About a week ago Leap Motion announced some good news. They’ve got a date to begin shipping!

Back in May last year Leap Motion announced the Leap, the world’s most accurate 3-D motion control device, with plans to change the way people control their computers. Accurate to within 1/100 of a millimetre the Leap lets you control your computer with the flick of a finger, or even a chopstick.

Pinch to zoom and swipe to scroll, the San Francisco based startup are offering the chance to become Tom Cruise in Minority Report for a surprisingly low price. The Leap is available for pre-order for just $79.99; Shipping on May 13th and in US Best Buy stores on the 19th.

I’ll be waiting a little longer for mine, unfortunately while you can control computers through air, water is still the preferred method for transport. I’ll be sat here in the UK waiting for mine.

Those in the US looking for a sneak preview can check out the Leap at SXSW this weekend.

]]> http://www.rosshayes.co.uk/!/1286/blog/leaping-into-motion/feed/ 0 http://www.rosshayes.co.uk/!/1286/blog/the-walletless-future/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-walletless-future http://www.rosshayes.co.uk/!/1286/blog/the-walletless-future/#comments Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:36:04 +0000 Ross http://www.rosshayes.co.uk/?p=1844 Back in November I spent a month without my wallet, relying on mobile and contactless payments.

During that month there was one app that stood out, changing the way I thought about payments. Birmingham based Droplet, having only been in beta for a month at the time, saved my life.

Now Droplet is progressing in leaps and bounds. With an Android version of their app being tested Droplet are launching in London.

That’s big news for a small startup from Middle England. Droplet set out to revolutionise payments, and London is the worlds financial centre dealing with countless millions of payments each day.

If you’re in London, I urge you to go and pay them a visit on launch day at the Apple Store on Regent Street; Wednesday 20th March from 7pm.

Well, that’s not strictly true, I was unemployed for little over a week. I was, however doing menial work completely unrelated to my plethora of skills and abilities. I was doing data entry work.

You see, data entry is fine, but it’s not my calling in life. I have fairly sizeable aspirations.

For those who don’t know me, I’m 23. My life plan has a few goals, the first of which is to be earning £25k by 25. You can imagine the setback being made redundant from what was an excellent job was.

You can then understand why data entry wasn’t going to cut it. So now I’m employed again, in a career that suits me and my ambition. Assistant Project Manager at a fairly successful software company. Sounds like it’ll do the trick.

I’m one of the success stories of a university education, but even I’m way off my £25k target at the minute. I’ve got this far, and no doubt will get further with a lot of hard work and a dollop of good luck in the mix. I will reach my target. But I digress…

I walked out of university with a job, and then after being made redundant, walked into another. Not bad, but a countless number of my peers that have graduated recently with nothing. A good number of those had equal or better degrees than myself too.

And now to the point of this post.

The government needs to do more to help graduates get on the employment ladder. And not just into part-time work, nobody plans on doing that all their lives.

There was a time when even in the toughness of the music industry there were jobs. Without people getting into work this country can’t even dream of growing its economy at any discernible rate. The working group will continue to age and increase the burden of cost on the NHS and the economy, whilst all the time alienating young people from the training and experience they need to take the exec roles of the future. Carrying on as it does, Britain risks receding back from the world leading status we have come to enjoy.

The government doesn’t need to boost part-time work, that’ll never pay the bills. It doesn’t need to boost loan schemes for business ideas, the people getting these can’t afford for their idea to fail, and lets face it, most businesses fail, it’s a way of life.

What needs to happen, is the government needs to encourage bigger businesses to take risks in hiring. That way they find the people they want and need.

Now, I don’t even begin to know how it should begin to do this, but a start would be to relax some of the rules and legislation around firing people. It should be easier for businesses to remove unproductive staff. That way people can’t get by just having a job, they have to earn it. For businesses, it means they can hire someone and, when they realise they’re not right, get rid of people. So many people work past probation and take their foot off the gas.

Right, I’ll get off my soapbox, now, how about that 25 grand?

However not everybody has a personal budget to spend on new office equipment. Instead I’ll share some easy techniques you can use to spruce up any living space around the house. A home office setup doesn’t require large spacious areas (although these are nice). You need a room to put yourself in a good mindset and focus on productivity.

Staying Organised

I stress this often because a messy workspace only leaves room for a messy thought process. I could never freely write or design knowing I’ve got loose papers and a mismanaged organizational system. Even if you’re a naturally messy person it’s key to run your home office in an orderly fashion.

Have all important contact information saved in one place whether written or digitally. Your smartphone address list can be an option, although I prefer to have freelance details copied down as well. You don’t want to feel cluttered in the space or confined to a closed area. You should be able to pull out anything you need without digging through too many desk drawers.

