Masters of Media

Semantic Search Servants: Facebook’s M and the new way of searching the web

“You think I’m weird?” “Kind of.” “Why?” “Well, you seem like a person but you’re just a voice in a computer.” – Theodore meets his new virtual assistant, whom he later falls in love with (Jonze, Her). Facebook M...

By Elias Gorter on 09/15/15 0

UHD Format is Coming

The Seven Kingdoms Seven of the biggest IT companies are collaborating to createa new format for Ultra High Definition (UHD) video.This collaboration is called Alliance for Open Media and includes companies such as Google, Netflix and Microsoft. There’s also...

By Pepijn Bierhuizen on 09/14/15 0

What You See Is What You Get

The time of the curated self is over. No more filters, adjustments, retakes or any other tool that makes the world more spectacular than it is. The pattern of over-tailored and over-garnished content on social media might have been...

By Hidde van der Beek on 09/14/15 0

Anti-social apps: counterattacking the power of networks

We judge ourselves with the means other people have and have given us for judging ourselves. Into whatever I say about myself someone else’s judgement always enters. (Jean-Paul Sartre) In 2013, Scott Garner, an artist based in New York,...

By Giovanni Carta on 09/14/15 1

The Companion: App which walks you home

Walking home at night can be a pretty terrifying experience. If you ever had to walk home through eerie suburban streets at 2 am., you know how it feels. That is why five college students in the US created an application...

By Radvile Dauksyte on 09/14/15 0

“Day 1: Tim takes a dump” – taking <i>live</i> to the next level

“Day 1: Tim takes a dump” – taking live to the next level

In The Truman Show, Truman has no idea he is being watched 24/7, until the sun comes crushing down – literally, because the sun turned out to be a studio lamp. In Edtv, Ed knows and agrees to being...

By S. Dorrestein on 09/14/15 0

Live Photo: the new “modern magic” of Apple’s iPhone 6

During a special media event organized on September 9th, in San Francisco, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, officially introduced to the public the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus. Alongside with user friendly updates...

By Daniela Demarchi on 09/14/15 0

KEEP CALM and USE COMPANION APP?!

An innovative app that accompanies you with safety back home. Five students from the University of Michigan designed a GPS application, named Companion App. This new app allows your contacts from your smartphone to accompany you virtually when you...

By Aliki Eleftheriadou on 09/14/15 0

YouTube | It’s gone 360º

YouTube – Home to viral sensations, talking cats, Charlie’s finger and not to mention irritating music videos – with some holding over two billion views! From its launch in May 2005, YouTube has developed, changed and re-formatted over...

By Max Cantellow on 09/14/15 0

Artificial intelligence for everyone: indico.io

Image: Still from Amazon Machine Learning introduction video Artificial Intelligence (AI) developed alongside with computing since its earliest days. Today when thinking about AI the famous Kasparov beating chess computer Deep Blue, smartphone personal assistants like Siri or the...

By Clemens Buchegger on 09/14/15 0

FireChat: a breakthrough in mobile ad-hoc/mesh networking?

In a time where governments are continuously monitoring various types of communication of their citizens, there has been an increasing need for new secure and off-the-grid means of communication. One of the latest companies to satisfy this need is Open...

By Frans Bootsman on 09/14/15 0

What’s it like to BeMe?

Curated Self-Publishing Scrolling down the Facbebook or Instagram newsfeed you see all these nice pictures and videos of beautiful and happy people going out for dinner at fancy restaurants with their lover or travelling around the world with their...

By Felicitas Deiler on 09/14/15 0

Throwing a Life Vest at Humanity

Alan Kurdi’s Photo. A photo of a boy, lying facedown on a Turkish beach, sporting a little red shirt and velcro shoes. This was the image that circulated the world wide web last week, becoming the latest example of...

By Ysabel Camus Favis on 09/14/15 0

Virtual Presence

A new application, ‘The companion’ has been launched for smart phones. Independent wrote about the new app. Student editor Aftab Ali states that five students from the University of Michigan decided to launch this new app after receiving many crime alert emails...

By Celine van Asbeck on 09/14/15 0

Stream, and put some money in the tip jar

Are streaming services musicians’ friends or foes? Startup ‘Whitestone’ aims for industry revolution and introduces ‘the music of the future’ in a new, independent music experience platform. Could this be a step towards a brighter future for music online? Over...

By Lisanne Buijze on 09/14/15 0

Refugees Welcome: Network Hospitality with A Cause

Before the trending topic of current situation on the refugees crisis within Europe was gaining its media spotlight, a German-based group has invented a website named Refugees Welcome as response to the problem. The website aims to match the...

By Afra suci Ramadhon on 09/14/15 0

A wolf in sheep’s clothing

On the first of September this year, Google surprised the world with a new logo that will replace the old quirky logo that has appeared above the search box since 1999. According to the Google design...

By Kyra Delsing on 09/14/15 0

Poem Viewer: Towards a new “view” on poetry

“Poetry is ordinary language raised to the Nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words”. Paul Engle The word poem, derived from the Greek word...

By Maria Charitou on 09/14/15 0

Give us your data and you will never walk alone

Last week, five students from the University of Michigan launched (Mashable, Tech Times, Business Insider) a smartphone application called Companion. This application enables users to be accompanied by their contacts to virtually walk them home at night. The so-called...

By Atossa Atabaki on 09/14/15 0

Social Robot Jibo: a promising personal assistant or Siri’s disappointing cousin?

“Jibo isn’t an appliance, it’s a companion, one that can interact and react with its human owners in ways that delight” (Mashable, 2014) For over 20 years Dr. Cynthia Braezael has been working on creating the ultimate social robot....

By Britt Boss on 09/14/15 0

Hey Siri, do you spy on me?

Hey Siri, a feature which comes along with the new Iphone 6S has caused quite a stir when it became known that Siri (Apples Artificial Intelligence integration) could be activated on command by just calling “Hey Siri” to your device. This functionality...

By Rosa Boon on 09/14/15 0