Category Archives: Technology

Article contributed by Matthew Gavin, RPI Industries

Actually, it turned out to be fairly simple. Luckily my academic interests in engineering and keeping an eye out for costs found a home. After a brief stay at Price Waterhouse, clearly, I needed something more creative. So I sought and found an opportunity working with one of the more creative minds in foodservice: PJ Gavin, who I am blessed to call Dad. I have seen how hard he and his team at RPI and even his competitors work to bring solutions to the nations equipment dealers and consultants and ultimately their end-user operator customers.

But more importantly, foodservice has always seemed to be slightly behind the rest of the world in terms of embracing technology. I saw my joining RPI as an opportunity to merge what I do best: an opportunity to keep an eye on costs and create solutions with what I look at as reverse engineering. I think of that as seeing the solution first and then figuring out how to create and build it.

So, several months into my stay at PWC, my Dad and I were involved in a conversation about the potential of what was being called a food locker. Its a unit that enables a restaurant operator to take and prepare orders and then safety store the meal in a hot or cold locker. With the meal paid for online, it becomes a simple as the take-out customer or third-party delivery firm coming and picking up the food without any contact. That turned into giving my feedback on energy efficiency and a question about the potential of the heat being thrown off by the compressor to evaporate any condensation.

Its amazing that early on, Ive learned that in many cases great tech ideas are either launched or killed based on dumb luck and circumstance. We had no idea that COVID would come along and move Takeout & Delivery to new heights. Our Ondo line of food lockers certainly has found its groove much quicker than any of us anticipated as a result of the Pandemic.

As many of you know the food and equipment industrys big show is the NAFEM Show held every couple of years. Its typically where the latest tech advances make their debut. We brought Ondo to NAFEM 19 in Orlando. You would hardly recognize what the product has morphed into less than two years later. In many ways, Im hoping to take this space and help the industry spot some of the key tech trends early on and then follow them as they evolve and come to market.

At that show, what guests to our booth saw was a big bulky white cabinet. We knew how to make a compartment convertible from hot to cold. I inherited a relationship that my Dad had built with Panasonic to create a kiosk with a lock and key mechanism. There was interest and I began writing code for it, and the conversation continued with Panasonic. It was my job to pull it all together. Little did we know what would lie ahead with COVID.

I think the lesson for all of us with Ondo is that the greater good and real advancement requires the cross blending of technology and foodservice manufacturing expertise. From a purely financial standpoint, it would cost millions to go at this alone to build something out from the bottom up that will ultimately be used by millions of people. What weve learned is you build a team to leverage companies that have expertise in malware and server farms, etc. So for us with Ondo, it began with partnering with Panasonic who has the size and power to make this a reality.

What has been really interesting has been the impact that the Pandemic has had on the restaurant and foodservice equipment business. With that has come a new dependence of food operators on takeout & delivery. From a case manufacturing standpoint that has meant the ability to facilitate contactless transactions between restaurants and their customers.

Although, there are those who look at the foodservice equipment manufacturing industrys approach to technology as archaic, I see a glass half full of opportunity. We live in a world beyond food service that is utilizing automation and robotics, so its just a matter of time. Ultimately like healthcare and finance, our industry will embrace new technology to optimize efficiency. For foodservice, it is going to become essential to battle the challenges of finding labor and optimizing the customer experience in the restaurant.

What I have found most fascinating is the type of entrepreneur that is emerging with their vision of how to maximize takeout and delivery profits while we slug our way through as an industry the second half of the pandemic and then onto the future.

Among the leaders of operators that have vision for the power of technology is Stratis Morfogen. His Brooklyn Dumpling Shop concept is one of the industrys first collaboration of technology and computers. Foodservice has technology and plenty of computers, but the next step will be to add concepts including AI (Artificial Intelligence) to launch a new generation of efficiency. In simple terms that will enable the cost-efficient cloning of code being used to operate in New York to multiple dining units within a brand across the country.

Technology is on the verge of finding its real niche in foodservice. What COVID created is a scenario in which people didnt want to interact with other people and they didnt want to leave their homes. Technology and this new collaboration with computers have enabled visionary operators to create a contactless solution with countless others on the horizon to change our industry.

Matthew Gavin is Vice President of New Technology at RPI Industries. Gavin hails from Moorestown, NJ. He is a graduate of Lehigh University where he earned a degree in integrated engineering. His interest in Math and Science and business has found a home as he works to bring the very latest in technology to the iconic manufacturer of foodservice cabinets and display cases. He can be reached with your new tech ideas and questions at mgavin@rpiindustries.com

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Understanding the Role of Technology in Today's Foodservice Equipment Marketplace - Total Food Service

This year brought technology that turned our heads and some that made us pause and consider what companies may have had in mind all along. Some of these launches we actually liked, but may not have stuck as well as brands would have liked. Others are services that had been around for quite awhile and only now made us wonder if they still had a place in our pandemic-affected lives.

Here then are 10 products and services that made us scratch our heads this year and wonder if they need a bit of tinkering to take them to the next stage or not.

Quibi

QuibiQuibi

The video streaming service, Quibi, was focused on short firm video, quick and fast digestible clips less than 10 minutes that raised almost $2 billion in funding. The app was founded by Meg Whitman, former CEO of Hewlett Packard, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, former Walt Disney Chairman, and was subscription based, charging people $4.99 a month for access to the app's content.

But within about six months, Quibi shut its doors in October 2020. Certainly short-form content is highly popular take TikTok as evidence alone. Yet getting people to pay for the service was clearly another story.

watchOS 7

Apple watchOS 7Apple

The debut of watchOS 7 was met with a lot of excitement, updates to the way Apple Watch operates which promised sleep tracking, a new hand washing feature (a countdown!), new fitness tracking options including dancing, and even a new translation tool. The reality though is something most are still dealing with in the aftermath, an update that created a number of dings to existing features. And if you're going to give something new to users, it shouldn't come at the expense of something they love.