And this attitude should follow through on your digital desktop as well. Mostly all of us are working on computers and need to create some form of organization hierarchy. Freelancers have the need for written documents, web designs, wireframes, graphics, icons, and plenty of other file types.

Setup a plan for how you’ll store these documents and stick to it! I organize folders based on the client and project so I have archives going back throughout all my work. Figure out a system that works for you and don’t be discouraged if you can’t find something right away. Test out a few different solutions of organizing files until you hit the sweet spot.

Setup Trial Work Hours

If you have a house to yourself during the day then it’s much easier to set up your own working hours. But if you have family and young kids around the house sometimes they won’t understand the value of privacy. You need to plan times where you have 1-2 hours of solitude for completing important works.

This time may feel better coming later in the evening or very early in the morning. These are hours where it’s naturally a bit quieter and less stressful on your attention span. Even if you live alone it can be a chore to force yourself into getting any work done.

Moving around the house throughout the day will keep you active and taking frequent breaks from your work. If you feel cramped in your office space then try moving into the living area or kitchen. Sometimes a change of scenery can boost creativity and make you feel more alert.

Remove Easy Distractions

Each person has their own list of weaknesses and distractions to tear them away from working. It’s important you have time to relax, but during work hours you need to stay focused on each task. Remove any objects from the room which you may find distracting – radios, televisions, or video games are just a few examples.

It’d be best to ultimately keep all these things elsewhere in the house. However if you work from rooms with a TV or games there’s not much of a choice – you’ll have to learn power over self-control. The distractions will always be there, and so will your work, so you have to find a common middle ground. How much time is required for you to get a significant amount of work completed in any given day? How many breaks do you find reasonable between 1-2 hours of work?

Again, these questions do not have a “one size fits all” answer. The best part about freelancing from home is the enormous freedom to experiment with different working schedules. Find out what motivates you and what works best for your situation.

Managing your To-Do List

Every freelancer working from home should have a set of daily to-dos. If you go into working head strong with no solid goals you may find much less accomplished come the end of the day. Focused energy is a powerful mentality.

Have your to-dos easy to reach and move around. If you’re obligated with other family oriented tasks then schedule these in throughout the list. You don’t want to miss appointments by accidentally working through them. Try to update and sync all your calendars every few days so you have one master to-do list you can look over each morning.

Work in Comfort

Nobody should have to feel strained when sitting down to work. This may be the case in some office jobs where your comfort level is not exactly in your control. But at home you should make no excuses!

If you buy a desk & chair setup make sure you feel comfortable with everything. You’ll be spending a lot of time sitting down typing away at various tasks. If you already have a setup that feels well you could try moving around the room furniture. Interior decor is a whole larger topic which explains how you sit and where you’re facing can affect creativity flow in the room.

I find it best to work when there is sunlight streaming in through the windows. It gives more stimulation to the room and my train of thought. But I know plenty of freelancers who prefer working in the dark of night. As long as you’re comfortable and feeling relaxed then the work will just flow.

Conclusion

Creating a productive atmosphere is more than office furniture and extra space. It’s about a feeling and emotional state as well. I hope this article has provided useful tips to building a productive mindset when working from home. Keep yourself motivated, focused, and above all love what you do!

RH.

Unfortunately, there aren’t any petrol stations (that I’ve found) that are ready for the walletless world. That said, the petrol station manager’s reaction was priceless. I swear he was looking round for hidden cameras and was waiting for me to tell him he was being Punk’d.

I ran into one problem with actual mobile payments though. Droplet released an update. A useful one mind, but that wasn’t the problem. I had forgotten which of my email addresses I set up the account with. Doh! Thankfully a quick tweet to @dropletsupport pointed me in the right direction and disaster was averted.

I have to give a lot of credit for this walletless project to Droplet. The app they have built was the inspiration for #walletless November. You see, the truth is, as I’m discovering, is that we are really a few years away from being able to realistically rely on mobile and contactless payments, but Droplet brings us closer.

Until next time.

RH.

Anyway, walletless.

What is now 14 days ago, I ditched my wallet. I did so in aid of a little experiment to see if it is possible to survive in a world of mobile and contactless payments.

In Birmingham it is surprisingly easy to rely on mobile payments, there’s an app being tested here called Droplet. Droplet works a little like a pre-pay credit card, you load money into your account and you can then spend it with your mobile. There’s a load of merchants already signed up to it too! Which was helpful. Droplet even came to the rescue when I was getting lunch with a friend, the  card payment wasn’t working, so in stepped me with Droplet and lunch was bought and paid for. Walletless 1 : Wallet 0.

