تطبيق GroupMe يعد
من أفضل تطبيقات إرسال الرسائل المجمعة لإصدقائك، حيث لا يحتاج الكثير من
المجهود لعمل محادثات من هذا النوع. فقط ستتمكن من إرسال رسائل فردية او
جماعية لأي جهة إتصال في جهازك، سواء آي فون أو آي باد.
ميزة هذا التطبيق ايضا انه أثناء عدم إتصالك بالانترنت وحصلت على رسالة، ستصل إليك عبر رسالة sms ايضا،
بالاضاغة الى إرسال الاشعارات، فلن تحتاج الى معاينة التطبيق كل فترة
لتعرف إن كنت قد حصلت على رسالة ام لا. كل هذا دون الحاجة لحساب مستخدم أو
PINs.
يمكنك
ايضا نشر الجروب الجماعي للمحادثة من أجل إدخال عدد آخر من المستخدمين
معكم. وتتضح أهميته هنا حينما تريد أن تتواصل مع شخص ما ولا تملك رقمه
الشخصي، فقط من خلال وصلة تقوم بنشرها لشاركك المحادثة.
التطبيق أيضا يقدم مشاركة الصور ومن الـ
Camera Roll
مباشرة. بالاضافة الى جوه تعبيرية متعددة، مع إمكانية إرسال موقعك الحالي
لأحد الاشخاص في المحادثة. التطبيق ايضا يقدم فمرة الفيسبوك في الاعجاب
ببعض نصوص المحادثة والتي توجد من خلال رمز القلب الاحمر بجانب الرسالة.
للحصول على تطبيق GroupMe برجاء الضغط على صورة التحميل.
أحد أهم أخبار اليوم هو أن شركة فيس بوك قامت بعقد صفقة نهائية مع شركة أوكولس في آر Oculus VR صاحبة جهاز الواقع الافتراضي أوكولس ريفت Oculus Rift مُقابل 2 مليار دولار. وكان السؤال المُحيّر: ما الذي ستفعله شركة مثل فيس بوك بهذا الجهاز؟
نشر
مارك زوكربيرج رسالة طويلة على صفحته الرسمية يشرح لماذا تمت هذه الصفقة،
وما الذي يخطط له باستخدام تقنية الواقع الافتراضي في المُستقبل.
وذكر
ذوكربيرج أن فيس بوك بحاجة إلى أن تتبنّى التقنيات الأكثر ابتكاراً كلما
استطاعت ذلك من أجل النمو والازدهار في المُستقبل، وأن استراتيجية الشركة
الحالية لا تزال تعتمد على التركيز على الأجهزة المحمولة.
وفسّر ما يتعلق حول جهاز أوكولس ريفت أنه يحمل تقنية رائعة، التي من الممكن استخدامها في المُستقبل “لجعلك تشعر وكأنك في مكان آخر مع أشخاص آخرين على أرض الواقع الافتراضي.”
أقرّ
مارك زوكربيرج أيضاً أن تجربة الألعاب على فيس بوك هي السبب الرئيسي
لاستخدام أوكولس ريفت في الوقت الحالي، لكن لديه تصوُّر مُستقبلي حول
استخدام نفس التقنية لتواصل الناس مع بعضهم البعض في الفضاء الافتراضي.
وأضاف “هذه
هي حقاً منصة التواصل الجديدة. أن تشعر بوجود أحدهم بجانبك، يمكنك
مُشاركة عدد غير محدود من الخبرات مع الجميع. تخيّل أنك لن تشارك لحظاتك
الرائعة مع أصدقائك عبر الإنترنت، وإنما كل تجاربك ومغامراتك بأكملها.”
ستعمل فيس بوك مع عددٍ من الشركاتِ الأخرى من أجل إطلاق الخصائص الكاملة لجهاز أوكولس ريفت في السنوات القادمة.
تنُصّ
شروط الصفقة أن فريق عمل أوكولس ريفت سيواصل مهامه في تطوير الجهاز، وهو
ما يعني أن الإصدار الثاني من الجهاز سيتم شحنه قريباً للمُطوِّرين، الأمر
الذي يوجب وجود إصدار للمستهلك في الأسواق قبل نهاية العام.
وفي
الوقت الراهن، لا يوجد أي تاريخ أو موعد لإطلاق أوكولس ريفت في الأسواق،
وكذا بالنسبة لمسألة السعر. علينا ألا ننسى أن سوني أعلنت هي الأخرى أنها
تعمل على مشروع مورفيس، الجهاز المُماثل لأوكولس ريفت لكنه مخصص لأجهزة بلاي ستيشن 4.
The new HTC One rustles up an impressive list of hardware features and a
slick new software shell. So far, the 'M8' stands strong against its
influential rivals.
The HTC One M8 beckons you with its gleaming good looks, but its features are also top-shelf.
Andrew Hoyle/CNET
There's no question that the visually-refined HTC One M8
is one fancy piece of hand candy. Luckily, its prowess isn't just
chassis-deep. The 5-inch screen is bright and sharp, the 4-'ultrapixel'
camera produces pleasing photos, and the phone's quad-core processing
power is one of the fastest there is.
All about the new HTC One
Fully reviewed: HTC One M8
Dive into HTC One M8's new camera
The rise and fall of HTC (video)
On paper at least, the HTC One M8 more than stands up to its fiercest competitors, the Samsung Galaxy S5 and iPhone 5S.
Pay close attention to the M8's expandable storage option; HTC's
inclusion of this slot knocks out one Samsung's major benefits over the original HTC One.
Although
we spent a lot of time with the GS5 at its launch in Spain several
weeks back, we still won't know which of these two Android phones comes
out on top, and how they both also compare to the iPhone 5S, until we can review the Galaxy S5.
Until then, here's how the three superphones' specs compare, side by side.
HTC One M8
Samsung Galaxy S5
Apple iPhone 5S
Size
5.76 x 2.78 x 0.37 in.; 6.3 oz.
5.5 x 2.9 x 0.31 in; 5 oz.
4.9 x 2.3 x 0.30 in; 4 oz.
