New Technology:Gadgets & Trends

5 Years Later

David BottManager, IT & Networks

St. Catharines Public Library

March 6, 2012

Gadgets - 2007

Digital Cameras

Point-and-shoot Digital SLR Get that perfect shot

– Instantly preview every shot Edit & print your own digital pictures Make digital movies Post pictures online

– Flickr.com– MyPhotoAlbum.com– Facebook.com– Weblogs (aka “blog”)

MP3 Players

iPod dominates the market iPod Touch does much more than music

– Audio, video, games, web browser, email, chat, camera/video– Pretty much an iPhone without the phone or GPS

Purchase & download online Rip from your own CDs Download from St. Catharines

Library using Freegal

Global Positioning System– System of 24 GPS satellites– Device uses Trilateration

Various Implementations– Factory-installed devices for cars– After-market installations– Portable Units, specialized units– Most smart phones include A-GPS

Newer units include– Live traffic updates via Navteq– Limited to major metro areas– Bluetooth, Voice commands

GPS Devices

Cell Phones - Convergence

One device to do it all! Krzr, Blackberry, iPhone

– Phone– Audio & Voice Recording– Video & Pictures– Internet– E-mail– PDA– Camera– Games

2012: Convergence is here

Gaming Device Camera

MP3 Player GPS

E-reader PortableComputer

Payment System

Television

Trendy Tech in 2012

Single-purpose devices (e-readers) Multi-purpose devices

– Tablets and Smart Phones Digital Media

– Access issues– Storage issues

Cloud Computing Social Networks QR Codes NFC Lytro Light Field Camera

E-readers

E-ink technology– Monochromatic, long battery life, easy-to-read,

limited mainly to reading– Various vendors

Kobo, Sony, Nook, Kindle**

– Requires “side-loading”content via Adobe DigitalEditions

E-readers on Steroids

Kobo Vox, PanDigital Not quite a full-fledged tablet experience

– Customized OS that lacks full access to apps via Android Marketplace– Lower price: Lower power CPU, less memory, lower resolution screen

Browse the web, email, play games, watch movies… and read a book Install additional apps

– OverDrive Media Console to access SCPL Digital Media Collection Colour screens Wifi-enabled

– Download ebooks & audiobooks “OTA” (over-the-air) Screen also has glare and can be difficult to read in bright light Much shorter battery life than plain ereader (hours vs. days)

Tablets

Similar functionality to smart phones, except bigger screens Lack phone capabilities, however, some have 3G data capabilities Lower-end models are generally wifi-only More expensive models have

3G capabilities, more memory, faster CPU

Apple iPad Android-based tablets BlackBerry PlayBook

Smart Phones

iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone Most include 3”-4” touch screen, camera, wi-fi, 3G/4G, A-GPS Apps:

– Customized applications designed for smaller screens– Browse the web, check email, text, play games, place holds, renew

items, download audiobooks, listen to music, watch movies, you name it!

New generation of “superphones”– Larger screens (4.5”+), higher resolutions, multicore processors,

more memory

The Library on your Device

The library offers a number of online services– Download eBooks and Audiobooks via OverDrive

Works with Windows/Mac, smartphones, tablets and e-readers

– Download music for free (legally) using Freegal Thousands of artists, hundreds of thousands

of songs from the Sony Music catalogue MP3 format (no DRM); yours to keep

– Search catalogue, renew items and place holds using BookMyne on your smartphone

Check the app store on your device

Digital Media – Accessing

Virtually all media is digital– Audio, videos, pictures, ebooks, personal documents, health records,

tax records, etc.– Sharing / accessing data easily can be a problem

Streaming video to TV & mobile devices rather than burn to DVD or change formats

– Look for DLNA-certified devices (Digital Living Network Alliance) Enables sharing of digital media between consumer devices such

as computers, printers, cameras, cell phones, and other multimedia devices

– Access online (Netflix, Youtube) and locally-stored content Boxee, AppleTV, PopcornHour, DLNA-certified TVs & BluRay Gaming consoles such as PlayStation3, Wii, XBox

Digital Media - Storage

People are creating and acquiring large amounts of digital media:– Pictures, home movies, music, videos

Data gets spread out among multiple USB drives, DVDs, etc. Sharing data between devices can be problematic Migrating data to a new computer can also be problematic Drive failure on a PC can lead to catastrophic data loss Network-attached storage devices (NAS) can provide RAID-protected,

centralized, expandable storage (ReadyNAS, Drobo, Thecus, Synology) as well as additional services (remote access, backup to cloud, file sharing, media streaming, etc.)

