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From a research done at the Universty of Washington, an application on smartphones can turn the phone in to a short-range active sonar system to identify acute opioid toxicity.  The application would be looking for respiratory depression, apnea, and gross motor movements.  

Why this is important – Currently there is not a mobile system that can detect the symptoms of opioid overdose in real time.  Currently, to identify opioid overdose, we have to rely on medical-grade equipment or trained recognition of diagnostic signs.  

Why this is challenging – For this application to work, it will need access to patients and data while high-risk opiod use occurs.  That can present a life threatening situation.

How to overcome it – They will test patients in two unique environments where it is heavily supervised.  

The system uses a frequency-modulated continuous waveform (FMCW) and uses the smartphone’s speaker and microphone to turn it into a short-range active sonar system.  The system then runs algorithms that detects frequency shifts.  

In opioid-induced central apnea, the system identified 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity.  In respiratory depression, the system identified 87% sensitivity and 89% specificity.  These were two key events that commonly precede opioid overdose.  The algorithm identified 19 of 20 simulated overdose events.  

I think that this new application can be a low end market disruptive innovator.  There will be no need for medical grade equipment or someone with trained recognition present.  Going beyond just opioid overdoes, I think this can open doors to other health related issues.  In a controlled testing environment, I think that there are endless possibilities as to what health related issues can be identified using your smartphone.  

Study can be found here

Blade, a flying taxi company headquartered in New York City, is the Uber for planes and helicopters. Under its current program in San Francisco, Blade has given exclusive rights to download the app to 200 people. They will be charging $200 a seat per ride. For many, this could save money in the long run. The time saved by avoiding traffic could make a huge difference in compact cities like New York and Los Angeles.  

The company also offers $800 trips from the New York City area to the Hamptons. The ultimate goal for Blade is to reduce the travel time, mostly for wealthy businessmen, in areas known for heavy traffic. This is currently one of the only ride sharing flight companies in the world, there are many others developing their own. UberAir is set to take flight as early as 2023 and has already collected billions of dollars in investments.

The next step for Blade is to expand into one of the most populated countries in the world, India. There could be a large market in cities such as Mumbai and New Delhi, two of the most densely populated cities in the world. 

Sources:

 https://techcrunch.com/2019/03/23/flying-taxi-startup-blade-is-helping-silicon-valley-ceos-bypass-traffic/

http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/

Apple announced today that it is moving into the credit card industry, with promises to enhance the credit card experience via no fees, lowered interest rates, and attractive rewards. The company first showed interest with this industry when it launched “Apple Pay” on the iPhone, allowing iPhone users to use an app to pay for their purchases. 

The card is both digital and physical; users get a digital card where they can use anywhere that Apple Pay is accepted. They are able to track purchases, check balances, and see when their bill is due from the app. The physical card is also interesting because there is no number, CVV, expiration date, or signature in the card; all information is stored within the Apple Wallet application. 

In terms of rewards, Apple is not going the traditional points-based route. Instead, it gives rewards in the form of Daily Cash, which is applied toward the Apple Card whenever purchases are made. 2% cash back is given for apple pay purchases, 3% is given for purchases from Apple, and 1% is given for physical card purchases. It also boasts no late fees, annual fees, international fees, and lower interest rates.

Apple seems to have taken the forefront on privacy concerns, as well. VP of Apple Pay Jennifer Bailey has said, “Apple doesn’t know what you bought, where you bought it, and how much you paid for it.” Furthermore, Apple is partnering with Goldman Sachs and MasterCard for payment processing. 

We’ve seen Apple revolutionize many of the industries that it pushes towards. While the Apple Card doesn’t seem game-changing yet, we will have to wait and see how Apple will evolve this new service. 

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/25/18277417/apple-pay-credit-card-announcement-goldman-sachs-event-2019

This week Nintendo announced that it would release two new versions of its already wildly successful gaming console the Switch. Nintendo has developed a strategy to release a lower cost switch and a more high performance focused switch alongside the original console. When looking at the switch through the lens of disruptive innovation the original switch is on the spectrum of a new market. It is a handheld console that could also change into a TV connected console and function how a traditional console would. This hybrid approach to the console was a first in the video game world and was highly successful for Nintendo’s sales. Now after three years of its life cycle the switch is moving into a sustaining innovation strategy. The switch’s sales are expected to drop soon so the release of these two new consoles are hoping to be able to keep sales high. 80% of Nintendo’s revenue is from the sale of the switch and its software.Should Nintendo have tried do more disruptive innovation and try and create another new market product or keep with is current strategy of sustaining innovation in video game consoles?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/nintendo-to-launch-two-new-switch-models-11553494773

Last week at the Game Developers Conference, Oculus unveiled their new flagship virtual reality headset, the Oculus Rift S. It will be launching in the spring of 2019 for $399. This updated version of their rift headset includes a higher resolution display, improved optics, and a new feature they are calling Passthrough+ (utilizing a pair of cameras giving the user the ability to see their surroundings without taking the headset off). Oculus partnered with Lenovo to design the headset to be more comfortable and have better integrated audio. Consumers who purchase the headset also get access to the Rift platform which gives them instant access to the best VR games currently available. Older rift owners will also be able to take advantage of this Rift platform with continued software updates.

