The success of any wearable technology lies in its immediacy and usefulness, and specialised apps for Google Glass are trying hard to bring information to our eye level.
The Spanish online travel portal Destinia.com is trialling an app that will work on GPS and alert the wearer of any hotel rooms nearby.
For the business traveller – and Google Glass wearer – it means they can step off the plane without a hotel booking and can instantly find, book and filter places to stay by price or category.
Users of the gadget must select the app called Hotel Near Me by tapping on the side of the Google Glass and say “go Glass”. Google Glass, which picks up sound from the vibrations in the ear bone, activates the app, which then searches the available options nearby. The user can then tap on the side of the Glass or even nod their head to activate, select and browse the results.
The Google Glass app will be free but Destinia will earn money from hotel bookings. But surely it will also raise its fees that it charges the hotels it is helping to promote? Not immediately, says Ian Webber, the development director at Madrid-based Destinia.com.
Its success, in fact the success of Google Glass itself, remains to seen. Google Glass will launch in the United States next year and only a few thousand of the prototypes are available to app developers such as the Destinia team.
As someone who normally wears glasses, I found the tiny screen distracting and difficult to read. No matter how close it was to my eye, it felt like an ant was crawling across the Google Glass.
Moreover, the gadget itself is still under trial and needs development before it can seamlessly merge with our daily life in the same way a smartphone does. The battery life is short and can be used up in half an hour. Plus the Glass is tuned to the head of the wearer, so if someone else dons it, the screen does not go live immediately. It takes at least a few minutes of adjusting.
However, that has not deterred app developers.
The Glass has already encouraged several new applications – from Glassnost, which shares and rates Google Glass photos and videos, to Glass Eats, which searches for restaurants nearby.
Q&A: Travel takes a new direction
Ian Webber, the development director at Madrid-based Destinia.com, talks about the future of travel apps.
Is the Destinia.com app for Google Glass going to disrupt the travel industry?
Not right now since it is not going to be launched right now. But it can be important in the future. It is going to disrupt the communication industry in general. There are some great ideas out there. We are working on an app on augmented reality. When you visit the Colosseum in Rome, you can, for instance, see how it used to be with this app. We are working on another app that would help you make an itinerary as you move around and share photos and videos as you go.
So, as this app suggests, is the travel industry adapting to new technology?
It is coming up with new ideas. When we started a hotel directory in 1995 [which eventually gave rise to Destinia.com], we thought why not have online travel reservations? At that time, you phoned in, and the call went to the booking people. The process is much more sophisticated now.
How many hotels does Destinia.com feature?
Destinia.com, through the Amadeus travel technology provider, offers access to 250,000 hotels around the world and 450 flights in 25 languages. It has 100 employees.
Are you developing anything for the mobile?
We should have an app out in a month. It took us a week to go from the idea to the actual app.
Top five apps for Google Glass
1 Strava, a fitness app
2 Word Lens, translates signs and maps and more real time
3 Kitchme, teaches recipes
4 Preview for Glass, plays movie previews
5 Glassentation, puts flashcards into the glass
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The specs
Common to all models unless otherwise stated
Engine: 4-cylinder 2-litre T-GDi
0-100kph: 5.3 seconds (Elantra); 5.5 seconds (Kona); 6.1 seconds (Veloster)
Power: 276hp
Torque: 392Nm
Transmission: 6-Speed Manual/ 8-Speed Dual Clutch FWD
Price: TBC
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Squads
Pakistan: Sarfaraz Ahmed (c), Babar Azam (vc), Abid Ali, Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Mohammad Hasnain, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Usman Shinwari, Wahab Riaz
Sri Lanka: Lahiru Thirimanne (c), Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Avishka Fernando, Oshada Fernando, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Minod Bhanuka, Angelo Perera, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara
Disposing of non-recycleable masks
Use your ‘black bag’ bin at home
Do not put them in a recycling bin
Take them home with you if there is no litter bin
- No need to bag the mask
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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