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Tens of millions of broken or unused electrical appliances are cluttering up Irish homes when they could be easily recycled, with valuable raw materials extracted, junior minister with responsibility for the circular economy Ossian Smyth says. The vast majority of Irish households have at least 15 broken or unused electrical items lying around, Bord Gáis Energy and Electric Ireland announce cuts in the cost of domestic electricity and gas which will save customers about €300 a year. An Post raises the price of a standard postage stamp, the fourth such price hike the State-owned postal carrier has rolled out in less than three years. The rate of inflation in Irish supermarkets continues to slow with data from retail analysts Kantar Worldpanel suggesting prices are increasing by 7.1 per cent. It represents a dramatic decline from a rate of 15.5 per cent that was recorded at the height of the cost-of-living-crisis in the summer of 2023 and marks the eighth month in a row that inflation has fallen. Irish mobile phone and broadband customers face an ongoing risk of significant price hikes every year without being given a chance to shop around for better value, ComReg warns. Many of the State’s leading telecom operators, including Vodafone , Eir and Three Mobile, link the price of their mobile and broadband packages to inflation, with increases of 3 per cent plus the Consumer Price Index rate of inflation rolled out each year. The finances of just under 40 per cent of Irish people have worsened over the last 12 months with large numbers feeling increasingly gloomy about their prospects despite some positive top-line economic news, according to the annual Pulse of the Nation research from Amárach . It identifies what it calls a “vibecession”, which notes that people’s feelings about the economy dip even when economic circumstances appear to be improving. Flogas Energy rolls out price cuts of up to 25 per cent. A new deposit and return scheme is rolled out which sees an automatic 15 cent deposit added to bottles and cans of between 150ml and 500ml, and a 25 cent deposit added to bottles and cans of between 500ml and three litres. It emerges that a record number of complaints were lodged with the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman in 2023 with concerns over customer service dominating and a significant number of consumers making contact over fraudulent activity on their accounts, according to a report. Diageo announces a price hike of 6 cent and says it is necessary to “maintain a sustainable business”. Publicans condemn it as a “hammer blow” to the sector. The increase hits Diageo products including Guinness, Carlsberg and Smithwick’s. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) launches High Court proceedings against PhoneWatch and HomeSecure, both of which are owned by Norwegian firm Sector Alarm Group , in connection with an investigation into anticompetitive practices in the sector. Clerys on O’Connell Street re-reopens, sort of. The new-look Clerys Quarter is occupied by H&M – which has spread itself over 30,000sq ft and two floors of the former department store. It will be joined later in the year by Decathalon. Consumers are at risk of being ripped off by rogue locksmiths operating without licences, the State’s private security watchdog warns. Lidl asks the company behind both Facebook and Instagram to remove pages on the social media platforms that are designed to steal money and personal details from unsuspecting shoppers by using its logos and livery and promising discounted “middle-aisle” deals. Irish people are run ragged, stressed by the social media screeching from the far right and struggling with an enduring cost-of-living crisis , according to the latest Sign of the Times survey published by Ipsos B&A. The deposit return scheme introduced in February is still in a transition phase with consumer frustrations including missing logos and broken reverse vending machines set to be resolved within weeks, the chief executive of Re-Turn promises. A judge labels Eir a “disgrace” after a court hears evidence that the telecom provider warned staff they could be disciplined for adhering to statutory regulations governing customer complaints. In a Dublin District Court case taken by ComReg, Eir and its parent company, Eircom, pleads guilty to multiple breaches of the law over its failure to acknowledge customer complaints and provide responses within 10 working days, among other issues. It emerges that the cost for a family of four climbed by about €500 in 2023 when compared with 2022. A Health Insurance Authority report also notes that older people are typically paying almost 50 per cent more for cover than younger cohorts. Irish holidaymakers at home and abroad are warned to be on alert for “complex and deceptive” scams in fraudulent activity recorded in 2023. According to data from a banking umbrella group, fraudsters stole almost €100 million from Irish consumers last year – an increase of 16 per cent on 2022. SSE Airtricity reduces the cost of its domestic electricity and gas by 10 per cent from the start of July. Grocery prices are rising at their slowest rate since the immediate aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine , according to data from retail analysts Kantar Worldpanel. Inflation across Irish supermarkets is put at 2.6 per cent. Up to one-third of Irish home cooks do not wash their hands after handling raw chicken before touching their mobile phones or tablets, according to research from a food