Screen
5-inch; 1,920x1,080; 441ppi
5.1 inches; 1,920x1,080 pixels; 431ppi
4-inch; 1,136x640 pixels; 326ppi
OS
Android 4.4; Sense 6.0 UI
Android 4.4; TouchWiz UI
iOS 7
Processor
2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
Proprietary A7 (64-bit) with M7 motion processor
Rear camera and recording
4-'Ultrapixel'; 1080p HD
16-megapixel; 1080p HD
8-megapixel; 1080p HD
Front-facing camera
5-megapixel; 1080p HD
2-megapixel; 720p HD
1.2-megapixel; 720p HD video
Capacity
16GB, 32GB
16GB, 32GB
16GB, 32GB, 64GB
RAM
2GB
2GB
N/A
Expandable storage
Up to 128GB
Up to 128GB
None
Battery
2,600mAh battery; embedded
2,800mAh; removable
Embedded; Up to 10 hours on 4G LTE; standby time up to 10 days
4G LTE
Yes
Yes
Yes
Wi-Fi
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4, 5GHz)
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (2.4, 5GHz)
802.11 a/b/g/n (2.4, 5GHz)
NFC
Yes
Yes
No
Bluetooth
4.0
4.0 Low energy
4.0
IR Blaster
Yes
Yes
No
Notable extras
BlinkFeed, BoomSound
Fingerprint scanner, heart rate monitor
Touch ID scanner
Color choices
Gray, silver, rose gold
Black, white, blue, copper
Gray, white, gold
US carriers
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS, and U.S. Cellular
AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and global
To dig in a little more, be sure to check out why I think that HTC's One M8 gives Samsung's Galaxy S5 a run for its money.
Egypt’s chief prosecutor on Wednesday ordered two new mass trial for
919 suspected Islamists on charges that include murder, despite
international criticism of an earlier trial that issued death sentences
against hundreds of defendants.
Students, most of them Islamists,
held protests Wednesday against the death sentences in several
universities, turning into clashes with security forces that left one
18-year-old student dead at Cairo University, the Health Ministry said.
The new trials will be held in Minya province, south of Cairo, where a
judge on Monday sentenced 529 defendants to death on charges of killing
a police officer during an attack on a police station last summer.
The
verdict brought an outcry from rights groups and criticism from the
United Nations, European Union and United States over the cursory trial,
which lasted only two sessions and in which lawyers said they were
denied the right to make their case or question witnesses.
Egyptian
authorities are holding a series of mass trials in a crackdown on the
Muslim Brotherhood and other supporters of former president Mohamed
Morsi since the military removed him in July. About 16,000 have been
arrested over the past months, including most of the Brotherhood’s top
leaders.
The new trials bring the total number of defendants in
Minya along to 2,147 in four trials, including the one in which the
verdicts were issued on Monday.
All the trials are connected to a
wave of violence in mid-August after security forces broke up two
pro-Morsi sit-ins in Cairo. More than 600 were killed in the sit-in
break-up, setting off a backlash of violence for days as suspected Morsi
supporters attacked police stations, government installations and
churches in towns around Egypt, leaving hundreds dead.
In one of
the new trials announced Wednesday, 715 defendants, including the Muslim
Brotherhood’s top leader Mohammed Badie, are charged with killing six
people and attempted murder of 51 others during attacks on state
institutions on Aug. 14 in the city of Samalout. Only 160 defendants in
this case are in detention. The prosecutor asked for the arrest of the
rest.
In the second trial, 204 defendants, also including Badie,
face charges of inciting violence. Only three are in detention in this
case, in which the charges include attacking state institutions and
police in al-Adawa town, also in Minya.
A court will set a date for the trials.
A
judicial official said the same judge who issued the death sentences
Monday will preside over the two new trials. The official spoke on
condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the
press.
On Tuesday, the same judge, Said Youssef, began another
mass trial of 683 defendants – again including Badie – over a separate
attack on a police station that killed two policemen.
On
Wednesday, hundreds of largely Islamist university students in a number
of universities protested against the mass death sentences.
At
Cairo University, hundreds of students who attempted to take their
protest outside the campus were met with volleys of tear gas from
police. Khadiga el-Kholy, a student participating in the protest, said
the police force gave no warnings before firing the tear gas, sending
the students rushing back on campus.
Students responded by
throwing stones and fireworks and hurling tear gas canisters back at the
security forces in pitched street battles. TV footage showed security
in civilian clothes detaining protesters and taking them away in
blindfolds. There were also images of the security seizing fire bombs
from young protesters. El-Kholy said police fired birdshot at the
protesters.
“We wanted to escalate our protest because of those
death sentences, which included university students,” she said, adding
that the protesters had sought to move into a nearby public square
outside the campus. “We want to break the barriers that the security
forces have imposed on all the squares.”
In the Nile Delta city of
Zagazig, police said students damaged the facade of an administrative
building in the local university and clashed with rival students,
prompting to security forces to enter the campus and arrest eight
rioters.
Thousands of Morsi supporters are already arrested and
most are facing trials on a number of charges, including inciting
violence, and rioting.
Morsi’s Islamist supporters have continued
to hold protests against his ouster. Authorities accuse the group of
fomenting violence and terrorism, a claim the group denies.
The
pro-Morsi camp has refused to recognize the new political road map
installed by the military after his ouster. Presidential elections are
now expected next month and the country’s military chief is widely
expected to run and win.
In a recent ‘fossil miracle’ two halves of
the same turtle’s arm bones were discovered almost 200 years apart,
according to recent study.
(Photo : Nicole Mazouchova / Georgia Tech)
In a recent 'fossil miracle' two halves of the same turtle's arm
bones were discovered almost 200 years apart, according to recent study.
"When two pieces of a fossil fit together, they fit perfectly like a
puzzle piece," said Jason Schein, an assistant curator of natural
history at the New Jersey State Museum, who was in the room when the two
bone halves were first reunited, according to LA Times. "We were just
kind of dumbfounded."
According to scientists, the turtle bones are 70 million to 75
million years old and were found in a shallow sea that covered the
present central New Jersey.
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The other part of the bone discovered in 1849 had wound up in the
collection of the Academy of Natural Sciences. Exactly after 162 years
later analytical chemist and a weekend fossil hunter found the remaining
half. They have been looking for an ancient shark teeth.
"We all laughed because the thought they would be a match, or fit
together, was so absurd and ridiculous it was comical," said Schein, who
works under David Parris, the museum's curator of natural history
according to LA Times.
"As soon as I saw them fit together -- it was just like, what I'm seeing in front of me can't be happening. It's too crazy."
After the whole bone was fitted together, scientists determined that
the bones belonged to the turtle which was massive - 10 feet long from
tip to tail. After the death, its bones fell into soft sediment of the
sea floor where it remained preserved for tens of millions of years.
"My guess, and we can only guess, is that part of the sediment got
washed out, so one half of the bone stayed buried and the other half
tumbled into the stream where it was found," said Ted Daeschler of the
Academy of Natural Sciences, according to LA Times. "More than a century later the bank eventually eroded away and the other half was found."
