You'd think that governments were waging a war against financial technology given reports of crackdowns and tighter regulation, but the opposite is true in Europe. EU officials have confirmed that they recently raided the offices of bank authorities...
A perfect fit amidst Poland’s green terrain is this house, commissioned for a single family, designed by Kartik Reddy. Paying tribute and respect to the greenery, the house has a number of vertical gardens near the side passage and back entrance. It even primarily makes use of wood, to give it a natural aura, and the front facade is made entirely of glass, almost making the house look a little like an idyllic greenhouse among the trees!
The house’s exterior has a simple yet striking silhouette that echoes homeliness through its symbolic house shape. Plus, who wouldn’t feel at home amidst such stunning greenery?!
The video above paints a realistically dark picture for bikers, and it should, since it comes from AXA, the insurance company. Cars are noise, bikes are silent, and no matter what technology we create to make cars safer, they don’t always mean bikers will be. So what’s the solution? Innovative thinking and guerrilla tactics!
The Smart Bell, designed by AXA Poland, is a rather unique gadget. I understand I gave the trick away in the title, but think about it. Bike bells are dainty, and often go unheard. What the Smart Bell does is that it hooks to your current bike bell and beams out an audio signal via RDS (Radio Data System) to all other vehicles close by, so cars near you hear the Bell through their in-car sound systems. No matter if the car has the radio running, or is listening to music via their audio system, it pauses to play the bell sound from the bike beside you. A little invasive? A small trade-off to avoid a fatal accident (more than 4500 bicyclists die every year due to road accidents). The Smart Bell, that mounts on the back of the bike, even comes with an illuminating disc that serves as a tail-light.
The device isn’t really available on the shelf yet, since it was more part of a strategy to raise awareness (and get the word going about bike insurance), but the word really seems to be picking up. The technology (of being able to beam signals into other vehicles) is getting a great response from the public, so maybe we’ll see this somewhere in the future! However, if you’re from Poland, you can sign up for a Smart Bell here!
Civilization VI was rightly lauded as a return to form for Firaxis following the unfortunate diversion that was Beyond Earth. But, as you'd expect from the first iteration of a complex 4X strategy game, things haven't been perfect. An update last mon...
We knew good and well it was coming, and now we've both a date and a launch partner to hone in on: that's "tomorrow" and "T-Mobile Poland," respectively. After going big (as opposed to home) at Mobile World Congress earlier this year, Mozilla has just announced that the Firefox OS-powered Alcatel One Touch Fire will ship tomorrow in Poland for 1 zloty (practically free, for those curious) in combination with "a very attractive tariff." Market launches in additional European countries will follow in the fall, with German handsets to be marketed via Deutsche Telekom's second brand congstar. DT's subsidiaries in Hungary (Magyar Telekom) and Greece (COSMOTE) will also initiate sales of the handset this fall, but pricing in those regions has yet to be revealed. As for word on a US release via Sprint? Still waiting, sadly.
Summer is the prime season for European cyclists, whether they're racing the Tour de France or just embarking on voyages of self-discovery. It's a good thing, then, that Google Maps' biking directions have reached six more European countries. Those in France, Ireland, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Poland can now plot pedal-friendly routes using their phones and the web. Google may miss a hidden trail or two when it's crowdsourcing the data through Map Maker, but the upgrade should still help riders avoid the inevitable crush of tourist traffic.
Disappointed that your country or favorite carrier missed the initial cut for the iPhone 5 launch? Odds are that you're all good now. Worldwide, 22 more countries have joined the mix as of today, including wide swaths of Europe as well as New Zealand; you'll find the full list in the release here. Americans also don't have to turn to the big carriers, as they can now opt for prepaid carrier Cricket in addition to a slew of extra providers that include C Spire as well as regionals like GCI and nTelos. In some cases, you'll even snag a discount by going with one of the smaller networks. If you bagged an iPhone in Barcelona, or caught one on Cellcom, let others know how it's going in the comments.
The long-awaited roll-out appears to have commenced, with lucky GS III owners in Poland being among the first to get an early official taste of Android 4.1.1. If you hadn't heard, the update will bring a host of subtle yet powerful improvements, including Google Now for anticipating search queries, smooth UI improvements from Project Butter, as well as some Samsung extras already seen on the Galaxy Note II, such as a resizable Pop-up play screen. Hopefully this means the update will soon be sent on its merry way to GS IIIs in other parts of the Old World, and maybe at some point -- dare we suggest it -- those in the US too.
Poland and Germany could be the next two countries to get smartphone payments, powered by MasterCard and Deutsche Telekom. The SIM-based NFC solution will utilize the US bank's ClickandBuy service for processing and will be available to T-Mobile customers, rolling out to Poland in Q3 of this year and Germany in 2013. This latest partnership comes on the heels of Vodafone's pairing with Visa, which is also said to be making a push for the German market. What remains to be seen is whether or not there is in fact a demand for mobile payments -- the technology has yet to take off in the US, despite an influx of funding and infrastructure from MasterCard and Google. NFC is no doubt the future of cashless transactions, but it likely remains a few years away from hitting the mainstream, with compatible devices still limited, on both the customer and retail fronts. Hit up the links below for a closer look at DT's push to conquer the European market, one NFC-equipped SIM card at a time. Then jump past the break for a quick intro, compliments of Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann and MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga (the two seemingly random gentlemen that you may have noticed above as well).
Cross-pollination is a beautiful thing. In the natural world, it brings bountiful harvests and pretty flowers. In the mobile world, we benefit from the sharing of ideas and technologies. Case in point is Windows Phone, as Microsoft has just announced that it's adopted traffic information from Nokia into the Maps app of its mobile OS. In addition to providing Windows Phone users in the US with more detailed overviews of traffic flows and congestion, the functionality will soon become available for many cities across the globe. Perhaps the move shouldn't come as a total surprise, as just last month, Microsoft revealed the inclusion of Nokia's "Where" platform within Bing Maps.
As for future availability, citizens of Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom will benefit from the sharing of technologies within the next few weeks. For the moment, however, just hop the break, where you can see the before / after traffic data that's now available to Los Angeles residents.
You'd think that governments were waging a war against financial technology given reports of crackdowns and tighter regulation, but the opposite is true in Europe. EU officials have confirmed that they recently raided the offices of bank authorities...
Civilization VI was rightly lauded as a return to form for Firaxis following the unfortunate diversion that was Beyond Earth. But, as you'd expect from the first iteration of a complex 4X strategy game, things haven't been perfect. An update last mon...