safety watchdog. The promoter of Bruce Springsteen’s concert in Dublin apologises to thousands of fans who were left raging in the dark after they found themselves still queuing outside Croke Park as the Boss and his band took to the stage. Bank of Ireland warns consumers about a new wave of purchase scams luring unsuspecting shoppers through online ads to make payments for goods and services that subsequently turn out to be fake. According to a payment fraud report from the BPFI, €98.6 million was lost by Irish people to fraudsters in 2023. Card fraud accounted for 95 per cent of fraudulent transactions, which amounted to a total of €35.2 million, or 36 per cent of the losses. Temu , one of the fastest growing online shopping portals in internet history, is accused of using manipulative sales techniques illegal under EU law and failing to protect European consumers. The online marketplace is “rife with manipulative techniques – dark patterns – to get consumers to spend more than they might originally want to, or to complicate the process of closing down their account”, the Bureau Européen des Unions de Consommateurs says. In response, Temu says it is “a newcomer to Europe” and has been “actively adjusting our service to align with local practices and preferences, and we are committed to full compliance with the laws and regulations of the markets where we operate”. Taylor Swift comes to town and plays three nights in the Aviva Stadium as part of her Eras Tour. All talk of high priced hotel rooms and wildly expensive tickets and merchandise is shaken off as she wows more than 120,000 Swifties with a set lasting almost 31⁄2 hours. The costs are put into perspective when it emerges that many Americans were able to fly to Ireland, stay in hotels in Dublin, see her perform and then fly home for less than the tickets alone would have cost them in the US. Industrial action at Aer Lingus between management and pilots throws the travel plans of thousands into disarray. At the heart of the dispute is the pilots’ demand for a 24 per cent pay hike while management made an initial offer of just under 10 per cent. Tesco is found guilty of breaking the law in connection with how it displayed the price of products it was selling on promotion. The retailer is ordered to pay €1,000 to a charity as well as covering the legal costs of the consumer watchdog that took the case. Tracker mortgages almost immediately benefit from the 0.25 per cent cut in interest rates announced by the European Central Bank (ECB). Retailers and distributors still selling amber teething jewellery that can choke or strangle infants have been told to withdraw the products immediately by the CCPC. Almost three-quarters of secondary school parents and just more than half of parents with children in primary school are worried about covering back-to-school costs this year, according to a survey from children’s charity Barnardos. People with Aer Lingus flight bookings breath a sigh of relief as the industrial action by its pilots is called off after a pay deal is reached which sees the pilots get a 17.75 per cent pay increase. Fans of Nicki Minaj express disappointment tinged with outrage after the rapper appears on stage in Dublin about 90 minutes later than planned, and plays a set that lasted less than an hour. Irish people are increasingly aware of the damage their consumption patterns have on the planet, but a majority are unwilling to pay a premium for more sustainable products, according to research by Amárach on behalf of Penneys . Tickets for Oasis go on sale at 8am on the last Saturday of the month with prices that leave many users looking back in anger. A so-called dynamic, or in-demand, pricing model sees some standing tickets more than double in price over the course of the first three hours of the sale. Customers who bought tickets on the Fota Island Wildlife Park’s website between the middle of May and the end of August have been told to cancel debit or credit cards following a cyberattack. Customers are also urged to review transactions on their accounts since May 12th, to identify any suspicious activity. Complaints to the CCPC jumped sharply in the first half of the year, with telecoms operator Eir and Ryanair the two companies most likely to be referenced by callers to its helpline. Many Irish people who have been mistreated, ripped off or otherwise let down by businesses are being denied access to any form of meaningful legal redress as the Small Claims Court hears only cases involving sums of €2,000 or less. The CCPC describes this ceiling as “out of step with the most basic and unavoidable expenses” with which many consumers have to contend. Retailer Brown Thomas defends its decision to impose a 60 cent charge for paper bags, a move it says has been taken out of concern for the environment with the profits to be used to plant trees across Ireland. Wagamama in Dublin closes after receivers appointed to the Press Up group fail to reach agreement with the UK-based chain on restructuring the franchise arrangement. The health insurance market here has grown too complicated and is overwhelming consumers, working against their best interests and seeing many paying over the odds for cover, according to the HIA. Tupperware is facing an existential crisis. It files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US as the cost of materials, labour, transportation and more climbed, and its losses soared. The ECB cuts its rates by another quarter of a point. The Government plans to impose “serious restrictions” on vaping including the banning of