Technology

For our review of 2019, deputy editor Augusta Pownall picks out ten trends that have preoccupied the design and technology industries this year, from the circular economy to the continued rise of China and a focus on privacy. Surveillance and privacy Data is one of the most lucrative resources on the planet, but concern has mounted over protecting digital privacy and the damaging [...]

The history of technology is littered with beautifully anachronistic tags that were deployed to capture the essence of a new technology. The happy truth is, as these technologies take root and start shaping consumer behavior around themselves, the tags they spawned get confined to the trashcan of history. Today, referring to buying something on Amazon [...]

Years ago, executive coaching was stigmatized as “remedial help for underperformers.” More recently, it’s transformed into an elite, high-cost activity, often reserved for the highest-status executives. But in both cases — whether helping the worst or the best performers — executive coaching has been inherently small scale, due to its bespoke, one-on-one nature. Organizations have [...]

The Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology was codified into law just last year, under the state’s previous governor, Bruce Rauner. And while current Gov. J.B. Pritzker supports the department, CIO Ron Guerrier still has much to do. At the NASCIO Annual Conference last week in Nashville, Tenn., Guerrier underlined the five pillars he’s established within the department that he spoke [...]

Facebook said Monday it’s acquiring CTRL-labs, a neurotechnology startup, as part of efforts to develop a wristband for controlling smartphones, computers and other digital devices without having to touch a screen or keyboard. The moonshot project underscores the world’s largest social network’s efforts to transform how we communicate with one another. Facebook first said in 2017 [...]

Sexbots or sex robots are increasingly making their way into our society catering to various needs and and sexual desires of people. While on one hand they are being embraced by tech enthusiasts and other people in the society who prescribe to their services, on the other hand, people have also raised their concerns about [...]

Chinese exam officials have taken to monitoring examination rooms as part of their efforts to crack down on cheating in tests in China. (Photo by Visual China Group via Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images) VISUAL CHINA GROUP VIA GETTY IMAGES Technology is defined by two primary characteristics: its ability to enhance particular human [...]

Microsoft and TomTom have been enemies, and more recently, partners. On September 6, the two took another step along the partnership path, with TomTom announcing that its navigation technology has been integrated with Microsoft’s Connected Vehicle Platform. Via this integration, “navigation usage and diagnostics data can be sent from vehicles to Microsoft Azure where the data can [...]

New Delhi: As part of India’s energy security plan, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is exploring newer battery technologies such as polymer-based solid state batteries that may allow India to avoid dependence on lithium or cobalt imports. This comes in the backdrop of Chinese state-owned firms securing lithium mine concessions in countries such as Bolivia, [...]

The Apollo program was gigantic. The U.S. government spent roughly $26 billion (about $260 billion in today’s dollars, according to one estimate) between 1960 and 1972 to hire contractors and subcontractors who employed hundreds of thousands of people to create and improve on technology that led us to the moon and back. While some of that [...]

The Influx of technology and Its impact on education in Indian Society If we need an appointment, we use an app on our mobile phones. If we need any house repairs, we book an electrician, a carpenter, a plumber, online. If we are hungry, we call for food using an app-based food delivery service. Technology [...]

One of the best places to witness the the breakdown of social norms is an airport boarding line, where all sorts of misbehavior can be observed, even with an on-time flight (toss in delays and the pitchforks come out). There’s the sidlers, who stand nonchalantly on the side of the line waiting for the moment [...]