Another app I’ve used is the Starbucks app, which was one of the first big companies to start working with mobile payments, utilising a barcode which can be scanned rather than anything more technical. Starbucks have kept me topped up with coffee day-to-day as well as the occasional breakfast or lunch.

Unfortunately, Samsung wouldn’t play nice with my little experiment, so, other than the pizza I ordered through the Dominos app on a borrowed Motorola RAZRi (Thanks Motorola) there will be an annoyingly limited range of android based apps and NFC used.

To make up for that, I have used one of my contactless cards. Cheating, I know, but its the only real way to test out contactless.

Speaking of contactless tech, it has been thus far a glorious success and a wonderful piece of gadgetry, so much so that I’m surprised I hadn’t used it before!

I spent the weekend in London, still living by walletless rule. Train tickets, bought and paid for with an app. Getting around London, the Oyster Card, a wonderful invention that should really be applied in more cities. And payments, ok, no Droplet in London (yet) but contactless payments seem to be ubiquitous across the capital city.

I’m looking forward to the next week, I’m going to be trying out a few more of Droplet‘s merchants, including a gym and some clothes stores. Also, my car is starting to run low on fuel. Anyone know of a petrol station that takes a walletless payment?

RH.

Let me start with the technology behind the idea. NFC stand for Near Field Communication; it’s a technology that allows communication and data transfer over a short distance, usually no more than a few centimetres. It’s being installed into smartphones to allow payments, file transfers and more by touching them together.

The experts say that this utopian future, with the all-powerful smartphone is about 10 years away. But I’m not so sure, remember that Barclays advert with the slide? That is exactly the same technology.

Most new bank cards have the power to make quick payments through contactless technology. The idea just needs to be transferred to the smartphone.

I reckon the walletless world could come sooner, that’s why, for the next month I will be going walletless in an experiment to find out if it is actually possible.

From November 1, through to November 30, all of my payments will be mobile, taking advantage of smartphone based technology.

The rules I’ll be playing by are pretty simple.

• Cash, check, credit cards, or debit cards are not allowed. Simple.
• There’s no asking friends and family to pay for things, if they don’t take mobile payments, then I can’t buy anything.
• No coupons or vouchers unless they’re mobile.
• ID is out. I’ll take a photo of it and that’ll have to do.

One rule I’ve left out of that list is fairly important; I have not prepared for this in any way, my car has half a tank of petrol and I’ll probably need some more before the month is out. The cupboards will need stocking up at some point too.

Walletless November will mean a few changes to my routine, I’ll be cycling more for a start. I’m going to be trying to see how far I can push mobile payments, trying out some new things during the month.

Starting off I’ll be using my iPhone and the iOS payment options available, but I’ll be adding a Samsung Galaxy SIII to my arsenal so I can use Android payment options and NFC.

After you get your new, more powerful, cutting-edge smartphone up and running, there’s the question of what to do with your old model? Rather than simply get rid of it, preferably at a recycling center and not destined for the landfill, that no-longer-state-of-the-art device can still be put to use. Here are 13 things you can do with your old smartphone:

1. Portable music player

Whether the scene is the kitchen at cooking time or during a house party, everyone wants to listen to music around the house, and your old smartphone could work perfectly. You can load it up with music tracks just as you did when it was your primary phone and plug it into any speaker system with an auxiliary jack. The battery will last for hours, even after years of use. You can also stream music through free services such as Pandora and Last.FM. The old phone can also make for a handy MP3 player in your car, especially if you have a Bluetooth-capable stereo system.

2. Webcam

Almost all laptops come with a webcam now. That webcam may not, however, be as good as the one on your old smartphone. Instead of spending up to $100 on an external upgrade, make your Bluetooth-enabled phone a laptop camera by adding an app that’s compatible with Skype, YouTube, Yahoo Messenger or applications that use a webcam. Note that some apps only work the camera, however, not the microphone.

3. Vocal assistant

Don’t forget the dictation/voice recorder function available on most smartphones (if it’s not a native app on your phone you can download a voice assistant app). Whether the phone is new or old, this function can be very useful and far faster than typing out a note.

4. Remote control

An old smartphone can function as a handy remote control for your media center or computer, using one of many free apps available from Apple’s App Store or Google Play. The phone doesn’t need replacement batteries; it’s powerful enough to control any number of devices and many companies have made hardware accessories that allow a smartphone to serve as a universal remote.

5. Portable game console

Odd as it sounds, adults are more likely to play games on their smartphones than on their Sony, Apple or Nintendo portable consoles. Why? Because they always have their phones with them. That said, using a phone as a game console is problematic if you need the phone for making calls. Keep the old smartphone for games and you can have the best of both worlds. You also won’t need to buy new versions of favorite games on your new phone and it will free up space on the new smartphone.

