Tuesday, June 10, 2014

MakerBot app lets you remotely check 3D prints in case they go all wrong

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/10/makerbot-iphone-app/

We love 3D printing, but let's face it: it's slow. Luckily, MakerBot has just given you a new way to track the progress of a printout from afar with its new iPhone app. Using the camera from any fifth-generation printer, MakerBot Mobile for iOS can show you an image of the build area every three seconds (from a local network) and ensure that Celtic skull isn't a beautiful failure. You can also use it to pause or cancel a job and get notifications when a 3D model is ready, for instance. It's also baked in its Thingiverse app, letting you browse thousands of models via the cloud and add them to your collections, or share your work on Thingiverse or social networks. Future updates include remote monitoring over a cellular network and more notifications (there's no Android app yet), but meanwhile, you can grab the iOS app right here.

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Source: MakerBot

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Amazon's updated Kindle apps let you seamlessly switch between text and audiobooks

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/10/amazon-audible-app/

It's a hulking behemoth now, but let's not forget that Amazon got its start peddling books. It never really forgot those roots, either: somewhere along the way it built its own e-reading platform and snapped up a pricey purveyor of audiobooks. Now the e-commerce titan is trying to blur the lines between those two properties even more thanks to a new update to its iOS and Android Kindle apps. The changelog is a pretty lengthy one, but the addition of Whispersync for Voice is the real standout here -- now book buffs can leap between words on a digital page and a professional audio recording without having to leave the Kindle app proper. The upside for Amazon is clear: if it can make it easier for you to jump back and forth between reading and listening, it's got a decent shot at selling more audio recordings. Synergy, folks! If that somehow improves your reading experience along the way, well, that's just peachy too. Just be warned that not every book available from Amazon's virtual shelves has an Audible equivalent -- the company has said there are about 45,000 book/recording matches out there.

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Source: Amazon

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Formlabs' second-gen pro 3D printer is 50 percent faster

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/10/formlabs-form1plus/

Formlabs Form 1 Plus 3D printer

Formlabs' Form1 was a top dog among 3D printers when it first shipped, but others have stepped up their game in the past year. It's about time for an upgrade, don't you think? Appropriately, the company has just unveiled the Form1+, a big improvement to its now-familiar design. The new edition of Formlabs' pro-grade machine is all about raw performance -- a more powerful laser lets it print up to 50 percent faster, and its control system produces finer, smoother sculptures. It should be more reliable, too, thanks to an improved resin tank that better preserves your material.

The new printer costs the same $3,299 as the original, which doesn't exactly make it a casual purchase. However, you shouldn't despair if you're an existing Form1 owner. Formlabs is offering a factory upgrade program that brings your hardware up to spec for a more down-to-Earth (if not exactly trivial) $749. You can order the revamped device today in the US, and Europeans can pick one up in July for €2,799.

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Source: Formlabs

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Article: Chromecast support coming to VLC within 4-6 weeks!

Chromecast support is the new trend among popular apps. The HDMI dongle is so well received and popular that it has started to become a standard in any app that can take advantage of it. VLC was taking its sweet time, but the developers have stated Chromecast support is in the works as we speak. ...

http://www.androidauthority.com/vlc-chromecast-support-391378/

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Sony Announces Its Apple TV Killer, PlayStation TV

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/playstation-tv-2014-6

Screen Shot 2014 06 09 at 10.20.42 PM

Sony just unveiled its answer to the Apple TV and Amazon Fire.

The company announced it will release the PlayStation TV for $99 in the US and Canada this fall during its E3 conference.

Users will be able to play a variety of PS3, PlayStation One, and PSP classic games through Sony's streaming game service PlayStation Now. PlayStation TV owners will also have access music and video streaming services.

If you have a PlayStation 4, the device will connect with it and allow you to play PS4 games on another TV in your home. 

The console isn't a new concept. It was first released in Japan November 2013 as the PS Vita TV.

Consumers will need a PlayStation DualShock 3 controller to use the device that will not come with $99 standalone PlayStation TV.

A $139 bundle will come with a DualShock 3 controller, an 8GB memory card, an HDMI cable, and a voucher for "The LEGO Movie" video game.

Watch the announcement below:

SEE ALSO: You can buy a white PlayStation 4 this fall

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Monday, June 09, 2014

drag2share: Amazon takes on PayPal with subscription-based payments

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/09/amazon-subscription-payments/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

With plenty of third-party sellers populating its online store, Amazon is well accustomed to playing the middleman for processing transactions. Now the e-tailer's taking that middleman role one step further; it will now manage monthly subscription payments for companies such as wireless service provider Ting. It's just the latest move in Amazon's ongoing effort to overtake PayPal.

Amazon users will be able to use their stored credit-card information to make monthly payments at participating sites. For anyone who's used PayPal, the process will be very familiar; you'll see a payment button that will pull in your billing info from Amazon to process a transaction. Beyond Ting, it isn't clear which companies will take advantage of the service, but we'd expect to see digital music services, additional wireless providers and gaming sites.

