Thanks to Our Wired World, We’re Running Out of Numbers

As our dependence on mobile technology grows, our need for more numbers to link those magical devices grows too.

SO much so, mobile service providers and governments are coming up with more creative ways to keep us from running out of numbers.

They can do what is taking place in Canada’s largest city today – Toronto gets two new area codes as of today, 437 and 365.

This adds a millions of potential phone combinations to an already crowded see of 10-digit codes.

Or you can go the way of some big service providers, which encourage you to have one number which is shared among all your mobile devices.

Alternatively, you could cut the cord with your phone company, and go completely digital, using a Voice Internet Protocol (VOIP) based service such as Skype.

Maybe that’s why software giant Microsoft recently bought out Skype – which incidentally is giving out free VOIP calling for one month, to current MSN account holders, to lure them over to their newly acquired messaging platform.

All of these solutions work – for now.

What happens when Apple’s iWatch, Samsung’s version of the iWatch and Google Glass from the search engine company hit the streets later this year?

Think about all the numbers most people currently have – home landline, office landline, their personal smartphone and tablet, and then their work smartphone.

Some even have separate lines for their home office and home – both landline and mobile.

We’re swamped in a vast ocean of 10-digit dialing.

I remember years ago, when we only had to dial seven digits to connect over the phone. That’s before we got the addition of ONE – just one area code to our major urban area.

Now here in Toronto, we have six – SIX – area codes, and you’d never not dial the area code plus the number you are dialing.

As technical advances release us from the cables and cords of the past, allowing us to be free, and still be wired to the world, we’ll need to work together to ensure we don’t run out of numbers to connect our wireless devices.

Otherwise, regardless of how wonderful the tech is, it’ll be useless.

Wearable Tech and Its Impact on the Modern You

As wearable technologies like Google Glass and the rumoured Apple iWatch are making headlines – and neither product has been released to consumers yet – it raises the real question, just how life changing will all this tech you wear be?

Very life changing.

Immensely life changing.

Imagine the cute salesperson trying to sell you a new whatchamacallit starts flirting with you big time. You’re instantly attracted to the bright eyes bashing about you – but you don’t know anything about this person.

Using your Google Glasses, you conduct a Google search of the person’s face, and instantly find from their Facebook profile that they went to the same university, studied Environmental Studies, have a dog, and appear to post a lot about hating their work – which is where you are now.

Hmmm.

You bring up their LinkedIN profile and see they used to be a manager of a bank, and have worked on and off in retail and telemarketing.

Hmmm.

You check out their Twitter page and see they recently had a sex change.

Moving on.

Despite the fictional scenario, all of those things – and more – could be quite possible if the smart folks at Google use technologies already widely available – facial recognition, voice commands, and the ability to access search results from those voice commands.

Aside from a lot of lonely nights for our fictitious sales person, what if the reverse happened to you, but instead of a potential date, you were being interviewed for a job?

We’ve all been warned not to post anything online that a potential employer might take offence too – but who listens to free advice these days?

As you sit there, describing yourself and where you want to be in five years, that potential employer could be seeing your drunken pictures posted on Google Plus, or that video you posted of your old boss picking her nose on YouTube.

Don’t worry, there are lots of other great places to work.

Even the rumoured iWatch – and we all know most products Apple leaks out as rumours actually are released – could be a source of pain for those in the hot seat.

It’s bad enough when friends go out to spend a great time with each other, only to ignore each other most of the night as they gaze eyes-down into their mobile devices.

Only with the iWatch, those eyes will be on each other’s own wrists, texting, tweeting, posting updates, checking the scores of your favourite sports teams.

Kind of defeats the whole point of hanging with friends.

Though I suppose there is one benefit to all this wearable tech – unlike our phones which we put in our pockets, rarely do we take off our watches and glasses, so the excuse: “I accidentally tossed my tech in with my clothes wash,” just won’t hold.

But people lose watches all the time.

Hmmm. 

How Social Networking and Tech Are Changing Our View of the World

Today, Google posted a short video showing off a view from their new much talked about augmented reality glasses.

Augmented Reality (AR) places a tiny computer screen within your visual frame of reference, so you can utilize technology in a whole new way. Imagine seeing a concert poster, and then telling your glasses to call the number on the poster to order tickets. It would be like Apple’s iPhone 4s virtual assistant Siri being able to see.

Pretty cool indeed – and AR isn’t just limited to Google’s glasses. There are some smartphone AR games, which use the camera and GPS to place ghosts or other characters on the screen, using your current location as the background. You have to run around and avoid running into them.

AR is the latest in visual tech invading our mind’s eye.

Remember when 3D movies first came out? No – I’m not talking about the current crop of movies which use polarized plastic lenses, I’m talking about the original 3D movies, where you had cheap paper glasses, with a piece of red and blue plastic to see through on either eye.

I remember growing up and usually around Halloween, there’d be a scary 3D movie shown on one of the major TV networks. A fast food burger joint like Burger King or McDonald’s usually partnered in on these things, giving out free blue and red 3D glasses with their “happy meals.” The movies were cheesy B-movies, and the 3D effects weren’t that good. But as it only happened once a year, it was a different way to enjoy a night at home, with good friends, watching really bad movies.

These days, 3D movies are a lot better – the technology to produce, show and view them as changed quite a bit since the B-Movie horror days of my youth.

But you still have to wear those blasted glasses, which are never comfortable, especially for people like me that already wear glasses to see.

Now that we have 3D tech on TVs, that too is changing. Some of the major TV manufacturers are already testing out models which display 3D video, without having to wear those awful 3D glasses.

However, Google’s taken things to the next level, by incorporating high-tech glasses into our reality – to augment our reality with a smartphone.

The potential uses for AR glasses are mind-blowing. Doctors could perform surgery with greater precision, guided by their AR glasses. You’d never get lost walking in a strange neighborhood, as your AR glasses would clearly show you the way.

Forget your grocery list at home? No problem, your AR glasses would tell you what you need to buy, as you visually scan the grocery store shelves.

While at a party, you’d never forget anyone’s name, as your AR glasses could show you the person’s name, and complete contact details as you talked to them. You could even add each other to your social networks instantly, tweet about the conversation, or snap a picture or video of it instantly, without lifting your phone – just use your AR glasses.

Augmented Reality is a very cool way of seeing the future. I just hope the AR glasses are more comfortable than those blasted 3D ones we have to wear to watch movies.