One of the biggest issues comes with the Fitness app, and the ability to see Trends in people's workouts. These Trends disappeared for many people after the combination of the watchOS 7 update and the iOS 14 as well. And even the most recent update to iOS 14.3, which brought in Fitness+, Apple's new Fitness service, didn't restore the Trends tab either. The fix suggestions were worse, with Apple telling users to unpair their Apple Watch (which erases data) or reset their iPhone as well. Both of which take significant time all to return a feature that should not have disappeared in the first place.

Contact tracing apps

Contact tracing appsGetty Images/iStock

With the pandemic brought a partnership between Google and Apple to craft a new API that countries and states could use to build their own contact tracing apps. The problem? Not everyone forged the same path, some choosing to use the code, some not, and some not even building an app at all. (California's new app goes live just this month.) Whether people wanted to use code provided by two of the major tech companies or not, this hodgepodge of adoption is one that didn't fly as well as it could have.

Dual Screen smartphones

Dual-screen phonesGetty Images/iStock

We'll be blunt: We really liked the dual-screen smartphones that appeared in 2020. And while reviews of these devices remain fairly steady, prices have dropped. And we have yet to see this style get widely adopted by other phone makers, a sign that perhaps the design isn't one that consumers are flocking to over others.

Restaurant app fees

Uber EatsGetty Images/iStock

Uber Eats. Seamless. Grubuhb. Postmates. Apps for ordering food are easy to find, and once the pandemic hit, they were put into heavy rotation. That seemed like a good idea, ordering from restaurants that were struggling with indoor dining closed down. Until we discovered the fees that we paid were on part of the income these apps collected, with a substantial amount coming from the restaurants themselves. That charge took a giant bite out of the fraction of any profit restaurants were already trying to make and not exactly in our opinion keeping in with the spirit of the times.

LG Wing

The unusual LG Wing smartphoneLG

If ever there was a smartphone to be described as 'going its own way', the LG Wing is absolutely it. Looking like a movie prop, the smartphone features a screen that rotates 90 degrees to reveal a smaller second display beneath. The result is a T-shaped phone with a widescreen display for movies at the top and half a portrait-orientated screen beneath for video control, typing or using other apps.

It is a brilliantly mad demonstration of the kind of technology only LG seems brave enough to try, and further evidence that the company would rather do its own thing instead of following Samsung and Huawei towards folding phones. The unusual design is also quite useful, as it means the phone can be grasped more firmly while shooting landscape video, and the rotating mechanism doubles as a camera gimbal to keep footage smooth.

The Wing is undoubtedly smart, but we can't help but wonder if LG is flying a little too close to the sun with this one.

Apple AirPods Max

AirPods Max and their unusual caseApple

The inclusion of Apple's latest AirPods isn't due to the headphones themselves, and until we try them for ourselves we might even come to terms with the $549 price. No, the reason is the case Apple has made for the AirPods Max.

Potentially the strangest product Apple has ever shipped (Mighty Mouse that can't be used while plugged in a close second), the AirPods Max case barely covers or protects the headphones. It also leaves the headband fully exposed, is covered in slots for dust and dirt from the depths of your backpack to enter, and the case's integrated magnet is the only way to turn the headphones off.

Described by The Verge as "an abomination," the case appears to serve almost no purpose at all. All Apple had to do was offer something slightly more stylish than the cases of Sony and Bose, and no one would have batted an eyelid. There will surely be a ton of third-party alternatives along very soon.

Moley robotic kitchen

The robot comes with 30 recipes, with the potential for thousands more Moley Robotics

We should say up front, that we have always been deeply impressed by what the Moley robotic kitchen is capable of. From the crab bisque it cooked for us back in 2015, to the fit and finish of today's commercial model, it's a hugely complex and clever piece of robotics engineering.

But...it costs over $250,000 and still requires you to do some of the meal preparation, if not the actual cooking. You (or, we suppose, your housekeeper) still has to chop up some ingredients and put them into special containers. Each of these containers need to go in exactly the right place, so the robotic arms know which one to grab and throw into a hot pan. It's clever, we're sure some will be sold, but for now it's a very expensive novelty for only the wealthiest of smart homes.

Amazon Halo

The Amazon Halo health wearable Amazon

At first the Halo looks like another Fitbit clone, only this time from Amazon. And while yes, it offers activity tracking, sleep tracking and estimations of body fat percentage , the Halo also analyzes your emotional state by listening to your voice. Really. There's also a feature where you upload photos of yourself to an app, which then estimates your weight and lets you adjust the 3D scan it produces to show how you'd look if your weight went up or down.

The $100 wrist strap is made from fabric and doesn't have a display, so isn't intended to act as a smartwatch, and instead is mostly designed to fly below the radar. Instead of showing step counts, the Halo awards points for movement and deducts them for extended sedentary periods. Initially invitation-only, the Halo is now available to everyone in the US. we'll be interested to see if it sells well, and where Amazon goes with the somewhat Orwellian voice analysis feature.

Ring drone security camera

The Ring Always Home Cam is a flying indoor security camera Amazon

Our look at technology that went its own way in 2020 concludes with the Ring Always Home Cam. Amazon-owned Ring is best known for its video doorbells, but this year shook things up with a flying indoor security camera.

Part-drone, part-security camera, the Always Home Cam takes off from its charging dock and autonomously flies around your home while you are out, scanning for break-ins and burglars. It then returns to its dock and recharges. You can view the camera's footage remotely, like any other Ring camera, and it records in 1080p Full HD. Once it has learnt the layout of your home, you can ask it to check the kitchen, for example, and it'll fly there.

Owners Amazon says the drone camera will cost $250 when it goes on sale at some point in 2021.

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Technology that went its own way in 2020 - Gearbrain

In 2020, businesses had to be digital or die. Digital transformation drove technology projects, remote work and education became the norm due to the COVID-19 pandemic and building block technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and machine learning accelerated.