Naturally, Amazon will get a fee for each transaction. For partners, the benefit comes in the form of Amazon's name, which will theoretically make you feel safer when shopping at little-known web merchants. For many customers, though, privacy concerns remain. VP of seller services Tom Taylor told Reuters that Amazon will only collect the dollar amount of customers' transactions, rather than information about which items were purchased. In any case, it all depends on customer trust - and a long list of partner merchants - for Amazon to make a dent in PayPal's business.

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'Assassin's Creed: Unity' gets redesigned open world, ships October 28th

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/09/assassins-creed-unity/

Earlier today at Microsoft's Xbox One E3 event, we got a glimpse of four-player co-op in Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Unity. But the developer's giving the new title a proper unveiling at its own show, with an extended trailer showing in-game footage and a release date: October 28th.

Alex Amancio, Creative Director for the title, said that his team "redesigned the building blocks of Assassin's Creed" for Unity to let players "carve [their] own unique path through the game." Gameplay for Unity focuses on assassin Arno Dorian and looks to feature more of the same stealth and murder mechanic we've seen in previous installments of the franchise. This time, though, all that cloak and dagger carnage takes place during the French Revolution.


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Bloomberg built a virtual trading terminal using Oculus Rift

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/09/bloomberg-vr-terminal-oculus-rift/

No matter how many screens they add to their setup, traders are limited to a finite amount of display real estate. To solve that problem, Bloomberg LP's turned to the virtual-reality headset Oculus Rift. Don't expect to see a room full of Oculus-equipped traders anytime soon, though; it's just a prototype, albeit one that Bloomberg's showing off at its Next Big Thing Summit this week.

Bloomberg's prototype puts infinite screens before your eyes, allowing you to view as much financial data as you desire. Beyond the obvious benefit of unlimited space, a virtual trading desk would allow for a more mobile workspace (you could take the Oculus home or on the road) and the ability to change screen arrangements based on the time of day. It's unclear whether an Oculus-powered trading desk would cost less than a brick-and-mortar Bloomberg terminal, which costs about $2,000 a month.

Currently, the rig is merely a mockup, with screenshots and videos rather than real-time information. Bloomberg's Nick Peck told Quartz that the proof-of-concept may eventually work with a Leap Motion for gesture control. While the virtual trading terminal is still far from a final product, it's an exciting look at how Oculus Rift -- and virtual reality in general -- could benefit the workplace.

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Source: Quartz

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The Rise In Mobile Video Viewing Will Have A Huge Impact On Digital Video Ad Revenues

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-rise-in-mobile-video-viewing-is-having-a-major-impact-on-online-video-revenues-2014-6

MobileShareOfOnlineVideo

There has been a surge in people watching video on their phones and tablets, and as a result the mobile video ad market is poised for a huge rise. 

Two recent reports from BI Intelligence take a close look at the rise of mobile video viewing and the digital video ad market.

As of September last year, tablets and smartphones accounted for 15% of all online video hours watched, according to Ooyala. And that share will likely grow significantly in the next couple of years, due to the proliferation of mobile apps and sites that specialize in video (Yahoo Screen, Amazon Instant Video, et al.), or are beginning to emphasize it much more (Instagram, Snapchat, and others).

As more people watch video on their phones and tablets, mobile video ad viewing will also rise fast.

The report on mobile video lays out what videos people are watching on their smartphones and tablets, and how content providers like YouTube and Netflix have helped drive this behavior. In the digital video advertising report, we assess where the market is right now for digital video advertising, how fast it will grow, and why mobile will have such a huge impact on its growth. 

The reports are full of charts and data that can be downloaded and put to use. Sign up for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's subscription research service, and get started.

MonthyOnlineVideoAdViews 

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drag2share: MIT reactor gets a second shot at producing unlimited clean energy

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/09/mit-fusion-reactor/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Nuclear fusion is the holy grail of scientists (and politicians) as it could produce limitless free energy without nasty consequences like meltdowns and radioactive waste. Though nobody's been able to build a reactor that produces more energy than it consumes (except arguably one time), scientists are still trying, with three experimental reactors currently in operation in the US. One of those, however, has been in the Obama administration's cross-hairs: MIT's Alcator C-Mod reactor. The White House decided to chop that program back in 2012, calling it too small, outdated and a vanity program for MIT, according to the Boston Globe.

Instead, the White House wanted to divert funds to the promising ITER tokamek fusion reactor. Though located in France, US researchers would have a direct line to the massive project, which aims to help transition fusion from the experimental phase to a practical reactor. Once MIT found out that its own reactor would be cut, however, it mobilized its lobbying arm, and convinced local congressman Michael Capuano that it was worth saving. He recruited a group including Senator Elizabeth Warren, which pitched other other representatives on the merits of the project. They emphasized the patriotic angle by showing a map with hundreds of subcontractors in 47 of 50 states which supplied the project.

In the end, the Senate decided to throw $22 million MIT's way to keep the project alive until 2016, while chopping ITER funding by $25 million. One skeptic pointed out that such funds would be used by MIT for a five week experiment by 12 graduate students. "This would be $1.5 million per student." Still, the reactor has now been re-started with a ceremonial button push by Senator Warren -- check out the entire saga at the Globe right here.

