Author: Bal Bansal

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Week in Review

Week 46… 2021!

Hope you are well, and having a great weekend. Lots happening in the world of Technology, and I appreciate the comments from many of you readers who reached out to me after my EV post recently, about affordable Electric Vehicles.

Back to this week – and in the news, you’ve guessed it… Tesla were in the news again! This time, people who try to unlock their car from their phone – were unable to! issues with the app… You see, If I am travelling further than 20mins from my home, I’ll carry the key card with me. Because, let’s be honest – I trust alot of tech – but when it comes to the car – and a phone – it’s usually safer to carry the key card, because you just never know! (It’s all working now by the way!!)

Now to my Top Two Tech Stories of the week…

  1. First up… Imagine a Robot pouring your drinks!

You got it – when you go to a pub or bar, if the staff are friendly and helpful it very much adds to your enjoyment of the experience.

By contrast, having to deal with a surly person serving up your pint or margarita it risks significantly reducing your happiness levels.

For people with a regular drinking establishment of choice, the person behind the bar can even become a friend and confidant. Or, as renowned Canadian economist, Harry Gordon Johnson once said: “The greatest accomplishment of a bartender lies in his ability to exactly suit his customer.”

Soon, however, those bar staff might not even be human. Enter Cecilia, a robotic bartender that mixes and serves cocktails, and uses artificial intelligence (AI) to talk to customers in much the same way that Alexa, on an Amazon Echo speaker, or Siri, on an iPhone can respond to you.

The unit looks a bit like a tall fruit machine, only with an animated female barmaid – Cecilia – appearing on a large, upright video screen. You either tell her what cocktail you want, or order it on the below touch-screen, and pay for the drink by tapping your bank card or phone.

Your cocktail is then mixed and made inside the machine, and dispensed into a glass at the vending slot.

“Cecilia works on voice recognition and AI technology,” says Elad Kobi, chief executive of the Israeli firm behind the technology – Cecilia.AI. “She can chat to customers, and when they choose a specific cocktail, she can make it, live.”

The company says that each unit can be filled with 70 litres of different types of spirits, and that it can serve up to 120 cocktails per hour. At least if customers don’t stay for extended chats.

The firm first released the robot on 24 February of this year – World Bartender Day. Since then it has already been used at corporate events held by Microsoft, accountancy group KPMG, and tech firm Cisco.

Customers can either buy a Cecilia for $45,000 (£34,000), or hire one for $2,000 a month.

Mr Kobi believes that the traditionally change-resistant pubs and bars sector may increasingly turn to such technology in a bid to “wow” customers, and to stand out from the crowd.

Now… several years ago, I worked in partnership with Middlesex University to develop such a robot. We had some success – the sticking point for us was opening a glass bottle of coke. However, back then, when I was leading Innovation, it was brilliant to have a robot pour the perfect drink. The cost was another major hinderance – to have this in many bars. But glad to see you can hire one for $2,000 a month!

2. Sticking to Robots, Alphabet using Robots to clean up!

What does Google’s parent company Alphabet want with robots? Well, it would like them to clean up around the office, for a start.

The company announced today that its Everyday Robots Project — a team within its experimental X labs dedicated to creating “a general-purpose learning robot” — has moved some of its prototype machines out of the lab and into Google’s Bay Area campuses to carry out some light custodial tasks.

“We are now operating a fleet of more than 100 robot prototypes that are autonomously performing a range of useful tasks around our offices,” said Everyday Robot’s chief robot officer Hans Peter Brøndmo in a blog post. “The same robot that sorts trash can now be equipped with a squeegee to wipe tables and use the same gripper that grasps cups can learn to open doors.”

These robots in question are essentially arms on wheels, with a multipurpose gripper on the end of a flexible arm attached to a central tower. There’s a “head” on top of the tower with cameras and sensors for machine vision and what looks like a spinning lidar unit on the side, presumably for navigation.

As Brøndmo indicates, these bots were first seen sorting out recycling when Alphabet debuted the Everyday Robot team in 2019. The big promise that’s being made by the company (as well as by many other startups and rivals) is that machine learning will finally enable robots to operate in “unstructured” environments like homes and offices.

Right now, we’re very good at building machines that can carry out repetitive jobs in a factory, but we’re stumped when trying to get them to replicate simple tasks like cleaning up a kitchen or folding laundry.

Think about it: you may have seen robots from Boston Dynamics performing backflips and dancing to The Rolling Stones, but have you ever seen one take out the trash? It’s because getting a machine to manipulate never-before-seen objects in a novel setting (something humans do every day) is extremely difficult. This is the problem Alphabet wants to solve.

