Tag: richard-lawler

Self-lacing Nikes are real, will go on sale later this year

While we’re still waiting for the Back to the Future-styled Nike Mag , the company has unveiled its first “self-lacing” shoe in another silhouette. The Nike HyperAdapt 1.0 senses the presence of the wearer’s heel, and tightens its laces accordingly. Senior Innovator Tiffany Beers led the project, and says once the shoe is on, the wearer can adjust the fit with two buttons on the side to get things perfect. Of course, Nike isn’t stopping there, as famed shoe designer Tinker Hatfield is already looking forward to versions that adjust fit on the fly, as the athlete needs more or less tension. The HyperAdapt 1.0 is set to arrive this holiday season in three colors (including that Nike Mag-like lighting), and will go on sale only to Nike+ members for an unspecified price. Speaking of Nike+ . that app is getting a redesign in June that the company says will make it almost as personal as the fit on those adaptive-laced shoes. One login will tie users to the SNKRS , Run Club and Training Club apps, and provide product recommendations that are individually tailored. Nike is going all out to push purchases with a personal touch, including a “Services” tab that will provide concierge-like access to “Nike+ Experts” to answer all your burning sportswear queries. or book a reservation at a Nike store. This is all a part of Nike Innovation 2016, and sneakerheads can check out the site for other new products on the way. That includes the Air Vapor Max that ditches its foam midsole entirely, relying only on the company’s vaunted airbag technology for cushioning, the new “engineered down to the pixel” KD9 and other products that are part of what Nike is calling an “era of innovation.” The only problem? None of those innovations can make me shoot like Steph Curry (yet), and he’s signed to Under Armour . Source: Nike

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Self-lacing Nikes are real, will go on sale later this year

A ‘Star Wars’ VR experiment is coming soon to HTC Vive

Last year Industrial Light & Magic teased an HTC Vive VR tie-in experience (the old teaser clip is embedded after the break) to go along with The Force Awakens and to celebrate the launch of its ILM Experience Lab . It appears its release was delayed along with the headset, but now that it’s rolling out, we should see it soon. Earlier this evening a short YouTube teaser for Star Wars: Trials on Tattooine appeared on the ILMVisualFX YouTube channel before going private, and it showed something that appeared to go beyond the Jakku Spy experience that appeared last year for Google Cardboard. It flashed a glimpse at the Vive headset, along with a VR trip in the Star Wars universe featuring everything from R2-D2 to player-controlled lightsaber battles. These screenshots should give you an idea of what this Cinematic Virtual Reality Experiment will be like, now we’re just waiting to hear when it will be available. [Thanks, Anonymous!] Source: ILMVisualFX (YouTube)

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A ‘Star Wars’ VR experiment is coming soon to HTC Vive

Samsung’s Ultra HD Blu-ray player is coming soon for $399

There aren’t many Ultra HD Blu-ray players to choose from, but the first one you can buy is this one from Samsung. We’d seen it before at IFA last year, but this week Samsung announced the UBD-K8500 will go on sale in the US this March. Talking to reps from Samsung and the Ultra HD Association, I was told it could start selling as soon as February 22nd, and we expect to see the first Ultra HD discs arrive at the same time. Pre-orders are up on Samsung’s website and Amazon.com now for $399. The player itself is just like any other disc player you’ve seen, with a small arc detail along the bottom edge. In terms of features, it will play everything from 4K streaming apps to Blu-ray 3D discs, and it will even rip CDs for you (to WAV or MP3, which can be stored on a USB drive). As Samsung and Fox are collaborating on the UHD rollout, its booth featured a number of discs from the studio, including The Martian, Wild, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Pan and others planned for early release in the format. I didn’t get a chance to play around with the device, but by all appearances it’s fast and capable. The days of the original Blu-ray players (remember the $1, 000 BD-P1000 and how long it took to load discs?) are well behind us, and if you’ve been waiting to jump into Ultra HD this should be a good entry point.

