Tag: smartphones

The State That Plans to Issue Digital Drivers’ Licenses

Posted on by robbie

Technology may soon encroach the rite of passage of getting a driver’s license, turning a once antiquated tradition into another digital download.
The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) will begin rolling out a highly secure app that features a resident’s driver’s license next year, according to DOT Director Paul Trombino.
Unveiled at the state agency’s budget meeting, the new app will serve as “an identity vault app” using a pin number for verification, the Des Moines Register reports. The DOT plans to allow the use of  digital licenses during traffic stops and at airport security screenings, but also as a way to reconnect with citizens.

“I think the longer term prospect is if you can really be successful in establishing a driver’s license as an app, it really transforms the way we can interact with the customer,” says Mark Lowe, director of the Motor Vehicle Division at the state’s DOT. “It really becomes instead of a thing in your pocket, it becomes a customer relationship.”

The state agency plans to internally build and test a prototype type over the next six months, according to Government Technology. The goal is to introduce the app as an alternative to temporary permit licenses granted before permanent licenses are mailed out, eventually hoping to replacing traditional licenses as well.

With more residents reliant on smartphones, Trombino contends it’s a logical step in updating government practices. The state agency is exploring other forms of technology through a program to install dashboard cameras on snowplows, an initiative for “paperless construction projects,” more driver’s license kiosks and a new type of bridge building via modular construction. Iowa is also one of more than three dozen states that enables drivers to carry electronic proof of insurance.

Digital licenses also help allay concerns over stolen licenses by eliminating the chance of losing a physical card and introducing more security with the use of biometric data, Lowe adds. Another benefit includes saving time. For example, changing an address wouldn’t require an in-person visit to the DMV, but instead a simple update on the app.
While the agency still has some kinks to work out in developing the app, Lowe contends the idea makes sense for the modern lifestyle.

“It came from us having mobile devices and using them the ways that everybody is using them and really thinking about the possibilities,” Lowe says. “It’s hard to use your device and use it for mobile boarding passes and not think ‘why couldn’t I carry my license this way?’”

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Where Helping the Poor Comes Before Innovating for the Privileged

Posted on by robbie

Silicon Valley and the ilk are often hatching ideas for the educated, middle-class, urban professional. Anything from renting an apartment in an international city to booking a car service has attracted national attention (and capital, for that matter).
But a New York City-based incubator is taking a different perspective on innovation and focusing on the rising number of low-income Americans who own a smartphone or tablet and that are looking for ideas to help the challenges of daily life. Significance Labs, a tech hub aimed at helping the 25 million Americans who earn less than $25,000, consults low-income device users to find out what type of technology they’re looking for to improve their lives.
For example, the lab found through their research that many low-income individuals prefer using an Android device, and often don’t retain a monthly data plan — opting instead to access public Wi-Fi at local cafes and restaurants like McDonald’s, according to Fast Company.
Funded by Blue Ridge Foundation, Significance Labs selected six fellows to spend three months and $50,000 and equipped with a team of designers and programmers to develop a prototype app. The catch was that unlike elsewhere in the tech sector, each team member earned the same $25 an hour as everyone.
The outcome? The bilingual app NeatStreak, which was created by 24-year-old Jessica Thomas and Ciara Byrne (a Significance Lab fellow) to help domestic workers communicate with clients. Thomas, who has been working as a self-employed housekeeper among other jobs as well as earning a degree in accounting from LaGuardia Community College, helped create a means for other domestic workers to clearly define and price out tasks.

“It’s so awkward to communicate with clients,” Thomas said. “It was nerve-wracking when you had to talk to clients about money. I was letting things go because I didn’t know how to communicate effectively in a normal, not nervous way.”

Using a simple web form and checklist, domestic workers can avoid decoding handwritten notes and avoid any language barriers with instructions.

“It makes it simple for us,” Thomas says. “I can say this is how much I’m charging you for this week, but it might be extra for this next week.”

Among the other ideas directed toward a population often left out when it comes to technology is an app to help fill out food stamp applications and one to assist students map out a path to graduation.