"This bone is a very durable, solid thing and whatever freeze and
thaw or flood event, nothing beat it up so badly that it couldn't be put
together," he added.
With search and cadaver dogs leading the way, rescuers using small
bulldozers and their bare hands pushed through sludge strewn with
splintered homes and twisted cars to find 10 more bodies in the debris
of a Washington state mudslide, authorities said.
Despite the grim discoveries as the search entered its fifth day
Wednesday — and the likelihood that more bodies will be found —
officials were still hoping to find survivors.
"We haven't lost hope that there's a possibility that we can find
somebody alive in some pocket area," said Snohomish County District 21
Fire Chief Travis Hots.
Two bodies were recovered Tuesday, while eight more were located in the
debris field from Saturday's slide 55 miles northeast of Seattle, Hots
said. That brings the likely death toll to 24, though authorities are
keeping the official toll at 16 until the eight other bodies are
recovered.
With scores still missing, authorities are working off a list of 176
people unaccounted for, though some names were believed to be
duplicates.
Authorities said that number will change because more people have called
in since the nearby logging town of Darrington's power was restored
Tuesday.
Hundreds of rescuers and heavy equipment operators slogged through the
muck and rain, following the search dogs over the unstable surface.
"Going on the last three days the most effective tool has been dogs and
just our bare hands and shovels uncovering people," Hots said. "But the
dogs are the ones that are pinpointing a particular area to look, and
we're looking and that's how we're finding people."
A volunteer was injured Tuesday when he was struck by debris blown by a
helicopter's rotor. The man was transported to a hospital for
evaluation, but the injuries appeared minor, Snohomish County sheriff's
spokeswoman Shari Ireton said in a statement.
As the increasingly desperate search progressed, reports surfaced that
warned of the potential for dangerous landslides in the community.
A 2010 report commissioned by Snohomish County to comply with a federal
law warned that neighborhoods along the Stillaguamish River were among
the highest-risk areas, The Seattle Times reported.
The hillside that collapsed Saturday outside of the community of Oso was
one highlighted as particularly dangerous, said the report by
California-based engineering and architecture firm Tetra Tech.
"For someone to say that this plan did not warn that this was a risk is a
falsity," said report author and Tetra Tech program manager Rob Flaner.
A 1999 report by geomorphologist Daniel Miller, although not about
housing, raises questions about why residents were allowed to build
homes in the area and whether officials had taken proper precautions.
"I knew it would fail catastrophically in a large-magnitude event,"
though not when it would happen, said Miller, who was hired by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers to do the study. "I was not surprised."
A year later, the U.S. Army Corps of engineers warned in another study
that lives would be at risk if the hillside collapsed, The Daily Herald
of Everett reported.
Residents and county officials were focused on flood prevention, even after a 2006 landslide that did not reach any homes.
"We were just trying to stabilize the river so we could save the
community from additional flooding," said Steve Thomsen, the county's
public works director.
BRUSSELS -- Three Secret Service agents prepping for President Obama’s
trip to the Netherlands were sent home for “disciplinary reasons,” a
service spokesman said Wednesday, in another embarrassing incident for
the elite agency charged with protecting the president.
Secret Service spokesman
Brian Leary confirmed that the agents were sent back to the U.S.,
although he would not comment on when the offense occurred or whether
the agents were put on administrative leave.
A Secret Service source familiar with the matter said the incident
occurred before the president arrived in Amsterdam on Monday. The agents
were not supervisors, according to the source, who would not be named
discussing the matter.
The incident is another
headache for an agency that has come under criticism since several
agents were caught visiting prostitutes ahead of a presidential trip to
Cartagena, Colombia, two years ago. The service adopted stricter rules
for agents’ behavior after the incident, including barring agents from
drinking 10 hours before duty.
It’s not clear precisely what rule the agents violated on this trip,
but a night of excessive drinking on the part of at least one agent
appears to be the cause. The Washington Post reported that an agent was
found passed out in a hotel hallway Sunday morning.
Obama landed in Amsterdam on Monday morning to attend a summit on
nuclear security, the first stop of a six-day trip through Europe and to
Saudi Arabia. Scores of Secret Service agents arrived several days in
advance of the president to scout and secure locations and chart the
president’s movements.
In a surprise move, Facebook announced on
Tuesday that it had reached a $2 billion agreement to buy Oculus VR, the
maker of a virtual reality headset, in a bet that technology commonly
associated with science fiction can help eventually turn social
networking into an immersive 3-D experience, Nick Wingfield and Vindu Goel write in The New York Times.
The announcement comes just over a month after Facebook made waves by
revealing it would buy the mobile messaging app WhatsApp for up to $19
billion.
The deal was particularly unexpected
because Oculus, a small start-up that began as a Kickstarter project, is
working on what some view as a niche technology aimed at serious video
game players. For his part, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and chief
executive of Facebook, said the deal reflected his belief that virtual
reality could be one of the “platforms of tomorrow.” Facebook is paying
$400 million in cash and about $1.6 billion in stock for Oculus, with up
to $300 million more depending on Oculus’s performance.
Facebook is the latest Silicon Valley company
to invest in wearable hardware that reimagines how people will one day
interact with information and other forms of content. But the deal had
some analysts questioning Facebook’s strategy. One said the fit
was “poor,” while another viewed virtual reality as having the same
story as it did two decades ago, one of “hip, hype and hope.”
Elite venture capitalists stand to reap huge rewards from the deal, but many who supported Oculus in its early days will walk away empty-handed, William Alden writes in DealBook.
Those would be its backers on Kickstarter, the fund-raising platform
that Oculus used to raise $2.4 million in September 2012. And at least
one of those supporter was not happy with the deal, writing on his blog,
“I did not chip in ten grand to seed a first investment round to build
value for a Facebook acquisition.”
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING | From The Verge:
“The acquisition of Oculus seemingly comes out of nowhere: the company
just demoed its most recent version of the Oculus Rift development kit
at GDC 2014 to much fanfare. Oculus has been steadily moving towards a
consumer product, and Facebook’s resources can only help to push that
mission along.”
Variety writes: “Keep in mind Oculus Rift is really just a screen,
albeit one strapped to a headset that fits around your eyeballs. While
Facebook’s entry into the hardware business may make it no different
than Apple with its iPad, there’s also a comparison to be made with
exhibitors like AMC or Regal.”
Felix Salmon at Reuters writes:
“Is it too early to declare that Zuckerberg has ambitions to become the
Warren Buffett of technology? Look at his big purchases — Instagram,
WhatsApp, Oculus. None of them are likely to be integrated into the core
Facebook product any time soon; none of them really make it better in
any visible way.”