So there you go… my Top Two Tech Stories of the week… all about Robots. Are they really taking over…..?

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Today, marks the day, where Sikh’s around the world celebrate the Birth of the First Guru, Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji provided us with 3 core foundational principles which were;

  1. Kirat Karo – this translates to work hard and honestly.
  2. Naam Japo – this translates to always remember God
  3. Wannd Chako – this translates to share with all, especially those in need.

For all the Sikhs celebrating today – Happy Gurpurab.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
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Tech Tuesday

Tech Tuesday… EV!

Yes, I know I’ve spoken about Electric Cars before.

Yes, I understand not everyone is in a position to buy an electric car.

Or are they?

We need to reduce emissions. That’s clear. Are electric cars the answer? – well, they’ll help. What will help more is if we walk, bus, rail, etc… now, these options are not always viable. And we need to jump into the car to go somewhere. So what can we do to be more greener?

Well.. to those saying, Bal… these electric cars are expensive! – Yes, I agree. They are, but many are coming down in price. Many have done over the past few years as they’ve got more popular – supply and demand. So with prices coming down, they are beginning to become more affordable.

If you are petrol/diesel right now – I’d suggest a hybrid. (See previous blog post about this topic).

If you’re moving to electric, there’s some great options…

One of the cheapest new electric cars you can get are Skoda CITIGOe-iV. Around the £15,000 mark – it’s perfect for around town driving!

Now, 135 miles you might be thinking… yes. Ok, it’s not alot – but again, it’s perfect for around town. If you want more miles, you’ll need a little bit more money. Now… for a bit more money, you could get an Hyundai Kona or there’s a Chinese alternative;

The Aiways U5 does 210 miles and is from £28,000. Looks half decent too.

Then you can spend a little more… and when you’re in the £30k+ bracket, there’s alot more to choose from.

Prices will come down. There’s second hand electric cars you can also look at. Take the Renault Zoe for example… which you can pick up used for around the £10k mark.

It’s a roomy car that can easily seat four people, although rear passengers do sit higher than normal because the batteries are tucked away under the back seat.

Older models have a 22kWh battery with a real-world range of around 100 miles. More recent ones have a bigger 41kWh battery for 180 miles of driving between charges.

Something important for you to note – initially, the Zoe was available with a separate battery leasing option, which meant you would pay for the battery each month in addition to the cost of the car. This initiative was dropped in 2019, but keep an eye out for used models that come with an additional battery lease cost.

Versions badged ‘i’ include the battery but are generally more expensive to purchase as a result. There is a benefit to leasing the battery, however; if the condition of the battery reduces below a certain point – in turn reducing how far you can travel per charge – Renault will replace the battery for you.

The key thing to remember is the additional cost savings.

Combustion Engine vehicles need servicing and there’s more parts that could fail compared to an electric car. You don’t necessarily need the yearly or every 10k service. Yes, you need to check tyres and other things – but nothing engine related!

And then finally… if you are looking for a used electric car… but you’re budget is under £5k… I’ve found something for you…

Here’s the full description..

Fully working techx model , No road tax , No congestion charge , Air con and touch screen android radio 6 inch screen , Heated seats , Can charge at home from normal plug socket type 2 takes 6 to 7 hours, DC fast charger also CHAdeMO at station, Takes 40 mins, 75 mile range on full charge , Lowest insurance category, £4,300

To be fair, for £4,300… 75 mile range…. you can’t really go wrong for around town driving!

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Week in Review

Week 45… 2021!

In the middle of November and someone told me, Christmas is nearly upon us!! Wow… have to admit, this year has gone super quick!

Not to dribble on about what’s been happening this year for me (I’ll save that for another day), but here’s my Top Two Tech Stories from this Week!

  1. First up… AI in Greece!!

Ancient Olympia is to be digitally preserved, in a new deal between the Greek government and Microsoft.

The collaboration uses artificial intelligence to map the site, and augmented reality to help restore the original home of the Olympic Games.

It will allow viewers to explore the area as it stood more than 2,000 years ago.

Microsoft has ambitions to rival Facebook with its own plans for the so-called metaverse.

It recently announced Microsoft Teams metaverse for meetings and is keen to transform Minecraft and other games it owns into more immersive 3D worlds.

Its tie-up with the Greek government means people can tour the site remotely or in person with an augmented-reality mobile app. At the Olympic Museum in Athens they can use HoloLens headsets to overlay a digital version of the site.