disposable vapes, restricting the sale of flavours and prohibiting point-of-sale advertising displays. The CCPC opens an official investigation into Ticketmaster over its handling of the sale of Oasis tickets. It acts after receiving more than 100 complaints from disappointed fans of the band. In advance of the investigation being announced, Oasis say they at “no time had any awareness” that dynamic pricing was being used to sell tickets. It emerges that the cost per square metre of building the Leinster House bike shed came in at about twice what it would typically cost to build a five-star hotel in Ireland and more than four-times the price a high-end house. At a cost of €336,000, the bike shed ended up being about 200 times more expensive than a flat-pack bike shelter of roughly the same size. Thousands of people line O’Connell Street on Halloween expecting a parade that never was. They showed up because of a post which first appeared on a website called myspirithalloween.com . The man behind the site apologises and says it was not a hoax but a mistake. Energy bills of Irish consumers are typically more than €500 higher than much of the EU, with the cost of domestic electricity alone about €350 more, according to data from Eurostat . Ireland’s consumer watchdog lacks the teeth to properly take on businesses that break the law and let people down, its chairman admits. Speaking at an event to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the CCPC, Brian McHugh calls on the Government to give it more powers to impose meaningful financial penalties on companies found to have broken the law. Ryanair defends its decision not to offer passengers stuck on its planes for up to 15 hours due to Storm Ashley free bottles of water or any other refreshments because there were “not entitled” to it. Customer service in Ireland is getting worse according to an annual assessment. The customer experience report by Amárach Research suggests that after two years of things looking up, our overall customer experience score fell by just under 2 per cent compared to 2023. The ECB reduces its interest rate by another quarter of a point. The cuts, and a once-off technical reduction of 0.35 per cent rolled out in September, will see the monthly repayments on a tracker mortgage of €180,000 fall by about €104. Alias Tom shuts up shop ending a stretch of more than 50 years on the Dublin retail landscape. The annual rate at which grocery prices have been increasing in the Republic continues to stabilise at less than 3 per cent over the 12 weeks to the end of in September, data from retail analysts Kantar Worldpanel suggests. A scam which uses bogus QR codes on parking meters to fool people into downloading malicious software or submitting sensitive financial details to websites controlled by criminals is identified in areas of the east coast. Almost half the honey on Irish supermarket shelves is likely to be adulterated with sugar syrups and additives, or sourced from countries not properly identified on labels, according to research from the Institute of International and European Affairs . Budget 2024 is unveiled. Billed as the biggest bonanza budget in the history of the State, many people will be substantially better off over the next 12 months as a result of the tax changes and the cost-of-living measures announced by Minister for Finance Jack Chambers. The CCPC secures a commitment from the liquidators of Homebase to fulfil contracts for kitchen and bathroom installations or offer full refunds. The liquidators also agree to honour vouchers for the eight Homebase stores in the Republic while they continue to trade. Retailers selling electronics, cosmetics, furniture and clothes are accused by the CCPC of deliberately misleading shoppers looking for bargains in the sales. It says legal proceedings against a number of retailers nationwide for breaking sales pricing laws will lead to court appearances in January. The general election takes place with the cost-of-living crisis front and centre in people’s minds. It is hardly surprising given that many people are so much worse off as a result of the crisis which is continuing despite a sharp decline in the rate at which prices have been climbing. Irish Life Health announces its third price increase in less than 12 months with customers facing an average hike of just under 4 per cent from the start of next year. The cost of private health insurance has climbed by an average of 11 per cent so far this year, according to a report from the HIA. It says average policy premiums are now €1,712. Ryanair cancels flights to and from airports across Europe and alerts passengers to the changes via email before sending them follow-up emails announcing their flights were not actually cancelled at all. More than 180,000 homeowners have failed to claim up to €1,250 in tax relief that was designed to soften the blow of rising mortgage interest rates. As a group, they could be missing out on as much as €120 million. Fewer than one-in-five domestic energy customers changed provider in 2023 despite potential savings amounting to hundreds of euro for those who moved companies. Dozens of customers of a Dublin-based windows and doors company that went into liquidation express anger and concern that money they paid will never be recovered. One couple say they could lose close to €50,000 after provisional liquidators from Grant Thornton were appointed by the High Court to DK Windows & Doors. Research from the CCPC suggests Christmas spending is rebounding sharply when compared with 2023. It suggests the cost of an Irish Christmas will climb by an average of 14 per cent or €1,177 compared with €1,030 in 2023 and €1,186 a year earlier. Storm Darragh clashed with the Toy Show but its impact would turn out to be far greater. The high winds damaged Holyhead Port which was closed in the run-up to Christmas and left many parcels and people who expected to be driving home for Christmas potentially stuck on the wrong side of the Irish Sea. While delivery companies and ferry operators raced to come up with alternatives it added a bit of pre-Christmas drama to our world that we could really have done without.Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne announced this week that has agreed to voluntarily pause using the personal information of its Canadian members to train generative artificial intelligence (AI) models. Dufresne indicated that he’s been keeping a close eye on how companies train AI at a summit earlier this year. The development follows reporting by in September, which found LinkedIn had begun using its users’ data for AI training without updating its terms of service. The social media platform has since updated its terms of service, and users can opt-out of their data being used. However, that won’t affect any training that’s already taken place, according to . The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) said in a statement that, following the media reports, Dufresne reached out to LinkedIn to request information about the company’s training practices as well as how it obtains consent from its members. According to the OPC, LinkedIn subsequently informed the government body that it had temporarily paused the practice while it worked to resolve the OPC’s questions. The OPC added that, while LinkedIn indicated it believed it had implemented its AI model in a privacy protective manner, it agreed to engage in discussions to ensure that its practices are compliant with Canada’s privacy laws. “I welcome the decision by LinkedIn to pause its practice of using the personal information of Canadian LinkedIn members to train AI models while we work with them to get answers to our questions,” Dufresne said in a statement. “Personal information, even when it is publicly accessible, is subject to privacy laws and must be adequately protected.” Dufresne indicated that he’s been keeping a close eye on how companies train AI at the Competition Bureau’s this past September. During a roundtable discussion of the Canadian Digital Regulators Forum at the event, Dufresne defended the parliamentary process holding up Bill C-27 and its Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) provision, saying he hoped the bill got the priority it deserved. He went on to explain how AI doesn’t exist in a legal vacuum, and that organizations that design AI must justify their processes and uphold their current obligations under existing regulations. “If [AIDA doesn’t pass] for whatever reason, we are acting, we have ongoing investigations, we have issued statements on AI,” Dufresne said at the time. “We’re going to continue to use the tools that we currently have.” The federal government has been taking on big tech companies on many different fronts in recent weeks. In early November, The Government of Canada social media giant TikTok to wind up its operations in Canada, citing unspecified national security risks, but did not outright ban the platform itself. TikTok the order this week, alleging that federal representatives failed to substantially engage with the company during the national security review. Canada’s Competition Bureau also last month for what it calls anti-competitive conduct in the country’s online advertising technology sector. The Bureau is seeking an order that would require Google to cease the anti-competitive practices, sell off two of its adtech tools, and pay a monetary penalty.ph777 goal 。

NoneCES 2025 preview: The new technology we’re expecting and hoping to see in Las Vegas

Rapidly evolving are perhaps the two most apt words to describe cell phone technology. This tool didn't exist until the 1970s, and since then, it has transformed the entire concept of communication. The first cellular call celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023 , and the cell phone has since become so much more than a mobile calling tool. Martin Cooper, the inventor of the first phone of this kind, admitted that the cell phone initially entered the world as a workplace streamlining tool for real estate agents. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune ahead of that historic date in April of last year, "Real estate agents do two things – show homes, or answer the phone when somebody wants to buy a home." With a cell phone, agents could effectively double their productivity, leading to more business and significant pay increases. Today, this cellular tool is something that nearly all Americans own (98%, with 91% of owners using smartphones). Moreover, roughly 12% of consumers upgrade their phone every year, while about 55% replace their device every two to three years, according to a 2022 survey we conducted . Phone technology is becoming increasingly sophisticated, integrating more seamlessly with a growing number of other gadgets in our lives. The future of phone usage not only aims to reengineer the way consumers interact with one another but also promises to revolutionize how we perform everyday tasks. These emerging technologies stand ready to propel us once again into uncharted territory, improving (or even unlocking) untold aspects of modern living. 