6. Secondary storage solution

Data storage is always a tricky thing. Flash drives are often too small for larger files and are too easy to lose, while full hard drives are too big to lug around everywhere. With a simple hardware addition, you can turn your old smartphone into a personal hard drive, while still retaining all of its normal functions. USB plug-ins allow you to connect your smartphone to your computer and upload data for storage, back up folders and files and synchronize them every time you connect the phone.

7. “Expendable” phone

If you’re into rugged activities — rock climbing, skydiving, skiing, mountain biking, an African safari — why have your new smartphone take the beating? Save your old phone for activities that might be too perilous for your “good” smartphone. Besides, there’s a strong chance that in these less-than-gentle locales, you’ll be using the phone as a phone, and not as a do-everything device. In any event, it doesn’t hurt to keep the old phone as an emergency backup for when you do lose or break your showcase piece.

8. Child’s toy

There are many educational smartphone apps. Kids can take advantage of these apps, as well as games and the internal camera, and you won’t have to buy them a new phone. You can also stock it full of Disney songs and keep your youngster humming for weeks.

9. Emergency phone

The FCC requires that a deactivated smartphone (or any cell phone) should still be capable of making 911 calls. Consider keeping your old phone in your glove compartment or office desk for use in case of emergency. Make sure to have a power supply available, whether it’s an AC adapter, a car charger or an external backup battery. Note that a deactivated phone can’t transmit its location to an operator, so try not to get lost in a snowstorm.

10. Custom e-Reader

Why spend money on a dedicated electronic reading device such as the Amazon Kindle when your smartphone offers the same basic functionality? All you need is an e-Reader app available from Amazon.com for Android, BlackBerry and iOS. The smartphone’s screen may be small, but it’s also backlit, which is a nice perk when you are trying to read in bed.

11. Wi-Fi Calling

Just because you are no longer paying a carrier for service on your old phone doesn’t mean you can’t use it to make phone calls. If the phone has Wi-Fi capabilities, you can bypass the carrier and use a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service such as Fring, Skype or Truphone.

12. Recycle

Apple, Verizon, AT&T and other smartphone carriers offer various reuse and recycling programs in which the carrier will pay you for your old smartphone. Resale vendors can also be found on eBay. Remember, however, that the longer you wait the less your old phone is going to be worth. You’ll also want to make sure that the phone is stripped of any personal data before it leaves your hands.

13. Pass it along

You may not need your old smartphone anymore, but a friend or relative might be able to use it. Before handing off the phone, though, make sure that your lucky recipient really wants to take on a 1- or 2-year commitment with a wireless carrier. Some carriers also let you transfer your existing contract — phone and all — to a third party.

The iPhone 5 has been my most eagerly awaited gadget this year. I previously had an iPhone 4 and that was hands down the best phone I had ever owned. Apple had a reputation to live up to.

With a host of Android and Windows 8 phones being released there was tough competition for the iPhone.

Having had my device delivered first thing on launch day I’ve lived with it for about a fortnight now and it’s become quite comfortable.

The first thing you notice about the new phone is its weight. Its spectacularly light. It is noticeably lighter than the iPhone 4S but retains the same feel. The reduced weight is in spite of the new, larger screen.

The 4″ screen on the iPhone 5 is taller, but not wider, than previous models, adding a fifth row of icons to the screen. Apple have kept with the retina screen, with an impressive 1136×640 resolution, with 326 Pixels per inch.

The camera on this new phone is the same 8MP camera from the 4S, but with better low light response. Can I tell the difference? No, not really, but was it really that bad before? The FaceTime camera is where the real improvements have been made. Out with the VGA camera of old. Theres a new 1.2MP camera in there that shoots in 720p so those calls home are crystal clear HD.

The new iPhone comes pre-installed with Apple’s latest version of their mobile software, iOS 6, which is pretty impressive. Now, I’ve been testing iOS 6 for quite a while now, but some of the features still astound me. Panoramic photos are a brilliantly simple system that anyone could take one. The passbook app looks like it has the potential to revolutionise mobile payments. NFC hasn’t taken off yet, and where it is accepted it is fairly unreliable, but QR code payment systems seem to consistently work. The app is also touted for its use as a ticketing service for boarding passes and cinema tickets.

Theres one big thing with the iPhone, this release isn’t an all new phone. Well, it is, but bear with me. What the iPhone 5 is, is a continuation of the iPhone model. What Apple have done is build a phone that people become attached to and then refine and improve it. It’s not about a new model, it’s about the latest, greatest version of the phone you already have.