Living Rooms: The Next Battle Field for Technology?

Video Game Systems (Playstation, Xbox, Wii U ), Media “Pucks” (Roku, Apple TV), Smart TV’s. Technology is moving from seeing users sitting at a desk with a full computer, or having a laptop on their knees to access information in the modern day and age.

The Living room is quickly becoming the Next Battle Ground for Technological advancement.  Microsoft wants their new Xbox One to become a core part of a user’s life, including features that allow a user to answer Skype video calls, watch TV AND Video game all at the same time.  

Apple TV, Roku , Google’s Chromecast,  the Playstation 3 / 4 Nintendo’s Wii U and even Ouya  allows a user to stream services like Netflix, Hulu and Youtube, while also letting users recast their videos from other devices.

But what if you want to do all this without the use of an additional device attached to your TV? That is where the Smart TV comes in, with companies like Samsung, LG, Sony and Panasonic shipping TV’s with their own stand alone WIFI and pre-installed apps for the above mentioned services, like Netflix

I know, as a Web Designer, I have taken to testing My designs on Video Game Systems, due to the fact that it’s going to become easier, and quicker, for users to just pull up a browser on their Web enabled Systems, But what about you, the Users, Have you found yourself doing something like having a conversation about where to order pizza and instead of running for a Phone Book or Laptop, or even your Smartphone, just turn to the TV / Entertainment system and search for a online Menu without leaving what you are otherwise doing. Leave your comments below

Which is More Important, Design or Content?

This past week the question was asked on Google Plus, which is more important Design or Content when it comes to Web Design?

As a Web Designer, I though I would weigh in on this question. Frankly the two share a 50-50 partnership in the creation of an effective Website.  Lets take a look at why each of them is important in the creation of a successful Website.

First, Design. Design is the elements that create the layout for a Website, it makes everything work together and flow together, allowing the user an easy, well set up way to access the information, to get to the sections they need and allow things to flow so you can go from your Home page to any sub-domain pages the user may need to access.

A good example of this is when you have a website where you start off on the home page, move to an about us page and follow a link to a contact us page.  The quick way for the user to navigate back is for somewhere near the top menu having a small site map, as simple as reading 

Home > About Us > Contact Us

And while a simple link system like this, a design element, allows the user to know where they are and how to get back, it does not cover why the person is accessing the Website.

Content, is the information your clients are looking for, but it needs to be accessible and presented in a readable way to be of any use to customers.

Think of the Content Vs Design debate in this way. You walk into a shopping mall and there are 3 new stores, all selling the same thing. You check out store one, and they have product (a strictly content store) but it’s just dropped anywhere on a concrete floor, no organization or presentation at all. Going to Store two, you find that they have a place for everything, in an organized and inviting layout, but no product on the shelfs (this is the strictly Design Store)

About to give up, you go to the third Store, here you find a well laid out shop, with product on the shelves all well laid out and easy to access with good customer service.  When you think about it, which Store as a customer do you go to, better question, which do you want to be YOUR Store / Website?

When 1 Million Units for two companies really is not the same thing.

Sony and Microsoft are both claiming successful launches of their Playstation 4 and Xbox One systems respectfully, with each company saying they sold around One Million units in their launch weekend.  Impressive numbers for each company, but once one looks  deeper than just the numbers it's not quite as impressive for Microsoft as one would think.

The reason is due to a very Major detail, Launch Region.  When Sony launched the Playstation 4, they launched in 2 countries, Canada and the Untied States of America, for a total of over 900,000 units at launch.

Microsoft, who launched a week later, is also claiming close to 100 Million Units sold on launch weekend, but their numbers are spread over 13 Countries, having launched in Canada and the United States of America as well as the following countries
 Australia, Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom . and New ZealandWhat this actually causes is questions that can be asked as to how the Xbox One will do in any given specific market. How do you think this generation of Video Games will go for Microsoft, Leave your comments below

AOL announces the end of Winamp, Rumour says Microsoft might Purchase, does Winamp have a future?

AOL made the announcement that the long used Winamp MP3 Player and Streaming Audio Service will be being discontinued on December 20th, 

However, rumour has it that Winamp and it’s Shout Cast service may not be as dead as one would expect, with reports coming out last last week that Microsoft may be looking at purchasing the rights to both, at least according to a TechCrunch story reported by TWiT’s TechNews Today podcast last friday.