5G is the newest iteration of the mobile coverage landscape that powers mobile phones. It's a global wireless communication standard that improves upon previous generations of mobile connectivity (3G, for instance). Qualcomm , a key player in the development of 5G technology , calls it "a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together, including machines, objects, and devices." While the shift to 5G is about speed — like downloading an HD video file in seconds — it also enables much more. Phones are more capable than ever, largely due to the communicative capabilities unlocked by these new coverage standards. Tools like video calling were once utterly incompatible with even state-of-the-art phones. Today, 5G speeds and capabilities make things like remote surgical procedures a real possibility. The same is true for ramped-up communication with cloud-based storage tools. With 5G speeds, users can work from resources saved on the cloud with upload and download speeds that make it seem like they're tapping into locally saved resources. With that said, industry players are already talking about another great leap forward with the advent of 6G capabilities . 5G is zippy and features lower latency than its predecessors, enabling increased functionality within the world of augmented reality tools. But 6G looks poised to improve on radio spectrum utilization, speed again (naturally), and the connective endpoint load that has already made 5G an upgrade supercharging the Internet of Things ( a framework that is already shaping smart cities across the globe). The utility of AI tools is only just beginning to come into focus. Text-based applications and image-generation features are making headlines, but AI can do so much more. One area where AI is already making inroads in the mobile phone landscape is within the camera settings. AI integrations help avid photographers organize their collection of images and perform seamless edits that magnify the subject or remove unwanted background fluff. AI integrations are also prominently displayed in the phones themselves. No need to download any apps to take advantage of AI's sophisticated capabilities — it's likely already on your smartphone if you've recently bought a new one! Samsung, for one, is already performing operations like generative edits and AI drawing. The newest Samsung phones also feature Enhance-X to massively improve the image quality of standard pictures snapped on your device and Life Effect to introduce animations and enhancements to photos. These tools will only continue to improve, bringing significant changes to the photography tasks that any cell phone performs on a regular basis. Graphene has been touted as a super-material of the future. It's light, flexible, and impossibly thin (condensed to a single atom in thickness). Graphene is also a versatile, conductive product — potentially the best heat and electricity conductor humanity has ever discovered — and can operate as both an outer build material and a basis for crafting microprocessors and other internal components. It's already being used in earphones, impact-resistant helmets, and even airplane parts. As a feature in future smartphones, graphene could play numerous roles. Its strength could lead to a significant improvement in drop protection. Rather than relying on plastic and aluminum components, devices made with graphene would rival or surpass the lightness of these materials while taking strength to a new level. Moreover, the material's thinness could enable the development of even smaller phones. Both internal components and outer shells might one day benefit from further form factor minimization. This carbon structure may also play a role in battery development, as early graphene-infused batteries showcase the potential for an energy density that dwarfs conventional lithium-ion technology. It has even been proposed as a tool to layer transparent solar collection sheets on top of a phone's screen, allowing the device to effectively recharge itself while in use out and about! The concept of a "phone" has always revolved around its original form factor. Initially resembling a huge walkie-talkie, subsequent designs from nearly every major manufacturer have followed this layout. The tools have a screen of some kind in the center (or covering the entire face, as is common today), along with buttons near the bottom, a speaker at the top, and a microphone near the bottom. This creates a rectangular shape that mimics the basic layout of a wired phone handset, with added components for making calls integrated into the midsection of the device. Flip phones and fad-crazed designs like the Sidekick brought new angles to the form factor, but no phone has really challenged the essential DNA of what it means to be a "phone." It's something you instantly recognize, no matter the unique specific design choices a manufacturer incorporates. But this won't likely remain the case heading into the future. With the ability to introduce increasingly smaller chips and hardware into these tools, tertiary devices like a smartwatch can take on a considerable amount of the communicative work a phone does for its user. Other form factors like lapel pins, clips, and broaches, and additional wearables like smart glasses are making inroads, too. Glasses are a particularly interesting development. While not entirely new (think: Google Glass, yikes! ), the most recent entrants significantly expand on what was once thought possible with the help of improved AR functionality and AI integrations. The improvements AI stands to bring