Each month we identify the biggest - and some of the more unusual - technology based stories from the past four weeks. This issue has been produced by Shahd Dauleh and was designed by Rawan Al-Thabata. Do check it out - share it - and feel free to comment below on any of the stories we've featured.

1. Issue 6: December 2013
Contact us: socialimpact@ict.gov.qa
Twitter: @ictqatar

2. 1. Xbox One: What’s new?
Xbox One had a huge
launch, the biggest ever in
Xbox history as a matter
of fact, and here’s the
device’s new features:
First, the Xbox console itself is
almost as massive as the launch,
which is strange in a time when
the general trend is to make
devices smaller.
The device comes with new and,
supposedly, improved controllers for
added comfort and ease of use, as
well as a cleaned-up more userfriendly interface. Microsoft also
claims that it has significantly
improved the multi-tasking abilities
of its new device.
In addition, the Kinect cam is
supposed to be drastically improved,
as it now has two lenses to monitor
players better, and voice command
that allows players to access all of the
device’s functions hands free.
http://goo.gl/3o6Xve

3. 2. Google opens doorway to Glass
app developers
announced opening
Mirror API through which app
developers can start creating apps
for Google Glass. Earlier this
month the company had invited
developers to a two-day
‘hackathon’ in San Francisco to
reveal its Glassware Development
Kit that is needed to develop apps
for Glass.
http://goo.gl/oLmEju
http://goo.gl/XZf6jy

4. 3. ‘Washio’ and the Laundry Ninjas

5. 4. Sweet Dreams:
Remee is a sleep mask that allows
you to control your dreams, Well,
kind of.
What Remee actually does
is it flashes a series of light
patterns that notify its user
that he or she is dreaming,
thus allowing them to lucid
dream.
In a promotional video,
developers ask, “what would
you do in a dream?”, and here
we ask the same.
http://goo.gl/yrwA6A
So, users can manipulate their
imagination, and even
subconscious, to decide what
they do in a dream, whether it
is to fly or meet a celebrity.

6. 5. Twitter: ‘Perfect Forward
Secrecy’
• Twitter aims to improve privacy with this update to its
data encryption.
More Protection
• In its blog, the company said, “Forward secrecy is just the
latest way in which Twitter is trying to defend and protect
the user’s voice.”
http://goo.gl/dP28Wg

7. 6. Heads up!
• This product projects phone
features, such as texting, voice calls
and email, onto the windshield of a
car, and then allows users to control
those with touch-free swiping and
voice command.
• Do you think this will make driving in Qatar
better or worse?
http://goo.gl/xbGqMy

8. 7. Meet Nao, The Emotionally
Intelligent Robot
Most recently,
Aldebaran, the Parisbased company, claimed
to have made Nao
smarter than ever by
teaching him 19
languages, and
equipping him with
access to a cloud of
information.
Nao should be able to pull up
information from the cloud
as he goes along, which
creates a learning process for
him to grow and develop
personality.
The robot is also said to be
emotionally intelligent now,
and will be able to detect
moods and react accordingly.
http://www.aldebaranrobotics.com/en/
http://goo.gl/zibj0d

9. 8. New Garmin GPS
Garmin says its new
GPS has significant
changes and new
features. The most
advertised is the
“PhotoReal junction
view,” which shows
drivers a real-view of
junctions to make
navigation easier.
Other changes include
new predictive text to
make typing easier,
record locations
searched previously
and a multi-route
option, allowing users
to select route based
on least traffic,
shortest distance or
fastest time.
However, given the
increasing growth of
free smart phone
apps such as Google
Maps, that contain
similar features,
would such updates
be sufficient for
traditional GPS
devices to survive?
http://goo.gl/HyQiZF

10. 9. Fully Automated Ad Management
How
Users
Software
• does it work?
• Users must setup a channel for their respective company on
the software platform. They need to enter previous
advertisement campaigns the company ran. The software
does the rest. It automatically makes recommendation on
new ad placements, places bids and asks permission to run
new ads.
• The software is also said to be guarded against “click fraud”
which sometimes can lead to artificially inflated rates.
http://goo.gl/wdmKQ6

11. 10. WD Showcases World’s First
SSD+HDD Hybrid Drive
claims that its new
storage device is a unique
innovation, as it fuses a 2.5-inch
120 GB solid-state drive, with a 1
TB hard disk drive to form a dualdrive solution, all in a small
portable form. This is meant to be
the first device of such size to hold
such capacity and speed.
http://goo.gl/8pQZJc