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Over at Medium, Eric Meltzer writes about temporarily destroying his depth perception in Akhob, James Turrell's Ganzfeld light installation tucked away on the top floor of the massive Louis Vuitton store in Las Vegas.

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JetBlue, one of the last major U.S. commercial airlines to allow passengers to check their first bag free of charge, has decided to go ahead and stop doing that. The Queens-based company is also adding another 15 seats to its Airbus A320, reducing its widely advertised leg room by almost 5% to 33.1 inches per seat. Since flying coach keeps getting worse, maybe we should just be thankful for what we have—future generations will no doubt envy our luxuriant "seated" air travel. [ more › ]

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These days we've got plenty solutions for finding your lost (or stolen) phone, and there are myriad ways to keep your keys close by. Today, Motorola announced their version of HTC's Fetch, the device that works both ways. The Keylink is a Bluetooth device that connects to your keychain and works with a companion app to let you find your keys from up to 100 feet away. Should you lose track of your phone, a button on the device will let you ping your phone from the same distance. It costs $24.99, and Motorola says the replaceable battery should last around one year, which means it's a cheaper and will last you longer than the Fetch.

The Keylink isn't platform-specific — it will work with iPhone as well as Android. But Android users do get...

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 RelativeWave, creators of an $80 “interaction design and prototyping” Mac app called Form, has been acquired by Google. As a result, Form is now free. Read More

That seat's going to be a while.

Taking the first step toward ensuring you'll never beat the seasoned laptop worker to any seat ever again, 200 Bay Area Starbucks locations have installed the first 1,500 of many, many more Starbucks Duracell Powermats to come. The company describes it as a "strategic plan" to get the coasterlike contraptions, which shoot juice into the phone by magnetic induction, all over the country. That way, "the nearest charge is only as far away as the nearest Starbucks."

The phone-recharging plan is part of the chain's broader strategy of being everywhere and everything for its broadening customer base — you'll be able to order ahead on your phone, then juice it up on your way out. It's inevitable that the other chains will add the service as a perk, settling on one platform or another, and it looks like Starbucks won't abide reticent customers' excuse-making: If you don't have a wireless-charging-capable phone — you're one of the 500 million iPhone owners, in other words — you can borrow a "Ring" adapter or just purchase one from the store, should you feel that's necessary, for $9.99. They'll be right up front by the Putumayo World Music samplers and Norah Jones holiday CDs.

[Starbucks Newsroom, Re/code]

Read more posts by Clint Rainey

Filed Under: jolts, duracell powermat, starbucks, the chain gang, wireless charging

Michael Lewis on a new book about billionaires, the increasing economic inequality in America, and the impact of the behavior of the very rich is having on politics and happiness. The camp breakfast anecdote at the beginning of the article is gold.

You all live in important places surrounded by important people. When I'm in the big city, I never understand the faces of the people, especially the people who want to be successful. They look so worried! So unsatisfied!

In the city you see people grasping, grasping, grasping. Taking, taking, taking. And it must be so hard! To be always grasping-grasping, and taking-taking. But no matter how much they have, they never have enough. They're still worried. About what they don't have. They're always empty.

You have a choice. You don't realize it, but you have a choice. You can be a giver or you can be a taker. You can get filled up or empty. You make that choice every day. You make that choice at breakfast when you rush to grab the cereal you want so others can't have what they want.

The piece is filled with Lewis-esque observations throughout. Like:

Rich people, in my experience, don't want to change the world. The world as it is suits them nicely.

And:

The American upper middle class has spent a fortune teaching its children to play soccer: how many great soccer players come from the upper middle class?

But the studies about the effects of wealth and privilege on human behavior are what caught my eye the most.

In one study, Keltner and his colleague Paul Piff installed note-takers and cameras at city street intersections with four-way stop signs. The people driving expensive cars were four times more likely to cut in front of other drivers than drivers of cheap cars. The researchers then followed the drivers to the city's cross walks and positioned themselves as pedestrians, waiting to cross the street. The drivers in the cheap cars all respected the pedestrians' right of way. The drivers in the expensive cars ignored the pedestrians 46.2 percent of the time -- a finding that was replicated in spirit by another team of researchers in Manhattan, who found drivers of expensive cars were far more likely to double park.

Living in Manhattan, I see stuff like this all the time and it's becoming increasingly difficult to think of the rich and privileged as anything other than assholes, always grasping, grasping, grasping, taking, taking, taking.

