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Friday, 21 February 2014
Fitbit halts sales of the Force fitness tracker due to skin irritation issues, recalls existing units
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Y Combinator-Backed Ambition Offers A Fantasy Football-Style Approach To Motivating Sales Teams
Ambition says it’s taking the process of tracking and motivating sales teams beyond white boards and gongs.
The startup, which is part of the current class at incubator Y Combinator, launched its product last August, but has been “flying under the radar” in the press until now, said co-founder Travis Truett. He compared Ambition’s approach to fantasy football — he’s hoping Ambition users will be excited to log in every day and see how their team is doing.
Unlike fantasy football, however, Ambition isn’t tracking professional athletes competing against each other in imaginary matches. (At least, that’s how I remember fantasy football — it’s been a long time since someone strong-armed me into participating.) Instead, it looks at the performance of different sales teams within the company, allowing them to compete for limited “seasons”, with rewards for the winners.
Each team member is assigned an “ambition” score. The specific metrics that are used to calculate the score can be customized for each company and each position, so Truett suggested that it’s a way to compare people who are doing different positions.
He added that Ambition integrates with phone and customer relationship management systems, so it can track the relevant metrics without requiring any extra work from the salespeople (though it may motivate them to keep the CRM updated).
The idea of “gamifying” the workplace isn’t new, Truett acknowledgde, but he said most companies are doing “gamification for gamfication’s sake” or “Gamification 1.0″. More specifically, he suggested that many of the existing tools are too focused on leaderboards.
“That’s relatively passive, it’s not sustainable,” he said. “You really only have the top 10 percent are motivated, because I might say, ‘You know what? Anthony wins every single time, so what do I care?’”
That’s why the team-focused system could be an important motivator — participants feel like they have a stake in their team’s success, even if they’re not number one, and it also makes the process “peer motivated, not manager motivated,” Truett said. Managers, meanwhile, can look at individual and team-wide data.
While Ambition’s initial focus is sales, Truett suggested that it could eventually serve “anybody that measures their employees.”
The startup was founded in Chattanooga, Tennessee and has raised seed funding from The Lamp Post Group, Y Combinator, and YCVC.
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Verizon completes buyout of Vodafone's stake in its cellphone business
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Fitbit Issues Voluntary Recall For Fitbit Force Due To Skin Irritation, New Version Coming “Soon”
Fitness tracking company Fitbit has just issued a recall of their popular product the Fitbit Force, a wrist-borne activity tracker that follows their Fitbit Flex but adds a display and more advanced features. The Force was a popular item according to most estimates, and was often sold out after its launch late last year.
Complaints began to arise from users who were experiencing skin rash issues from sustained wear of the band, however. The company previously offered to replace devices with other trackers, or refund the money of those affected, but now it’s going all in on a full-scale recall. Here’s the official word from the company on the move:
We wanted to provide an update on our investigation into reports we have received about Force users experiencing skin irritation.
From the beginning, we’ve taken this matter very seriously. We hired independent labs and medical experts to conduct a thorough investigation, and have now learned enough to take further action. The materials used in Force are commonly found in many consumer products, and affected users are likely experiencing an allergic reaction to these materials.
While only a small percentage of Force users have reported any issue, we care about every one of our customers. We have stopped selling Force and are in the process of conducting a voluntary recall, out of an abundance of caution. We are also offering a refund directly to consumers for full retail price. We want to thank each and every member of the Fitbit community for their continued loyalty and support. We are working on our next-generation tracker and will announce news about it soon.
For additional information, please contact our support line at: 888-656-6381, or visit http://ift.tt/1bSqBZg.
Developing…
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Mobile World Congress 2014: What to expect at the biggest mobile show on Earth
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Secret Adds Subscribe/Unsubscribe Options, Post Flagging, Unlinking And More
Hot anonymous social network Secret has just pushed an update for its app that addresses a number of issues and improves performance. The new version allows users to subscribe or unsubscribe to any Secret post by swiping left, adds flagging of content that might be inappropriate, enables unlinking (more below on what that means), and speeds up the process of “hearting” posts. You can also now delete posts, including removing your own entirely or hiding those you don’t want to see from others.
These updates add a lot of highly requested features to Secret, which has attracted a lot of attention based on its sometimes scandalous, titillating and potentially newsmaking content. To date, however, it has offered only fairly limited functionality, with a basic stream and notifications when someone in your direct network shares something, plus updates pushed whenever someone comments or interacts with content you’ve shared. The ability to subscribe means you can keep up with threads and posts you find interesting, even if you don’t engage with them directly.