News of the deal may have leaked about a month ago. From a Reddit post:
“So no way to confirm this, but my friend works in the same building as
Oculus, and he ran into Mark Zuckerberg taking the elevator to Oculus’s
floor.”
A LIKELY HEIR IS LEAVING JPMORGAN | Once considered a possible heir to Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, Michael J. Cavanagh
announced on Tuesday that he would resign as JPMorgan’s co-leader of
investment banking to take on the role of co-chief operating officer of
the Carlyle Group, Jessica Silver-Greenberg and Michael Corkery write in DealBook.
The decision underscores how running a large bank has become less
attractive amid the heightened scrutiny and regulatory hurdles that have
beleaguered Wall Street since the financial crisis.
“While it is not uncommon for bank executives
to leave for other jobs — at least 10 senior executives have left
JPMorgan in the last two years — Mr. Cavanagh’s departure was surprising,
in part, because of his prominence at JPMorgan and his reputation
within the bank as what one executive referred to as a ‘lifer,’” Ms.
Silver-Greenberg and Mr. Corkery write. “His move also shows that the siren call of private equity and hedge funds, financial industries that promise eye-popping compensation with far lighter regulatory burdens, is growing louder.”
News of Mr. Cavanagh’s decision set off speculation
about who would ultimately succeed Mr. Dimon, as industry analysts
increasingly worry that the lure of private equity firms and other
players could siphon some of the most capable executives away from
overseeing banks.
CANDY CRUSH MAKER SET TO TRADE |
When King Digital Entertainment, the maker of the wildly popular game
Candy Crush Saga begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange on
Wednesday, investors will have to decide whether they are convinced that
King is more than a one-trick pony, Michael J. de la Merced and Mark Scott write in DealBook.
King priced its offering at $22.50 a share on Tuesday, the midpoint of
its projected range. At that price, the company will raise $500 million,
valuing it at more than $7 billion in one of the biggest initial public
offerings so far this year.
King’s offering success will depend largely on whether investors believe the company can come up with new hits
— and continued revenue and profit — to back up such a large valuation.
While Candy Crush has generated hefty earnings for King, its gross
bookings — a nonstandard measure of how much users pay for virtual items
and other goodies — fell in the fourth quarter last year. Most of all,
King is hoping to avoid the fate of Zynga, the company behind the
FarmVille and Words With Friends franchises, which made a splashy
market debut in 2011, only to see its shares plummet as it struggled to
stay relevant.
ON THE AGENDA | The Mortgage Bankers’ Association purchase applications index is out at 7 a.m. Durable goods order for February are out at 8:30 a.m. Riccardo Zacconi, a founder and chief executive of King Digital Entertainment, is on Bloomberg TV at 10:30 a.m. Andy Dunn, a co-founder of Bonobos, is on Bloomberg TV at 4 p.m. Laurence D. Fink, the chief executive of BlackRock, is on Fox Business Network at 9 a.m. Charles I. Plosser, president of the Philadelphia Fed, is on Fox Business Network at 10 a.m. Carl C. Icahn is on CNBC at 12:30 p.m. King Digital Entertainment arrives on the public markets.
MURDOCHS TAKE STEP IN SUCCESSION PLANNING | Rupert Murdoch has taken a big step in making succession plans for his media empire, appointing his sons Lachlan and James to top roles.
Lachlan will become nonexecutive chairman of News Corporation and 21st
Century Fox, while James will become co-chief operating officer of 21st
Century Fox.
هذه هي أحدث صفقة شراء تعلن عنها فيسبوك بعد أن اشترت تطبيق "واتس أب" لخدمات الرسائل المجانية
أعلنت فيسبوك أنها ستشتري شركة
"اوكيلوس في ار" الأمريكية، المتخصصة في تصنيع منتجات تعمل بتقنية الواقع
الافتراضي، وذلك مقابل نحو ملياري دولار.
والمنتج الرائد الذي تصنعه هذه الشركة الناشئة هو سماعات "اوكيلوس ريفت" لألعاب الفيديو. وطور هذا المنتج بأموال جمعت من خلال موقع "كليك ستارتر" للتمويل الجماعي واستثمارات أخرى. وقال رئيس فيسبوك، مارك زوكربيرغ، إن تقنيات اوكيلوس قد "تغير من الطريقة التي نعمل بها ونمارس بها الألعاب ونتواصل بها" أيضا. ولم يتم بعد طرح " اوكيلوس ريفت" في الأسواق، لكن فيسبوك أعلنت أن هناك بالفعل أكثر من 75 ألف طلب شراء. وأوضحت فيسبوك في بيان أنها تعتزم توسيع استخدام تقنيات اوكيلوس لتشمل "الاتصالات والإعلام والترفيه والتعليم ومجالات أخرى".
تمويل جماعي
واستطاعت حملة التمويل الجماعي لمنتج اوكيلوس جمع 2.4 مليار دولار، وهو عشرة أمثال المبلغ الذي كانت تستهدفه الحملة في بادئ الأمر. وحصلت الحملة لاحقا على 75 مليون دولار إضافية من مستثمرين. وحظيت سماعة " اوكيلوس ريفت" بإشادة كبيرة في معرض
الإلكترونيات الاستهلاكية في لاس فيغاس، الذي أعلنت فيه شركة سوني
اليابانية عن منتج منافس. وتشمل صفقة شراء "اوكيلوس" دفع 400 مليون دولار نقدا، وأكثر بقليل من 23 مليون سهم في فيسبوك بقيمة 1.6 مليار دولار. وسيحصل موظفو اوكيلوس، ومقرها كاليفورنيا، أيضا على 300 مليون دولار إضافية إذا حققت الشركة أهدافا محددة. وفي تعليق بشأن الصفقة، قال زوكربيرغ إن "الهاتف المحمول هو منصة اليوم، ونحن نستعد الآن لمنصات الغد". وهذه هي أحدث صفقة شراء تعلن عنها فيسبوك بعد أن
اشترت تطبيق "واتس آب" لخدمات الرسائل المجانية للهواتف الذكية مقابل 19
مليار دولار.
Water is very important for life. We need water to drink, to wash our hands,
to cook, to water plants and many other things. What other important uses
for water do we have?
Without water, the plants would die and people and animals would go thirsty.
Did you ever wonder why water was so important? Do you know why water is
water?
Let's take a closer look at water...
Your body is made up of many bones. All these bones make up your skeleton.
Like your body, water is made up of a skeleton of water molecules.
Here's what one looks like:
Many of these water molecules make up the water you see in this glass.