Tags: economics   Michael Lewis

 Across the iTunes and Mac App Stores today, a minor but also notable change is taking place with regard to how Apple is marketing its iOS and Mac applications. Instead of free apps being labeled as “FREE,” the download button now reads “GET.” The change likely has to do with increased pressures from the European Commission, which this summer, succeeded in forcing Google… Read More

I don't make a habit of counting how many times I unlock my phone, but I'm willing to believe the stats that say the average user does it hundreds of times each day. That can be an unnecessary chore when using a device in a place safe from malfeasant interference, such as your home, which is why Google has now introduced the option to add trusted places to Android 5.0's Smart Lock. As with the two existing options, trusted faces and trusted devices, the new location-based automatic unlocker bypasses the usual lock screen when it detects the proper circumstances. You can set multiple trusted locations and it works without adding any delays to accessing the phone.

The update to Smart Lock comes as part of the latest version of Google Play...

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Filed under: LA Auto Show, Land Rover, Toyota, Ownership

"Residual value is important for automakers and consumers because it's a complete indicator of the vehicle's future value." - Larry Dominique

Toyota and Land Rover took home the top brand honors in ALG's 2015 Residual Value Awards, which will be presented this week at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Toyota won in the mainstream brand category, while Land Rover was honored in the luxury segment. In addition to brands, ALG recognized vehicles in individual segments, and notable winners included the Mazda3 for compact car, Subaru Legacy for midsize car and Dodge Charger for fullsize car. The Subaru WRX won in the sportscar category, while the Toyota Tundra earned top honors in the fullsize truck segment.

"Residual value is important for automakers and consumers because it's a complete indicator of the vehicle's future value, accounting for quality, durability and brand desirability, among other factors," said Larry Dominique, president of ALG and executive vice president of ALG-parent, TrueCar. "The award recipients demonstrate strong forecasted returns on investments for their owners."

There were eight first-time winners this year, including the Charger, WRX, Toyota Prius V and Audi TT. Toyota had the most model winners with six.

ALG passed out 26 awards - two for brands and 24 for models - based on vehicles that are expected to retain the best percentage of their MSRP after three years. This was the 15th iteration of the awards, which are given out annually, and you're welcome to read more in the press release below.

Continue reading Land Rover, Toyota big winners in ALG top resale value awards

Land Rover, Toyota big winners in ALG top resale value awards originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 18 Nov 2014 11:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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 Google has begun letting third-party developers build apps for Android Auto, with the release of a new set of APIs for its in-car software platform. The initial set of APIs out the door support audio and messaging apps, similar to the launch set of features being offered by Apple with CarPlay. The Android Auto platform is designed to work from your device, letting you plug it into your car… Read More

 You know those signs on the side of the road that read “We Buy Ugly Houses?” Well, here comes the digital equivalent of that: a startup called App Suey is beginning to acquire poorly-managed, barely profitable app-based businesses with the ambitious goal of eventually owning 1% of all apps in the App Store by the end of 2016. No one has ever done this before, says the… Read More

WatchKit has dropped, including the Apple Watch Human Interface Guidelines. There’s much to digest, but a few quick thoughts:

• The displays of the two watch sizes have different pixel dimensions: 272 × 340 for the 38mm Apple Watch; 312 × 390 for the 42mm.

• The system font is named San Francisco. That rings a bell. There are two versions: San Francisco Text, for sizes 19pt and smaller, and San Francisco Display, for sizes 20pt and up. Display is set tighter; Text has bigger punctuation marks and larger apertures on glyphs like “a” and “e”.

• From the Watch HIG: “Avoid using color to show interactivity. Apply color as appropriate for your branding but do not use color solely to indicate interactivity for buttons and other controls.” Can we get this HIG guideline on iOS next year? Update: Neven Mrgan thinks Apple means “use color not just for interactivity”, not that you shouldn’t use color alone to indicate interactivity.

• A lot of WatchKit is about offloading processing to the iPhone — the Watch is effectively a remote display for an extension running on your iPhone. This should be good for Watch battery life, but limiting when you’re not carrying your iPhone. This is not going to be a “leave your iPhone at home” device; more like “leave your iPhone in your purse or pocket.”

As of today, developers can now make apps for Apple Watch. Well, they're not separate apps so much as they are extensions of pre-existing iPhone apps, and there isn't a lot of flexibility in the WatchKit toolset — but it looks like that'll change next year.