Flagging is another oft-mentioned feature when it comes to Secret criticism. Some have suggested that Secret might be used for bullying, and there is definitely some content I’ve seen that could be potentially damaging to the reputation or livelihood of certain individuals. Secret founders David Byttow and Chrys Bader previously promised to offer up more privacy controls for users, and this is a good example of exactly that kind of feature.
Another big improvement from a privacy perspective is the new Unlinking option, which allows you to remove “any association between you and all of your previous posts on our servers.” That means you won’t be able to comment on those posts as author, get notifications, or delete them, but it also means you can’t be tied to them at all.
UI improvements include the ability to swipe right to ‘love’ or ‘heart’ posts, and a way to not only delete your own posts, but also remove ones from others you don’t want to see in your stream.
This update also helps progress Secret’s efforts to foster communication between users. Subscriptions give users many more reasons to come back to the app, and to treat the network as more than just a Twitter-style stream of content that appears and disappears with a relatively short lifespan. One complaint I’ve heard about Secret from users who don’t necessarily have large, Silicon Valley-based address books to draw a pool of contacts from is that the stream doesn’t update frequently enough: letting users pay closer attention to the discussions going on within posts is a good way to make even smaller networks seem more active, too.
The update should be appearing shortly for all those with the app installed.
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Here's an early look at Google Project Tango's indoor mapping abilities
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If You Need More Power, This Backup Battery Can Survive Even When Your Phone Can’t
I like backup batteries – I carry more than a few, and they all get used eventually, especially when I travel. But sometimes I worry: What will happen to my portable backup power in case of the The End of Days? Should the world be buried in a never-ending blizzard, or should a meteor impact block out the sun and bury everything in a three foot layer of ash, will my juice reserves still be operational?
With the Limefuel IP66 Rugged external battery, the answer is yes. The gadget is being crowdfunded on Kickstarter right now (and has already blown past its $30,000 goal in just a few days), offering up a maximum of 15,000 mAh in reserve power, depending on the configuration you choose. Other backup chargers out there offer up that much spare energy (including a number of low-cost options on Amazon), but none offer it in a case that’s quite so rugged.
The L150XR is waterproof, dirtproof, and crush or shock proof (not just ‘resistant,’ you’ll note), and is IP66 certified. For those who aren’t familiar with the ratings system for rugged devices, IP66 means that the pack is completely sealed against dust, and that it can with stand “powerful water jets” from any diretion, fo rup to three minutes, in addition to submersion. You’ll have to have all the flaps closed to ensure that level of protection, of course, but that’s still very impressive.
Other features of the L150XR include that massive capacity, which is good for probably around 10 charges of your smartphone, as well as two charging ports that work simultaneously, and 2A input for faster charging of the backup battery itself (though it’ll still take between 9 and 15 hours to fill it up). It even has pass-through charging (meaning you can charge it and an attached device simultaneously), which is something people missed in the Mophie Powerstation XL I recently reviewed.
Boulder-based Limefuel was founded in November 2012, and already makes charging gadgets for mobile devices, so it stands a good chance of making its projected May 2014 ship date. Pre-orders start at $50 for a lower capacity, 10,400 mAh version, but the big 15,000 mAh edition starts at $70 (still cheaper than many top-end competitors, however).
You may not need the intense environmental resistance the L150XR provides, but on the other hand, there’s not good reason not to have it, either. And if you do back this, know that the end of time, when your phone is long gone and everyone you know has succumbed to high levels of particulate matter in the air, you’ll still have power left in the bank.
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Sprint launches WiFi calling, but only on two Samsung phones for now
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Korean Messaging Service Kakao Gets Ready For A $2 Billion IPO
Korean messaging leader Kakao is negotiating with Morgan Stanley and Samsung Securities Co. to file for an IPO in Koea, according to the WSJ. The seven-year-old company is mostly known for its dominant messaging app, KakaoTalk. 133 million people are using the app. It is also the primary platform for mobile games.
KakaoTalk is the undisputable winner in South Korea. But with a population of 50 million people, the company needs to find new areas to grow. Similarly, Kakao is launching new products to improve engagement from its existing user base.
The company’s revenue mostly comes from its mobile gaming platform. Many Korean developers use Kakao as a platform to launch their games. The company is now profitable thanks to this revenue stream.