to the smartphone landscape don't stop at fun additions to the device. AI has already made its way into the world of assistance by bringing users information they might be looking for, among other capabilities. This assistive capacity will become stronger with the help of AI language tools. Considering its prowess for compiling huge reserves of information and then spitting it back out on demand, it shouldn't come as a surprise that AI will eventually be a major factor in translation services. Its ability to process enormous volumes of data allows it to digest grammatical and vocabulary corpora, alongside all manner of dialect-specific media and slang usage. The end result will be a powerful AI system capable of bridging the language barrier between speakers of virtually any pair of languages, no matter how distant. AI is already making its mark in language-learning apps . When integrated into your phone, it will allow you to travel anywhere in the world with greater confidence in communicating with the people you meet. On a functional level, this means a wider network of business connections, more fulfilling global tourism, and a richer understanding of the people and cultures that exist just beyond the horizon. One glaring reality of today's smartphones is a lack of trust among users. A study by Tech Radar in 2015 revealed that 54% of consumers worried about the security of their mobile phones, and in 2017, Bitdefender reported that as many as 90% of European consumers were wary of security gaps in IoT technology. This trend has remained a long-running theme among mobile devices, with a common theme emerging: Users understand and generally take steps to secure their laptops or desktop computers but often fail to translate these lessons to their mobile devices. Although Samsung included upgraded ultrasonic fingerprint sensors in its flagship phones starting in 2019, the technology has remained niche within the mobile world. They also launched with some hiccups. However, improvements in the years since have radically improved the tool, and many more Android devices are expected to include ultrasonic fingerprint sensors in standard models starting in 2025. Replacing the standard optical sensor, which has handled much of a device's physical security, will make devices significantly more secure. Improving security and changing people's minds about how secure their devices actually are will go a long way toward broadening the utility of this technology. New security features will change the calculation on how a user interacts with their phone in virtually every way. Today, people are often worried about their data, banking apps, and precious pictures that can't be replaced if the phone were stolen. This leads many to operate with cloud backups and potentially forego using their phone as a universally adaptable communication tool. Many even install secure folders on their devices to add extra protection for their most sensitive information and files. But improved biometric security and a constant march toward greater digital protection mean the whole device can be thought of as a sort of black box. With your phone as a meticulously protected digital accessory that you carry everywhere, it could easily become a multi-functional Swiss Army Knife that houses your digital wallet, keys to your home, office, and car, and a controller for all kinds of tools that play a role in your lifestyle. Phones already allow for seamless connection to services like home alarm systems and smart heating and cooling settings. In the future, combined with 5G, 6G, or some connectivity network iteration yet to come, your phone may function as a data relay and control hub for sensitive tools like prosthetic limbs. Cloud technology is nothing new. It began taking shape in the 1960s with the advent of the early internet and reached a kind of adolescence a few decades later (with the term "cloud" coming into computing's lexicon in 1993). In the new millennium, cloud technology has grown to even more potent heights, underpinning some of the most important tasks we ask our computers and smartphones to perform. However, cloud-based technologies may still have a long way to go before they're fully leveraged. At the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona in 2022, a new proof of concept was unveiled that indicated another novel twist in the development of cloud computing and smartphone capability. Rather than leveraging local resources within a smartphone's physical infrastructure, this project proposed a smartphone design that drew processing power directly from the cloud. In theory, this could mean a phone capable of performing any task without needing to house most of the hardware required to achieve it. A phone could ultimately become a screen, battery, and a few networking tools, accessing the remainder of its hardware seamlessly through a cloud server. Combined with technologies like a graphene-infused battery, phones could become almost impossibly small while featuring nearly infinite computing power drawn from a physical location that's totally disconnected from the device itself. eSIM technology is also fairly well-established. The tools to achieve an embedded SIM profile have been around since 2010 and gained a mainstream place in the market by 2016. This makes them both well-tested and improved upon, while still remaining somewhat new. Not all phones in the consumer marketplace are compatible with the technology, but eSIM offers a great option for business and enterprise mobile customers as well as routine consumer