We've been combing through all of Apple's publicly-released documentation and watching the WatchKit introduction video. This is everything we've learned about Apple Watch and how it works.

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Ben Smith, Buzzfeed:

A senior executive at Uber suggested that the company should consider hiring a team of opposition researchers to dig up dirt on its critics in the media — and specifically to spread details of the personal life of a female journalist who has criticized the company.

The executive, Emil Michael, made the comments in a conversation he later said he believed was off the record. In a statement through Uber Monday evening, he said he regretted them and that they didn’t reflect his or the company’s views.

Whose views do they represent then, if not his own or Uber’s?

Over dinner, he outlined the notion of spending “a million dollars” to hire four top opposition researchers and four journalists. That team could, he said, help Uber fight back against the press — they’d look into “your personal lives, your families,” and give the media a taste of its own medicine.

Michael was particularly focused on one journalist, Sarah Lacy, the editor of the Silicon Valley website PandoDaily, a sometimes combative voice inside the industry. Lacy recently accused Uber of “sexism and misogyny.” She wrote that she was deleting her Uber app after BuzzFeed News reported that Uber appeared to be working with a French escort service. “I don’t know how many more signals we need that the company simply doesn’t respect us or prioritize our safety,” she wrote.

I’m sure this will change Lacy’s mind about Uber. She’s probably re-installing the app right now.

At the Waverly Inn dinner, it was suggested that a plan like the one Michael floated could become a problem for Uber.

Michael responded: “Nobody would know it was us.”

There is something very wrong with this company. It’s like Richard Nixon came back from the grave and is running a startup.

Kokonas says there are some chef-collaborators, too.

The system deployed at Alinea and Next in Chicago that replaces traditional dinner checks with flat-fee tickets, tax and tip included, has just picked up some major brain power in the form of Brian Fitzpatrick. The now-former Google engineer happens to also be a "leader in the company's work on censorship and government surveillance," so it's possible that as the software-implemented system expands to Aldea and goes on to innovate closing out at a greater breadth of restaurants in general, no one will ever know that you devoured fried chicken 15 times last month, for example.

Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas first offered the ticketing system at Next, their second restaurant, a few years back, and more recently began offering the tech to others, like Trois Mec in Los Angeles. The full rollout of the company is yet to be announced, but the restaurateur told Grub earlier this month that the public will "be really surprised with the people that were involved." The team reportedly includes a few well-known chefs in addition to the ex-Google employee. Its beta format has since grossed participating restaurants just under a million dollars and was rolled out to ring up $100,000 in ticket sales for Wylie Dufresne's final dinners at wd~50 just a few weeks ago.

The full review is coming in the weeks ahead, Kokonas hinted today. Though there are often overlaps of start-up and restaurant cultures, Fitzpatrick's addition certainly seems like something big is about to happen. "I think this is the future of restaurants," he told the Tribune.

Related: How Service Charges Could Fix America’s Tipping Problem
Related: wd~50 Made More Than $100,000 in 10 Minutes Today
[Tribune]

Read more posts by Hugh Merwin

Filed Under: news, alinea, brian fitzpatrick, chicago, grant achatz, next, nick kokonas, tickets

Apple released its WatchKit SDK today, giving us our first glimpse at how developers will build apps for its forthcoming smartwatch. If there's one main takeaway, it's that using the Apple Watch requires you to understand a huge library of new interactions. A (non-exhaustive!) list:

1. Short Look
2. Long Look
3. Glances
4. Notification actions
5. Vertical swipes
6. Horizontal swipes
7. Edge swipes
8. Taps
9. "Taptic Engine" haptic feedback
10. Siri
11. Force Touch
12. Digital Crown scrolling
    
13. Digital Crown button
14. Single-click the side button to open Friends app
15. Double-click the side button to use Apple Pay by waving watch at NFC reader

One of the best things about the iPod when it first came out was explaining how it worked — it was so simple, and...

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Tracy Morgan is still recovering from a serious brain injury he sustained in last June's multi-vehicle crash on the New Jersey Turnpike. The injury was so severe that the 46-year-old comedian may never be "the Tracy Morgan he once was," according to his attorney. [ more › ]

 If there’s one thing that remains consistent about the differences between iOS and Android users, it’s that the former seem to install, engage with and pay for more mobile applications. Today, a new study from Adobe Digital Index reinforces a few of these points using new data collected from over 700 million apps sessions, noting that iOS now represents 65% of app launches to… Read More

Software can now easily spot objects in images, but it can't always describe those objects well; "short man with horse" not only sounds awkward, it doesn't reveal what's really going on. That's where a computer vision breakthrough from Google and...