According to TechCrunch’s Article neither AOL or Microsoft has opted to comment on the story, but claims are that the deal is not yet finalized as the two parties work on settling on a price.

Considering Winamp really has not seen many updates over the past few years, what do you readers think about this, do you still use Winamp ? Would you be OK with Microsoft owning it?

Coin Card: First Thought to come to mind is “Don’t Put All Your [Digital] Eggs in One Basket”

So, last week the announcement was made that a new Digital “One” Card called Coin is going to be released on the market.  The promise of the Coin card is that a user can program in their Debit, Credit and Loyalty / Club Cards into this one piece of plastic and ,through the use of a small on screen display /button system, be able to pull up just the card they need without having to carry a full wallet of different cards where ever they go.

While the concept, which will cost customers $100 per card to get in on using, may sound useful and very interesting at first, I actually had instant flashbacks to a piece of device given to me when I was growing up, one I’m sure many of you also have heard (Say it along with me)

DON’T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET!

Even though the card is promised to be secured with 128-bit Encryption, the idea of a “One Card to Rule them All” card, much like this  (Image is a replica of the Plaz Card from William Shatner’s TekWar TV Series)

Actually worries me because, it is well known that Hacker’s are getter better and faster with their ability to break encryption in the modern age, now ask yourself, how safe do you feel your personal data is with something like this?

Feel free to leave comments below.

An Open Letter to the Video Game Masses, From a Fellow Gamer.

Dear Gaming Universe,

OK I get it, we all have our preferences, Game Systems, Titles, and Features available, but all this “Mine’s Better than Your’s” back and forth is creating something that I never, in over 25 years of playing Nintendo, Sega, Sony and Microsoft Systems, thought would happen

I HAVE BECOME EMBARRASSED TO ADMIT THAT I AM A GAMER!

Yes you read that right, I, someone who believes in the rights of gamers to choose, I someone who has in the past even suggested the use of Video Games to help with overcoming mobility related disabilities, I the guy who would be willing to sit and discuss Games and Systems for hours and like so many others in the world even can say I have a Photo of myself with Video Games Live creator, and Game Music Composer Tommy Tallarico am so disappointed with the way fans of both sides Xbox and Playstation 4 are behaving that I want to hide away and not even admit to things like having been a beta Tester for Jak X Combat Racing

The Video game communities, especially on a site like Google Plus, are filled with people who by age are supposed to be “Adults” yet are doing childish stuff along the lines of things like this

and this

It is childish actions like these that have left me in a mindset where rather than looking forward to the New Generation of BOTH Systems, new version of Uncharted on the PS4 and Halo on the Xbox One, unique ways to test my skills and entertain myself for hours, I would rather not even admit to being a Gamer, thank you all for that and enjoy your toys.

Production of iPhone 5c Suspended, Cries of Apple's failing ring out, but is it really a failure?

If one were go look at the Reports hitting the news the past couple days, you would think that Foxxcon suspending production of Apple's iPhone 5c spells impending doom for Apple.

Yet, when one truly inspects the details the questions pertaining to failure become more a statement of a risky businesses decision having been made.  The first thing that one has to take into account when looking at the situation is that the 5c was in fact a replacement for the scheduled to be phased out original iPhone 5, as evident by this side by side comparison of the two models.

The fact that the real only changes between the two are Battery life and the Camera's Aperture instantly put the 5c behind the 8 ball with users as the 5c was not really all that much of a improvement over the iPhone 5 it was replacing on the market.

Couple this detail with the features of the 5s, including a 64 bit processor and Apple's touch ID system, all for a very minimal price difference over the 5c and a picture very quickly develops that shows that the users want the newer technology, a detail Apple was not originally able to keep up with, as they banked on the market being able to support both the 5c and 5s models.

Unlike the step from the iPhone 4s to the 5, which saw major price drops to the 4s when the 5 launched, there was not the same difference between the 5 and 5c prices, the result being a undervalued product.

What many may see as failure, may better to be viewed as a company learning from a mistake and shifting production to the product that's selling.

Tools for a More Productive Designer

Like all well organised and prepared professionals,  sometimes we Web Design Experts have to refer to manuals in order to deploy an perfectly encoded website.  This may seem like an easy task to accomplish, but in fact, many times it means shifting windows around on screen or worse yet a desktop full of books and printouts to work around.

