The Main Advantages of Smart Cities

Following in the wake of Smart phones, televisions, and cars, Smart cities will soon arrive on the horizon. Thanks to several technological innovations and advancements, building Smart cities is now a possibility. A Smart city refers to an urban area that incorporates information and communication technologies to optimize infrastructure and enhance the performance of urban services. Smart cities have a goal to create a more-sustainable urban environment, reduce costs, and improve the quality of life for its citizens. Continue reading to learn more about the many advantages of Smart cities.

Enhanced safety

Smart cities generally boast far safer environments than regular cities due to their implementation of technological advancements that help reduce criminal activity. Smart technologies that help improve the safety of citizens include connected crime centers, license plate recognition, and gunshot detectors.

Increased sustainability

By incorporating energy-efficient buildings, renewable energy sources, and air quality sensors into an urban environment’s infrastructure, Smart cities can greatly improve the sustainability of municipalities. For example, Smart sensors can quickly identify any leaks or outages to conserve water and electricity. In addition to creating a more sustainable environment, such eco-friendly features also help improve the health of citizens by decreasing their exposure to toxic air pollutants.

Decreased traffic congestion

Using car sensors, Smart cities can pinpoint common areas of congestion and high-risk locations. Based on the data they receive, they can then effectively improve traffic patterns by reshaping intersections or increasing intersection monitoring in accident-prone areas. Smart cities can also help reduce traffic congestion by monitoring the state of traffic equipment and determining its effect to reduce inefficiencies.

Reduced infrastructure failures

Infrastructure failures can become extremely costly, and they can put the safety of citizens at risk. Unfortunately, such failures commonly occur in cities as structures age and weaknesses develop without being noticed. Thanks to Smart sensors, Smart cities can quickly identify structural flaws in roads, bridges, and buildings as they develop. Such data can then be sent to personnel so that they can inspect and repair cracks and weaknesses before the entire infrastructure fails.

The Coolest Advancements in Car Technology

Companies like Tesla, Jeep, and Toyota, are all changing the way we think about our cars. These and many other major companies have developed features to improve car safety and efficiency for drivers around the world. Here are some of the coolest advancements in car technology.

GPS Integration

GPS technology has undoubtedly changed the way we travel—it’s no longer necessary to fumble around with a map. Many modern vehicles now have popular GPS applications like Google Maps and Waze readily integrated into their operating system. It’s never been easier to get from Point A to Point B.

Bluetooth Capabilities

Bluetooth is a hands-free technology that allows drivers to safely make and receive phone calls while on the road. It’s also great for those who want to listen to their favorite music or podcasts because drivers can change songs without taking their hands off the wheel, reducing distractions.

Emergency Braking

Car manufactures are always concerned about safety and, as such, are always looking for ways to minimize risk on the road. Emergency braking systems are the result of this mindset. As one of the coolest advancements in car technology, emergency braking will assist a driver in situations where they must come to an instant halt.

Backup Cameras

As its name implies, this technology gives the driver a better visual of what is happening behind them. Consequently, a backup camera saves drivers from the dangers of potentially hitting something—or someone—as they reverse. Many backup cameras also feature an alert system that gives the driver an auditory warning as they approach danger.

Automatic High-Beam Lights

It can be difficult to know when it’s appropriate to turn on your headlights. Thankfully, many modern cars now feature automatic high-beam lights to remedy the confusion. Newer Jeep Wrangler models, for example, put this tech to work daily. These lights will automatically turn on when necessary, and they’ll also adjust their brightness based on the time of day.

Autonomous Capabilities

Autonomous capabilities are still in development but may very well become the new normal in the near future. One major hurdle that tech and auto companies must overcome is finding a way to have vehicles communicate with each other to prevent accidents. Google and Tesla are currently testing self-driving cars on the roads, and if testing continues into the next decade, it will change our lives in a big way.

Put a FaceTime Link in Email or Text Message to Direct Recipient to Call FaceTime

Apple provided a multi-page document in September 2017 that describes several URL methods that are supported by system apps on iOS, macOS, and watchOS 2 and later. Native iOS apps and web apps running in Safari on any platform can use these methods to integrate with system apps and provide a more seamless experience for the user. For example, if an iOS app displays telephone numbers, software designer can use an appropriate URL to launch the Phone app whenever someone taps one of those numbers. Similarly, clicking an iTunes link launches the iTunes app and plays the song specified in the link. When a user clicks a link, the response depends on the platform and the installed system apps.

This Apple document describes the methods that require special attributes or special formatting in order to be understood by the associated system app. As a result, this document does not describe all URL schemes supported on different Apple platforms.

We've found that regular users can apply these techniques in some every day tasks in the Notes app or in iMessage or the Mail app. For example, if a user wants customers (iOS only) to make contact on FaceTime rather than by telephone, the user can put a Native app URL string in a text message or email in the following format: facetime://user@example.com

For FaceTime audio calls for iOS customers only the format is:
facetime-audio://user@example.com

The user replaces "user@example.com" with their own email address. However, the user must set the iPhone to use an Apple ID as well as the phone number.





FaceTime calls can be received when a user sets their iPhone to "Use your Apple ID for FaceTime". Once this command is selected, the user then logs into their Apple ID or crates another Apple ID account.

Once the user is signed in to FaceTime the user can also assign additional real email addresses to use to receive FaceTime video or FaceTime audio calls.

To add additional emails ...

Open the Settings app in iOS and go to “FaceTime”

Tap on “Add Another Email…” and enter the email address to add to FaceTime as “user@email.com” format

Adding more email addresses to FaceTime in iOS is allowed.

Users will receive a verification message at the assigned email address.

When the email address is verified, users can make and receive FaceTime video and voice calls with that email address. Users also have the option of selecting a Caller ID to use from any of the assigned emails or the phone number. FaceTime can also work from an Apple iPod, iPad or retired iPhone without a phone number.

For more link information, see FaceTime Links from the Apple Developer Documentation Archive ...