Category Archives: Technology

Trends In Food: KFC To Offer “Plant-Based” Chicken Produced By Beyond Meat In Atlanta

From a Vox.com online article:

KFC Beyond Fried Chicken in AtlantaA single KFC franchise — the one near the SunTrust Park baseball stadium in Atlanta — will, starting Tuesday, offer meatless chicken from the plant-based food company Beyond Meat. The deal makes KFC the first fast-food restaurant to serve plant-based chicken.

It’s a huge step forward for both companies — and for chickens, nearly 50 billion of which are raised in factory farms in the US annually.

“KFC is an iconic part of American culture and a brand that I, like so many consumers, grew up with. To be able to bring Beyond Fried Chicken, in all of its KFC-inspired deliciousness to market, speaks to our collective ability to meet the consumer where they are and accompany them on their journey. My only regret is not being able to see the legendary Colonel himself enjoy this important moment,” said Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, in the press release announcing the deal.

To read more click on following link: https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/8/26/20833723/kfc-meatless-chicken-wings-nuggets-beyond

Trends In Fine Art: Museums Offer Finest Works For Home Viewing On “The Frame” Art Store

From a Royal Museums Of Fine Arts Of Belgium news release:

Royal Museums of Fine Art Belgium‘It is the dream of every museum to bring its art as close as possible to the public and to share its passion and knowledge with the world,’ explains Isabelle Vanhoonacker, Managing Director of Public Services at RMFAB. ‘Thanks to The Frame by Samsung, this dream is now coming true.’

The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (RMFAB) are to make 22 top-class worksVincent van Gogh, Seascape near Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, 1888 available on the Samsung Art Store for The Frame. Decorate your living room with the most famous masters from the largest Belgian art collection by making their iconic creations appear on The Frame. This discrete Samsung lifestyle TV can transform into your favourite work of art when switched off, seamlessly integrating into your living room.

Around 1,200 works are already available on The Frame Art Store*, hailing from world-renowned art collections such as the Museo del Prado, the Van Gogh Museum, the Tate, the Albertina and many more. This summer, art lovers can choose from a further 22 masterpieces to add to The Frame, matching their unique TV to their interior design. The RMFAB collection is the largest in Belgium, and the highlights selected for The Frame Art Store span from the 15th century to the modern day.

To read more click on following link: https://www.fine-arts-museum.be/en/press/press-release/show-off-a-bruegel-rubens-or-van-gogh-in

History Of The Cell Phone: Motorola Beat Bell Labs To Engineer The First Wireless Phone In 1973

From an InterestingEngineering.com online article:

Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first publicized handheld mobile phone call on a prototype DynaTAC model on April 3, 1973. This is a reenactment in 2007.
Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first publicized handheld mobile phone call on a prototype DynaTAC model on April 3, 1973. This is a reenactment in 2007.

With encouragement from his boss, Motorola’s chief of portable communication products John Mitchell, Cooper and engineers at Motorola produced the working prototype for the first cell phone. On April 3, 1973, before stepping into a news conference in Manhattan to demonstrate the new device that would go on to revolutionize communications, Cooper placed the first cell phone call in history.

While cell phones are a fairly modern invention–if you consider 1973 ‘modern’–the idea of a telephone that could travel with you is as old as the telephone itself. For decades though, the best anyone could offer were bulky two-way radio devices that were essentially walkie-talkies that filled the trunk of your car, but a couple of key engineering developments and a classic American business rivalry would help lay the foundation for the device that revolutionized the way people communicate.

To read more click on the following link:

https://interestingengineering.com/the-history-behind-the-invention-of-the-first-cell-phone?_source=newsletter&_campaign=RllbMNnzxME2k&_uid=46dBBxnxd7&_h=0c209d493fa27bb2c39469a873cbbd733289c833&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=mailing&utm_campaign=Newsletter-25-08-2019

Future Of Camping: Rivian Electric Adventure Vehicles Feature A Unique “Pull-Out Kitchen”

From an InsideEVS.com article:

Rivian Electric Adventure Vehicles Functional Pull Out Kitchen close upRivian has demonstrated a fully functional, pull-out kitchen that fits into the tunnel and will be a fantastic asset to people who enjoy camping. At first, we thought this might just be a gimmick, but the automaker has clarified that the optional add-on will be available for purchase. To top it off, a tent fits right in the electric truck’s bed.