Bret Taylor, president and chief operating officer of Salesforce, summed the current state of business clearly: "Your business is digital or you don't have a business."

While 2021 holds promise for business technology there will be multiple unknowns ahead. Consider:

We don't have all the answers, but certainly have a few working theories to test via our editorial leaders around the world.

Larry Dignan

Following a disruptive 2020 that ushered in the rapid digitization of businesses, a move to remote work and digital transformation acceleration perhaps the biggest question for 2021 is this: What sticks?

Clearly, the new normal for work and collaboration will emerge. Look for collaboration technologies to advance, more attention to hybrid work arrangements and business continuity staples such as cloud computing to remain. Doubt that work will become more remote? Don't. There are too many economic benefits to remote work. Companies save on commercial real estate, recruit in more places, and maintain productivity.

My guess is that PC vendors as well as new alliances are going to innovate their way to a new normal for work. We already know what needs solving: Experiences where people are typically present in a room. Think labs, think prototyping and think innovating on the flow. Perhaps 2021 brings a more developed augmented and virtual reality playbook for enterprises.

Here are some other 2021 technologies that may move to center stage.

Quantum computing. The industry developed well in 2020 and 2021 will bring more mainstream adoption. What's missing is the application stack to go with quantum computing, which will be consumed via the cloud. There will also be a new pecking order among vendors as quantum computing takes hold.

3D printing/additive manufacturing. The COVID-19 pandemic revealed significant gaps in the supply chain and the need to be nimble with manufacturing. 3D printing did advance with metal, new materials and a bevy of industry-specific use cases in 2020, but wasn't able to solve supply chain issues completely. In addition, 3D printing companiestook a hit since their customers struggled the most during the pandemic. Look for 2021 to feature more investing in additive manufacturing and the potential to personalize products at scale.

The move to multi-cloud accelerates. Enterprises that were cloud-first fared the best during the COVID-19 pandemic and every company is planning on multi-cloud deployments. What's going to be interesting is whether customers will trust a hyperscaler to manage multiple clouds. My hunch is that existing data center players will likely become the single pane of glass to other cloud resources.

Automation, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Workflows are being automated at a rapid clip. If 2020 highlighted the need for more automation, 2021 will bring real deployments. Simply put, AI, machine learning and robotics process automation will be conducting more work. The big question is whether these technologies will be governed well.

Workplace safety software will need reinvention after a year. Companies like ServiceNow and Salesforce essentially created workplace safety as a software category within months. Today, workplace safety tools are managing workers, health, COVID-19 testing and pandemic navigation. However, a COVID-19 vaccine is going to change that equation. Salesforce has already used Work.com to manage vaccine distribution. What does this category of software become this time next year?

Chris Duckett

For much of the past decade, if you wanted to make a quick joke about a technology that failed to find its niche, it was QR codes.

Remember the payment system Walmart was creating that used QR codes? Oh, how we laughed. When Microsoft placed them on the blue screen of death? The jokes wrote themselves.

Elsewhere in the ZDNet archives live classic lines such as: QR codes need to avoid being passed off as a fad; and stop trying to make QR codes happen. Both of those articles are from 2012, which shows the resistance the codes have faced from the start.

If we take a western view of things -- where the standard is to conveniently forget that Asia never really got off the QR ride -- by 2019, QR codes were nothing more than an annoyance on billboard advertising.

Did the Android camera scan QR codes? "Who cares! No one uses those things!" would be the standard response this time last year.

Then the pandemic hit and QR codes gained a new lease on life.

In places that have managed COVID-19 to a better extent than others -- places like Australia, Singapore, and New Zealand -- QR codes are everywhere, and everyone scans them because those governments have mandated for citizens to use them to check-in at venues and restaurants.

Speaking from experience during the cursed year of 2020, digital systems are superior for individuals for a single reason -- prudence says for a virus that could be spread by droplets lingering on objects, such as pens and paper -- a contactless system negates that risk. While for health authorities, digital systems create a single source of truth to query if a positive case is found at a premise while contact tracing, and a database in the cloud is much less likely to be torn, lost, or covered in beer.

If 2020 was the year QR codes bounced back, 2021 will be the year of its massive usage as more countries hopefully get on top of the pandemic, and begin to open up as well. For those countries already approaching something like what normal used to be, until a vaccine reaches them, QR codes will be a standard of everyday life.

Those strange little squares have gone from annoyances to being potential lifesavers very quickly, and they are likely to stay with us through 2021.

A little COVID postscript: For the longest time, the standard Android camera app from Google did not scan QR codes by default when a user opened it. Users were pushed to using Lens for scanning codes. That changed during the pandemic, thankfully, otherwise there could have been a lot of confused people.

Unsurprisingly, Samsung's camera has supported QR codes for some time.

Steve Ranger

2021 is when the boss will finally make working from home better (or ruin it totally)One pretty obvious change we'll see to business life next year: working remotely and from home will become standard, even once vaccines have hopefully made life almost normal again.It's going to be very hard for any boss to insist that staff can only work from the office when those workers have spent the last year demonstrating very clearly that they can work from home at least as well as they can from the office.The best organisations and the best managers will think a lot more about how they can make best use of office space in future. Working from home keeps us productive but may have made us less creative; that means the office should become a place to encourage interaction and creativity, not somewhere to jam drones into cubicles.The office should be place to engage teams with new projects and new ideas, which they can then continue to develop wherever is most appropriate for them.That means smaller offices, less desks, more meeting spaces. Bringing that balance back will make teams happier and more creative, while leaving them the chance to be productive at home away from all the exciting distractions.But not all bosses are going to learn this lesson. The lesson that many other managers will decide to learn instead is that while working remotely is ok, what would make it much better would be constant surveillance of everything staff do during their day.Expect to see lots of managers investing in tools to track remote work, to make sure that you are actually working hard for all those hours you are at home. These tools will turn your spare bedroom into part of the productivity panopticon -- and in many cases will simply erode trust and make staff feel like they are being spied on.