أكدت شركة “مايكروسوفت” وجود ثغرة أمنية في عدة إصدارات من برنامج “مايكروسوفت وورد”، Microsoft Word، ضمن حزمة “أوفيس” المكتبية. وقالت الشركة، عبر مدونتها الأمنية، أن عدة هجمات خبيثة استهدفت الإصدار “مايكروسوفت وورد 2010″ مستغلة ثغرة في تعامل البرنامج مع الملفات من نوع RTF. وأوضحت “مايكروسوفت”
أن خطورة الثغرة الأمنية تكمن في إتاحة الفرصة للقراصنة لتنفيذ تعليمات
برمجية عن بعد، وذلك بعد حصولهم على نفس صلاحيات المستخدم الأصلي على
الحاسب المثبت عليه برنامج إنشاء وتحرير المستندات. وتعمل الثغرة أيضاً عند
استخدام عدة إصدارات من برنامج “مايكروسوفت وورد” كقارئ افتراضي للبريد
الإلكتروني مع الإصدارات 2007 و2010 و2013 من برنامج “أوتلوك” outlook. وتعد الإصدارات 2003
“سيرفس باك 3″، و2007 “سيرفس باك 3″، و2010 “سيرفس باك 1 و2″ بنسختي 32 بت
و64 بت، و2013 بنسخ 32 بت و64 بت وآر تي RT، و2011 لحواسب “ماك” من
برنامج “وورد” مصابة بتلك الثغرة. وأشارت “مايكروسوفت” إلى
أنها تعمل حالياً على سد تلك الثغرة ضمن تحديث برمجي ستطرحه خلال الأيام
القليلة المقبلة، مطالبة المستخدمين حالياً بإيقاف فتح أي محتوى RTF ضمن
برنامج “ورد”.
وطالبت الشركة المستخدمين
أيضاً بإلغاء ميزة قراءة البريد الإلكتروني بشكل افتراضي عبر برامج “وورد”
ضمن برنامج البريد الإلكتروني “اوتلوك”، وذلك لعدم إتاحة الفرصة للقراصنة
لاستغلال تلك الثغرة ضدهم. يذكر أن “مايكروسوفت” نوهت كذلك إلى ضرورة الحذر عند استعمال تطبيقات الويب الخاصة ببرنامج “وورد”،
خاصة المستضافة على مواقع مجهولة المصدر، حيث أن تلك التطبيقات مصابة
بنفس الثغرة، ويمكن أن يستغلها القراصنة للحصول على نفس صلاحيات المستخدم
الأصلي للحاسب.
تنتهي في 8 أبريل/نيسان المقبل فترة سريان الدعم الموسع لنظام التشغيل
"ويندوز إكس بي" من قبل شركة "مايكروسوفت" التي ستتوقف عن إصدار التحديثات
له.
ورغم مرور أكثر من 12 عاما على تحديث "Windows XP"، فإنه يستخدم حتى الان كنظام تشغيل على 29.53 % من أجهزة الحاسب
الآلي(الكمبيوترات) المتصلة بالشبكة العنكبوتية. وهناك ثمانية أسباب لشعبية "ويندوز إكس بي" هي
1) قلة استهلاك الموارد واستقرار العمل حتى على الأجهزة المتقادمة لا
يتطلب تحميل "ويندو إكس بي" سوى معالج بتردد 233 ميجا هرتز و64 ميجا بايت
من الذاكرة المؤقتة و1.5 جيجا بايت من المساحة الخالية على القرص الصلب
2) التغييرات القليلة نسبيا في "ويندوز-7" و"ويندوز-8" مقارنة بـ"إكس بي"
رغم تغيير شكل "ويندوز-8" وجمال تصميمه، فإن أساليب العمل الأساسية مقارنة
بـ"إكس بي" لم تتغير كثيرا.
3) استقرار عمل البرامج تم تصميم عدد هائل من البرامج للعمل بنظام "إكس
بي"، وقد لا تعمل هذه البرامج بشكل مستقر في نظم التشغيل الأخرى.
4) نفقات شراء النظم الجديدة يبلغ ثمن شراء "ويندوز-8" نحو 140 دولارا.
يعني ذلك أن الانتقال إلى هذا النظام سيكلف الشركات مبالغ طائلة.
5) تراكم المعرفة في حال حدوث أية مشكلة في نظام "إكس بي" أو تطبيقاته،
يمكن العثور على كيفية حلها بسهولة فى المنتديات على الإنترنت.
6) توفر عدد هائل من الدرايفرات لأجهزة مختلفة بعد توقف إنتاج بعض الأجهزة،
لم يتم تحديث البرامج لها لنظم التشغيل الجديدة. يعني ذلك أن هذه الأجهزة
قد لا تعمل بعد الانتقال إلى نظام أحدث.
7) سهولة الاستخدام يعد نظام "ويندوز إكس بي" سهلا للغاية في الاستعمال.
8) الإفراط في الوظائف في النظم الجديدة يحتوي نظام "ويندوز-8" على خصائص
كثيرة تستهلك موارد جهاز الحاسب الآلي، رغم عدم احتياج أغلبية المستخدمين
إليها.
بدءاً من اليوم ستصل خدمة Google Now
رسمياً إلى مستخدمي متصفح كروم على أجهزة سطح المكتب ( ويندوز و ماك )
وبذلك لتكون معهم في المنزل والمكتب وليس فقط عبر الهواتف الذكية. وستجد في شريط المهام على
ويندوز أيقونة الجرس والتي من خلالها ستظهر البطاقات و يمكن ضبط إعداداتها
أيضاً. و ستدعم الخدمة حالياً بطاقات حالة الطقس ونتائج المباريات وحالة
المرور و التذكير بالأحداث وغيرها. وتعتمد بعض البطاقات على الموقع
الجغرافي لتقديم المعلومات المفيدة وبالتالي ستأخذ موقعك الجغرافي من
الهاتف الذكي وتعرض على متصفح كروم على أجهزة سطح المكتب. كل ما عليك أن تفعله هو أن
تسجل دخولك إلى متصفح كروم على جهاز الكمبيوتر و الهاتف الذكي بنفس حساب
قوقل وبالتالي سيتم مزامنة البطاقات وعرضها على الجهازين. وإن أردت إيقاف خدمة Google Now
على كروم اضغط على أيقونة الجرس في شريط المهام على ويندوز أو ماك لفتح
مركز التنبيهات، وبعدها اضغط على رمز المسنن في الزاوية اليمنى السفلية
على ويندوز و قم بإزالة الإشارة عن Google Now. وكانت قوقل تعمل منذ عام
تقريباً على تقديم خدمة Google Now عبر متصفح كروم لأجهزة سطح المكتب،
وتسربت شيفرات برمجية عن ذلك منذ ديسمبر 2012 لكن أول ظهور فعلي كان على
نسخة كاناري من كروم في ابريل 2013. وفي يناير الماضي أصبحت الخدمة قابلة
للإستخدام على نسخة كاناري وفي الشهر التالي فبراير أصبحت متاحة عبر
النسخة التجريبية من كروم. والآن وصلت رسمياً للنسخة المستقرة للجميع
وترقبها مع تحديث المتصفح القادم الذي من المفترض أن يتم تلقائياً. المصدر
Having succeeded in making scrapbooking a Web craze, Pinterest Inc. now has a new goal: to reinvent online advertising.