And it's called "Curry of the Biohazard." Clever, that.

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With holiday travel season fast approaching, there's a good statistical probability that you'll find yourself in Atlanta...no matter where you're really going. That's because Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is the busiest in the world, whether you're counting the number of passengers or the number of flights. And even if you're just passing through on a layover, you'll want somewhere to eat. Read More

A Chicago-based company is bringing its healthy salad vending machines to Los Angeles next year. [ more › ]

Filed under: Performance, Audi, BMW, Porsche, Volkswagen, Luxury, Design/Style, Earnings/Financials

Looking at the current automotive landscape, especially from German makers, you quickly get the impression that less definitely isn't more. BMW alone offers its 3 Series platform in practically every segment possible, including the regular sedan and 4 Series Gran Coupe, which would seem to be direct competitors. Porsche might be the winner, though, with 20 different variants of the 911 listed for sale on its US website. However, some of this model madness might be reaching an end as companies begin cutting back spending or shifting money to other priorities.

According to Yahoo Finance, the offerings from the German automakers are up 25 percent over the past three years to over 200 models in Europe. The peak is expected to come around 2018 at 230 separate vehicles, according to consulting company PwC.

Amazingly, BMW, which is among the poster children for this model explosion, might be changing its tune. "I'm sure there will be points in the future where we look at certain cars and say, 'Maybe we need to think differently now,'" said head of sales Ian Robertson in an interview, according to Yahoo Finance. The statement certainly sounds shocking coming from a company rumored to have 23 front-wheel-drive vehicles all using a single platform on the way.

The shift in thinking might not be a question of whether automakers can build all of these distinct models, but rather if it's the best way to invest their money. The small footprint of European dealers makes it difficult to show all of these vehicles off. Also, even if platforms and drivetrains are shared, there's still the extra expense in marketing each one. Finally, "every single variant increases development and logistics expenditure," said Porsche spokesperson Achim Schneider to Yahoo Finance.

So what do the German automakers do with the extra funds from not exploiting every possible niche? Volkswagen is reportedly working on cutting costs, and BMW is too. Also, Porsche is trying to grow overall sales. If this actually happens, maybe picking the perfect 911 will be a bit less complicated in just a few years.

Car companies may need to start curbing model proliferation originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 17 Nov 2014 17:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New York City is getting some serious digital branding: first there was the recent launch of the .NYC domains, and now NYC.com (not affiliated with the .NYC domains, which is run by the city) is offering up email addresses. Like so many other things in New York City, you can't afford one. [ more › ]

Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Toyota, Earnings/Financials

Toyota's decision to move its US headquarters from its longtime home in Torrance, CA, to Plano, TX, was one of the biggest stories in the automotive industry this spring. With several months since the announcement, more details about the plan have leaked out. It seems that pulling up stakes could mean an even larger shakeup in the Toyota workforce than first thought.

According to Automotive News, Toyota intends to hang onto around 50 percent of its workforce in the move to the Lone Star State. However, even that figure might be optimistic. According to an unnamed insider speaking to AN, there is a fear the actual number could be closer to 30 percent. For comparison, Nissan retained about 42 percent of its workers in its move from California to Tennessee.

The actual percentage making the move is a mystery because Toyota is still rewriting its job descriptions under a single set of guidelines. The changes affect benefits, bonuses and the reporting structure, according to Automotive News, and employees' reactions could play a big role in who decides to go. According to an unnamed worker speaking to AN, the wait is hurting morale. Some people are even applying at the nearby Honda headquarters.

Toyota is working hard to convince people to stay with the company. It's offering lump sums for those who make the move, helping them find housing in Texas and also giving bonuses to those who stay until their department is moved. The automaker has even sent employees to Plano on paid trips to check things out.

The new headquarters is set to officially open in late 2017 with workers arriving in phases. The site consolidates the manufacturing, sales, marketing, and financial services divisions into a single location. Not only does it put Toyota closer to its factories in the south, but the company is also receiving an estimated $40 million in incentives from the state, plus another $6.75 million from the city.

Will Toyota lose up to 70% of its workforce in TX relocation? originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 17 Nov 2014 16:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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