Welcome to the BYTE, where we serve up the latest home and tech news from the last week for you to sink your teeth into.
This week we’re taking a BYTE out of interactive bilingual books for kids, soap bars used as packaging, the Uber helicopter, Levi’s smart jacket, UPS drones and Airbnb’s animal experience. Dig in!
Generally
Interactive Bilingual Books For Your Kids
People say when you’re younger, you can interpret and learn languages easier – and now – it can be fun for your kids too. A new startup company, called Habbi Habbi, created an interactive bilingual book that your kid will actually want to read.
How Does This Book Work?
Habbi Habbi created this book to help your children have fun while learning a new language. How does this book interact with your children you ask? Well, the child grabs the “reading wand” and points at words and pictures in the book and whenever the child points, the book speaks and says what they point at in English and the language you chose for your child to learn. Music starts playing at certain times as well to help stimulate your child and immerse them into the book. Currently, there are only two languages available for your child to learn – Spanish and Mandarin.
Soap Bar Used For Packaging
People who are eco-friendly are looking for an alternative to plastic. One company, though, might have found a solution. Berlin based designer, Jonna Breitenhuber, uses soap as the packaging component for liquid hygiene products. Her product, called Soapbottle, is not only alluring, but will help reduce the 300 million tons of plastic produced each year. Her soap packaging is completely biodegradable and can be used as hand soap once you’ve finished using the inside component. The only problem with this product is when it gets wet, the packaging gets slippery, but she added a string to help solve this problem.
Take Notes
Uber Copter Goes Live
Uber’s vessels include cars, scooters and now helicopters! Recently, Uber launched their service Uber Copter to the public. Uber copter is a new popular service that helps New Yorkers get to the airport faster. It’s not the cheapest service, but it might just be worth skipping all the New York traffic. Originally, this service was only offered to the top-tiered Uber members, but is now available to everyone. Can you imagine ordering a helicopter ride all from an app on your phone?
Levi’s Smart Jacket
You’ve seen the smart phone and watch, but now there’s a smart jacket too. Levi has partnered with Google to accessorize their jackets with Google’s tech, called Jacquard. This tech device is a very small size and connects to your device via by blue tooth. Once you clip on the device to the cuff of your sleeve, you can use hand gestures to activate services from the jacquard, such as taking pictures, making a phone call or playing music. The purpose of this miniature device was to allow you to be connected without being distracted.
UPS Implements Delivery Drones
Don’t be surprised if you receive a package from a drone. UPS recently got clearance from the Federal Aviation Administration to utilize drones to deliver packages. It’s the first company to be given clearance to have its own flight path, but surely it won’t be the last. Google and Amazon are both working on their own drone prototypes. These drones will be able to deliver products faster than your average delivery person and speed is critical when it comes to medicine and medical supplies.
Totally Unrelated
Airbnb’s Animal Experience
Imagine being able to paddle board with an alpaca or kayak near the penguins. This is a dream come true for all you animal lovers and now, this dream is a reality with Airbnb’s new service, Animal Experiences. The goal of this service is to enhance your stay while traveling. And the best part? The animals are completely protected thanks to Airbnb partnering with Animal Protection services.