Then there is the additional loss of valuable time to researching this information instead of being able to focus on writing code.

So what is the solution for a Web Designer actually? Well, at least for myself it involves the use of a tablet and a reference Site like caniuse.com

Caniuse.com, much like the name would imply,  is a reference tool that breaks down the code by section and browser's support to help designers quickly reference quality information about the code to best use for cross platform browsing support,  and when displayed on a quickly accessible "P.A.D.D" (Star Trek fans will get the reference ) can allow for fast verification of how code is written and deployed. And should be in the Online tool kit of any Web Design Expert.

Bitcoin, what is it Anyway?

First, lets address just what Bitcoin is.  Wikipedia defines Bitcoin as being a distributed, peer to peer digital currency that functions without the intermediation of any central authority and was originally created by a developer going under the online name of " Satoshi Nakamoto" in 2008

Bitcoin has been linked to services like online sales of illegal drugs, including Website Silk Road, which was shut down bu the FBI in 2013, but it does have many legal applications, being accepted some online venders such as Wordpress and Reddit.

So how does one go about getting into trading and spending Bitcoin?  The answer is to "mine" them or to outright buy them, an article on Techcrunch actually says that the currency was valued at $188 USD to every 1 Bitcoin.

The main concern that is appearing is that since  there is currently no official governing body overseeing, governments world wide are rushing to catch up with this new online currency as there are around 12 Million coins in circulation (based off the number from Tech Crunch's article that amounts to a currency with a world wide value currently valued around $2,256,000,000.00 USD). Without question, a currency to keep an eye on.

Playstation 4’s Launch issues, What Story Does the Consumer Really Believe?

In case you were living under a rock and missed it, last Friday marked the launch of the 4th generation of Sony’s Playstation Video Game System, and boy, did the Internet world light up over it.

Stories, over the weekend were coming in fast and furious, as users complained about their units showing up DOA, getting the “Blue Light of Death”, Display issues and a collection of other problems.

Part of the blame has been aimed at Amazon, with the user base pointing out poor packaging and delivery breaking units in transit.  Others are pointing the Blame at Sony, citing a half baked Operating system that requires a 300 MB patch to be downloaded on Day 1 and still will see the PS 4 not having everything the PS3 did available to customers.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this, and something that has become a concern for Xbox One users awaiting their launch this Friday, is reports from IGN stating that a worker with Foxxcon (the company contracted to assemble almost every piece of technology out there from Apple, Sony, Microsoft and others) has laid claim that the assembly line this person was assigned to actually sabotaged The Playstation 4, citing the following quote

“The ps4 console we assemble can be turned on at best.”

The original post has been locked by IGN, but many sites have picked up on this story, including Neowin.net

Sony’s stance on it is that with any counsel release there is an expected number of failures and that the reports, a rough estimate would put it at 3,600 units of 90,000 units pre-ordered, is within acceptable operating standards.

The Question for Users world wide, is what is the truth of the Matter, has the launch of the PS4 been used as a tool to protest unfair work conditions, Did Sony rush the unit to Market to meet the Pre Black-Friday sales window, is the Playstation 4 really a Lemon, or is this really just a case of standard failure rate? Feel free to leave your comments below.

Samsung is working on their own Operating system, How risky a move is it really?

If Samsung has anything to say about it, the world of Mobile Computing software could be shaken up, as they are currently working on the Linux based Tizen Operating System, in fact it was just reported on Tuesday that Samsung has 36 supporters on side for this OS including Anti-Virus company Macafee and video game company Konami.

The question that has to be asked though is this “Is Samsung really making a smart, calculated move and how will this effect Android deployment / Market Share? ”

According to Market research group Localytics, Samsung devices make up 63% of the Global market of hardware running Android software.  This CBC article states that

“About nine in every 10 smartphone users are tied to either Google’s Android or Apple’s iPhone ecosystems, generating profit for Google and Apple every time they purchase a game or application on their smartphone”

The implied path that Samsung, and their partners, could be looking at with releasing a 3rd Major Operating system to the Mobile market, is to shake up the ecosystem created by Google and Apple, thus getting a piece of the action.  This may be confirmed by the following quote from the article, attributed to Kang Yenn-Kyu, an associate research fellow at state-run Korea Information Society Development Institute.