The
four-year-old digital scrapbooking website is preparing to launch ad
sales in the second quarter with a bold pitch. Rather than Web ads that
urge people to "click here!" or "buy now!," Pinterest wants to make
artful Web ads that people actually love.
WSJD is the Journal's home for tech news, analysis and product reviews.
New ad chief
Joanne Bradford,
50 years old, said Pinterest's goal is to build ads that can
themselves be fashioned into works of art—akin to ads for Absolut Vodka
that a young person might tear from a magazine and stick on a wall.
Pinterest
plans to start with a select group of marketers who will be the first
to pay for so-called "promoted pins" on the site, said Chief Executive
Ben Silbermann.
Typically users "pin" or copy professional photographs from all
over the Internet and post them to personal Pinterest pages. Early
copies of Pinterest ads looked similar to other images posted to the
site but with the label "promoted pins" on the bottom border.
The company declines to comment on precise timing, costs of the ads or who the first marketers will be.
Related Video
WSJ's Suzanne Vranica and Mike Shields discuss the
rollout of the Journal's new vertical section, CMO Today, which will
focus on the radically changing marketing industry. Go to
http://blogs.wsj.com/cmo/
Since it launched in 2010, Pinterest
has built a following of 40 million users in the U.S., mostly women,
according to eMarketer, who post images on the site of anything that
interests them—from skiing to travel to kale recipes.
Investors
love the company, reckoning that it's a place where marketing dollars
will easily flow. They've already pegged Pinterest's value at $3.8
billion, even though the site has generated virtually no revenue to
date.
Among the advertisers who have quietly tested promoted pins to date are home décor site Wayfair, hotel chain Four Seasons and
Unilever's
ULVR.LN +0.25%
TRESemmé and Hellmann's brands. All four said they were pleased
with the results but declined to say whether they would continue
marketing on Pinterest.
As the
scrapbooking website prepares for its new effort, the question is
whether it can convert advertisers, used to promoting themselves on the
site free of charge, into paying customers.
Ms. Bradford, who joined Pinterest after stints at
Microsoft Corp.
MSFT +0.82%
,
Yahoo Inc.
YHOO -3.32%
and
Demand Media Inc.,
DMD +1.88%
acknowledges "there are brands that are getting unbelievable
results without a paid product." But she said Pinterest was "amazed" at
the level of interest from advertisers in paying for spots.
Both
analysts and ad executives are optimistic. "We think it's going to ramp
up very quickly," said eMarketer social media analyst
Debra Williamson.
Introducing a new home for the best coverage of marketing and advertising, tailored for chief marketing officers.
Some say Pinterest needs to be
careful. The key to success isn't pushing commercial messaging too
overtly. It's OK to feature Hellmann's brand messaging in a promoted
pin, but better to post a recipe featuring Hellmann's, said
Jennifer Gardner,
Unilever's director of media investment partnerships North
America.
"The goal for us is to make
sure you're adding value," Ms. Gardner said. "Pinterest needs to be very
careful. Ads need to be on point."
Others say some advertisers will require a certain amount of education. "It's a bit like
TwitterTWTR -4.22%
in the early days," said
Jordan Bitterman,
chief strategy officer at Mindshare, a media-buying firm. "It may
take time for them to train brands on things like 'what am I trying to
get people to do on Pinterest exactly?'"
Until
now, advertisers have used Pinterest to post images to their page that
they like associated with their brand or some that subtly promote their
business. Users see a brand's pin if they choose to follow that brand or
if it's "repinned" by someone they follow on the site.
With
paid ads, though, marketers will have a chance to reach more of
Pinterest's audience than they do now. Even the most active brands claim
only a few hundred thousand Pinterest followers.
Promoted
pins will appear across the site and can be targeted to specific
searches. Thus when people are searching on Pinterest for travel ideas,
for example, they might see a pin from an advertiser like Four Seasons.
But that ad would be a photo of a destination or resort, and it would
look like a photo a user might post, rather than an ad touting current
Four Seasons rates in various cities.
Among those that are interested in paying is
Whole FoodsWFM -2.34%
Market Inc., which without paying the site has accumulated nearly
175,000 Pinterest followers who share images of the supermarket
company's Really Nice Cream and recipes for Caesar Salad with Pancetta.
Whole
Foods global social media coordinator
Natanya Anderson
said she could see the value in paying for advertising on
Pinterest during key holiday and promotional periods, and would like to
be able to promote the company's profile overall.
She added that paying for ad space may also become necessary to avoid getting drowned out, something that has happened on
Facebook.
FB -4.67%
"Pinterest's only going to get bigger and noisier," she said.
Ad
executives said Pinterest users have demonstrated an inclination to
purchase products they see on Pinterest, based on ad executives'
internal tracking data, making them more valuable to advertisers.
Wayfair
has found that visitors from Pinterest were 20% more valuable over time
than average Wayfair visitors in terms of revenue, according to CEO
Niraj Shah.
And the traffic derived from the ads during its promoted pins
test, which featured furniture and home accessories, was incremental to
the brand's organic audience on Pinterest, he said.
Pinterest
plans to charge advertisers either via a cost-per-thousand impressions
model (which typically suits broader advertisers) or a cost-per-click
model (which might appeal to e-commerce brands), depending on their
goals. Four Seasons, as part of its recent promoted pins test, created
one highlighting a $70,000 hotel package with a private jet trip to Bora
Bora. Despite its cost, the ad was "repinned" more than 9,000 times,
and Four Seasons received over 500 requests for a brochure, according to
Pinterest.
Drugs are everywhere. But where are all the anti-drug ads?
Related Stories
Public service announcements are still running. But viewers aren't
being bombarded with them like they once were. After peaking at a rate
of some $1 million in media time a day in the late 1980s, anti-drug
campaign airtime has been on a steady decline. The reasons range from
government cutbacks to competition from a range of causes such as
fighting cancer and curbing texting while driving.
