Microsoft Vine To Connect Family, Friends When Crisis Hits

Microsoft is launching a new product into private beta on Tuesday morning with the aim of keeping friends and family in touch during emergencies. Vine is designed to keep family and friends in touch when other communication methods are either broken or not particularly efficient. Full Story : Techcrunch.com……

Pixetells : Better communication than email

A Portland, Oregon, startup called Ontier is set on Monday to unveil Pixetell, communication software that combines text, video, images and audio in a single message. Pixetell lets users communicate quickly and naturally with schedule-independent communications that allow to get the point across successfully the first time. For now, Ontier is focusing on the business market, but plans to make a consumer play down the road.

iPhone Gets the Top Spot.

After the release of 3G phone and the price cut, Apple boosted its share of smart phone market by 55% within the past three months. 30 percent of U.S. consumers who purchased Apple’s new iPhone 3G from June through August 2008 switched from other mobile carriers to join AT&T. The top four best-selling smart phones based on unit-sales to consumers were as follows:
1. Apple iPhone 3G
2. RIM Blackberry Curve
3. RIM Blackberry Pearl
4. Palm Centro

China Spies On Skype Conversations.

A surveillance system in China that monitors and archives certain Internet text conversations that include selected political keywords,has been discovered by a group of Canadian human rights-activists and computer experts. The system tracks text messages sent by customers of Tom-Skype, a joint venture between a Chinese wireless operator and Skype. Some of the keywords triggers the monitoring service are “Tibet”, “Communist Party” or “Democracy”. The stored messages also contained internet addresses, user names and other information which could make the senders and recipients easily identifiable. Skype confirmed that Chinese users of Skype have been spied upon and their communications and identities recorded. Skype is owned by eBay.

Identity Crisis Faced By The Facebook Generation

According to a warning given to the Annual Meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, this generation who use internet for everything and who have never known a world unless they  surf on-line  are  growing up with a dangerous view of the world and their own identity. They are going through major identity crisis. People who born after 1990 have grown up in a world dominated by online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. Many of these youngsters use Internet as the main medium to communicate. Their relationships are quickly disposed at the click of a mouse.  Because of the online social networking, people find the real world boring and unstimulating. Because of this online mess, youngsters are going through the stages of vulnerable to impulsive to suicide.

Chat room communication reduced sensory experience; person’s expression/body language/ voice/tone aren’t there; and this can shape one’s perceptions of the interaction differently. Online session  changes the perception to a dream-like state, and this unnatural blending of mind with the other person leads to entirely different meaning to friendships and relationships.
See Also:

• Stanford teaches Facebook psychology.
• Student faces Facebook consequences.