The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/230349
7. SMART WATCHES: IS THAT A SMART WATCH ON YOUR WRIST OR ARE YOU JUST TRYING TO READ MY TEXT? Samsung Galaxy Gear www.samsung.com The idea of a smart watch dates back to at least 1946 when Dick Tracy debuted his walkie talkie watch in the Sunday funnies. Fast forward to 1970 when Microma Universal released the first watch with an LCD display. Intel snatched up Microma to try to create something great, but they failed … miserably. Technology simply wasn't small enough at the time. Since then, there have been many iterations of this type of technology (remember the Microsoft Watch that Bill Gates announced at COMDEX 2002?). Here we sit in 2013 with Samsung's Galaxy Gear smart watch. This device attaches to the Galaxy Note 3 and allows you to receive notifications of incoming calls, text messages, email and alerts. It also includes a speakerphone and a camera. Samsung isn't the only watchmaker in town either; Qualcomm has released its Toq Smartwatch (which currently only works with an Android device but has iOS in its sights). Sony has also jumped in with their SmartWatch 2, also an Android-connected device. FIRM IMPACT: Now your employees can check the news and track billable hours all at the same time. 9. OFFICE 365: ANOTHER CLOUD APP GETS A FACE LIFT Leap Motion Controller www.leapmotion.com 8. LEAP MOTION: HANDS FREE COMPUTING (SORT OF) Leap Motion, Inc. released their Leap Motion device, which allows you to control your computer with natural movements. This device, a bit smaller than a deck of cards, senses your hand and finger motions and follows their every move. Visit http://www.leapmotion. com for a look-see at this neat device, or run to Best Buy and grab one for about $80. Although this technology is in its infancy, Leap Motion has come leaps and bounds with this device. The unit requires the purchase of some applications from their own app store to do anything that can be considered as real productivity, but the concept is outstanding. Think about Tom Cruise manipulating data and objects on the giant transparent screen using just his hands in the 2002 futuristic movie "Minority Report." That is kind of how this works. In September, HP announced the release of its HP ENVY17 Leap Motion Special Edition computer. This is the first computer produced with the Leap Motion technology built in. Microsoft might not have hit a home run with Office 365, but I'd at least call it a solid triple. Office 365 was released in 2010, but in February of this year Microsoft updated their offerings to include Office 2013, bringing increased functionality to their suite of Web applications. Microsoft has also expanded their plans to include a couple of premium and a pro plus plans (along with a home premium plan). 2013 also saw the additions of PowerBI, a business intelligence tool integrated into Office 365 that allows users to create data sets, graphs and reports in Excel using not only private data but publicly available data as well. FIRM IMPACT: Office 365 has possibilities as far as easing the pain of licensing, but the spotlight here should be on mobility. If a firm feels the cloud offering satisfies the needs of their firm (security, feature-set provided, etc.), the upgraded versions of the Web applications and the future enhancements announced could be big winners. FIRM IMPACT: Trial presentations come to mind. Paging through electronic documents with a swipe of your hand or annotating those documents with simple hand gestures could make it simpler for attorneys to present their cases. However, the available apps will have to progress a bit before this becomes a reality. Office 365 office.microsoft.com 44 Peer to Peer