Imagine Star Wars C3P0 and R2D2, imagine Wall.E and EVE, imagine Marvin the Paranoid Robot (from The Hitchiker's Guide to Galaxy?), David Swinton from A.I, Sonny from I,Robot, Data from Star Trek! Well some may argue that one or more of the listed are cyborgs, not robots, but hey, if some genius out there managed to build one, and build one for the consumer, aren't we all game for it? 

I'm sorry Google Glass, your capabilities really astound me but you're just too expensive for such a small device that achieves the same tasks as my Android smartphone can. Move over Siri, you're so uptight sometimes. Welcome Jibo, the world's first family robot. 

Cynthia Breazeal and Jibo

Created by MIT roboticist Cynthia Breazeal, Jibo is a finalised version of a work-in-progress, with developer and consumer version scheduled to be available sometime in 2015. OMG I can barely contain myself! It's finally here! 

It's not just a tool that you use, it's your helpful partner! 

Yeap, that is what sets Jibo so far apart from other consumer technology approaches for instance smart-homes etc. Implementing emotion and intuitiveness as the core of its design, Jibo "learn skills" rather than "installing apps". Of course the whole idea is to develop a platform on top of which developers can program skill algorithms and machine learning capabilities (hopefully), but consumers in general are not interested in those technobables. 

The initial skills that Jibo has are oriented towards coordinating a busy family, especially one that does not live together under the same roof, helping with communications and bringing contents to life such as warm and friendly greetings and reminders. A key feature was the camera as a social tool. Whereby with a physical camera be it a high end DSLR or a phone camera, it is a tool and you remove yourself from the action but with Jibo, it can help to take the photo for you without much hassle of finding a substitute person and everyone can be in with the action. 

The consumer wants a helper that integrates into their lives - managing the household to a certain extent for instance turning on the lights at night when someone walks into the room, changing the air-conditioning temperature, taking calls and messages and reading aloud emails and alerting scheduled items - and not just that, the consumer also wants to do all these with the feel of interacting with someone. 

Jibo is just that. In different instances Cynthia was quoted to say "putting a warm personality on a lot of the things that we use or apps for today" and "Jibo is one of the first of its kind to humanise way of relating and experiencing technology". It is capable of recognising individuals through visual (face recognition) and audio (voice recognition), a great way to personalise experience with Jibo itself. 

I am super excited that Jibo is going to be out in the consumer market soon, and that Cynthia has taken the crowdfunding route to collect funding for it. To keep up with the latest news on Jibo or to get one for yourself, visit www.myjibo.com or add the blog to your reading list at http://blog.myjibo.com/. You can also contribute to the Jibo project through IndieGoGo. 

In the mean time, check out this awesome introduction video of Jibo! 

*Disclaimer: Photo and Video are owned by respective owners. I do not claim them to be mine. 

I distinctly remember my team leader asking "Do you still have time to write blogs?" To which I answered yes. Then I realized I haven't sat down and write in quite a while - what with juggling an 8 to 5 job (well.. it's actually 8.30 to 5.30 but it's the same nonetheless), classes on weekends (which don't officially start until February) tutoring (which is just once a month) and gym almost every day. 

Like every other average person on the web, I keep up with posts on Facebook and Twitter and what my fellow bloggers write. One day, another blogger shared an app for her iPhone called VSCO Cam. Basically, it is just another photo-editing app, and she just recently found out it was available for free on Apple's Store. Knowing her, she is very very meticulous about the photos she took - and taught me a thing or two about using a DSLR. So I went on Google's Play - I'm on android - and downloaded the app. I fell in love with it instantly. 

So what sets VSCO Cam apart from the likes of Instagram, Pixlr Express, and FxCamera is the focus of the photo-editing app itself. While other apps attempt to enhance and define your photos - especially smoothing the skin, changing the skin-tone, adding effects here and there to accomplish that, VSCO Cam aims to compliment your photos. 

VSCO Cam not only allows you to add effects to your photo's, it gives you the flexibility to fine-tune the effect so that the details that you captured does not get lost. Exposure, Temperature, Contrast, Crop, Rotate, Fade, Vignette and more can be individually controlled and adjusted to fit the look you are trying to accomplish. 

The interface is sleek and simple - no overwhelming nests of menus and options cluttering the screen - no messy buttons to press and no confusing or misleading texts - just simple icons and precision sliders. And if you worry about losing the capability to share you photos on Facebook or Twitter, fret not - these features are also available in VSCO Cam. 

Here are a few shots I edited with VSCO Cam. Enjoy!! 

Top : Original  ;  Bottom : After VSCO Cam

Left : Original  ;  Right : After VSCO Cam

Top : Original  ;  Bottom : After VSCO Cam

If you're on Android, click on the Play button below to get VSCO Cam and start your own professional photo editing experience! Also available on Apple App Store.

Think about it. As of recent, the boom on smartphones echoes still, and manufacturers are gearing up presenting their latest invention to the public. From small sizes but pack a serious punch, to the larger screens amping resolution and vibrant displays. But stop for a moment, and ask yourself. How smart is the device you hold in your hands now?

To elaborate, is it smart enough to know that it is in your handbag or pocket, thus ringing at top volume when calls or texts come in? Is it smart enough to know that you purposely put it in silent mode because you're in a meeting so even if it is in your pocket or handbag it would simply vibrate or not ring? Is it smart enough to know that you have a presentation in an hour and turns itself into silent mode? Those are just minor examples - setting the sound profile for different situations. Sure, most manufacturers lets you put you smartphone to silent with a click or a touch of a button or shortcut, but what if you dont have to do anything at all? 

If you're the type that uses your phone as your car's radio/entertainment device complete with bluetooth and gps navigation for traffic conditions? I do. I'd have to first turn on the bluetooth, then the media player or radio app on the phone, then turn on the gps and finally have to turn on the navigation app (not necessarily in this order). That's almost 5 minutes time wasted. What if I say that your phone can actually do all of these things without ever leaving your pocket? 

Guys, I'm not talking about voice command if that's what you're thinking. We all know how difficult that can be, especially with out local English accent. I'm talking about automating your devices. Let me introduce you to AutomateIt ~ an app available on Google Play (sorry iPhone n iPad users. I'm almost sure that a similar app is in your iTunes store).

The basic idea is this : you set up rules for your smartphone to do a specific task when a condition is triggered. For instance, turn off your wifi / data when you go to sleep at night, or ring at top volume when a specific text is received (very helpful if you keep misplacing your phone), conserve power when battery is low, turn on loudspeaker during call if it is away from your ear etc. get the idea? 

A rule is made up of 2 components, a trigger and an action. A trigger is a condition that must be fulfilled in order for the action to execute (in examples above, triggers are bold and actions are italic). AutomateIt allows you to create as many rules as you want for your smartphone, making it even smarter. For a more advanced user, try the Pro version which allows you to create composite triggers and actions. These allow rules to be made up of one or more triggers to perform one or more actions (I have one rule that detects when I'm in a vehicle, it will turn on my bluetooth and attempt to connect to the car, turn on my music player and the wave control that allows me to use motion to navigate my playlist, turn on my gps and my navigation app all at once). You can even have a rule to call another rule in AutomateIt (I have a time based rule that call the previous composite rule so that it only scans when I expect myself to be in the car - morning on my way to work, lunch at noon and evening returning from work) to conserve battery. 

Do give this app a go. It's a great addition to making your smartphone even smarter, and if you came up with an awesome rule, share it on the market cuz sharing is caring! Cheers!