“"With only hardware, its influence is limited,…Samsung's goal is to establish an ecosystem centred on Samsung."

As someone who follows, and develops Websites that run on this Technology, I personally can see two potential ways moving in this direction could effect the market.

1. Samsung Successfully deploys the Tizen OS, taking their hardware share of Android’s users (that being potentially 63% of 1 Billion Activated Android Devices)away from Google and creating a Market that offers users Windows, Android, iOS and the Tizen Operating system choices

2. Samsung owners jump to other Android running Devices as they want the Operating system rather than staying loyal to Samsung’s hardware.  This potentially could damage Samsung long term revenue, as articles state that Samsung makes 17% of their revenue off systems running Android.

This potentially could impact google. as the Android software system delivers to them very valuable, resalable user data.  What are your thoughts on the potential this has on the market?

The Race to get it to Market Results in Waits for the Consumers

CNET UK announced the news this week that both the upcoming Xbox One and Playstation 4, for lack of better terms, Home Entertainment Systems. will be requiring a Firmware Update OUT OF THE BOX on their respective launch dates.

The Update for the Playstation 4 is being reported as a 300 MB download that will cover the system launching without protocols DVD and Blu-Ray Playback as well as Wi-Fi Streaming of Playstation 4 games to the Playstation Vita hand held system. The article for the Playstation 4 reports that the Suspend/Resume mode will also not make the launch window's software, with no given date as to when users can expect that.

On the Xbox One side, it is being reported that the System will not be able to play Blu-Ray Disks on launch day, The latest in a long string of negative press for Microsoft's 3rd Generation of the Xbox system, which has seen its share of Microsoft having to back track on policies,  Users facing things like being told the system must  always be turned on and wont run without the Kinect Camera (Both Reversed by Microsoft) and "Resolution Gate" in which the Xbox One's games will ship in 720p format

How does this NEWS really effect the world of Web Design you may ask, the answer is simply this. Much like these setbacks users will be facing on day one of the release of their respective system of choice are leaving disgruntled Customers, so too can having your Website both "Live" and "In Development".

Be it a Video Game System, like the Playstation 4 and Xbox One, a physical Store Front (think a Walmart or Best Buy) or a Web Site, if your customer has to work their way around things being "Under Construction" or are told "We'll have that ready for you tomorrow even though we originally promised to have it today" they are going to walk away and find business else where.

The Economics of Technology

Over the weekend, iMore.com's Rene Ritchie shared up a wonderful article posted on the Garden's Website where Charles Arthur broke down the Market Share of Smartphones and how Market Share only really comes into the equation when we reach Market Saturation.

Rather than going into my own break down on this topic, I have elected to post a link to the article here. Good piece to read, not just for Smartphones, but Technology in general

Why an 80% market share might only represent half of smartphone users

Evolution of Shop Class: Could 3D Printing become a part of school courses?

When I was growing up, my High School considered Trades courses to be Mechanics, Metal and Wood Shop and Drafting, all quality skills for students to learn, in fact I enjoyed many a hour in the Wood Shop and the skills from Drafting have been quite useful when it comes to being able to do Site layouts for Web Design (Seriously, Storyboarding a Website Really is nothing more than designing a plan of where everything goes)

So when some artistic verses to a poem woke me from a sound sleep early Saturday, my brain went into over drive and asked the question “Could 3D Printing actually become a course we see offered in Schools?”

When you think about it, the answer is  a resounding YES potentially. Many schools already offer Drafting courses, which use programs like Autocad to help students learn how to map the vectors of new designs, and the cost of materials could be worked back into the system by having Students figure out the cost up front (Project Management) and paid for by Parents (this is the way my High School actually handled Wood Shop projects).

At this point, the major cost that would be brought into question involves the price of the Printers and proper venting systems for Printer Lab modifications to existing Visual Arts / Drafting labs, with the Printers still costing Thousands each. but who is to say that in the next 5 years, maybe 10 years, we could actually see this new skill and trade being offered into schools all around the world.

Running a Company, it's best to keep your main computers hard wired

While troubleshooting my home WiFi connection the other day (My computer has been suffering from occasional dropping of connection), out of desperation, I pulled up an app called iStumbler that gave me the sub channel and location data of other broadcasting wireless access points in the area around my house. 4 points including my own

The result of the scan actually provided some rather interesting results.  Having previously established a known "geo-locational" zone for my WiFi using my iPhone I was able to create a diameter of signal.

