography kick lately, and it’s not stopping just because the holidays are nearly in full swing. Its new Android beta helps users deal with their photos by the bushel, either sharing or scrapping multiple photos at once as well as organize them into photos. Anyone less than photographically inclined will still see a few interface tweaks that partly mirror the earlier iOS updates, as well as a new option to receive betas as soon as they’re posted.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/22/dropbox-beta-lets-android-photographers-share-organize-photos/

by Antone Gonsalves, ReadWrite

In 2012, IT growth and innovation centered around mobile devices, cloud services, social networking and Big Data. 2013 is likely to see accelerated adoption in all those areas, as many companies move from experimenting and testing to deployment. What follows are 2013 predictions for some of the fastest growing next-generation technologies in enterprise IT. If 2012 seemed like a tumultuous year, then hold on to your hats. Next year is going to be another bumpy ride.

http://readwrite.com/2012/12/21/six-tech-trends-that-will-rock-enterprise-it-in-2013

By MICHAEL WILSON, NY Times

Top intelligence officials in the New York Police Department met on Thursday to examine ways to search the Internet to identify potential “deranged” gunmen before they strike, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said. “The techniques would include cyber-searches of language that mass-casualty shooters have used in e-mails and Internet postings,” Mr. Kelly said in a statement. “The goal would be to identify the shooter in cyberspace, engage him there and intervene, possibly using an undercover to get close, and take him into custody or otherwise disrupt his plans.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/nyregion/police-dept-to-use-internet-to-try-to-stop-shootings.html

By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER and STEPHANIE CLIFFORD, NY Times

While visits to e-commerce sites and apps on tablets and phones have nearly doubled since last year, consumers like Mr. O’Neil are more frequently using multiple devices to shop. In many cases, they are more comfortable making the final purchase on a computer, with its bigger screen and keyboard. So retailers are trying to figure out how to appeal to a shopper who may use a cellphone to research products, a tablet to browse the options and a computer to buy. “I’ve been yelling at customers for two years, saying, ‘Mobile, mobile, mobile,’ ” said Jason Spero, director of mobile sales and strategy at Google. “But the funny thing is, now we’re going to say: ‘Don’t put mobile in a silo. It’s also about the desktop.’ ”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/22/technology/as-shoppers-hop-from-tablet-to-pc-to-phone-retailers-try-to-adapt.html

By Ben Gilbert, Engadget

With CES looming like an electrically charged storm of news and announcements, it’s time for us to give you our best bets on what you’ll see come January. During the month of December, we’ll bring you a series of CES preview posts, forecasting what you can expect when the news deluge begins. For more of what’s to come, check out our hub.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/21/engadgets-ces-2013-preview-gaming/