Rivian refers to its upcoming vehicle lineup as “Electric Adventure Vehicles.” Its first two offerings will be the R1T electric pickup truck and the R1S electric three-row SUV. Since the company has fully revealed itself, there has been a regular influx of information supporting the “adventure’ theme.

Rivian Electric Adventure Vehicles Functional Pull Out Kitchen

 

To read more click on the following link: https://insideevs.com/news/366546/video-rivian-truck-cooking-wild/

Future Of Smaller Homes: “Bumblebee Spaces” Stores Bed, Wardrobe On Ceiling Freeing Up Small Rooms

From an 1843.com online article:

Bumblebee Spaces website home space savingsA startup called Bumblebee Spaces is trying to make micro apartments more appealing by adding movable furniture. Beds, wardrobe and drawers are stored up on the ceiling, to be lowered quietly on white suspension cords at the touch of a tablet, like a scene change on a theatre stage. In theory this frees up floor space. Once he’s raised his bed in the morning, Dabdoub sometimes does yoga and meditation. In the evening, he can sit on the couch and project Netflix onto a blank wall, which would otherwise be occupied by the bed’s headboard.Bumblebee Spaces website home space savings bed

Bumblebee is putting a new twist on the Murphy bed, a mattress that folds down from the wall. That bed was named after another inventor in San Francisco, William Lawrence Murphy, who was living in a tiny one-room apartment in the early 1900s. According to lore, he was trying to woo an opera singer who refused to come to his bedroom. So he devised a way to fold up his mattress into the wall and convert the bedroom into a lounge. Lust fuelled innovation.

https://www.bumblebeespaces.com/

To read more click on the following link: https://www.1843magazine.com/upfront/postcard-from-silicon-valley/how-robotic-furniture-will-improve-our-lives

MIT AgeLab: Consumer Product Companies Need To Make Older Adults A “Core Constituency”

From an MIT Technology Review article by Joseph F. Coughlin:

MIT Technology Review Old Age Is Over October 2019Technologists, particularly those who make consumer products, will have a strong influence over how we’ll live tomorrow. By treating older adults not as an ancillary market but as a core constituency, the tech sector can do much of the work required to redefine old age. But tech workplaces also skew infamously young. Asking young designers to merely step into the shoes of older consumers (and we at the MIT AgeLab have literally developed a physiological aging simulation suit for that purpose) is a good start, but it is not enough to give them true insight into the desires of older consumers. Luckily there’s a simpler route: hire older workers.

Of all the wrenching changes humanity knows it will face in the next few decades—climate change, the rise of AI, the gene-editing revolution—none is nearly as predictable in its effects as global aging. Life expectancy in industrialized economies has gained more than 30 years since 1900, and for the first time in human history there are now more people over 65 than under 5—all thanks to a combination of increasing longevity, diminished fertility, and an aging Baby Boom cohort. We’ve watched these trends develop for generations; demographers can chart them decades in advance.

To read more click on the following link: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614155/old-age-is-made-upand-this-concept-is-hurting-everyone/

Future Of Food: Atomo! Molecular Coffee Seeks To Engineer A Better Brew

From the Atomocoffee.com website:

Atomo Coffee websiteWe looked at green beans, roasted beans and extracted (brewed) coffee samples and through advanced analytical procedures studied the volatile and non-volatile compounds present. By evaluating the individual compounds in coffee we were able to map the most significant ones contributing to the characteristic aroma and flavor of coffee.

While researching coffee, the Atomo team came to understand there was an even bigger problem underlying their campaign for a better cup of coffee. The environmental toll from coffee farming due to rising temperatures caused by climate change was destroying the rain forest. Since the Kickstarter, Atomo has invested in technology and formulation, and has partnered with world-class food technologists and coffee scientists to build a consistently great cup of coffee that’s ALSO better for the environment.