Backups are still important: multiple drive failures, theft, fire, flood, accidental or intentional deletions can all result in data loss

Cloud Computing

Delivery of computing as a service rather than a product

Shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices over the internet

Provides computation, software, data access, and storage resources without requiring cloud users to know the location and other details of the computing infrastructure

End-users access service via web browser or mobile app

Cloud Computing - Examples

iCloud– Take a picture with iPhone and it syncs with iCloud– Picture is then automagically sent to your other

devices Googe Docs

– Online collaboration and file sharing– Simultaneous access & editing of documents – No more e-mailing files back and forth– Lacks some of the more advanced features

found in Word & Excel Online Backups and Disaster Recovery

– Carbonite syncs files on local devices to storage “in the cloud”

Social Networking - Facebook

Facebook– In the 1980s, some houses at Harvard had a paper directory

of basic student information and a photo– Mark Zuckerberg developed an online version for Harvard

students in 2004– Facebook expanded to include other universities, high

schools, employers and eventually anyone with a valid email address

– 800 million worldwide users– Allows easy sharing of information between friends:

messages, pictures, videos, as well as applications like games

Social Networking - Twitter

Twitter– Microblogging site that allows users to send and read short messages

(140 characters) known as tweets– Direct messages at people using @ - @StCathLibrary– Tag messages using hash tags - #TradeCentre– Tweet messages to your followers; they re-tweet to their followers; and

so on Exponential dissemination of the message

– Social impact Used to organize protests in Egypt, Tunisia and Iran Used during Haitian earthquake Used on news sites for trending topics and viewer interaction -

#CNN #TradeCentre

Social Networking - LinkedIn

LinkedIn– Facebook for professionals

Education, experience, associates

– Business and professional networking Used for creating and maintaining professional relationships

Social Networking – Up & Coming

Pinterest– a pinboard-styled social photo sharing website– allows users to create and manage theme-based image

collections– "connect everyone in the world through the 'things' they find

interesting.“ Instagram

– a free photo sharing application– allows users to take a photo & apply a digital filter– share it a variety of social networking services including

Instagram's own

QR Codes

Quick Response Code First designed for the automotive industry Became popular outside the industry due to its fast

readability and large storage capacity Smartphones with cameras put a barcode reader in

every pocket See them in magazines, ads and posters

QR Codes

QR Codes

NFC

Near-field communication Being integrated into current

generation of smart phones Applications include contactless

transactions, data exchange, and simplified setup of more complex communications such as Wi-Fi

Lytro – Light Field Camera

Lytro camera captures entire light field Focus after the fact

– Focus and re-focus anytime– No auto-focus, no shutter lag, no modes, dials

or settings– Mac only software; Windows in development– To share “living pictures” image must be

uploaded to Lytro web site or recipient must have desktop software installed (free)

– $400-$500

http://www.lytro.com/living-pictures/279

Free Courses at the Library

Downloading Audiobooks & eBooks twice per month– Seating is limited; register early

Tech Time – Drop in computer class– ask questions on computer software issues, Internet, electronic

resources, Library's catalogue, social networking, etc.– March 17 & April 28, 10:00 - noon

Computers 1 & 2 Internet 1, 2, 3 & 4 Job & Career Searching Using the Catalogue Finding Health Information on the Internet Genealogy Ancestry Online Research 101

Almost Free Courses

E-mail($5.00 fee) FaceBook 1 & 2 ($5.00 fee) Microsoft Word 2010 Basics ($5.00 fee)

Check our newsletter for dates and timeshttp://www.stcatharines.library.on.ca/content/library

Questions?

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