users. Unlike a physical SIM card, an eSIM is integrated directly into the phone. On a practical level, this means that phone developers can eliminate another hardware feature, freeing up valuable space inside their devices. And for consumers, an eSIM means there's no need to head into a mobile network store to activate a new phone or get a replacement SIM card if a phone is lost or damaged. It's also highly convenient for travelers. Activating an eSIM when you land in a new country is far easier than carrying and swapping out cards to maintain connectivity. The push for increased eSIM adoption is also a crucial step forward for IoT applications and fleet management. With more devices supporting eSIM, a greater range of equipment and productivity tools can be managed through mobile and remote means. The promises of fully realized Augmented Reality (AR) technology have been seen in the visualizations of futuristic society on the silver screen for generations. The commonality of holographic communications in science fiction is so prevalent that it's perhaps somewhat surprising the technology hasn't made its way into the real world in any meaningful way yet. However, this may be set to change in the coming future. AR, alongside Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality tools, is coming on leaps and bounds. These technologies are already making an impact in entertainment and other spaces, from VR gaming headsets and productivity innovations like the Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest 2. But new innovations in the field may eventually eliminate the need for a bulky and expensive headset, ringing AR tools right into the room with you through the power of your smartphone. This could make meetings with people from all over the world feel more personal and direct, breaking free from the confines of screen windows to showcase participants. It may also produce immaculate renderings of presentation tools in 3D right in front of meeting attendees, replacing the traditional PowerPoint slides that have dominated for years. Your phone is already a consummate navigator. With a basic car mount, you can position your smartphone conveniently on or near the dashboard to access a variety of helpful tools. From controlling music playback to serving as a GPS assistant giving you directions, smartphones play a surprisingly significant role in standard driving tasks today. This role is likely to only become more pronounced in the future, with continuing advancements in AR tools available and computational power bringing even greater functionality. Driving mode may eventually include dashboard projections that allow the phone to display all kinds of information in a sort of HUD layout that gamers will be familiar with. Rather than glancing down at the screen to view the next turn, you might just have the directions projected up in front of you for easy access while keeping your eyes firmly on the road. Numerous car models already feature mirrored display tools that beam a few key pieces of information up on the windshield, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that enhancements in this region will eventually make their way into the driving experience. Moreover, with the importance that smartphones already command from the driver's seat, it's only fitting that they will play a key role in these improvements.BETHESDA, Md. , Dec. 11, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today announced its board of directors has elected Admiral John C. Aquilino , former commander of the United States Indo-Pacific Command, to the board, effective today. "Admiral Aquilino's service to the nation and extensive experience in complex, global operations, including in the Indo-Pacific, will bring valuable insight to the board," said Lockheed Martin Chairman, President and CEO Jim Taiclet. "His perspective as a leader and warfighter will enhance board oversight. We look forward to working with him as we continue to advance our 21st Century Security ® strategy to strengthen deterrence and create a more advanced, resilient and collaborative defense industrial base." Aquilino served as the 26th commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, responsible for all U.S. military activities in the Indo-Pacific, from 2021 until his retirement as a four-star admiral in July 2024 . His previous assignments include serving as the Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the Commander of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and Naval Forces Central Command, and the Commander of Carrier Strike Group 2. Commissioned in 1984 following graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy , Aquilino has served as a fighter pilot in every geographic combatant command and participated in nearly every major military operation after his commissioning, including Operations Deliberate Force, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and Inherent Resolve. He is also a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN), Joint Forces Staff College and Harvard Kennedy School's executive education program in national and international security. Aquilino is considered an independent director under applicable rules and regulations and will serve on the Classified Business and Security Committee. About Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin is a global defense technology company driving innovation and advancing scientific discovery. Our all-domain mission solutions and 21st Century Security ® vision accelerate the delivery of transformative technologies to ensure those we serve always stay ahead of ready. More information at LockheedMartin.com . View original content to download multimedia: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lockheed-martin-elects-john-c-aquilino-to-board-of-directors-302329516.html SOURCE Lockheed Martin