So really the question will become, in 2021 what kind of business -- and what kind of boss -- do you really want to be?

Bill Detwiler

As my colleagues have discussed above, 2021 will be heavily shaped by the events of 2020, and when it comes to security both the COVID-19 pandemic and the SolarWinds attack will have lasting effects.

As companiesaccelerated digital transformation effortsand rushed to embrace new technologies like cloud, automation, mobile payments, everything-as-a-service, AI and 5G, the security risk also rose as attackers increased their efforts to exploit any system weaknesses. For example, cyber-attacks on cloud systems jumped 250% from 2019 to 2020. We can expect this trend to continue in 2021.

Likewise, the pandemic was a tipping point in the trend of remote work. Corporate offices around the globe shut down, and millions of employees began working from home for the first time. Some workers will return to offices in 2021 as COVID-19 vaccination efforts ramp up. However, the reopening will be slow and for many workers a hybrid model (working mostly remote and spending less time in an office) will be the new normal. Cyber attackers were quick to target remote workers. Ransomware attacks jumped significantly in the first half of 2020, phishing email rates increased, and attacks against mobile devices often used for remote work were also up. The rate of attacks against remote workers is likely to increase in 2021. IT organizations and remote workers alike will need to remain vigilant and follow best practices for securely working from home.

Unsurprisingly, IT leaders are adjusting their budgets to address both remote work and security. According toTechRepublic's 2021 IT budget survey, 26% of respondents said that they will be spending more on remote technology to allow employees to work from home and 22% percent said that network and internet security were a high priority.

Cyberwar and the Future of Cybersecurity

Today's security threats have expanded in scope and seriousness. There can now be millions -- or even billions -- of dollars at risk when information security isn't handled properly.

Read More

Then there's perhaps the most consequential cyber attack in the past decade--the supply chain attack on SolarWinds that gave attackers back door access to as many as 18,000 systems around the world, including several U.S. government agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), State Department, Treasury Department, Commerce Department and National Institutes of Health (NIH). Supply chain attacks aren't new. The scope and scale of the SolarWinds attack as well the targets however, make it particularly troubling. And then, there's the attacker.

U.S. Secretary of StateMike Pompeo attributed the attack to Russia in an interview on Friday. "This was a very significant effort, and I think it's the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity," said the secretary. Pompeo was the first Trump administration official to publicly blame the Russian Federation for the attack. The Kremlin has denied involvement.

The U.S. government is no stranger to cyber attacks and breaches have happened in the past, but this one feels different.

U.S. lawmakers, such as Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), unnamed government officials and former members of the current administration have raised alarm bells about the incident, and many have called for a response, which could already be underway. Media outlets, includingNPR andCNN, have reported that the U.S. State Department will close the consulate in Vladivostok, Russia, and suspend operations at the consulate in Yekaterinburg.

In 2021, there will be increased scrutiny on the cybersecurity practices of companies that provide software and services to the U.S. government and for critical infrastructure. It's also likely there will be calls for new legislation and regulation around mandatory cybersecurity requirements for said products and a rethink around the consumerization of IT.

Regardless of what happens, it's clear that things need to change--a fact that's not lost on the incoming U.S. presidential administration.

On Thursday,President-elect Joe Biden issued a statement on the attack and his administration's approach to cybersecurity saying: "I want to be clear: my administration will make cybersecurity a top priority at every level of government - and we will make dealing with this breach a top priority from the moment we take office." Biden also saying: "Our adversaries should know that, as president, I will not stand idly by in the face of cyber assaults on our nation."

The Monday Morning Opener is our opening salvo for the week in tech. Since we run a global site, this editorial publishes on Monday at 8:00am AEST in Sydney, Australia, which is 6:00pm Eastern Time on Sunday in the US. It is written by a member of ZDNet's global editorial board, which is comprised of our lead editors across Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.

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2021 outlook: Here are the technologies, questions that'll matter - ZDNet

Group14 Technologies is working on the next generation of energy storage and has $17 million in new Series B funding to advance its goal.

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The company, headquartered in Woodinville, Washington, provides silicon-carbon composite materials for lithium-ion markets, a fancy way of saying advanced battery materials, Rick Luebbe, CEO of Group14 Technologies, told Crunchbase News.

SK Materials led the investment with participation from returning investor OVP Venture Partners. The new funding gives Group14 approximately $35 million in total investment since the company was founded in 2015. This includes $30 million in venture-backed funding and $5 million in government grants, Luebbe said. Previously, the company raised an $18 million Series A round in 2019, according to Crunchbase data.

The company intends to use the funds to scale production for its flagship lithium-silicon technology, SCC55, which boosts energy density 50 percent more than conventional graphite for lithium-ion batteries. Use cases for the product include electric vehicles, medical devices, aviation and grid storage.

That is revolutionary for an industry that traditionally sees single-digit density each year, Luebbe said. In the electric vehicle space, this kind of increase could bring the cost gap down between electric vehicles and gas combustion engines. We see this as todays technology, not tomorrows technology. It will drop into current infrastructure and remove a lot of the hurdles.

More investment has been going toward smart batteries and smart power. Epirus, a startup developing smart power applications, landed $70 million in a Series B round last week. Meanwhile, Romeo Systems, a maker of batteries for electric vehicles, filed to go public in October. The company had raised $123 million in known venture funding, $92 million of it in 2019, according to Crunchbase data.

In October, Group14 announced plans to break ground on its new hydro-powered production facility in Moses Lake, Washington, that would be up and running by 2023. Meanwhile, the company has already begun ramping up its pilot production and plans to supply its first commercial customers in consumer electronics in the first quarter of 2021.

In the past year, the company has grown from five to 30 employees. Luebbe expects that kind of growth to continue to position the company to go after a Series C round in 2021.

