After founding the world’s second most influential and popular social network, Twitter’s three co-founders have each found their own personal projects which will take up the majority of their time. Each of them hopes to turn their fledgling start-up into ‘The Next Big Thing’ to rival their existing successes.

Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey have all spent the last couple of years deciding which way their future now lies as they have all reduced their role at Twitter by varying degrees. The co-founders launched a start-up incubator called The Obvious Corporation in 2006, which served to create the right environment to launch start-up projects that interested them. According to Evan Williams, their plan was always to use Obvious Corp to help them to try and decide what they would want to work on next as they looked for projects with star potential.

“We rebooted Obvious in 2011 with a vague plan. We started investing, incubating, and experimenting to figure out what worked and what we wanted to do at this stage in our careers; we just knew we wanted to work together to do stuff that mattered,” Williams said in a recent blog post for publishing platform Medium, the main focus of Obvious Corp’s recent efforts.

The Twitter co-founder said that he now spends “about 98%” of his time working on Medium.  Just like its older, massively successful big brother Twitter, Medium has grown from small beginnings at Obvious to develop into a fully-fledged company of around 30 staff members. Still small in stature, Medium is large in its ambitions and is now recruiting for all manner of jobs; from project management roles to more specialist programmer jobs and various other essential positions to enable it to grow.

As for Biz Stone, his new focus of personal efforts has also sprung from Obvious Corp but in a different direction. There isn’t much information available yet for Jelly, the mobile start-up which Biz and Evan apparently assembled a crack team to try and get off the ground. However, according to Evan Williams, the Jelly team should be ready to make an exciting series of announcements in the very near future.

For now, we’ll have to content ourselves with the knowledge that it will be released as a free app that will help ordinary people “do good”. Sounds like a noble enough goal!

Twitter’s third co-founder Jack Dorsey continues to work for the social network in a limited fashion but the majority of his time is now devoted to Square, the mobile payments company which has gone from strength-to-strength in the last year. With a recent valuation of $3 billion, Square could be poised to make a significant impact on the rapidly developing mobile payments market.

Who’s to say if one, if not all of these projects could achieve the kind of world-changing success of Twitter? Even if that lofty ambition is a little too high, it will be exciting to see what heights these talented entrepreneurs will take their personal projects to.

Only 30 percent of British homes have alarm systems installed, yet 60 percent of attempted burglaries fail in houses that have security systems installed. Yale Digital has unveiled a new alarm system designed to be installed easily while offering enhanced security features. The smart security device offers a uniquely designed ‘pre-linked’ system, which allows the users to install the whole security system in just three simple steps.

System Overview

While dark winter nights provide helpful cover for the burglars, Yale’s premium easy fit alarm system could be an excellent choice for ensuring maximum security of valuables and property’s. The easy fit alarm will cover any type of hose structure including terraced, flats semi-detached or detached houses. The alarm system contains a siren box, a keypad, 2 door contacts, 2 PIRs. It is also possible to include a touch-screen panel to control the alarm system easily.

The siren box is put on the front side of the property, working as a visual warning. When activated, the LED lights of the box will flash and the siren will start sounding. The PIR movement detectors are armed with infrared sensors; recognizing unauthorized movements along with activating the siren instantly. It is also possible to select pet friendly PIR detector, which will detect movements of larger objects only, ignoring cats and dogs.

The keypad controller is a perfect secondary controlling device. The controller could be fixed to the wall just inside the front door or another suitable location. The door contacts will alarm the system when a door is opened without authorisation. Besides protecting the properties from intruders, this will also be helpful for homes with small children and pets.

An awesome feature of the alarm system is it could be activated or deactivated by a touch-tone telephone. Working on 868 MHz wireless frequency, the security system offers stronger control than the ordinary DIY systems. This channel ensures a clear, smooth connection with minimum interference while providing excellent performances.

The system provides another useful facility of improved jamming detection enabling the users to prevent the intentional signal location by intruders. It also offers an extra-secure code transmission service, which scrambles the signals so that no one can nose around in the system. In addition, the components are wireless, therefore they are very easy and very quick to install.

The easy fit alarm can store up to 3 phone numbers such as home, office and personal numbers. The priority among these numbers could be set and the system will call accordingly. There are a number of alarm accessories that can also be added to the system.

Personal Feedback

We decided to replace our existing alarm that had given 15 years service but was rapidly failing. Quotations for a very basic new fitted system ranged from £225 upwards. However, these systems did not do what we wanted and could not be extended to include other functions.

Following our research, we chose the “Yale Easy Fit Alarm Kit 2″, it was reasonably priced, offered the functions we needed and we could add extra functions if we wanted at a later time. After spending an hour with a coffee and the instructions, I assembled my tools, a drill and a set of screwdrivers.