With this approximation of the fence I then took to google maps to figure from the longitude and latitude data iStumbler provided where the one un identified access point was in relation to my location.

The result of this bit of digital detective work? The church across the street from my location AND a residence two houses over the other direction have me sandwiched between two access points broadcasting on the same 802.11 sub-frequency.

You might be asking how this effects keeping a business' main computers cable networked, as opposed to wireless.  The answer is this. The 802.11 frequency currently has only 4 sub frequencies and 12 sub frequencies in active use, the risk of being knocked offline by "digital noise" is something that could cost your company that all important contract or sale.

Where do You get your NEWS, or has Twitter really became a Newspaper?

In a lot of ways, this entry dates back to a prediction article by PC Mag.com's  Tim Bajarin in July of 2004. In the article the author stated

“…as I watched tweeted news alerts and tweets from friends, telling me that Osama bin Laden had been killed, I began to realize that there is another medium emerging that, in some ways, could evolve into the newspaper of the future.”


On Nov 4th CNET ran an article showcasing information from Pew research Study group, which  say 16% of Adults use Twitter, 8% get news from it and most of the users tend to be “Young, Educated and Wealthy”.

It should be pointed out that the sample for the survey was listed as “More than 5,000 US Adults” in the CNET article, which means the sample field is very small, but it leads to this question for you readers

Where do you get your daily news, TV, Websites, Newspapers or Social Media? Please leave your comments below

Awesome Idea, but I think this is likely going to be shut down fast

Streamnation, a service that is designed (much like many others) to allow users to share Photo and Video with their friends have, according to reports including this article from  The Verge, have  announced Streamnation 2.0, with some new features

Now normally a new version of a service, really would not be all that NEWS or blog worthy, but the company behind this service is offering a very unique service.  They are promoting the service as a way for users to upload their Ripped DVD files for sharing with their friends via Cloud based streaming, highlighting a type of DRM that would allow the video file to only be accessible by one person on a user’s friend list at a time.

Service founder Jonathan Benassaya was quoted in the Verge article as saying

“The concept of borrowing inside of fair use is restricted to friends and family, and since there is no copy involved, you are not distributing multiple copies of the same content to your friends." So it works like Kindle book lending, except with streaming movies.”

and

 "Ten years ago, you could buy a DVD, rip it, and put it on computer, but now, you buy something on iTunes, and if tomorrow you have a Surface tablet, you can't watch it… Why spend the same amount of money for content that has more restrictions?"

Where things become really questionable about the future of this service and if it could be facing legal actions from the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) is that the service is a pay to access service, with users having to pay a monthly subscription fee ($9.99 for 500GB of storage on one pricing tier), with no mention what so ever if the industry gets any cut of the pricing.

This can potentially be viewed as encouraging users to ignore copyright and share their ripped commercial content with the public (not to forget mentioning that should the MPAA take this service down, it could legally also gain access to the service’s user list, which means potential lawsuits of the users for uploading copyrighted materials to the Internet) , the concept is from my viewpoint on unsteady ground.

Lets not even get into the whole issue about how the service would go about blocking streaming video download plugins, like Flashgot in Firefox, from allowing a user to make a offline copy on their end of the stream.

What do you think about this concept, Chance of it surviving or dead in the water before it’s out of the docks? leave your comments below

Digital Muscle Memory, or why we complain every time Facebook Changes

The other night, I got explaining to a friend of mine the concept of Muscle Memory, which in basic terms is the effect of doing something the same way often enough that it becomes a consistent “auto pilot” action.

This action, is not something that is isolated to just physical movement in the offline realm though, It can, and does, effect users when it comes to Technology as well.  In the title I used Facebook as an example of this phenomenon, but the Global technology community actually has seen this happen even more recently with the change by Apple from iOS 6 to iOS 7.

All it takes is for someone to ask a user about their iOS 7 experience  to find comments along the lines of 

“They moved everything, I want it back the way it was”

and

“Why did they have to go and screw everything up? i knew exactly how to use it, then they did this to me!”

The fact is, I have heard these same comments in many different places, from how Google searches, to how Microsoft changed things as they transitioned from Windows 7 to Windows 8, or moved Hotmail to Outlook, merged MSN Messenger into Skype. The list could go on and on.  