I think that this is great! Improvement to VR tech while simultaneously making it more accessible to more people because of its cheaper price. I think there is a stigma that VR is specifically for gamers (which it is currently primarily used for), however, there are many other practical use cases for this technology that makes this announcement even more exciting. Virtual reality can be used in many different fields, such as science and education, healthcare, virtual tourism, and much more. Some great examples are using VR for exposure therapy (help people with phobias like fear of flying), 3D reconstruction, and visiting new places and experiencing new cultures. For these reasons and much more, I am excited to see the future of this tech and welcome any price drops. 

source: https://www.oculus.com/blog/announcing-oculus-rift-s-our-new-pc-vr-headset-launching-spring-2019/

Instagram took its next step to becoming a full-fledged commerce business a few days ago, announcing that it is bringing a checkout feature to its mobile apps. With checkout, you can store your payment informationwith Instagram to make purchases more quickly. In return, Instagram is charging retailers a selling fee. More than 20 brands will use checkout to start, including Nike, Adidas, Dior, H&M, MAC Cosmetics, Michael Kors, Oscar de la Renta, Prada, Uniqlo, Warby Parker, and Zara. Instagram believes shopping represents a massive new business opportunity. It was reported that 130 million people a month tap on product tags in shopping posts.

Where shopping via Instagram used to take the buyer to an external website, it’s now all done within the app, including notifications about shipment and delivery, etc. Users will need to enter their name, billing and payment information, and shipping address only the first time. After that, it’s literally shopping at the tap of a screen. For now, payment information stored with Facebook will only be used on Instagram. But it’s easy to imagine Facebook letting you use your credentials elsewhere in its family of apps. In the meantime, Facebook says it won’t share your payment information with other users or with retailers. Now is the time for Instagram users to ensure that their passwords are secure. Better yet, take advantage of the two-factor authentication that Instagram offers, especially once all of your billing information is connected to your account.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/style/instagram-wants-to-be-your-mall.html

Google recently announced its entry into the gaming industry – Stadia. Stadia will be a platform that allows gamers to access games on almost any device that has access to a browser. The games will be streamed using Google’s massive infrastructure and will in-turn deliver high quality gaming to end users. This announcement came as a shock considering much of gaming is done through the use of hardware, such as consoles or computers. Stadia was shown as working on a computer, TV, and phone, all through the web with no additional hardware. Google also announced its own game controller which would work through WiFi with Stadia. 

This directly relates to the type of innovation we have been discussing in class recently. Google has introduced a concept that smaller companies have delved in, but the problem is that they are smaller. Google has large access to resources and with its existing infrastructure, they could potentially execute this properly. If executed correctly, they can disrupt the gaming industry as we as a society are gravitating more towards streaming services. Though it can be disruptive, I don’t think we can attribute it to the theory of disruptive innovation right away as we do not know how much the service will cost. I would say, however, it is in line with new-market innovation, as they are trying to make gaming convenient by integrating it with a plethora of devices. What do you all think?

Source: https://www.cnet.com/news/google-stadia-gaming-at-gdc-2019-everything-just-announced/

Japan is a very traditional country in which most of their small to medium businesses will use physical cash payments instead of credit cards. In 2017, approximately 7.35 million Chinese tourists visited Japan. Chinese visitors are not used to paying with cash since the popularity of cashless payments have been on the rise. In China, they utilize Ali-Pay, a mobile QR scanner payment. Japan has taken notice and are slowly integrating mobile payment technology. LINE, a popular social media service in Japan, have actually started a QR scanner payment integrated within their application. TakeMePay, a small multi-payment app service, has played a big role in Japan’s initiative to adopt QR payments. Using this form of payment will be easier and more convenient for a local, western visitor, and the waiters themselves.

Cashless payments are transforming transactions and increasing tourism. Once QR payments are deployed, Japan will be thriving during the Tokyo 2020 olympics. I found this article interesting because I will be headed to Japan in May 2019. I find it surprising that Japan hasn’t been fully adopted cashless payments yet, even though, they are more technologically more advanced than the United States. You always see their technological advances with robots and AI. I believe that in the next 5 years, everybody will utilizing some form of mobile payment. The future will be all digital. This is just one step.

Source:

https://skift.com/2019/03/25/japan-adopts-new-payments-tech-in-response-to-chinese-tourism-boom/

Water is a vital ingredient that support life. It is a resource that is often insufficient in many areas of the world. Although the would is covers in water, most of it is salt water. To solve this water problem, a team of engineers at the University of Texas have develop a life saving technology, water collection, using solar power and super sponge materials. The super sponge in this case is a hydrogel that is the combination of an absorbent hygroscopic polypyrrole chloride hydrogel and a hydrogel that reacts to heat called isopropylacrylamide. This new hydrogel will be able to function in both humid and dry weather and will be able to pull water out of the atmosphere.

What make this new hydrogel fascinating is that it is a completely passive system. People can leave this hydrogel material outside to collect water and expose it to sunlight to retrieve water when needed. With the threat of drought across the globe, the large amount of water scattered in the atmosphere is an attractive target to get our water. With further advances to this technology, we might be able to replace solar powered water purification system entirely as this is more efficient.

Source:

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a26823720/solar-powered-hydrogel-collects-clean-water-out-of-thin-air/