Advertising's role in the war on drugs has been heavily scrutinized
and criticized over the years, but recent studies suggest that some
messages might be getting through, at least to a certain percentage of
teenagers. Yet, with the government getting out of the anti-drug ad
business, future success will depend on the generosity of media
companies and ad agencies as the nation's largest teen-targeted campaign
shifts to a private model.
Today, far fewer teens are seeing anti-drug ads: Only 32% of 8th
graders reported weekly exposure to anti-drug ads last year, compared
with 76% in 2003, according to the University of Michigan's Monitoring
the Future study, a long-running survey funded by the National Institute
on Drug Abuse.
With new entries from Sony, Samsung and Motorola hitting the market,
plus rumored interest from Apple, smartwatches appear to be the next
emerging category in computing. Some 15%
of consumers are currently using wearable technology, a category that
includes fitness bands and smartwatches, according to a recent study by
Nielsen.
Historically, such interest has meant Madison Avenue can't be far
behind. "It's always app development followed by ads," said Jefferson
Wang, head of wireless and mobility at the IBB Consulting Group.
That doesn't mean your Pebble or Sony SmartWatch will start hitting you
with banner ads this year. As manufacturers try to sell consumers on
smartwatches, they'll keep ad efforts at bay. After that period,
however, smartwatches could be a new frontier, one in which advertisers
will need to be heavily restrained, but potentially reap big rewards.
Not everyone thinks smartwatches represent an exciting new ad medium.
"Smartwatches aren't going to give you a big difference over mobile
phones," said Doug Hecht, president and chief operating officer of
digital agency Digitaria.
"A smartwatch doesn't represent anything important for advertisers
right now." At best, smartwatches will be an extension of mobile
advertising, Hecht added. "It's really just an incremental play on
mobile."
Like others, Hecht thinks that could change if consumers are willing
to give up more data about themselves, which would let advertisers
present more targeted ad messages.
Hypertargeting
A Galaxy Gear 2 wearable device is
arranged for a photograph during a Samsung Electronics news conference
on the opening day of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Feb. 18,
2014.
Image: Angel Navarette/Getty
In
order for a smartwatch ad message to work, it has to be delivered at
just the right time, place and location that makes sense. What's more, a
user has to have opted in to receive such a message. The only way this
could happen is via advanced hypertargeting.
In a perfect
situation, you might be visiting a new city for the first time.
Suddenly, you receive a message that says there's a nice cafe only a
block away, one that a Facebook friend had liked awhile ago. In such
hypothetical scenarios, the cafe would usually include a coupon or
offer, but Wang said that's not really practical. "It's often
embarrassing to use a coupon with people you don't know," he said.
"There may be other ways to bring in an upsell situation." For instance,
a consumer could check in to the establishment, and then have a dollar
quietly added to her credit card.
For the cafe example to be viable, search would have to work better
than it does now, Wang said. "With Google Now, you might make a joke
about the Red Sox and look up Boston, and you'll start getting Red Sox
updates," he said. "Other devices will give you more layers." By
"layers," Wang means data gleaned from the Internet of Everything, a
world in which your refrigerator, thermostat, car, phone and computers
all work together seamlessly. Pooling such data will provide a more
accurate (and creepy) composite sketch of a target customer.
Note that there's nothing here you couldn't also do with a
smartphone. However, consumers with both devices might work out a system
in which only very special notifications make it to their smartwatch.
Wang, who has tried several smartwatch models, said one of the first
things you notice about the devices is how often you get alerts.
"Watches are really, really tricky," he said. "It's right now a
companion device focused on notifications." Wearers quickly learn that
they need to shut off a lot of the notifications for texts, tweets,
Facebook updates and the like. Otherwise, a smartwatch quickly becomes a
burden.
Pulse Monitoring
Nike has already expanded into
wearables with its popular Fuel Band. If smartwatches catch on, you can
bet Nike will be there, too.
Image: David Caudery/Getty
Even
in a best-case scenario, a notification could still be seen as
interruptive. In contrast, branded apps aim to be helpful. For instance,
one thing your smartphone can do that your smartphone can't is check
your pulse. (True, the Samsung Galaxy S5 can be used as a heart-rate monitor,
but it won't provide 24-7 data the way a smartwatch could.) This has
obvious applications for fitness and health tracking, which would make
it a natural for brands in those categories. Nike already has iOS and
Android apps, so why not add one for Android Wear and Tizen, Samsung and
Intel's operating system for smartwatches? (Apple could also presumably
expand iOS to accommodate app development for its rumored smartwatch.)
In addition to monitoring athletic performance, a smartwatch could
also be used to help you gauge your overall health. An insurance
company, for instance, could offer incentives to lower your resting
pulse over a period of time. The app could provide an accurate reading.
Or maybe if your pulse started going the wrong way, an ad within the app
could suggest a healthy snack.
"It might say 'Your pulse just went up, lay off the coffee,'" said John Havens, author of Hacking H(app)iness.
Havens also foresees a slightly more insidious use for smartwatches.
Retailers, he speculated, could monitor your pulse as you walk through a
store. If you see an item that makes it race, they could then present
you with an offer.
Of course, all of this would have to be something for which the
consumer opts in, Havens said. "With such limited real estate, any form
of ad behavior, which is not opted in for wouldn’t be a pleasant
experience," he said. What might be pleasant is the sort of guided tour
of a retail establishment that Apple's iBeacon currently provides. Using
iBeacon, shoppers can get messages such as "Your package is ready for
pickup," "That painting you're looking at is by Da Vinci" and "You can
buy that Apple TV" right here.
Not Just Another Screen
A smartwatch may look like just another screen to conquer after
television, computers and smartphones — but it's not. The interruptive
model worked fine for TV, print and even to an extent online, but the
smartphone ushered in a different relationship between consumers and
advertisers. As the line between a consumer's body and her device
becomes fuzzier, advertising is perceived as being more intrusive. When
you watch a TV ad, you don't feel like your personal space is being
invaded, but you do if such an ad is pushed to you on a smartphone, and
especially via a wearable device such as Google Glass or a smartwatch.
For marketers, the struggle then is not so much how to market to consumers on their smartwatches, but how to get them to agree to let you market to them on their smartwatches.
That will require creating a brand that consumers like, want to be
associated with and above all, trust. Barring that, consumers will find
they have no room on their timepiece for your brand, and indeed, no time
for you either.