Our next steps are to continue to validate the technology and other processes, he added. We are also looking at new partnerships and strategic investors that parallel our Series A that includes battery industry experts. This validates the technology more effectively and provides experts in materials, the making and deployment of them, as well as selling. It puts us in position for future success.

Illustration: iStock

Stay up to date with recent funding rounds, acquisitions, and more with the Crunchbase Daily.

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Group14 Technologies Powering Next Generation Of Batteries With $17M Series B - Crunchbase News

The year that brought us the coronavirus pandemic, murder hornets, and the deaths of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Alex Trebek is probably one most people wont be sad to bid adieu. Parents and kids were stuck together during lockdowns, trying to manage remote school and work, and everyones feeling good and frayed at this point.

At the start of the pandemic, media was abuzz with the notion that this pandemic and the resulting lockdowns would be a boon for the creative process. Suffering and isolation, the logic goes, beget great works of art and literature: just look at Shakespeare, who apparently cranked out Macbeth, King Lear, and Antony and Cleopatra while quarantined during an outbreak of bubonic plague.

While we may not yet know if another Shakespeare found their muse during the current pandemic, plenty of people found their creative spark thanks to technology, with librarians, artists, and even epidemiologists using the tools at hand not just to distract from the tedium of lockdown, but to put forth new approaches to how we learn and connect with each other.

The easy-to-use format of Google Forms allowed librarians and teachers to create problem-solving exercises for students designed as digital versions of escape rooms. In addition to solving the puzzle of the game, the escape rooms let kids hone their geography, math, and reading comprehension skills, and are built around fun themes that included Star Wars, Harry Potter, Jurassic World, and Marvel superheroes. Not only did they take away some of the tedium and chaos of online teaching and learning, but the virtual escape rooms were tools for staff development and community building. Brooke Windsor, a librarian in Ontario, put it this way: We still want to sneak in that learning, broccoli-in-the-brownie style.

As big weddings were (mostly) canceled and postponed in 2020, UK wedding photographer Tim Dunk decided he needed another project to keep his creative juices flowing. I had to deal with the shock and financial implications of [the coronavirus] like any other photographer. It also threw up another challenge: how do we as creatives stay creative? Dunk wrote.

His solution: FaceTime photo shoots. The photo subject and Dunk connect on FaceTime, and he determines where the light in their house is best for a portrait. Then, using the Live Photo button on the iPhone (sorry, Android users) that lets you take photos during a FaceTime call, he snaps the pictures, then edits them in Lightroom. And 10 from every shoot he charges 50 for a set of 10 to 15 photos goes to the Trussell Trust, a UK-based charitable organization that supports food banks. Hes also created photo books of some of the portraits taken during the project, and he penned a how-to for other photographers.

Okay, so not all of the movies in Gads Reunited Apart YouTube series are from the 1980s, but the casts of Ferris Buellers Day Off, Ghostbusters, Splash, The Goonies, and Back to the Future meeting on Zoom brought back the faces of some cultural touchstones of the American Gen-X childhood. Each episode benefits a different charitable organization and garners thousands, and in some cases, millions of views. The One Zoom to Rule Them All episode featuring the cast of the Lord of the Rings drew 5.7 million views and benefited nonprofit organization No Kid Hungry. Everybody is going through the same craziness, trying to operate in a world thats still very new and complicated, where our sole connection is through the internet, Gad told The Guardian.

If any app is having a moment in 2020, its the ubiquitous TikTok fighting the Trump administration in court and at the same time becoming the most-downloaded app in the world over the summer. Jacksonville, Florida science teacher Nancy Bullard created a Mrs. B TV on TikTok, dressing like everything from an astronaut to a chicken in the name of science. Bullard guides students through science experiments they can do without parental supervision, so parents working from home can have a bit of a reprieve. The response from students has been overwhelmingly positive, Bullard said. Whether it is the latest dance trend or Fortnite, we have to find our kids on the platforms theyre comfortable with.

During the coronavirus pandemic, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) director Anthony Fauci has become one of its most recognizable faces and its an extremely expressive face that usually conveys what hes thinking. Epidemiologist Karen Sautter Errichetti needed a way to check in with how her students were coping with... everything... and created an unscientific chart based on the five-part Likert scale, using photos of Fauci on a one to five scale (later expanded to a nine-photo scale) so students could choose their mood for that day. Photos of the NIAID director smiling were the most difficult to find, Errichetti noted.

Word is that Fauci himself has seen the scale, which is not quite the introduction Errichetti envisioned; she and her colleagues consider him a rock star of sorts. Creating your own memes, Errichetti told me, thats a little bit of your own kind of medicine.

Read more here:

How the pandemic inspired creative uses of technology in 2020 - The Verge

Wearabletechnologies havebeen a central part of the training set-up in a variety fo sports for some time and now tennis players, coaches andorganisations arebeginning to explore the benefits it can bring.

Britains Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) is leading the way in evolving tennis and, as part of this process, the LTA has recently succeeded in their application for Firstbeat monitors to be permitted for use in International Tennis Federation (ITF) events.

There is also hope now that the ATP and WTA Tours might consider the introduction of similar technologies as the LTA aims tosupport long-term player health and preparation.

Firstbeat monitors are chest worn belts that accurately capture key information about heart rate and movement during sports and for Dan Lewindon, Head of Performance Medicine & Science, who leads this area at the LTA, the ITF ruling offers up a huge opportunity to continue to improve player and coach support through developing a deeper understanding of the physical demands of tennis.

We are constantly looking to how we can better support our players, coaches and practitioners throughout the LTA Player Pathway, and so were very pleased that the ITF has granted this application, Dan told Tennis365 in an exclusive interview.

Other sports have used this type of technology for some time, so we are really excited that it is starting to find its place in tennis.

It took time for similar systems to be understood and accepted in team sports like rugby, but in my experience when used well they can be an invaluable tool in supporting athlete preparation, injuryrehabilitationand also maintaining long-term athlete health.