Microsoft’s augmented reality smart glasses HoloLens use multiple sensors, advanced optics, and holograms, to display information, blend with the real world or simulate a virtual world.

Among the 27 monuments to be preserved are the original Olympic Stadium, the temples of Zeus and Hera, and the workshop of the renowned sculptor Phidias.

The buildings are as close as possible to their original forms and include historical timelines of the site’s changes over time, and depictions of artefacts from each period.

Through its AI for Cultural Heritage initiative, Microsoft partnered technology company Iconem, which specializes in digitising historic sites in 3D.

Using on-the-ground cameras and drones to take hundreds of thousands of images of the site, Microsoft AI then processed the pictures to create models.

AI being used to view Olympia

“The cultural implications of this technology are endless. For the first time, visitors from around the world can virtually visit the birthplace of democracy, the ancient site of Olympia, and experience history first hand,” said the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

Brad Smith, the president of Microsoft said: “The project to digitally preserve Ancient Olympia is a stunning achievement in cultural heritage, bringing together humanity and cutting-edge technology to benefit the world, and empower coming generations with new ways to explore our past.”

2. Up next… Beware and watch out for those scams!

A grandfather has told of how he lost money saved for Christmas presents after his family were duped by fraudsters on WhatsApp.

The 75-year-old, who wished to remain anonymous, said they had been tricked by criminals posing as his grand-daughter on the messaging service.

He transferred £1,550 to the con-artists, for an emergency medical bill that was a fake.

WhatsApp and trading standards officers are warning others of the scam.

Fraudsters posing as the young student sent a message to her father, saying she had a case of haemorrhoids that she was embarrassed to talk about.

Subsequent messages suggested that she needed money for private medical care and asked for the money to be transferred directly.

The correct spelling of her unusual name helped convince the family it was genuine, and her grandfather agreed to pay the supposed bill.

Attempts to contact her directly failed, as the calls went straight to an answerphone.

Only after the money was paid did they get through to her, and realised they had been tricked.

“You feel such a fool,” her grandfather said. “I was angry that I was able to be duped.

“You get used to these scam calls, but they are getting quite clever. I used to run my own business, so if they can fool people like me, a lot of very vulnerable people will be in trouble.”

He is trying to get the money refunded from his bank, but so far they have said their fraud checks were sufficient and have refused to reimburse him.

Surveys have suggested that 59% of those asked had received a message-based scam attempt in the last year.

Younger age groups, who were more likely to text than call, were said to be more exposed to these kinds of scams.

So stay careful – and if it doesn’t seem to be right, or if you haven’t spoken to the person – double/triple check, what you’re doing is the right thing.

There you go… my Top Two Tech Stories of the week…. AI is preserving Ancient Olympia and Whatsapp Scams getting more clever!

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Bal's Friday Thought

Bal’s Friday Thought…

We all thrive to add value – in whatever we do.

But what is value?

It’s functionally what somebody wants to happen.

Coated/covered/surrounded with some emotion.

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Monday Motivation

Monday Motivation

It’s getting colder. Darker earlier, in the evenings… and with prices of a number things rising, we’re heading into the festive period where we are having to be that extra bit careful when buying.

I’m not a financial advisor – so I won’t suggest what you do with your money. I’m a tech guy who understands what’s happening around the world and what the future, with regards to technology, is heading.

Technology has always been a passion of mine. From the young days of plugging various cables in the back of my parents hi-fi system… and when it worked, I’d take all the credit. It was logical thinking to me. And that’s why I focus on design thinking. When something is designed, how should it be, so that the person using it can do so without any issues.

Many of those who fulfil their passion believe in themselves. Believe in the task ahead. Prepare themselves mentally – so whatever this week throws at you, believe you can….

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Week in Review

Week 44… 2021!

Good Morning! – For those wondering where week 43 is, my apologies. Last Sunday, I was out with Blind Eye Soup Kitchen, walking around the city centre providing hot drinks and breakfast to those sleeping rough. Therefore didn’t have an opportunity to write about Week 43.

But here I am… Week 44! Lots happening! So I’ll share my Top Two Tech Stories of the Week!

  1. First up… Facebook becomes Meta!

So… as Facebook become Meta… and it’s all about the Metaverse, what is it?

To the outsider, it may look like a souped-up version of Virtual Reality (VR) – but some people think the metaverse could be the future of the internet.

In fact, the belief is that it could be to VR what the modern smartphone is to the first clunky mobile phones of the 1980s.

Instead of being on a computer, in the metaverse you might use a headset to enter a virtual world connecting all sorts of digital environments.