The installation was very straight forward and the instructions are clear with good illustrations. The system works well in our three beds modern semi and the signals from PIR to control panel works well. If you have basic DIY skills and the patience to read the instructions, this could be the system for you.

New technology is always exciting, but in recent years it seems that just about every new product that comes out is revolutionary in one way or another. With smart phones, tablets, and various other devices changing the ways in which we communicate, entertain ourselves, and conduct business, it has become more interesting than ever before to follow new trends and products. And, rest assured, you can find something innovative and exceptional whether you tend to shop at the closest electronics shop, the busy Apple Store at the local mall, or even MySmartBuy online. But to truly keep an eye on what’s new, here’s a look at some exciting tech products we expect to see in 2013, and some of the general tech trends they’re helping to advance.

Xbox 720

Probably the most highly anticipated technology product of 2013, the Xbox 720 seems poised to set a new standard for gaming consoles. There will likely be a variety of new features, but the two generating the most buzz are the rumoured blu-ray capability, and the ability to record live television. Both of these features will further advance the trend toward putting an entire home entertainment system in a single device, and the blu-ray capability suggests that games will have massive amounts of content.

iPhone 5S

Apple never makes quite the same splash with its interim phones – consider how much bigger the 5 was than the 4S – but the iPhone 5S is still an exciting release. Trends will continue toward higher resolution screens and picture-taking capabilities – but the main feature to look out for may actually be colour. The rumour is that Apple will be offering the 5S in the same selection of colours currently available for iPod Nanos.

Project Glass

This augmented reality pair of glasses from Google is certainly a strange idea, but it may be revolutionary as well. The glasses will feature a lens that displays Internet content obtained wirelessly, and navigated with voice commands. Essentially, it will strive to be an even more convenient and available means of wireless Internet access than smart phones and tablets.

Nest

It’s odd to include a thermostat in a discussion on fun tech products, but Nest may just change the way we look at home temperature control. The Nest can be adjusted wirelessly through your phone or tablet, allowing you maximum control over temperature. Additionally, the Nest gradually learns your preferences, so that it can intelligently adjust your home temperature on its own. Altogether, the device is set to continue the trend toward total, intelligent control over home environments.

Samsung Galaxy S IV

Finally, there’s the Samsung Galaxy S IV, a follow up to the very successful S III. So far, the only significant rumour is that the S IV will have a 5 inch, high resolution screen. Whatever the specifics end up being, however, the Galaxy S IV marks the continuation of perhaps the only product line that can challenge Apple in the smart phone market.

This is a guest post by freelancer Nick Morgan.

What would we do these days without the technology and software that is available for businesses. Seriously, when you think about it businesses have become so reliant on these that if they fail or crash things practically grind to a halt. There is software for absolutely anything to do with a business, and if you weren’t, as yet, aware of LessMeeting, then read on as you will find it fascinating.

LessMeeting is effectively an online tool that focuses on making those essential meetings a whole lot more productive. LessMeeting is an integration of technology, processes and analysis that will assist enterprises to better conduct their meeting to get the best out of them for the business.

It adds structure when you are planning meetings as well as fully supporting collaborative note taking within  the meeting, automates instant action follow ups and also provides team based meeting analysis meaning that workers can have less meetings, but the ones they do have are way more efficient. Quite simply, as they say themselves on their website, LessMeeting allows you to reclaim your work day by providing the software that both simplifies and improves your meetings.

If you think that your business has no need for LessMeeting then ask yourself this question; do you believe that your meeting are as effective as they could be and is the amount of meetings you hold keeping you from other things? If you answer yes to either part of this question then you will benefit from the LessMeeting software. It only takes a few minutes to install and once it is up and running you can benefit instantly from your improved plan-meet-act-adjust meeting cycle.

By helping you to run better meetings than ever before, LessMeeting will ensure that you never enter a meeting without a plan, and enable to make these plans in advance so you are on the ball from the minute you enter the meeting. It seamlessly integrates with Outlook (2007+), iPad and Google apps so you will never be caught out. You can even invite LessMeet to your meeting as a valuable attendee.

With the help of LessMeeting you can quickly become a team of meeting professionals thanks to the best practices that are built into the software and within no time you will be conducting great meetings with speed and efficiency. Just one of the many great features is that you can set time limits for items on the agenda prior to the meeting, and when you are out of time for the item, or the whole meeting, you will be notified so you can adjust and change course.

UK Internet provider TalkTalk have announced that they are to enter the mobile phone market, and have now launched themselves as an MVNO, or Mobile Virtual Network Operator, offering budget priced tariffs for occasional users that have basic needs.

Their simplified price plans are classed as small, medium and large and start at £5 a month for 2 years that will get you 100 minutes, 250 SMS messages and 100mb of data. That isn’t a great deal granted and just switching your device on and off every day will eat in your allowance quickly. Those who sign up online, however, will get double the data allowance for no extra charge, and 200mb will suffice those who only check out a couple of Google maps a month.