Website: https://atomocoffee.com/

Future Of Food Delivery: Dominos Pizza To Go With Fleet Of Electric Bikes

From a Fast Company online article:

Dominos Pizza Electric Bike deliveryThe national pizza chain recently announced a partnership with Rad Power Bikes, a Seattle-based electric cycle startup, in which Rad will provide Domino’s franchise owners with e-bikes to replace vehicle deliveries. Through the exclusive partnership, Domino’s franchise owners will have the option to purchase a custom-outfitted e-bike for up to $1,400. Switching from vehicle deliveries is not mandatory, but according to Brian Rinckenberger, commercial sales director for Rad Power Bikes, it’s likely to be an appealing option for Domino’s franchises as e-bikes could help speed up delivery times and create opportunities to have more people making deliveries at once.

That is what played out when Domino’s tested out making deliveries by e-bike in Houston, Miami, and New York City earlier this year. According to Rinckenberger, stores saw improvements in overall delivery time and service, as e-bikes are able to skirt around congested vehicle traffic lanes and can be parked much more easily.

To read more click on following link: https://www.fastcompany.com/90390713/the-dominos-delivery-of-the-future-will-arrive-by-electric-bike?utm_campaign=eem524%3A524%3As00%3A20190821_fc&utm_medium=Compass&utm_source=newsletter

Future Of Eating: “Virtual Restaurants” And “Ghost Kitchens” Are Being Fueled By Uber Eats, DoorDash and Grubhub

From a New York Times article by Mike Isaac and David Yaffe-Bellany:

Online DeliveryNo longer must restaurateurs rent space for a dining room. All they need is a kitchen — or even just part of one. Then they can hang a shingle inside a meal-delivery app and market their food to the app’s customers, without the hassle and expense of hiring waiters or paying for furniture and tablecloths. Diners who order from the apps may have no idea that the restaurant doesn’t physically exist.

The shift has popularized two types of digital culinary establishments. One is “virtual restaurants,” which are attached to real-life restaurants like Mr. Lopez’s Top Round but make different cuisines specifically for the delivery apps. The other is “ghost kitchens,” which have no retail presence and essentially serve as a meal preparation hub for delivery orders.

“Online ordering is not a necessary evil. It’s the most exciting opportunity in the restaurant industry today,” said Alex Canter, who runs Canter’s Deli in Los Angeles and a start-up that helps restaurants streamline delivery app orders onto one device. “If you don’t use delivery apps, you don’t exist.”

To read more click on the following link: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/14/technology/uber-eats-ghost-kitchens.html

Future Of Travel: AirPortr.com Checks Bags At Your Home, You Pick Them Up At The Airport

From a Skift.com online article:

Airportr shippingHere’s how Airport’s service works: A passenger checks in online. The company collects the bags from their doorstep after confirming the person’s identity. The driver puts the bag in a coded, tamperproof, and trackable security bag, the company said. The driver delivers the luggage to the airport, where they check in the bag.

AirPortr has handled 113,251 bag shipments. Two years ago, the startup landed British Airways as a customer. It also works with Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, and other carriers. This year, EasyJet began offering the AirPortr service at London’s Luton airport.

“Business is seeing really good year-over-year growth,” said founder and CEO Randel Darby. “This year we expect airline revenues to double. We plan to scale the product to become a network proposition with our airline partners.”

AirPortr has 15 workers at its London headquarters. It has about 30 others handling operations, customer support, and logistics.

 

To read more click on the following link: https://skift.com/2019/08/16/airportr-raises-8-6-million-for-luggage-delivery-travel-startup-funding-this-week/?utm_campaign=Daily%20Newsletter&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=75749779&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8DsKrqf5KFyRUzu0E7UjVF6Y3ZXR7IRTOphrsZ06Vv4jDIQc5Zqfbzh3Eqv2NwxAj0kCAcaXwsjvyzTchwYmBDwdRYcA&_hsmi=75749779