Tag: engadget

Amazon wants augmented reality to be headset-free

Augmented reality (AR) isn’t all headsets and funny glasses . Amazon wants to turn it into something that you can interact with in your living room, judging by a couple of the company’s recently approved patents. The ” object tracking ” patent shows how a system of projectors and cameras could beam virtual images onto real objects, and track your hand while you interact with them. The other, called ” reflector-based depth mapping , ” would use a projector to transform your room into a kind of holodeck, mapping the depth of objects and bodies in a room. Via: Bloomberg Source: USPTO (1) , (2)

Originally posted here:
Amazon wants augmented reality to be headset-free

Sit in the orchestra pit with Google’s 360-degree video

To get a good view of a world-class orchestra in New York’s Carnegie Hall, you normally have to buy an expensive front row seat. With a little help from Google, however, you can now sit on stage for free. The company is launching a “virtual exhibition” today called Performing Arts which includes four performances recorded with multiple 360-degree camera rigs. Alongside Carnegie Hall , you can experience the Berliner Philharmoniker , London’s Royal Shakespeare Company and the Theatro Municipal in São Paulo. Via: Google (Blog Post) Source: Performing Arts

More:
Sit in the orchestra pit with Google’s 360-degree video

Stretchable square of rubber doubles as a keyboard

There’s a whole branch of science that’s dedicated to turning flexible surfaces into sensors that can be used as an artificial substitute for skin. These materials could then be used to give robots a sense of touch , or even to restore feeling for people with artificial prostheses. Researchers at the University of Auckland have taken the concept in a slightly different direction after building a square of soft, stretchable rubber that pulls double-duty as a keyboard. It’s hoped that the technology can be used to create foldable, rollable input devices, which reminds us of Nokia’s twisty-stretchy phone concept from way back when. Via: EurekaAlert Source: Smart Materials

See the article here:
Stretchable square of rubber doubles as a keyboard

LG’s spending billions to make more OLED things

LG’s OLED 4K TVs are jaw-droppingly gorgeous , but the price still isn’t anywhere near the level it needs to be for mass consumer adoption . Hopefully the company’s new manufacturing plant can help that a bit thanks to economies of scale . A Reuters report says that the South Korean firm is spending some $8.71 billion (around 10 trillion Korean won) on a new manufacturing facility for the display panels in Paju, South Korea. Perhaps this can make up for some of the losses the tech giant suffered by halting production at one of its TV plants due to a gas leak earlier this year. Source: Reuters

Read this article:
LG’s spending billions to make more OLED things

This crowdfunded router updates its own security

It’s really, really, really hard to make a router sound exciting , but the folks behind the Turris Omnia are betting the device’s focus on keeping your sensitive data secure might grab you. The manufacturer’s IndieGogo campaign still has 45 days to go, but it’s already proved incredibly popular: over a thousand backers have pledged some $274, 598 as of this writing. That’s 275 percent higher than the threshold for funding the project. The router itself runs Turris’ open source operating system (based on the OpenWRT project ) which auto updates as soon as any type of vulnerability is discovered by its cadre of developers. Via: Turris Source: IndieGogo

Continued here:
This crowdfunded router updates its own security

Apple’s next iPhone reportedly ditches the headphone jack

Apple’s quest for ever-thinner , ever-smarter devices may produce another casualty: your iPhone’s headphone jack. A rumor at MacOtakara claims that the next iPhone might drop the 3.5mm port and use the Lightning port for audio instead. The move would let Apple slim its phone even further (reportedly, over 1mm thinner than the iPhone 6s ) and take advantage of Lightning’s features, such as headphone-based DACs and app launching. You’d have to use an adapter for any conventional wired headphones, or else make the leap to Bluetooth. Via: MacRumors Source: MacOtakara (translated)

View original post here:
Apple’s next iPhone reportedly ditches the headphone jack

E-paper sneakers change your style on the fly

If you’re the sort to buy multiple pairs of sneakers just to make sure your footwear is always fashionable, you might soon have a way to save a lot of money. David Coelho is crowdfunding ShiftWear , or sneakers that have color e-paper displays in their sides. You only need a mobile app to change your look at a moment’s notice (there are promises of a shoe design store), and you can even use animations if you’re feeling ostentatious. The shoes are machine-washable, and the e-paper consumes virtually no power if you’re using static imagery — there’s even talk of walk-to-charge tech that would save you from ever having to plug in or swap batteries. Source: Indiegogo

Read the original post:
E-paper sneakers change your style on the fly

Google Street View gives you a tour of ancient Jordan landmarks

Jordan is home to some extremely significant historical and religious sites. However, visiting those landmarks in person is no mean feat — which is why Google just added many of them to Street View. Fire up your web browser and you can get virtual, 360-degree tours of more than 30 ancient locations, including the city of Petra (above), Jerash and legendary castles from the Crusades. We suspect that this will pale in comparison to the grandeur of seeing these relics first-hand, but you should at least have an inkling of what the experience would be like. Source: Google Maps

Read this article:
Google Street View gives you a tour of ancient Jordan landmarks

Square’s new reader arrives to accept mobile payments and chip cards

We’ve known about Square’s new NFC-friendly reader for a while, and now the point-of-sale gadget is available for use. Starting today, 100 merchants in “select cities” (quite a few, actually) will begin accepting NFC-driven payments like Apple Pay , Android Pay , Samsung Pay and those newfangled chip credit/debit cards . The reader is a square pad (of course) separate from the company’s usual POS setups and sliding readers, allowing you to hover your phone or insert a card to complete purchase. The unit is wireless and pairs with either a countertop system or Square’s free mobile app to handle the transactions. However, the new reader itself will set businesses back $49 in order to get started. For the initial rollout, look for the device at businesses in the following cities: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Nashville, New Orleans, New York, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Seattle, St. Louis Tampa, and Washington, D.C.

Link:
Square’s new reader arrives to accept mobile payments and chip cards

Oddball machine makes ‘analog’ techno music with vinyl records

Many techno DJs are used to playing music on vinyl , but creating it? That’s another matter. However, Graham Dunning has found a wonderfully strange way to make that idea work. His Mechanical Techno device produces full-on dance tracks by driving several heavily modified records at once with a turntable, with each record relying on unique triggers to produce a sound. Electrical contacts will produce a synth sound as one record spins around, while piezoelectric triggers create that all-important beat on another disc. The result is techno that’s at once analog and not. It sounds digital, but it has the imprecision and unpredictability that you’d never get from software. Via: Boing Boing , Nerdcore Source: Graham Dunning

Taken from:
Oddball machine makes ‘analog’ techno music with vinyl records