To complete the modest, lowest level package, subscribers also get a Samsung Galaxy Y for free, which is a great handset for casual callers as it has all the basic features but will seem positively prehistoric to any young person. While it is no way as souped up as one of the top of the range smartphones, it will be one way of getting some to finally ditch those Nokia bricks they have become so attached to.

Tristia Clarke is the commercial director of TalkTalk, and she says that the company wants to do for mobile customers what they did for their broadband ones and bring in competition and choice and offer the best value possible.

There could be some teething troubles however, and it won’t help that their boasting about their superb broadband pricing backfired when they were named and shamed by Ofcom as one of the worst ISP’s earlier this year. Apart from this, the Galaxy Y runs on the old Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system, only has a 2 mp camera and a single core processor, and some have said this is not a great deal when you consider the handset costs less than £90.

When most people discuss the future of broadband in the UK the focus is on extending broadband into rural areas so that everyone across the nation can enjoy access to suitable broadband internet connections. In fact, the Government is also focused on this fact with their goal of reaching 2.0mps broadband speeds for everyone in the country by the close of 2015. 

However, the future of broadband in the UK is actually extending in many more enticing directions when you compare broadband deals and if you take a look at a separate component of UK broadband expansion; Wi-Fi.

Expert wireless broadband company, Informa Telecoms & Media stated that the UK is actually at the forefront of the broadband boom with 18 million Wi-Fi hotspots spread out across Britain and an expected 21 million to be in place by the time 2015 rolls around. Over the next few years, ICM also expects to see a boom in hotspots globally anticipating more than 650 million more hotspots to be in place as consumers start to realise how much hotspots can improve their personal lives and business connectivity.

According to research at ICM 21% of people are more likely to head to a place if they know that Wi-Fi is in place, and the UK is leading the world in offering Wi-Fi to its citizens. This trend is expected to become more and more popular and important as the world switches from stationary use of broadband to mobile broadband on a wider basis.

Already, almost half of the mobile market has transferred to smartphone use, and over the next few years the mobile market is expected to be smartphone exclusive as older models of mobiles become obsolete. As this slowly occurs, users will become more comfortable with mobile broadband and start requiring the use of Wi-Fi everywhere they go instead of waiting until they return home to access the internet.

Therefore, it is highly likely that the future of broadband in the UK is going to become more mobile based then anything else. In fact, over the next twenty years or so it is possible that home broadband is going to become a thing of the past much like a  landline is slowly becoming obsolete as wireless broadband is the only service that citizens are going to want to purchase and make use of.

Apple have indicated that their long running feud with social media giant Facebook could be coming to an end, and this is seen as a sign that the producer of the iPhone and the iPad could become more collaborative with other companies in the future.

Tim Cook is the Chief executive of Apple, and he has said that users should stay tuned and watch out to see if the giants of Silicon Valley would be working together more closer in the future, and then lavished praise on the company that was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, 28.

Cook said that they wanted to provide customers with simple and elegant ways in which to do the things that they wanted to do. Facebook has millions and millions of customer so we want everyone with and iPad or iPhone to have the best experience possible on Facebook when using those devices. It was at this point he told the world to stay tuned, and that their relationship was solid.

Following the comments that Mr Cook made at the D10 technology conference in California, Apple are widely expected to integrate more of Facebook’s features into their products. This move would be a watershed moment in the dealings between Apple and Facebook and open the way for other companies in the future.

For years Apple had a reputation for being very secretive and had a take it or leave it approach to dealing with other parties with no room for manoeuvre. This was never more apparent than in their stand off with Facebook, another big name that was battling for supremacy in the Silicon Valley hierarchy and also one of the very few with enough clout to call its own shots with Apple.

The tensions grew between the two when they each failed to factor the other into any of their latest products and it came to a head in 2010 when Steve Jobs slammed their failed negotiations with Facebook as Onerous after Zuckerberg stuck to his guns and refused to be stream rollered like so many before.

There are few things that are such prevalent iconic symbols of the US as Chrysler cars, which encompass both luxury and quality as standard. Whilst instantly recognisable, the Chrysler 300C which rolled off the production line and into the car showrooms on the 14th of June is new in all respects. It is safer, better built, and even more efficient and lavishly equipped than its predecessor.

The latest Chrysler 300C will retain the unique position that this manufacturer holds in the executive sector, and offers the type of design, engineering, driving dynamics and materials within its construction that buyers in Europe have come to expect. Combine these features with the American personality, value for money and style the new Chrysler 300C will appeal to both serious motorist’s hearts and heads.

This car has taken a step away from what is very much the norm is the car industry and hasn’t gone down the route of offering numerous, and baffling, engine sizes. It comes to Europe with only two versions, which both promise to deliver the optimum power output as well as having well judged specifications.