With an IPO priced at $2 billion, the company could raise as much as $1 billion. The company has raised $63 million. It could use this money to be more aggressive when it comes to international expansion, with potential acquisitions. The idea is to go faster than Kakao’s competitors.
Japanese competitor Line has at least 300 million users and Chinese competitor Tencent’s WeChat has 272 million users. In other words, Kakao won’t be able to compete against those heavyweight local competitors. But soon, these three companies will fight for the same user base in other countries in South East Asia. It’s unclear who is going to win.
But the company also tries to create new products. For example, Kakao recently announced a news service. It also provides a music service, an Instagram-like app, a Path-like social network and more. But for now, it’s still a two-legged company. The messaging platform is the growth driver while the gaming platform is the revenue generator.
The news comes after a week filled with important acquisitions in the space. Facebook acquired Whatsapp for a staggering price of $19 billion. Japanese company Rakuten acquired Viber for $900 million.
Image credit: Kakao, edited by Bryce Durbin
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Tegra Note 7 tablet to get an LTE refresh, early adopters pick up KitKat update
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Sailfish to invade Android devices first by launcher, then full firmware assault
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Neumáticos convencionales que se convierten en neumáticos de invierno (¡con clavos!) al pulsar un botón
Estos neumáticos de Nokian Tyres se pueden utilizar en circunstancias normales, como asfalto seco o lluvia o nieve moderada. Pero si las cosas se ponen feas y aparece el hielo en la carretera basta con pulsar un botón en el coche para que en los neumáticos aparezcan unos pequeños clavos que aumentan la adherencia. Otra pulsación del mismo botón y los clavos se recogen de nuevo dentro de la banda de rodadura.
Al parecer por ahora se trata de una idea desarrollada, sin planes de comercialización.
VÃa BGR.
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El tema de Rocky, Eye of the Tiger, interpretado con una impresora de agujas
"Eye of the tiger" on dot matrix printer de MIDIDesaster en Vimeo.
VÃa The Awesomer.
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Oppo's 2K-ready Find 7 makes first appearance, lets you swap batteries
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Con esta tecnologÃa de Volvo los mensajeros pueden hacer entregas en coches aparcados
Como una demostración de las posibilidades de los vehÃculos conectados, el programa piloto de Volvo Roam Delivery es un servicio que ofrece la posibilidad de que las empresas de mensajerÃa o de comida a domicilio puedan hacer entregas en los vehÃculos de los destinatarios.
De esto modo no es necesario tener que estar en una dirección concreta por ejemplo para recibir una entrega; el mensajero irá donde el sistema le indique que está aparcado el coche. Ingenioso y brillante, y sobre todo muy acorde con el cada vez más habitual hábito de las compras por Internet.
El sistema se encarga de todo, incluyendo localizar dónde está el coche (previa solicitud de permiso al propietario), de modo que el mensajero pueda llegar hasta él. Un sistema de llaves digitales remotas, de un sólo uso, sirve para que el propietario autorice la apertura del vehÃculo y que asà el mensajero pueda abrirlo y recoger o dejar la entrega.
Durante el proceso el propietario del coche está informado en todo momento, a través de su móvil, de cuando el coche se abre y se cierra y se completa la entrega o recogida.
El sistema de acceso remoto a los vehÃculos Volvo a través del sistema Volvo On Call permite también, entre otras cosas, controlar remotamente el climatizador del vehÃculo —ajustar la temperatura del coche antes de llegar a él—, recibir información sobre su estado —como el nivel de combustible— y conocer su localización en todo momento.
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White House offers new web tools to help fight patent trolls
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Reforma de la LPI: Google ha hablado
MarÃa González, directora jurÃdica de Google España, en una estupenda entrevista a Hoja de Router :
P: ¿Google considera que los medios de comunicación tienen derecho a que se les pague una cuota por aparecer en Google News?
R: Todos los editores y las páginas web en general pueden elegir estar en Google News o no, pueden establecer los protocolos de exclusión que son estándares en la industria, los ‘robots.txt’, y dar instrucciones a Google News para que Google News no les indexe. Nosotros nunca vamos a indexar noticias que el editor no quiera que se indexen. Es un tema voluntario. Si no quieres estar en Google News, no tienes por qué estar.
P: Quieren estar, pero además quieren cobrar por ello.
R: Claro. Esa es la discusión.
A pesar de estos comentarios todavÃa no hay «declaraciones oficiales» por parte de Google, pero ahà queda eso.
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