Unlike current VR, which is mostly used for gaming, this virtual world could be used for practically anything – work, play, concerts, cinema trips – or just hanging out.

Most people envision that you would have a 3D avatar – a representation of yourself – as you use it.

But because it’s still just an idea, there’s no single agreed definition of the metaverse.

Hype about digital worlds and augmented reality pops up every few years, but usually dies away.

However, there is a huge amount of excitement about the metaverse among wealthy investors and big tech firms, and no-one wants to be left behind if it turns out to be the future of the internet.

There’s also a feeling that for the first time, the technology is nearly there, with advancements in VR gaming and connectivity coming close to what might be needed.

Facebook has made building the metaverse one of its big priorities.

It’s invested heavily in virtual reality through its Oculus headsets, making them cheaper than rivals – perhaps even at a loss, according to some analysts.

It’s also building VR apps for social hangouts and for the workplace, including ones that interact with the real world.

2. Up next… Imagine getting paid in Bitcoin….?!

Well, guess what…. Eric Adams, mayor-elect for New York City, has said he would like his first three pay checks in bitcoin.

The former police captain was elected this week to take over at the end of mayor Bill de Blasio’s term in January.

Mr Adams said on social media that he wanted to signal his intention to make New York the “centre of the cryptocurrency industry”.

The value of bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has been highly volatile, since it was created in 2009.

Mr Adam’s comments appear to be an attempt to one-up the mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, who had already said in his own Twitter message that he would take his first pay check in bitcoin, after he was re-elected.

Mr Suarez has already said he would like to establish Miami as a hub for cryptocurrency innovation.

Mr Adams upped the stakes by asking for three months’ pay in the cryptocurrency.

“In New York we always go big, so I’m going to take my first three pay checks in bitcoin when I become mayor,” Mr Adams wrote in a Twitter post.

“NYC is going to be the centre of the cryptocurrency industry and other fast-growing, innovative industries! Just wait!”

Mr Adams, a Democrat, was elected on Tuesday, and will become the city’s second black mayor.

In August Mr Suarez helped established a cryptocurrency called MiamiCoin run by a nonprofit organisation, CityCoins. It sends 30% of the value of the currency that is created on a person’s computer to the city and has raised $7m for Miami, according to the Washington Post.

Mr Adams told Bloomberg radio that he would like to do something similar in New York.

If Mr Adams, who ran on a pro-business platform, wants to establish New York as a hub for cryptocurrencies he may run into opposition.

The cryptocurrency has been heavily criticised in the past over its environmental impact.

And New York Attorney General Letitia James, who will stand for election as governor of New York, recently launched a crackdown on unregistered cryptocurrency companies.

So there you go… getting paid in Bitcoin and all about the Metaverse. Would you get paid in Bitcoin?

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Week in Review

Week 42… 2021!

Another busy week on the ol’ tech front! – but let’s not hang around and dive straight into my Top Two Tech Stories of the week!

  1. First up – starting and selling companies!

British entrepreneur Nick D’Aloisio, who sold the mobile app Summly to Yahoo for $30m (£21.73m) at the age of 17, has sold his latest company to Twitter.

The Sphere group chat app was founded by Mr D’Aloisio and Tomas Halgas.

Sphere, which connects strangers interested in common topics, has been sold for an undisclosed amount and will close in November.

Its 20 or so staff will join Twitter to integrate their community features into the social network.

The company started as a question and answer app that allowed users to instantly chat to paid experts. At the end of 2018, almost 500,000 people were using that version of the platform.

However, Mr D’Aloisio said he found himself drawn to the community aspect of the app which brought strangers interested in the same topics together.

“What was interesting was that people were talking so often throughout the day, and it wasn’t just talking to their friend on Facebook, but someone they had not met before about something they were interested in,” he told the BBC.

As a result, the app slowly pivoted toward a focus on group chats.

Sphere’s features include the ability to:

  • create multiple chats for a single group
  • send highlighted announcements so no-one in a group misses anything
  • send notifications to individuals or just those yet to read a message

“A lot of the messenger apps that exist are catered toward groups that already know each other, but with Sphere, the aim was to unlock new dynamics and bring together people around the world with shared interests.”

Mr D’Aloisio said he was struck by the toxicity on platforms like Reddit, Facebook, Twitch and Twitter, which has been widely criticised about its handling of harassment and trolling.