The 3.0L V6 Turbo diesel version benefits from the Fiat Group’s ground breaking MultiJet2 technology, providing a class leading compromise between fuel saving efficiency and effortless power. Whether you prefer the Executive or Limited version, the Chrysler 300C is certainly one very well equipped vehicle. The limited model also benefits from having as standard the kind of technology and optional features that other manufacturers charge a premium for. Click on this link to find out more.

Knowing where to start with naming the exemplary features is difficult, but let’s begin with essentials. The Rain Break Support assists in keeping the break pads dry which much improve the stopping power in inclement driving conditions, and are unique to this car class. The Executive model also carries BSM, or Blind Spot Monitoring system, radar ACC, Adaptive Cruise Control, a forward collision motoring system and panoramic sunroof.

Add to this the 20in alloy wheels, heated rear seats and ventilated fronts, infotainment system incorporating Bluetooth, 8.4in touchscreen display, dual zone climate control, cruise mode and mirrors which automatically darken to limit the glare of headlights, and you can see why the new Chrysler 300C is set to be the star of its class.

The biggest change from its predecessor is perhaps the fact that the quality of this new Chrysler 300C executive model has been honed through every step of processes of the design, the engineering and the production, thus taking a giant leap forward in both the perceived and the actual quality of the vehicle that has been produced.

The top quality interior, with the redesigned leather Nappa seats and real wooden panels on the dashboard at much to the already impressive aesthetics, whilst the body is created from a range of new materials that a steel that is both ultra strong and high resistance. Chrysler has a reputation that is envied throughout the motoring industry, and they have certainly cemented this with the release of the 300C.

Order a Test Drive now!

To keep up to date, check out their Twitter and Facebook pages: www.facebook.com/chrysleruk and www.twitter.com/chrysleruk

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Not since the 70′s has Britain seen such a revolution in the energy industry as the one that is happening now. Whereas then it was the changeover to gas from coal that swept across the nation, now we have the Smart Revolution, which is getting householders excited as it means that we are at last bidding farewell to those old meters and the bill payers curse; the estimated bill.

These meters are the greatest technological evolution in the energy industry, and its little wonder that British Gas are leading the way and have made a promise that by 2019 every UK household will have a smart meter installed. To kick start the programme, there are currently more than 160, 000 metes being installed into British homes, and the benefits that they bring with them will be a boon to every UK household.

Automatic meter reading is the first advantage, which brings about the end of the estimated bill, and the fact that you can actually control your energy consumption is the feature that’s got everyone talking. This can make a huge difference to your household budget at a time when the economy is struggling and we are all trying to save money where we can, as well as reducing the carbon footprint and helping the environment.

Aesthetically, the new smart meters look very similar to the original ones, yet looks can be deceiving as these innocuous little boxes sit tucked away doing their work, and you can forget about them. The smart part of their name comes from their ability to effectively hold a conversation with a system of data communication, meaning that every vital piece of information needed is passed on automatically from your smart meter.

Full details of the British Gas Smart Meter and the many ways in which it can benefit you are found on the British Gas website, so check it out and work out how much you will be saving in the future.

This is a Sponsored Post on behalf of British Gas

Viral video by ebuzzing

Those who have already explored the medium of digital art will be aware of the excitement that comes with transferring your imagination into a piece of artwork, and the exhilaration of experimenting, exploring and ultimately achieving your goal. In celebration of this infinite art form, the Infiniti Curved Vision contest has been running courtesy of designform.com, and the results have been mind blowing.

The first stage of their ‘Inspired Performance’ is now over with, and the 531 entrants from 71 different countries were whittled down to 6 finalists. All of these are being exhibited on the designboom website and you can see the breathtaking winning design from Slovenia’s Brano Hvalec, which encompassed the concept the judges were looking for along with the outstanding originality of the artist.

*image*

The next stage, which is once again being run in collaboration with Infiniti cars, is now running under the banner of Curved Visions. You can enter whether you are a professional artist or an enthusiastic amateur, and full details are listed here. The entrants again have the opportunity to transfer their own take on curves from their mind into a work of art, with the premise being that a perfect line is actually a curve.

The only restriction made, if it can be called that, is that as previously, Infiniti cars should be the beating heart of the design, but how you go with this is entirely your choice. The vision of a curve will vastly differ from one artist to another, and this is makes it a fantastic theme to work on. On the website you will find a gallery of images that may inspire or motivate you, but your submissions must be completely original.

You need to register to enter this contest, and you can do this for free by going to the Infiniti website. Once registered, you can submit your art work at any time up until the closing date of the 10^th July 2012. Those who make the shortlist will be notified in the four weeks following the closing date. To find out more click here.

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Viral video by ebuzzing