Consumer-electronics giant has reportedly talked about new service with Comcast
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Apple Inc. proved to be a rare gainer in
the tech sector Monday following reports that the consumer-electronics
gains has had talks about a new streaming TV service involving a
partnership with Comcast Corp.
Apple AAPL+1.19%
rose 1.2% to close at $539.19 a share after The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday
that Apple is discussing with Comcast CMCSA+0.60%
the development of a streaming TV service that would use an Apple
set-top box and receive special carriage treatment on Comcast’s
broadband network. The gist of the partnership, if it comes to pass,
would allow Apple’s service to receive better delivery to consumers
using the Apple set-top box.
The Journal said Apple wants to offer the ability to stream both live
and on-demand TV programs as well as shows that have been stored in a
cloud environment. The talks are said to be far from reaching a
conclusion or agreement.
Apple currently offers its Apple TV set-top box, which lets users buy or
rent movies, and purchase TV show episodes via iTunes. It also allows
access to streaming services such as Hulu, Major League Baseball, HBO
and Netflix.
For its part, Netflix NFLX-6.67%
saw its shares fall 6.7% to close Monday at $378.90 in the wake of the Journal report on Apple and Comcast. Netflix recently reached a deal with Comcast that
allows Netflix to connect its service directly to Comcast’s broadband
network in order to provide a better viewing experience for its
subscribers.
Last week, Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings released a blog post
in which he called for a revamp of the so-called “net-neutrality” rules
that would allow content providers like Netflix to be able to connect to
broadband networks for free. On Friday, AT&T Inc. senior executive vice president Jim Cicconi
countered Hastings’ argument by saying “As we all know, there is no
free lunch, and there’s also no cost-free delivery of streaming movies.
Someone has to pay that cost.”
Another notable decliner Monday was Internet radio company Pandora Media Inc. P-7.70%
, which fell almost 8% to $31.39 a share. The music publication
Billboard reported that Apple is considering launching an iTunes app that would work with Google’s Android-based mobile devices.
Nearly every other tech-sector leader was in the red. Losses came from Amazon.com Inc. AMZN-2.43%
, Microsoft Corp. MSFT+0.85%
, eBay Inc. EBAY-0.74%
, Intel Corp. INTC-0.20%
and Yahoo Inc. YHOO-3.32%
.
The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP-1.18%
pulled back from its session-low point, but still closed with a loss of 50 points at 4,226.
Kids aren't 'just
naturally active,' according to University of Cambridge researchers, who
found a relationship between the activity levels of mothers and their
preschool-aged children. Nearly half of the 554 mothers in the study did
not get more than 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise per week
physically active are more likely to have children who are physically
active, but a new University of Cambridge-led study is the first to
indicate a direct link between the activity level of a mother and that
of her child.
The study analyzed the physical activity levels of 554 mothers and
preschoolers, using activity monitors that were attached to participants
and worn continuously to ensure accurate data. The mothers and children
were monitored all day for up to seven days.
Research found that how active the mother was each day was closely
linked to the activity level of the child. Yet the activity level of the
mothers overall was quite low, with only 53% of mothers performing at
least 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity at least once
a week.
The study shows that children aren't "just naturally active" and take
cues from their parents in regards to physical activity and other
measures that make up a healthy lifestyle.
"We saw a direct, positive association between physical activity in
children and their mothers - the more activity a mother did, the more
active her child. Although it is not possible to tell from this study
whether active children were making their mothers run around after them,
it is likely that activity in one of the pair influences activity in
the other," said study leader Kathryn Hesketh (formerly of Cambridge and
now University College London).
"For every minute of moderate-to-vigorous activity a mother engaged in,
her child was more likely to engage in 10% more of the same level of
activity. If a mother was one hour less sedentary per day, her child may
have spent 10 minutes less sedentary per day. Such small
minute-by-minute differences may therefore represent a non-trivial
amount of activity over the course of a week, month and year."
The study was published in the journal Pediatrics.
(Reuters) - From
yoga with leaps and jumps to Pilates that packs a punch, fitness experts
say the craze for short, intense workouts has resulted in some odd
pairings.
While these hybrid routines may
seem strange, they can be an efficient way to boost the heart rate and
increase calorie burn when there is thoughtful reasoning behind them,
they say.
"My belief is to make the
most of every second at the gym: get the workout done in the shortest
time possible," said Stephanie Lauren, a certified group fitness and
yoga instructor.
The New
Jersey-based Lauren is the creator of Plyoga fitness, a group fitness
class that melds the slow stretches of yoga with the explosive jumping
and leaping that is plyometrics.
High
Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which combines repeated short bouts
of intense exercise followed by short recovery periods, is at the
center of Plyoga.
"Plyometrics and
yoga are two of the most fundamental disciplines out there. We call them
the yin and yang of fitness," she said, adding that many plyometric
moves and yoga postures flow well into each other.
"After you hold a yoga pose for a while, a squat thrust is recovery," Lauren explained.
Strength, endurance, core development, balance and flexibility are among the benefits of the equipment-free class, she added.
"Many
hardcore exercisers just can't slow down enough to choose a traditional
yoga stretch," Lauren said, adding that for some people the class is a
way to get their heart rate up.
A
2014 report from the trade association IHRSA (International Health
Racquet & Sportsclub Association) found that women are up to two to
three times more likely than men to join group exercise classes.
Swedish-born
Viveca Jensen created Piloxing, an exercise regime that blends the
stretches and low impact exercises of Pilates with boxing and dance
techniques. The 60-minute choreographed workout is done in 37 countries
around the world.
The workout
begins with an eight-minute warm-up followed by choreographed boxing, a
sequence of standing Pilates moves, dance and then 10 minutes of floor
work before a cool-down.
"It's
very much an interval training exercise. We want heart rates to go up,"
said Jensen, who claims that Piloxing can burn 400-900 calories per
class.
Jessica Matthews, an
exercise physiologist at Miramar College in San Diego, California, said
mixing a vigorous cardiovascular workout with a mellow,
flexibility-focused activity has become common in hybrid fitness
classes.
"HIIT training has come center stage," she said.
But Matthews, who is a yoga teacher and group fitness instructor, cautions against renouncing a daily walk or run.
"HIIT
shows that in a very short time we can elicit maximum benefits, but
that's not saying that anything not HIIT should be tossed," she
explained.
Matthews, who has seen
yoga combined with pole dancing, and ballet barre classes combined with
resistance tubing, said that in evaluating a fusion class, it's
important to assess whether you're getting the benefits of both
modalities.
She also urged consumers to find qualified instructors.
"These classes need to be thoughtfully designed," she said. "That is the key consideration."
(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Gunna Dickson)