A new tool for the rapidly growing X competitor Bluesky helps you quickly create new feeds that you can pin to the app’s home page to follow your various interests. If you’re daunted by the prospect of having to rebuild your Twitter/X lists on Bluesky’s app, you can use the Pack2List web app to take advantage of the curation work other Bluesky users have already done to create your own customized lists. While Bluesky and its third-party developer community today offer a variety of tools for building feeds, lists, and even Starter Packs of people you think are worth a follow , Pack2List is specifically designed to turn any person’s recommended set of users from their Starter Pack into a Bluesky List in just a few steps. Starter Packs vs Lists But first, let’s back up a bit to learn about these two types of lists. The difference between a Starter Pack and a Bluesky List is that the former is meant to be used as a quick way to follow a group of users en masse. The idea is any user on Bluesky can create a Starter Pack of people they think others should follow, which they can then share with others on their feed or elsewhere on the web. These Starter Packs can also be found in a tab on users’ Bluesky profiles. Starter Packs have served as a clever way for Bluesky to grow its community and its network of connections, which can be hard to do for brand-new social networks — at least ones that don’t rely on importing your entire address book. Unlike Meta’s X competitor, Instagram Threads , Bluesky didn’t have the advantage of building out its social graph on the back of an app that already had some 2 billion-plus monthly users, as Instagram does. Instead, Starter Packs let Bluesky’s own user base curate its network into distinct, thematic groups that make it easier for people to go from an empty timeline to one filled with posts they find interesting. For instance, there are Starter Packs focused on politics, journalists, developers, technologists, academia, sports, AI, health, and various other fan groups, geographies, and communities. A third-party site, Bluesky Directory, keeps track of the growing number of Starter Packs available across the network. ( Here’s one for TechCrunch , for example!) With a click of a button on a Starter Pack, you can follow everyone on this type of curated list, or you can optionally pick and choose from its set of recommendations to follow specific individuals. Meanwhile, a Bluesky List is a curated group of Bluesky accounts that you put together for your own purposes. Maybe it’s a list of people you want to keep track of or maybe it’s even a list of those you want to block. (For left-leaning Bluesky users hoping to avoid turning Bluesky into another angry Twitter, a block list of MAGA folks has become a popular addition, based on how many people have been resharing this list with others across the social network.) But perhaps you want to pin a Bluesky List of your favorite scientists, journalists, AI researchers, authors, or other high-profile figures to your home page (or mobile home screen) for easy access. Maybe you want to build a list of your close friends, work colleagues, or other people who mainly post about a certain topic or participate in some type of community. Unlike Starter Packs, which are meant to drive follows, you don’t necessarily have to follow everyone on the lists you make. Similar to X’s Lists, you can simply create a list and click on it to see its users’ posts in their own timeline, without having their posts clutter up your main Bluesky feed. Turn a Starter Pack into a List While both types of lists are useful, Bluesky is missing a key feature that would let you take someone’s shared Starter Pack and — instead of following its users — turn that Pack into a List that’s always accessible from your Bluesky account in a dedicated spot. That’s where the Pack2List web app comes in. The tool is available on GitHub and on this basic PHP website , alongside other tools that let you merge lists, convert lists, and more. To use the service, you’ll enter your Bluesky credentials, including your username and an app password. (You generate an app password from Bluesky’s security settings. This security feature prevents you from having to share your main Bluesky password with a third-party app.) You then simply paste in the URL to the Starter Pack you want to turn into a list and select whether it’s a list you want to follow (“Content”) or one you want to use to block people (“Moderation.”) Click the “Submit” button and the Starter Pack is immediately added as a List on your Bluesky account. You can also optionally add the URL of one of your other lists that already exists on your account if you’d prefer to merge the Starter Pack into that list, instead. Of course, you don’t have to use tools like this to have a good Bluesky experience. A nice thing about Bluesky’s app is that you don’t have to be technically inclined to create an account, follow others, and engage with posts on your timeline. It looks and feels much like old Twitter, the app now called X under Elon Musk. But if you do want to explore Bluesky’s more advanced features, it’s helpful to know that there’s already a wide developer community out there building tools, services, and apps that help you do more with Bluesky if you choose.