[Image credit: Chris Bolin, Wikimedia Commons]

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drag2share: Nano barcodes can trace bombs even after they've exploded

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/09/nanoparticle-barcodes/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Nanoparticle barcode results on jars

You may not pay much notice to product trackers like barcodes and RFID tags, but they're absolutely vital in some fields; they cut back on bootlegging and help police determine the origins of bombs. Worcester Polytechnic Institute may have just delivered a major breakthrough, then, by developing nanoparticle barcodes. The minuscule tracers identify an object by producing a unique thermal signature (those colored lines you see in the photo) when they reach their melting point. As they don't participate in any chemical reaction, you can integrate them into any item and get a positive ID whenever you like, even if you're dealing with exploded TNT.

The substance would most likely be used to stop counterfeiters, thieves and other shady dealers by making it impossible to erase evidence without destroying any ill-gotten goods. However, the technology might be particularly handy for fighting terrorism. Investigators could easily pinpoint the suppliers of not just explosives, but the chemicals used to make explosives -- they could identify the manufacturer (and even the individual store) for the fertilizer in a homemade bomb. The scientists' stealthy barcodes are a long way from reaching store shelves, if they do at all, but there could be a day when it's possible to trace virtually any high-value product.

[Image credit: Ming Su/Worcester Polytechnic Institute]

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Sunday, June 08, 2014

A Computer Has Passed the Turing Test For the First Time

Source: http://gizmodo.com/this-is-the-first-computer-in-history-to-have-passed-th-1587780232

A Computer Has Passed the Turing Test For the First Time

This is big. A computer has successfully managed to fool a bunch of researchers into thinking that it was a 13-year-old boy named Eugene Goostman. In doing so, it has become the first computer in the world to have successfully passed the Turing Test.

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New film makes shatterproof phone screens a practical possibility

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/07/shatterproof-touchscreen-film/

Shattered iPhone 4 screen

Sure, the screen on your smartphone is likely scratch-resistant, but it still won't survive a drop to the sidewalk. However, that could all change if University of Akron scientists get their shatterproof touchscreen film into shipping hardware. They've developed transparent electrodes that, when layered on polymer surfaces, are just as transparent as current technology (indium tin oxide) but much more durable. You can bend them over 1,000 times without breaking, and they also hold up against peeling.

More importantly, the technology is cheap. In fact, the university believes that it should be less expensive to make this film than the touchscreen tech in use today; you can simply mass-produce it in rolls. While there's no firm production timetable, scientists fully expect their technology to hit stores in the future. Eventually, you won't have to worry quite so much that your phone might slip out of your hands.

[Image credit: William Hook, Flickr]

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Via: MD Connects

Source: University of Akron, ACS Nano

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drag2share: Your smart TV can be hacked over the air, but it's not likely

source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/08/over-the-air-smart-tv-hack/?utm_source=Feed_Classic_Full&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Engadget&?ncid=rss_full

Samsung's 85-inch 4K curved TV

It only makes sense that putting a TV online theoretically exposes it to hackers, but it's now clear that those hacks don't have to go through conventional internet pipelines. A team of Columbia University researchers has published details of a vulnerability in an interactive TV standard (HbbTV) that lets evildoers hijack your smart TV and other devices in your home network so long as you tune into a specific over-the-air digital channel. Attacks can run undetected in the background, and the nature of the broadcasts makes it difficult or impossible to trace the culprit. Reportedly, the only surefire remedies are to cut off broadcast-based web content altogether, monitor for unusual spikes in network activity or notify users when apps launch.

However, you shouldn't fret about someone stealing your data just because you tuned into the Home Shopping Network. If you only watch shows over cable or satellite, this issue won't affect you; as it stands, HbbTV hasn't yet reached North America. It's also difficult for would-be hackers to reach many people without signal amplifiers. Still, the security hole isn't going to be very comforting to cord cutters who still want the benefits of an internet-connected TV set.

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Take A Tour Of Meta, The Company That Wants The World To Be Like An 'Iron Man' Movie

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/meta-campus-tour-2014-6

Meta Spaceglasses demo

In the hills of Portola Valley, California, is the headquarters for Meta, a company that's trying to change the future and also, perhaps, the world. 

They're hoping to accomplish this feat by creating a pair of augmented-reality glasses that bring to life technology that seems to be taken straight out of the "Iron Man" movies.

Physical objects are rendered virtually, and those objects — be it a game or a document or even a keyboard — are all manipulated by your hands.

A team of fewer than 50 people lives on a 20-acre rented estate overlooking the wilderness above Silicon Valley.

It's something out of a movie, with a pool, a tennis court, and even pictures of Tony Stark of "Iron Man" fame adorning the walls. 

The team lives together on the estate, putting in 14-hour days, and then eating together and afterwards washing dishes together. All for the common goal of bringing to life a pair of glasses that can completely change the way we think of computing. 

Through these gates is a driveway that leads up to Meta's campus.



Portola Valley is a little bit west of Stanford University, which is about 30 miles south of San Francisco. The house is located about 15 minutes off the freeway, up a windy road.



Next door is the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation, which oversees one of the largest collections of historical military vehicles in the world.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






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