Ultimately itssuccess in tennis will depend on how players engage with it and whether players and coaches feel it is having a positive impact on their day to day preparation and on-court success.We have a great team at the LTA and we are working hard to understand how we can usetechnology to provide information that adds genuine value to our players and coaches world.

As a nationalgoverning body, we have aresponsibility to develop abetter understanding of the demands of elite tennis more broadly to help us support future generations of players to berobust and well-prepared for what lies ahead

Tennis provides some really unique challenges, being an individual and highly nomadic sport whereunless you are at the top of the game, you dont have the benefit of a large team around you to facilitate this type of support when you are on the road.

We have been working behind the scenes to find the right solutions and technology partners that can provide high quality, instant information to the player and coach with as little fuss as possible. Firstbeat is a really good example of this and we are very excited to be working with them.

While tennis players dont necessarily cover massive distances, the frequency of accelerations, decelerations and changes of direction in matches are high and Lewindon suggests more research into that could change the way players train.

Capturingaccurateinformation about the physical demands of tennis matches and training on a consistent basis is really important as it will allow coaches, players and support staff to better review the detail behind their training and preparation as well as understanding the physical blueprint of matches, he continues.

From an injury prevention perspective, sport-specific tolerance is obviouslyreally important. In tennis you need to have sufficient exposure to high intensity, high frequency match play and also ensure you are preparedphysically and psychologically for those worst-case scenario moments in a match where you arepushingyourself to your limit.

A lack of tolerance to these loads and demands or indeed a lack of balance to their overall training exposure over seasons has the potential to put the player at risk both in the short and long term.

You do not train at match intensity at all times by any means, but you need to get to a point where you do touch or even exceed those levels of intensity in training and are therefore well prepared when it happens in a competitive environment.

Firstbeat is one of a number of wearable solutions and innovations that we are introducing to help support our players and coaches and programmes through the performance pathway get a more accurate picture of what is happening on court.

While this kind of technology has been at the heart of training programmes in team sports forsometimeit is currently less commonly used in tennis.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray is among those who have used similar technology in training for many years and in the opinion of Dan it is a sign of things to come.

We have been working really hard todevelop the NTC into a high performance environment, added Dan.

The introduction of some of these specialisttechnologies at the NTC is one small part of this process but will hopefully help to continue tomake this the destination of choice for our best players and coaches andensure as a nation we are the forefront of what is coming next.

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Dublin, Dec. 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "U.S. Steel Merchant and Rebar Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report by Product (Merchant Bar, Rebar), by Application (Construction, Infrastructure, Industrial), and Segment Forecasts, 2020 - 2027" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The U.S. steel merchant and rebar market size is anticipated to reach USD 14.1 billion by 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 5.2%. The construction segment dominated the market with the highest revenue share in 2019. Construction is one of the largest end-use industries of steel products. As per the World Steel Association, it accounts for more than 50% of the global demand for steel.Various infrastructure and construction sites require massive amounts of steel to enhance the strength of structures. Steel is affordable, easily available, and has various properties including versatility, durability, high strength, and 100% recyclability. Steel rebars have a wide range of applications in infrastructure development and residential and commercial construction sectors in high-rise structures, highways, braces, brackets, and ornamental work.Due to the recent COVID-19 outbreak, numerous businesses and governments were operating at limited capacity in the first half of 2020. However, the construction sector has shown positive signs of recovery in the second half of 2020. For instance, as per the U.S. Census Bureau, completions of privately-owned housing projects increased by 3.6% in July 2020 from the previous month. Similarly, completions of single-family housing projects witnessed a rise of 1.8% during the same period.Rising demand for Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) rebars is likely to restrain the market growth over the coming years. Corrosion of steel rebars affects the life expectancy of reinforced concrete structures. In some cases, repair costs can be double of the original construction costs. Corrosion leads to faster degradation of reinforced structures, which increases the costs associated with it. To reduce the infrastructure gap, the U.S. government is introducing various investment plans.For instance, in the 2019 budget, USD 100 billion were provided as incentives to prioritize infrastructure maintenance, generation of revenue streams, and modernization of procurement practices. Also, USD 50 billion funds were allocated for the development of the rural infrastructure of the country, and additional funds were dedicated to various infrastructure needs of the country. Thus, long-term investment in infrastructure development is projected to boost the demand for steel merchant & rebars over the coming years.U.S. Steel Merchant and Rebar Market Report Highlights In terms of volume, the infrastructure segment is projected to register the fastest CAGR of 4.7% from 2020 to 2027Key driving factors for the segment are increasing investments by the U.S. Federal government in the infrastructure segmentThe industrial segment accounted for a considerable revenue share in 2019. Demand for commercial spaces in high-rise buildings is projected to push the product demand in this segmentRebars was the largest product segment and accounted for a volume share of 60.4% in 2019A moderate boost to the residential construction after the first half of 2020 is likely to push the demand for rebars over the short termIn the merchant bar product segment, angles & channels were the fastest-growing subsegments and are anticipated to expand further on account of rising spending in public and private infrastructure developmentSluggishness in the economic activities in 2019 and the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 have created an impact on the U.S. steel merchant & rebar demand in the recent past. In terms of volume, the market has declined by 2.1% from 2018 to 2019. Key Topics Covered: Chapter 1. Methodology and ScopeChapter 2. Executive Summary2.1. Market SnapshotChapter 3. U.S. Steel Merchant & Rebar Market Variables, Trends & Scope3.1. Penetration & Growth Prospect Mapping3.2. Industry Value Chain Analysis3.2.1. Raw material trends3.3. Regularity Framework3.4. Market Dynamics3.4.1. Market Driver Analysis3.4.2. Market Restraint Analysis3.4.3. Market challenges3.5. Business Environment Analysis: U.S. Steel Merchant & Rebar market3.5.1. Industry Analysis - Porter's3.5.2. Pestel AnalysisChapter 4. U.S. Steel Merchant & Rebar Market: Product Estimates & Trend Analysis4.1. Definition & Scope4.2. Product Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2019 & 20274.3. Market size & forecasts and trend analysis, 2016 to 20274.3.1. Rebars4.3.1.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2016 - 2027 (Kilotons) (USD Million)4.3.2. Merchant barsChapter 5. U.S. Steel Merchant & Rebar Market: Application Estimates & Trend Analysis5.1. Definition & Scope5.2. Application Movement Analysis & Market Share, 2019 & 20275.3. Market size & forecasts and trend analysis, 2016 to 20275.3.1. Construction5.3.1.1. Market estimates & forecasts, 2016 - 2027 (Kilotons) (USD Million)5.3.2. Infrastructure5.3.3. IndustrialChapter 6. U.S. Steel Merchant & Rebar Market - Competitive Analysis6.1. Key players & recent developments & their impact on the industry6.2. Vendor Landscape6.2.1. List of potential end-usersChapter 7. Company profiles Gerdau S.A.NucorCMC SteelSteel Dynamics Inc.Schnitzer Steel Industries, Inc.Nippon Steel CorporationJFE Steel Corporation For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/do06z7 Research and Markets also offers Custom Research services providing focused, comprehensive and tailored research. CONTACT: CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com Laura Wood, Senior Press Manager press@researchandmarkets.com For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900

