Hey kids, don’t tweet and run: fitness and social media collide head on with Motorola’s updated MOTOACTV gadget.
Motorola have released a comprehensive update for their fitness gadget MOTOACTV, giving users advanced fitness tracking features, and the ability to receive Twitter and Facebook updates during a workout.
As well as a redesigned screen, new options for workout plans and the ability to set targets, users can now read Twitter and Facebook updates. The gadget can already send and receive texts and phone calls, and the new update is designed to provide users with added communication options. While you can’t send updates using the device, you can still “Like” other people’s posts
But how useful is this feature? For the less coordinated among us, it takes enough brain power to put one foot in front of the other, let alone make a phone call, check Facebook or read the latest Twitter updates. Plus, the screen size of the MOTOACTV is designed to be small enough so that it can function as a watch or armband, which doesn’t make it the most user-friendly device for reading.
This raises the much-heard question: how much social media is too much? Is it really necessary to be able to stay connected with our friends and followers while pounding the pavement, on a bike, or letting off steam on the driving range? With this feature, it seems like Motorola are attempting to move their product out of the “only for exercise buffs” category and into the mainstream. Starting at $250, this isn’t exactly the cheapest watch on the market, so the availability of the optional social media plug-in somewhat sweetens the deal for users who aren’t persuaded by the watch’s existing features.
Even without the plug-in, the MOTOACTV’s latest update consolidates the gadget’s place in the top ranks of sophisticated fitness devices. Its GPS tracker uploads your exercise route to the website, allowing you to analyze time and speed statistics, measure your heart rate and set fitness goals. With a scratch-resistant touch-screen display that adjusts to lighting, and a smart player that learns what music motivates you the most, the device isn’t for the faint-hearted, but rather encourages users to get serious about exercise.
To download Motorola’s update, tether your device to your computer, then go to the GooglePlay store and search for MotoACTV Facebook and Twitter. There you’ll find the app’s software update and the social plug-in.
Vodafone in controversy over its tax bill - Daily Telegraph
It invests £1.5m a day in mobile networks in Britain, and is still writing tax off against the £5.96bn it paid the government for mobile spectrum in 2000. It also paid around £700m in payroll and other taxes last year.
Meanwhile, its highest paid member of staff, chief executive Vittorio Colao, saw his pay package more than double from £6.6m to over £14m last year, including more than £12m in bonuses.
In avoiding corporation tax in Britain, Vodafone joins a growing list of major multi-nationals that have a major presence in the UK but pay little or no corporation tax.
In the past, Google’s chairman, Eric Schmidt, has blamed the low payments on the UK’s weak tax laws, saying it has a duty to shareholders to pay no more tax than required and his company’s hands are tied by the Government’s low demands.
“It is true we could pay more tax but we would have to do so voluntarily. It’s called paying the legally minimum amount of tax required,” he said.
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