Kozminski Techblog

LIFI, Lifire or VLC or how to connect to Internet via LED lights but limited to broadcast.

A gadget or a future technology? Researchers estimate commercialization till 2018.

After the presentation of the 1^st smartphone Lifi in Las Vegas in 2014, this technology continues its development. Few experts announce the implementation of 14 billion LIFI LED by 2020. The potential turnover is estimated to 6 billions USD dollars by 2018 (Source: Markets and Markets).

Does this mono directional technology will replace WIFI and the rest?

Safely communicate via Internet in a Café or in a train without loosing any speed because the neighbour is downloading a movie is priceless. Spread an Internet connection in a conference or in a building without any hackers risk, this is what LIFI promoters want to communicate.

How does it work?

Source:newtecharticles.com

– The computer or server that transmit the datas is plug into electricity network via a power line carrier.

– The datas are transmitted at high speed to LED lights through the electricity cable.

– The LED lights are equipped with a digital processing device. The data are transmitted through the lights.

Limits:

• Is Lifi economic? As it use lights to spread Internet connections. The lights have to be turned on; this can be problematic in public places.
• Lifi is mono directional, it means that the devices cannot send any signal but only receive. All kind of applications that require sending signals are limited for example send emails or instant messaging.
• The users have to be under the lights to receive Internet connections.
• Lifi inventors will have to convince device producers to equip smartphones tablets or any device that has Internet connection with Lifi receptors.

Plus:

• Lifi transmission is much faster than radio signal (x10000)
• Lifi offer an extraordinary security, the flow is available only under the lights.

More here:

http://newtecharticles.com/new-li-fi-technology-to-access-internet/

http://www.techly.com.au/2015/11/02/lifi-not-wifi-power-internet-future/

Maybe you have never heard about this Startup but most of the E-commerce players have, because this brand is the leading mobile commerce platform in Europe

Wish characterized by it low profile, have been founded in 2011 by Piotr Szulczewski and had already refused one huge offer proposed by the giant Amazon. What was the offer? 10,000,000,000$ in cash. You might think that the owners are crazy but in reality the company is promise to a brilliant future.

Wish already raised 600 millions $ in 5 rounds from 30 investors  and is valued at 3 billions by it’s investors.

Why Amazon would propose so much money? It is in their strategy to “eliminate” possible competitors; they buy all the companies that might cause some trouble in the future.

CEO of Wish, Piotr Szulczewski, believe that his startup can grow to 100 billions grow sales, then the company will worth more than 10 billions in that case it justify the refusal of Amazon offer.

Wish work with complex algorithms that actually match the consumer with the product he likes. For instance if a merchant have 100 red shoes to sell, Wish will point out red shoes to people that already have red shoes in their wish list.

By 2019 it is predicted that worldwide there will be 5,07 billions mobile users  this can make you think on how many users might be interested by purchasing items via Wish application. Wish it’s like having Alibaba on your smartphone, with very low prices.

Wish already have more than 100 millions active users and 100,000 merchant worldwide.

For more: http://techcrunch.com/2015/06/03/sources-dst-global-led-mobile-shopping-app-wishs-500m-round/#.qwdmrit:rsAp

http://www.businessinsider.com/wish-rumored-to-reject-acquisition-offers-from-amazon-and-alibaba-2015-11

Unfortunately Cancer is serious issue of our society. I wanted to share this application with you, as something more personal. I have two friends that were diagnosed with cancer last year. Fortunately they didn’t passed out but it doesn’t change how important is the support for the research.

This new application called DreamLab, developed by Vodafone in collaboration with Garvan Insititute of Medical Research, is the perfect example of a useful application and a technologic progress.

As you probably know Cancer Research need super computers, it’s a long a slow process. What if we can all contribute to speed up the research? Directly from our home? In a very easy way? I think it is a great Idea, let me explain you.

Unfortunately only available on Android, this new application use the computing power of your phone to assist cancer research while you’re not using it. Networking is the clue for this application, to fight against breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancer.

The question is, how fast we can speed up the research? According to Garvan Insitute if they reach 100,000 users, the research data will speed up by approximately 3000 times.

All contributions are needed so I invite you to download this application and join the cause!

Link to the video here

You probably know Popcorn time, if not, it is or should I say it used to be the illegal alternative to Netflix. Free to use, this platform was offering the possibility to watch a large amount of movies, but also series in HD quality. The interface was really well made, subtitles were available directly on the screen, the user was able also to choose different quality, and generally the concept was brilliant even if it was illegal.

After that the web version was closed, it’s the company itself that is closing because of an additional conflict between de developers.

However, that would be disappointing if the whole project disappear completely. It is already confirm that new project will succeed, it names: Butter. This new offer will be legal in order to not repeat the same mistakes as in the passed.

The question is what was the reason of the troubles? Earlier last week, few Popcorn Time developers simply left the project. The reason is the idea of paid anonymizing VPN implementation; some of them thought that this new option would lead to legal trouble. Two version were available, the .io version considered as the safest one and Time4popcorn that was frequently accused to be a source of virus for the users.

It’s because of this second version that one of the main quality of Popcorn time have been destroyed, the safety issue.

So what is Butter?

It’s like Popcorn Time but without the elements that made people wary. This new application is created so that everybody can somehow contribute to desktop and mobile applications design. Butter allows to stream movies and shows directly from Bittorent. This new version will replace the “Old” Popcorn Time, however the content available will be lower due to filter of illegal content.

More: here and here