“The most important thing that we can do is use this project to demonstrate to entrepreneurs and tech firms and the folks that are building all the great technical innovations that are currently aimed at middle- and high-income Americans that this is a viable model,” says Significance Labs co-founder Hannah Wright.

Just as good of news? The lab is planning to add more programs and possibly expand next year.

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Will California’s New Kill Switch Policy Reduce Phone Theft?

Posted on by robbie

From family photos, banking information and all our correspondence (both text and email), we keep just about everything stored on our smartphones these days. So if yours is stolen, it can be very traumatic knowing that all your information is in the hands of a criminal. (Not to mention the amount money it’ll cost you to replace your phone.)
In an effort to prevent phone theft, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that requires smartphone manufacturers to include a default kill switch on all phones sold across the state (after July 1, 2015), which allows individuals to remotely disable a phone after it’s been reported stolen. Only an owner can reactivate the phone with a password or personal identification number — meaning a phone becomes useless after it’s taken.
Introduced by state senator Mark Leno and sponsored by San Francisco district attorney George Gascón, the bill is the first of its kind. Though Minnesota became the first state to require the anti-theft technology on phones in May, California’s new policy requires manufacturers to turn on the switch by default.
“California has just put smartphone thieves on notice,” Leno says in a statement. “Starting next year, all smartphones sold in California, and most likely every other state in the union, will come equipped with theft deterrent technology when they purchase new phones. Our efforts will effectively wipe out the incentive to steal smartphones and curb this crime of convenience, which is fueling street crime and violence within our communities.”
Indeed, 2,400 cellphones were taken last year in San Francisco, the New York Times reports. More than 65 percent of all robberies in the City by the Bay involved stolen phones, while in Oakland, cell phone theft accounted for 75 percent of crimes, according to Time. In total, an estimated 3.1 million devices in the U.S. were taken in 2013, nearly double the number in 2012, Consumer Reports finds.
“Soon, stealing a smartphone won’t be worth the trouble, and these violent street crimes will be a thing of the past,” Gascón says in a statement. “The devices we use every day will no longer make us targets for violent criminals.”
But does the new law have the potential to prevent phone theft nationwide? California lawmakers are hoping that by requiring the feature in one of the nation’s biggest states, companies like Apple, Samsung or Google will begin adding the default feature to all phones ahead of potential legislation in other states.
While the default feature is a new development, earlier this year big brands like Nokia, Motorola and Samsung agreed to voluntarily include a kill-switch for users to opt-in after July 2015.
Apple has included a similar feature since September. In fact, recent reports from police in major urban areas like San Francisco and London reveal that theft of Apple devices has dropped in the wake of the company’s introduction of its anti-theft feature.
But not all are in favor of the new ruling. CTIA, the wireless industry’s trade organization, has railed against the proposal as detrimental to technology innovation.

The “action was unnecessary given the breadth of action the industry has taken,” says CTIA vice president Jamie Hastings. “Uniformity in the wireless industry created tremendous benefits for wireless consumers, including lower costs and phenomenal innovation. State-by-state technology mandates, such as this one, stifle those benefits and are detrimental to wireless consumers.”

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This Game-Changing Location Technology Can Do a Lot of Social Good

Posted on by robbie

Smartphones and tablets have revolutionized many industries unlike any other technology in a generation. And a new invention called the iBeacon has the potential to take that paradigm shift one step further. iBeacons use wireless Bluetooth connections to generate location data that’s much more precise than GPS. Rather than just tell you what street you’re on, iBeacons can tell you which room you’re standing in or whom you’re next to. While many retailers are looking into ways to incorporate this technology into their storerooms, public service providers should be paying attention too.
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iBeacons could map hospitals hallways, helping ailing and elderly patients navigate labyrinthine environments. Hectic emergency rooms could keep precise track of patients and wait times. Museums, zoos and other educational institutions could use iBeacons to customize exhibits, making them more engaging and informative. Imagine walking up to the shark tank and having shark facts and videos appear on your phone. People with disabilities may benefit too. Many smartphones currently offer text-to-speech support for the visually impaired. iBeacons could enable such users to interact more intelligently with their environment, and operate household devices by talking to their phone.
Thought of another way iBeacons can do good? Tweet it at us.