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Automotive Air Purifier Market Research Report by Technology, by Type, by Vehicle Class, by Distribution - Global Forecast to 2025 - Cumulative Impact...

JERUSALEM and MUMBAI, India, Dec. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --VOTIS Subdermal Imaging Technologies, Ltd., an Israeli corporation, and ii Ventures Private Limited (iiV), an Indian company, announced today that they have entered into a memorandum of understanding to develop a system to screen the largely rural Indian population for peripheral artery disease (PAD). The devices, which allow for the early detection of the disease before tangible symptoms appear, will utilize the same technology that VOTIS is building into other devices intended for use in the US and Europe.

"PAD afflicts between 41 and 54 million Indians. Many of these people are impoverished, illiterate, and lack access to good healthcare," said Alfred Arambhan, Co-Founder and Mentor of iiV. "There is a great need for a system that is convenient, accurate, and affordable. We have found it in the VOTIS technology."

"In India, access to healthcare among the rural population is extremely limited," Mr. Arambhan explained. "Preventative healthcare is especially difficult to implement.In poor rural communities, preserving feet is crucial. Since rural life is agricultural, when someone loses a foot to amputationhe is in a particularly desperate economic state, even as compared to the urban poor."

Mr. Arambhan continued, "India has been declared the Diabetic Capital of the world. Our initial plan is to establish VOTIS solutions in villages throughout India, and to create a robust and reliable platform for introducing and launching similar devices and solutions in the future. We are gratified that our plan has received encouragement and support from Governmental, private, and NGO sources in India."

"Our technology is especially suited for the Indian market," said Merrill Weber, Chief Executive Officer and President of VOTIS. "Our devices are entirely non-invasive and do not use X-rays (Roentgen) or other ionizing radiation. They are inexpensive and dependable. In India, the screening devices will enable easy, intuitive use. That will permit testing to be performed by technicians and nurses in the villages rather than medical doctors at hospitals or clinics. People found to have PAD will immediately be directed to specific locations where they can receive suitable medical treatment. With early disease identification and quick access to medical care, we expect incidence of PAD-related amputation to be reduced substantially."

Mr. Arambhan added, "We look to this planto be a game changer in the Preventive Health Care Space in India."

The VOTIS devices use vascular optical tomographic imaging, or VOTI, an imaging technology developed under the leadership of Prof. Andreas Hielscher, professor and chair of the newly-formed Department of Biomedical Engineering at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering. The technology was developed in Prof. Hielscher's biophotonics and optical radiology laboratory, which he ran as professor of biomedical engineering, radiology and electrical engineering at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Columbia University.

VOTIS plans to release its devices commercially in 2022.

About VOTIS Subdermal Imaging Technologies, Ltd.

VOTIS Subdermal Imaging Technologies, Ltd. is an Israeli corporation that is developing a suite of devices that will be used to help diabetic patients keep their feet. The first device, the PedCheck, will be used to screen the feet of asymptomatic patients for PAD. If PAD is found, then the second device, the PedScan, will be used to stage and monitor disease progression and the impact of therapies applied by the patient's physician. The third device, the PedFlo, will be used during a revascularization procedure, in order to inform the practicing doctor regarding the level of blood flow in the foot. All three VOTIS devices use the same technology, software, and system architecture. They are safe, non-invasive, and free of ionizing radiation. More information is available at http://www.votis.net.

About ii Ventures Private Limited

ii Ventures Private Limited was Co-Founded and Mentored by Alfred Arambhan an early well-wisher of Israel India Business & Cultural relationship for the last 18 years. He is a Mumbai-based Serial Entrepreneur. Mr. Arambhan founded iiV to bring Israeli knowhow, technology, and experience to India in the Health, Agri, and Deep Tech space. iiV has been invited by a Singapore based US$50 Million fund to partner in their Business Plan. Mr. Arambhan's daughter, Pooja Armbhan, is CEO of iiV. She is an Israel-Asia Fellow who received her MBA from Tel Aviv University on a full scholarship from the Parasol Foundation.

For further information, contact: Merrill Weber Tel.: (312) 340-0895 Tel.: +972-(0)58-406-2386 Email: [emailprotected]

SOURCE VOTIS Subdermal Imaging Technologies, Ltd.

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Technology stocks have historically led market rallies, and this year has been no exception. The Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE: XLK) has advanced about 40% year-to-date, with stocks levered to remote work and study makingstrong upward moves.

As an unusual year draws to a close, here are12 key technologiescompiled by Lux Researchthat will likely be in the spotlight in 2021.