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Samsung’s Ultra HD Blu-ray player is coming soon for $399

Vudu starts streaming 4K movies to the Roku 4

Vudu’s 1080p HDX streams were once considered high quality for streaming movies over the internet, (now they’re even watchable on phones ) but in the last year Amazon and Netflix surpassed them with 4K resolution and even HDR. Now Vudu is stepping up its game with some 4K flicks, currently available only through the new Roku 4 . For the moment it has 12 movies viewable in 4K (check the list after the break), with prices of $10 for a rental and $25 – $30 to purchase. According to Vudu, you’ll need an 11Mbps connection to stream the high-res versions that it’s marked Vudu UHD. The option will be coming to other platforms including Vizio’s 4K TVs soon, and for the ones that can handle it, there’s support for HDR and Atmos surround sound too. 1. San Andreas 2. Man of Steel 3. Edge of Tomorrow 4. The Lego Movie 5. Magic Mike XX 6. Jupiter Ascending 7. Sherlock Holmes 8. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows 9. The Great Gatsby 10. Into the Storm 11. Focus 12. Run All Night

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Vudu starts streaming 4K movies to the Roku 4

Hulu without the ads is here, for $4 more per month

Just as rumored , Hulu has finally decided to offer a version of its subscription without the ad breaks . Ad-free Hulu will cost $12 per month, as opposed to the regular $8 subscription (or the shows it offers for free), and of course it will soon include more movies (that Netflix doesn’t have ) thanks to the company’s deal with Epix . One small catch however is revealed by the FAQ , which indicates that due to licensing, a few shows will still have ads before and after (but not during) episodes. Hulu’s ads have always separated it from online streaming competition like Amazon and Netflix, and even though ads are a way of life on cable and broadcast television, its annoying tendency to repeat the same few selections always drove me crazy. Now, with more original content ( Seinfeld , The Mindy Project , the just-renewed Difficult People and others ), it’s a serious, although slightly more expensive, competitor for our attention. Developing… Will all shows and movies be commercial free? In response to feedback from our viewers, we started offering a commercial-free experience on Hulu. For a small number of shows, however, we have not obtained the rights to stream commercial free and they are not included in our No Commercials plan. You can still easily access these shows with a short commercial before and after each episode with no interruptions during the episode. Specific shows that still have commercials accessible through the No Commercials plan will be noted throughout the signup, switching, and playback experience. While the list of shows may change, these shows are currently: Grey’s Anatomy, Once Upon A Time, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Scandal, Grimm, New Girl, and How To Get Away With Murder. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Internet , HD Comments Source: Hulu Tags: ads, breaking news, hdpostcross, hulu

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Hulu without the ads is here, for $4 more per month

Periscope’s live streaming video reaches nearly 2 million users daily

Now that Facebook is getting into streaming (soon for non-celebs too ) and even Google/YouTube is taking notice , the folks at Twitter-owned Periscope are publishing some stats to let us know where the bar is for live video apps. In a blog post on Medium , the team says it has grown past 10 million registered accounts just four months after its launch. An accompanying graph shows its number of Daily Active Users has risen to nearly two million people, with a spike showing where it just about doubled in May with the launch of an app for Android . Rival app Meerkat beat it to the punch on Android , but we don’t have similar stats on its growth yet. By their measure however, the important stat is Time Watched, which Periscope reports has risen to over 40 years of video being watched every day. This includes “huge viewership” on the web, outside of its iOS/Android apps, which the daily users stat does not. in a video Q&A , Periscope CEO Kayvon Beykpour says that features coming soon include landscape video support and better tools for handling spam/abuse. Filed under: Internet , Mobile Comments Source: Periscope (Medium) Tags: accounts, mobilepostcross, statistics, twitter, users, videostreaming

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Periscope’s live streaming video reaches nearly 2 million users daily

Netflix’s TV apps get their first major update since 2013

While Netflix has focused on rolling out more original content to more countries over the last couple of years, we haven’t seen as many updates to its software as we used to. Last week the streaming video service said it would start optimizing its mobile apps, but first up is a tweak for the TV apps you probably use more often. Netflix says this is the first major change its TV apps have had since the new look rolled out in late 2013 , and it will start or resume video as soon as you select a title, while keeping the info on the screen (check after the break for a GIF showing how it works). An earnings report earlier this year mentioned bringing video “forward” in the TV experience, and this seems to be a part of that plan, delivering what Netflix says is a more cinematic experience. Cinematic or not, when I’ve fallen asleep mid- OITNB binge, a visual hint would make it easier to remember which episode I was on so this should help. When we spoke to Netflix’s Cliff Edwards in January we heard about plans to put its app on the same footing as cable, and creating a way for viewers to passively slip into watching makes that possible. Once you turn on cable TV the video is usually just there, while with streaming you’ve always had to pick something first — this new feature combined with faster loading apps and video makes your Netflix & chill moment more casual . If you’re using an older TV or device you may not see the feature, but it’s rolling out to “eligible devices” ( Netflix Recommended TVs are a good bet ) globally over the next few days. Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD Comments Source: Netflix Blog

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Netflix’s TV apps get their first major update since 2013