2. Most shops going till-less!

The Tesco Express on High Holborn looks identical to thousands of others across the country. But inside there are no tills and no self-checkout machines. Instead you scan a QR code on your phone to gain entry, and a complex system of cameras and weighted shelves figures out what you have picked up. Once you’re done you just walk out and your phone (eventually) buzzes to tell you how much you’ve spent.

Yes – we’ve been here before – with the Amazon shop that was opened, but looks like Tesco are using the new technology and many more will be doing so too!

“It creates like an exoskeleton image of you and follows you around and knows what products you have bought,” Bilal explains – the store assistant. “But don’t worry, it’s not recording you and we don’t know who you are.”

Big retailers around the world reckon the technology in use at this Tesco GetGo store on High Holborn will revolutionise shopping and could account for $400bn (£290bn) of transactions within five years, according to analysts at Juniper Research.

The Holborn shop is new but Tesco has been trialling the technology at an Express outlet at its headquarters in Welwyn Garden City since 2019. That was two years before Amazon launched the first of its similar “till-less” stores in the UK.

Aldi is preparing to open its first checkout-free store in Greenwich. Morrisons is testing its own vision of the technology, codenamed Project Sarah, at its Bradford headquarters and has plans to quickly roll out dozens of small stores at busy locations.

So get ready to see no tills, just walk in – get what you want and walk out. This is the future.

So there you go… from an alternative to the usual social media platforms to till-less shopping!

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Week in Review

Week 41… 2021!

Not as much in the news this week – as previous weeks, but still alot going on in the world – and there’s some top tech stories that hit the news locally! So if you’re reading from outside the UK – these are two top tech stories mainly in the UK – however, I’m sure there’s elements of these you can relate to in one form or another…

So first up, we’re talking about stranded passengers at the Airport!

  1. NHS Covid Vaccine App Stops working!

The NHS Covid Pass, used to show a person’s vaccine status for travel and events, stopped working on Wednesday.

The feature, contained in the NHS smartphone app, usually allows users to access a barcode or text records about which vaccine doses they have had.

Instead, users received error messages or a notice saying that high traffic volumes are “limiting access to the service”.

Normal access to vaccine records was restored after more than three hours.

“The NHS Covid Pass service was temporarily unavailable between 11:45 and 15:15 today as a result of a technical issue with a global service provider that affected many different organisations,” NHS Digital said in a statement.

Online, many travellers expressed concern that they might not be able to prove their vaccinated status at airports or other departure points without the app.

Some claimed they missed their flight because of the problem, while others reported being “stranded” at an airport unable to fly.

We rely on technology so much – I recall, when I used to fly (pre-pandemic), my tickets were on my phone. I’d just flip up my phone (and if I was holding things/couldn’t get the phone out, I’d use my smart watch), and scan the barcode. Job done. No papers, etc… But this technology has to be reliable. I even recall, when we could use phones for tickets, I’d print a copy out – just in case! I suppose, I still take screenshots of barcodes, or used to, again, just in case something happened with the app.

2. Contactless Pay now upto £100!

The contactless card payment limit has increased from £45 to £100 on Friday 15th October, a move which has raised concerns about the risk of fraud.

Age UK warned that raising the limit could increase the potential for fraud, putting some older people off using bank cards to pay for goods and services.

“As the banks and some shops try to encourage people to use less cash, it’s important that they take proactive steps to help to boost people’s confidence to use cards as an alternative and to tackle fraud,” Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said.

“Both shop and bank employees should be trained to watch out for signs of coercion or abuse, such as unusual spending patterns, and be prepared to sensitively raise the issue with their customers when they believe it’s the right thing to do.”

Several banks will also allow account holders to set a contactless limit of less than £100 or turn it off altogether. And I think this is a good idea.

Despite the increased limit, many retailers’ terminals will need to be updated so for some the option will not be available immediately.

It may take “days, weeks, or even months” for some retailers to make the necessary changes, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), so for the time being customers will need to check with individual stores.

Remember the old days of cold hard cash? – You stood in a shop – looked at the cash you had in your hand, and you knew, that’s all you had to spend. You didn’t have any more. With the increase to £100, it’s now even easier to tap and spend. For some, it won’t be an issue as the funds will be in their account. For some, who are living on credit – I just hope, they are careful. Technology is great – allows flexibility and freedom, but we’ve noticed in our stories today, a) it’s not always reliable and b) you still have to stay in control!

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Uncategorized

Bal’s Friday Thought…

Life is short.

We say this often. But do we really understand it? Do we really believe it?

When you’re gone. You. Are. Gone. So whilst you are here, enjoy the time you have… go do the things you want to and make memories.