Autonomous Vehicles: Increasing levels of vehicle automation, especially Level 4 and 5 autonomous vehicles, will eventually remove the need for a driver in consumer and commercial vehicles, Lux Research said.

Investors can tap into emerging opportunities in areas such as sensors and connectivity for autonomous vehicles, the report said.

Some beneficiaries could be lidar solutionproviders such as Veoneer Inc (NYSE: VNE), ON Semiconductor Corp (NASDAQ: ON), NXP Semiconductors NV (NASDAQ: NXPI), Autoliv Inc. (NYSE: ALV), Texas Instruments Incorporated (NASDAQ: TXN) and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ: NVDA).

Natural Language Processing: This is the branch of artificial intelligencethat helps computers understand, interpret and manipulate human language.Patents related to this technology, which powers devices such as voice assistants, machine translationand chatbots, have increased at a compounded annual growth rate of 44% annually over the last five years, Lux Research said.

Some of the key players in the segment include Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL), Alphabet Inc(NASDAQ: GOOGL), Amazon.com, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AMZN) AWS, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co (NYSE: HPE), Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC), IBM(NYSE: IBM), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT), Adobe Inc (NASDAQ: ADBE) and 3M Co (NYSE: MMM).

Plastic Recycling: This comprises of innovations that convert plastic waste into a variety of valuable products, serving the dual purpose of enabling a circular economy and avoiding pollution, Lux Research said.

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In the last decade, 155 star-ups addressing plastic waste have been founded, the report said.

Stocks to play the trend include Loop Industries Inc (NASDAQ: LOOP).

AI-Enabled Sensors: AI techniques such as machine learning have provided methods to analyze and derive insight from sensor data, unlocking new sensor capabilities and applications, Lux Research said. Thisis being used in computer vision for analyzing image sensor data.

The firm also sees other sensor types such as mechanical, acoustic and even thermal sensors as being impacted by AI tools.

Bioinformatics: This is the application of computer technology to the understanding and effective use of biological and clinical data. Key applications of this technology include diagnostics, discovery, personalization, quality and optimization, risk assessment andsafety and traceability.

Roche Holdings AG Basel ADR Common Stock (OTC: RHHBY), Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. Class A Common Stock (NYSE: BIO) and Irhythm Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: IRTC) are among the bioinformatics plays.

Green Hydrogen: This technology is focused on producing clean hydrogen for energy, mobility and industrial uses.

Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ: PLUG), Bloom Energy Corp (NYSE: BE) and TM Power plc (OTC: ITMPF) are green hydrogen stocks to capitalize on this emerging trend.

Shared Mobility: Shared mobility is an innovative transportation strategy that allowsusers to gain short-term access to transportation modes on an as-needed basis.

The includes various forms of carsharing, bikesharing, ridesharingand on-demand ride services.

Shared mobility, according to Lux Research, is poised to disrupt the multibillion-dollar auto industry.

"Self-driving cars, zero-emission vehicles, connectivity, and innovative materials are defining the future of mobility," the report said.

Ride-hailing companies such as Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE: UBER), and LYFT Inc (NASDAQ: LYFT), robotaxi services such as Google's Waymo, Amazon's Zoox, Baidu Inc's (NASDAQ: BIDU) Apollo and electric vehiclestocks are avenues of staying invested in this promising arena.

Related Link: How Technology, COVID-19 Are Changing Financial Planning

Alternate Proteins: Demand for alternative proteins have been on the rise, supported by factors such as consumer preferencesand supply and environmental concerns, according to Lux Research. Alternative proteins are sourced from plants, insects, fungi or through tissue culture to replace conventional animal-based protein. This trend should work in favor of plant meat companies such as Beyond Meat Inc (NASDAQ: BYND).

3D Printing: 3D printing is an additive process in which aan object is created by laying down successive layers of material.

It is used in industries such as automotive, aviation, construction, consumer productsand health care.

Some of the listed 3D companies are HP Inc (NYSE: HPQ), Proto Labs Inc (NYSE: PRLB), Materialise NV (NASDAQ: MTLS), Organovo Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: ONVO), Stratasys Ltd (NASDAQ: SSYS) and 3D Systems Corporation (NYSE: DDD).

Materials Informatics: It is a field of study that applies the principles of informatics to material science and engineering to better understand the use, selection, developmentand discovery of materials.

Precision Agriculture: It is an approach to farm management that uses information technology to ensure that crops and soil receive exactly what they need for optimum health and productivity with an objective of ensuring profitability, sustainability and protection of the environment.

Synthetic Biology: Synthetic Biology combines engineering principles and molecular biology techniques to produce novel biological solutions.

This multidisciplinary field brings together engineers and biologists, who are developing these solutions for useful purposes, across numerous areas including diagnostics, therapeutics, manufacturing and agriculture.

Twist Bioscience Corp (NASDAQ: TWST), Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. (NYSE: TMO), Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE: BMY), Amyris Inc (NASDAQ: AMRS) and Codexis, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDXS) are among the companies that are working on this technology.

Related Link: Tech Industry Vets At engin sciences Use AI To Fix Cannabis's Big Problem

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12 Emerging Technologies To Watch In 2021 - Yahoo Finance

An AI robot by CloudMinds is on display on the opening day of the China International Robot Show 2018 at the National Exhibition and Convention Centre on July 4, 2018 in Shanghai, China.

China News Service

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The unprecedented pandemic supercharged one of the global mega trends technological transformation with a rapid shift toward online entertainment and cloud solutions as well as fintech, according to Jefferies. The bank identified a handful of stocks at the forefront of this accelerating change.

So-called mega trends are defined as long-term transformative forces that have the capacity to change the global social, economic and political landscape over the decades to come. Apart from technological transformation, four other mega trends are climate change, geopolitical tensions, demographic shifts and urbanization, according to Jefferies.

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These stocks are the best way to play the technology transformation mega trend, Jefferies says - CNBC