It all comes down to one very basic concept, We, the end users, becoming conditioned to things working a specific way, and not wanting to have relearn when things are changes, in many cases (I wont include the Tiled Start Menu vs Task Bar Start Menu detail, because, even I feel that  feel was  a mistake). Usually give it anywhere from two to 6 weeks, our bodies and minds become adjusted to the new way things work and we realize in many ways that it is indeed for the better. That’s just the way Digital Muscle Memory works

Multiple Platforms: The argument in favour of Web Designers arriving with Multiple "PADD's"

First, yes the title of this blog does indeed reference the technology from Star Trek: The Next Generation, as PADD stands for "Personal Access Display Device".

Now, with that out of the way, lets look at just why should a Web Designer actually arrive at a presentation with multiple platforms,each on their own tablet, and all tablets running around the same sized screen.

Currently available to the general public, tablets come running any of the following operating systems.

• Apple's iOS
• Google's Android (current version being KitKat)
• Microsoft's Windows 8 / RT
• Blackberry's QNX

And as addressed in prior articles, each of these platforms have different browsers available to their installed user base.  This, of course, means that any design created for cross platform browsing HAS to display properly on all platforms.

But how do you, as a Web Designer, show this to your client? Mock ups show off the concept, but falls short when it comes to interactive testing. Simulators for Android and iOS might not display the site correctly when emulated on a Windows laptop or Macbook, and the client wants to play around with the designs in each platform's environment anyway.

The solution comes in the form of the 7" - 8" screen Tablet market.  Think about it, for about the cost of one Apple Macbook Pro, a designer can equip themselves with less than 4 pounds of machines, which can be stacked into a secure area of a backpack or briefcase, deployed quickly at a meeting (say at Starbucks and the virtual office) and allow for quick access and evaluation of a design over multiple platforms. A good entry level selection for a Web Designer's "Field Kit" might look something like this

• Apple's iPad Mini with Retina Display ($399)
• Lenovo's Miix 2 Tablet running Windows 8.1($299)
• Google's Nexus 7 by Asus running Android KitKat ($229) and
• Blackberry's Playbook running QNX (price and stock questionable, good if you have or can find one)

Combine these 4 devices with a portfolio to take down notes as your Client looks over your designs, and you will find that you can quickly make tweaks to the design code in an efficient manor pleasing to your Client's eye and potentially building a strong future proof professional relationship for years to come

Ticket issues to Woman who was Driving with Google Glass on, The Debate Starts

An article posted by the  The Huffington Post and may other sites on October 30th has reported that California Driver Cecilia Abadie was pulled over in San Diego on a Speeding offence, and actually left with two citations, the second being for Driving with a monitor visible to the driver, and in brackets the Officer cited Goggle Glass specifically.

The driver took to Google Plus later with the following comment: (spelling errors not corrected from the original posting)

A cop just stopped me and gave me a ticket for wearing Google Glass while driving! The exact line says: Driving with Monitor visible to Driver (Google Glass). Is #GoogleGlass ilegal [sic] while driving or is this cop wrong???

While the debate as to if Driving with Google Glass is volleyed like a Tennis Ball at the US Open, the Driver’s comment brings up a very interesting question to consider.

Here, in Canada, we have many Provinces that have instilled laws making the use of Technology, like Mobile Phones, illegal while behind the wheel of a Motor Vehicle, as displayed in the image below of the Ban in British Columbia

(Full Document available here)

Further more, in the same document (again this is based on the laws here in British Columbia), when it comes to Television Screens (Monitors) it is stated that

A person may not have a television image displayed within view of 

that driver unless the image displays pictures, information or data 

solely designed to assist the driver in the safe operation of the 

vehicle or the safety and security of its load or its passengers. 

The device must be installed so that it is securely fixed to the motor 

vehicle and in a manner that does not obstruct the driver’s view of 

the front or sides of the motor vehicle or interfere with the safety or 

operating equipment of the motor vehicle.

The Fine for violation of said Law is $167 and up to 3 Penalty Points on ones license.  What is your opinion on the topic, Should Google Glass be treated like a Mobile Device and fall under the ban, Technically it is a hands free Device, but also Technically it is a mobile communications device, Leave your comments below