Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint reader, released with the iPhone 5s, includes a sensor the thickness of a human hair, a sapphire crystal button, capacitive tech and complex data analysis. Alabama-based startup IDair believes it can replicate the quality of the Touch ID with a simpler approach that uses existing smartphone cameras to capture images of users’ fingers. IDair’s tech uses an algorithm the company has patented to convert the image into a means of identification. Continue reading Startup Develops Secure Method to Access Data on Your Phone

Social photo- and video-sharing site Instagram has signed its first major advertising deal with an agency. Instagram is launching a paid ad program with Omnicom Media Group, which agreed to a year-long commitment of up to $100 million that will deliver ads from brands tied to Omnicom’s media and creative agencies. Instagram, which launched in October 2010, was acquired by Facebook in 2012. Today, Instagram says its 150 million active users upload 55 million photos daily. Continue reading Instagram Flexes its Muscles with E-Commerce and New Ad Deal

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) suggests that 85 percent of tasks in an average person’s daily life will include game elements by 2020. Gamification is already being integrated into social media, data collection, the healthcare industry and more. Social media sites including Foursquare, Yelp and Facebook are incorporating game and reward features. For example, they encourage users to check into restaurants by rewarding them with badges and titles, such as “mayor” of a restaurant. Continue reading IEEE Predicts That Our Daily Lives Will Be Gamified by 2020

While total viewer numbers will not be available from Nielsen until later today, last night’s telecast of the 86th Academy Awards from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood scored impressive numbers in the major markets, up 7 percent from last year. In addition, host Ellen DeGeneres set a new social media record by taking a celebrity-filled selfie during the broadcast that has been retweeted more times than any photo in Twitter history, besting President Obama’s tweet after he won the 2012 presidential election. Continue reading Early Oscar Numbers Look Strong, Ellen Breaks Twitter Record

Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o, currently generating buzz for her performance in “12 Years a Slave,” is the only actress who is campaigning for an Oscar through social media engagement this year. Nyong’o has gained a significant number of followers on Twitter and photo-sharing site Instagram. She has been actively linking photos of herself in magazines and retweeting mentions of her appearances on both sites, which has helped her gain publicity during the ramp-up to this weekend’s Academy Awards.  Continue reading Actress Generates Pre-Oscar Buzz Using Twitter and Instagram

You may have noticed that drones are being used this month at the Winter Olympics in Sochi to capture footage of ski and snowboarding events. While drones can cost upwards of $40,000, they are quieter and cheaper than using a manned helicopter. Also with drones, filmmakers can typically get much closer to the subject. While limitations currently exist due to regulations and concern of potential crashes, we should expect to see more use of unmanned aerial vehicles for sports photography in the future. Continue reading Capturing Winter Olympic Footage From the Air Using Drones

Getty Images along with AP, AFP, Reuters, and EPA wire agencies have set up state-of-the-art fiber optic networks to deliver Olympic images almost instantaneously. Getty can deliver photographs from the Winter Olympics in Sochi directly to publications within 180 seconds thanks to 20 kilometers of cable and a 100Mbps network. The process of preparing an image for delivery in record speed involves a team of Photoshop experts, captioning specialists, and editors. Continue reading Getty Images Delivers Winter Olympic Photos in Record Speeds

A new trend in social apps has arrived, allowing users to post anonymously, giving them a feeling of freedom without consequences for their actions on the Web. New messaging apps Whisper and Secret, for example, offer a way to share anonymous posts about anything. Popular apps such as Snapchat, Telegram and Frankly revolve around messages that self-destruct after they are read. These anonymous approaches may pose a significant threat to other social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Continue reading Whisper and Secret: New Messaging Apps Offer Users Anonymity

Netflix has been experimenting with new methods of artificial intelligence to improve its products. The streaming service has plans to begin using deep learning models, and while it has yet to specify what exactly it will be improving, the service is likely to use the tech for enhancing its movie recommendations feature. Other companies have also begun putting deep learning into practice in order to train their systems to better recognize text and images, as well as their meanings. Continue reading Netflix Will Use Deep Learning to Improve Recommendations

Twitter has been quietly introducing a major profile redesign, one which is similar in ways to Facebook and Google+. This new layout gives more space to header photos, and shifts profile pictures to the left. It also makes tweeted photos much bigger. The change includes a revamped tweet stream and a focus on images and content cards. CEO Dick Costolo said the new layout is part of the company’s effort to make Twitter easier to navigate for new users. Continue reading Twitter Testing New Layout Similar to Facebook and Google+

In response to the evolving user base of popular social networks such as Facebook, a new venture called Blend hopes to return social media to a younger crowd with its app designed exclusively for undergraduate students. San Jose, CA-based Blend currently enables users to share photos and win gift cards, but has plans to become more of a social network with interactive features like commenting. Founded in May 2013, Blend has nine employees, including its three young co-founders. Continue reading Social Network Attempts to Recapture Early Spirit of Facebook

Online photography community 500px is launching a commercial licensing marketplace called Prime that plans to charge licensing fees starting at $250. 500px says Prime is different from other licensing services because regardless of the license or who purchases the images, member photographers will earn 30 percent of proceeds for each photo sold. 500px is hoping “to fundamentally change the way photos are licensed” by “changing the way photo licensing companies work with photographers.” Continue reading 500px Aims to Revolutionize Photo Licensing with Prime Service

Social media platform Facebook celebrated its 10th anniversary this week. Pew Research Center reports that 57 percent of American adults and 73 percent of teens 12-17 currently use Facebook, with adult use on the rise. According to Pew, 64 percent of adult users visit the site daily, up from 51 percent in 2010. And while teens’ relationship with Facebook may be complicated and evolving, Pew notes that younger users are not abandoning the site, as some reports have recently suggested. Continue reading Facebook Turns 10 This Week: Pew Releases Survey Results

Canon unveiled new models of its Vixia camcorders and PowerShot cameras at CES, including the $300-$450 Vixia HF R52, HF R50 and HF R500 camcorders with 57x zoom; the $400 Vixia mini X compact personal camcorder with 12.8 megapixel sensor; the $250 PowerShot SX600 HS with 18x optical zoom and 16-megapixel CMOS sensor; the $200 ELPH 340 HS with 12x optical zoom; and the $350 PowerShot N100 digital camera, which includes a new “dual capture mode.” Continue reading Canon Unveils New Vixia Camcorders and PowerShot Cameras

At CES this week, Sony announced the development of a 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector that has the ability to cast a 4K Ultra HD image up to 147-inches diagonally. Housed in an attractive credenza with built-in speakers, no special wiring is required. The unit is simply placed against a bare wall and the image is then “thrown” directly above it, as opposed to across the room. Expected to launch in the U.S. by summer of 2014, a prototype was demonstrated at the Sony booth. Continue reading Home Entertainment: Sony Demos 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector