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Thursday, May 01, 2014

drag2share: These Tiny Desktop Robots Are A Total Reinvention Of How We Could Interact With Software

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/thumbles-robot-user-interface-2014-5

Those sexy Minority Report-style user interfaces where menus float in front of your face seem likely to happen eventually, but we'll still need some sort of stepping stone to get there.

Thumbles might be just the intermediary to do the trick.

Instead of swiping around in the air, Thumbles have you interacting with tactile objects on a tabletop. These are tiny three-wheeled robots steered by a computer. They employ "omniwheels," which make it possible for them to move in any direction without having to turn, so Brooklyn-based Patten Studio imagines these robots as elements of a user interface.

Different software would respond in different ways — spin a robot like you're adjusting a dial and the software might adjust music volume or video color (as demoed below). It's pretty cool — check out how Patten Studio hypothesizes that Thumbles could be used.

While these are still purely hypothetical use cases, it's an impressive display of technology.

They could be used to dispatch emergency vehicles.

Thumbles

Or for playing games.

thumbles

Even for editing video — watch as the robots become color dials.

May 01, 2014 09:44

Check out the video below for a full demo:

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drag2share: This Is What Amazon's Smartphone Will Look Like

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-smartphone-renderings-2014-5

Via BGR's exclusive reporting, here's the world's first clear look at Amazon's new smartphone:

bgr amazon smartphone kindle fire phone

The phone will make use of a data plan called "Prime Data," and while the details on it are far from totally known, it's expected to piggyback on AT&T's "Sponsored Data" program. Sponsored Data allows companies to subsidize your data use, paying for the data you consume inside certain apps and services — the data used inside of certain apps effectively doesn't count against your data plan. This might mean that Amazon could offer unlimited data for music and video streaming, but this is still speculative.

BGR describes the phone as "a bit large [but] reasonably comfortable to use with one hand." It will feature a 4.7-inch 720p display, a quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, and Amazon's own flavor of the Android operating system, which will be instantly familiar to anyone who's used a Kindle Fire table.

It'll also have a bunch of front-facing cameras that will help produce a 3D effect on the screen.

The phone is expected to be formally unveiled sometime in the third quarter of this year.

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drag2share: This Is What Amazon's Smartphone Will Look Like

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-smartphone-renderings-2014-5

Via BGR's exclusive reporting, here's the world's first clear look at Amazon's new smartphone:

bgr amazon smartphone kindle fire phone

The phone will make use of a data plan called "Prime Data," and while the details on it are far from totally known, it's expected to piggyback on AT&T's "Sponsored Data" program. Sponsored Data allows companies to subsidize your data use, paying for the data you consume inside certain apps and services — the data used inside of certain apps effectively doesn't count against your data plan. This might mean that Amazon could offer unlimited data for music and video streaming, but this is still speculative.

BGR describes the phone as "a bit large [but] reasonably comfortable to use with one hand." It will feature a 4.7-inch 720p display, a quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, and Amazon's own flavor of the Android operating system, which will be instantly familiar to anyone who's used a Kindle Fire table.

It'll also have a bunch of front-facing cameras that will help produce a 3D effect on the screen.

The phone is expected to be formally unveiled sometime in the third quarter of this year.

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drag2share: Groupon Wants You To Ditch Your Costco Membership (GRPN)

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/groupon-basics-bulk-shopping-2014-5

costco

Groupon just took a shot at Costco by introducing a new online bulk-shopping service called Groupon Basics, that lets users buy products in large quantities, with free shipping on purchases of over $24.99.

Not only will this service appeal to shoppers who don't have easy access to a brick-and-mortar bulk shopping location (read: most people in big cities), but unlike Costco and Sam's Club, the service won't require a monthly membership fee.

Right now, the Groupon Basic selection is pretty limited, but Groupon says that in the coming months it will "aggressively build out the existing categories" (which right now includes household items like soap, shampoo, and napkins) and expand into packaged and canned grocery items.

The service has some overlap with Amazon's recently announced Prime Pantry, which lets Prime members get $45 pound boxes of everyday items. Pantry is not aimed at bulk quantities, like Basics is, but it offers speedy, two-day shipping, which Basics does not.

The idea of making grocery shopping more convenient is a hot one right now, and if Groupon can manage to expand their selection to make it actually competitive with big box bulk shopping retailers.

SEE ALSO: Google Has A Super Simple Way Of Scheduling Meetings With Multiple People

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drag2share: People In Texas Really Don't Want To Leave, While People In Illinois Want To Flee

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/states-where-people-want-to-move-2014-5

Data from a recent Gallup poll shows that people living in Connecticut and Illinois aren't too happy with their environment: half of residents say that, if given the chance, they'd move to a different state.

The states where people want to stay? Texas and Montana come out really well.

Connecticut Illinois Vox map

In Illinois, 50% of respondents want to leave, while only 49% do in Connecticut. Maryland was a close third, with 47% of respondents expressing the same desire.

But in Montana, Hawaii, and Maine, 23% reported they'd move if the opportunity arose. And only 24% of respondents felt that way in Texas.

state move data

To obtain the data, Gallup conducted at least 600 interviews with people aged 18 and older across the 50 states. The survey asked, "Regardless of whether you will move, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move to another state, or would you rather remain in your current state?"

And if you consider actual intention to move, Nevada comes out on top. The highest amount of respondents in any state, 20%, plan to move in the next 12 months.

In total, 33% of all people in the U.S. want to move to another state.

(Via Vox)

SEE ALSO: The Happiest States In America

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Article: OpenWorm project wants you to help create the world’s first digital organism

Stephen Larson wants to create the world's first digital organism, and he starting simple — with a worm. Larson has launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to raise money to create OpenWorm as part of an effort to accelerate our understanding of the human brain. If his team succeeds, he says...

http://venturebeat.com/2014/04/30/openworm-is-going-to-be-a-digital-organism-in-your-browser/

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Article: I made a video game with a pencil and paper

Pixel Press lets you build a Mario-style iPad game any way you want When I was a kid, video games didn't end the moment I turned off the NES. If I wasn't holding a controller, I had a pencil in my hand, furiously scribbling out maps of Hyrule or alien caves for Samus to explore in Metroid. But si...

http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/30/5666092/pixel-press-review

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Article: Worm Alert! Russian Android Malware Spreads Via Text Message

Android malware that spreads via text message has been observed making its way around Russia — not the newest trick in the book, but it hasn't been seen before on the mobile OS. Should you be worried? Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to be vigilant. The worm was first observed by Robert Lipovsky...

http://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/worm-alert-russian-android-malware-spreads-text-message-n94181?cid=sm_twitter_feed_tech

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Article: Disney 's New 3-D Printing Technique Makes Any Object Transmit Sound

Disney Research has revealed an exciting new technology that turns any object into a speaker. What if every object in your life could talk? A door handle warns you when someone has attempted to enter without a key. A desk ticks off your appointments when you sit down. A rubber duckie quacks at a ...

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3028044/disney-s-new-3-d-printing-technique-makes-any-object-transmit-sound

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Article: Android Modders, Your Ultimate Flagship Phone Has Arrived | Gadget Lab

If you're into tinkering with your Android device, you've probably heard of CyanogenMod. It's an open source operating system that let's you modify pretty much any aspect of your phone or tablet's software. Until now, installing CyanogenMod wasn't for the faint of heart. You had to root …

http://www.wired.com/2014/05/oneplus-one-smartphone/

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drag2share: Sony's 185TB data tape puts your hard drive to shame

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/30/sony-185tb-data-tape/

Data tape

It's hard for magnetic data tapes to stand out from the crowd in an era when it's easy to load up on legions of hard drives. However, Sony might have managed that rare feat with nano-sized tape tech that stores much more than off-the-shelf hardware. By optimizing how it sputters argon ions on to film to create magnetic material, the company has produced "nano-grained" tape that's 74 times denser than what you see today; at 185TB per cartridge, it makes even a 5TB hard disk seem quaint. Sony's breakthrough won't come to your home PC, but it could prove a big help to supercomputers and your favorite internet services -- many of them need high-capacity tape storage just to keep up with demand.

[Image credit: Theilr, Flickr]

Sony's nanoparticle-based 185TB magnetic tape

Filed under: Storage, Sony

Via: ITWorld

Source: Sony

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drag2share: Sony bets on speed with the second edition of its Alpha A77 DSLR

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/01/sony-alpha-a77-ii/

The Alpha portfolio from Sony is pretty well stacked, what with cameras like the newly minted, 4K-ready A7s. To add to that, the Japanese electronics giant today's announcing the A77 II, a successor to the 24.3-megapixel shooter it revealed back in 2011. Similar to its predecessor, Sony's A77 II features the same amount of megapixels and Exmor APS-C sensor, but this is now coupled with the Bionz X image chip that's found on the Alpha A7 and A7R cameras. There's also an OLED electronic viewfinder, which lets you see the total frame; a 3-inch LCD that can be tilted in three different positions; and NFC, so you can share pictures wirelessly to a smartphone, tablet or VAIO PC.

But the aforementioned specs don't tell the entire story. Sony wanted the most important improvements over the original Alpha A77 to be all about speed, both in terms of shooting and processing. The A77 II has a brand new focusing system, lead by 79 AF points (compared to 19 on the previous version) with 15 crossing sensors, which allow it to handle a continuous burst of up to 60 full-res photos at a maximum of 12fps -- Sony hopes this is more than enough to lure in those of you who like to take a lot of action shots. What's more, the A77 II brings improvements in the ISO department, going from 16,000 to 25,600 at its highest level, or 52,000 when expanded -- if you're a night owl (or just have a thing for the dark), you'll no doubt appreciate this.

For Sony, it's not only about stills, though: the company wants videographers to really consider the A77 II a solid alternative to, say, something like Canon's Mark III. While there's nothing surprising about the fact it can shoot 1080p movies at 60 and 24p (AVCHD 2.0), Sony believes the improved AF system inside its A77 II, which offers things like continuous face-detection, is an attribute that makes it standout from the rest of the pack. And, because we know you're going to ask, there's no 4K output to be found here.

While Sony may not have taken the biggest leap with the A77 II, there's no doubt it is still a nice upgrade. But is that plenty for you? It'll be available in June for $1,200, body-only; a kit with a 16-50mm f/2.8 lens will be sold for $1,800.

Filed under: Cameras, Sony

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Wednesday, April 30, 2014

drag2share: Worn On TV Finds the Exact Clothing Used on Your Favorite TV Shows

Source: http://lifehacker.com/worn-on-tv-finds-the-exact-clothing-used-on-your-favori-1570030286

Worn On TV Finds the Exact Clothing Used on Your Favorite TV Shows

Ever find yourself sitting on your couch, watching an episode of your current favorite TV show and see an outfit you must have? Web site Worn On TV keeps a catalog of what each character is wearing on a large amount of today's most popular TV shows.

The site lets you search by show, episode, and even character. If they have an exact match for the outfit you're looking for they plop an "exact match found" right on the image of the character in their respective outfit. From there, you can find out what it is, who makes it, and most importantly, where to get it.

The site seems to be mostly geared towards women, but they have men's options as well (they're just not quite as extensive). Hit the link to check it out and dress like your favorite characters.

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drag2share: Facebook backs App Links for app-to-app linking on mobiles

Source: http://gigaom.com/2014/04/30/facebook-backs-app-links-for-app-to-app-linking-on-mobiles/

At its F8 conference on Wednesday, Facebook said we need a better way to move between links and apps on mobile devices. Indeed we do, as it’s no fun getting bounced around from one app only to open another for a short bit and then have to find our way back to the original app. Enter App Links: An open-source effort to make mobile linking a more seamless experience.

The idea of hitting a link in one app to open another isn’t new. What App Links appears to be is a standardized way to do this going forward through metadata tags and a centralized repository of APIs that Facebook is indexing. It already supports Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android and Microsoft Windows Phone platforms.

So what does this “app to app linking” promise bring? A better end-user experience for one:

The idea here is that instead of app developers hard-coding calls to open other specific apps from their own software, App Links code can be used to open a variety of related apps. That would save development time and allow for a wider range of software that can be called from within an mobile app.

Facebook said a number of partners are already using App Links: Spotify is working with Songkick so that users can hear a song in Spotify, tap a link to buy concert tickets from Songkick for the artist and then be back in Spotify, all while the song keeps playing. “One line of code sends users to the selected URL and brings them back into the app,” said Facebook’s Ilya Sukhar when presenting App Links.

While App Links is beneficial to the mobile industry as a whole, it’s evident why Facebook is strongly backing it. By getting users out to content from within Facebook and then back again to Facebook, the company can keep users highly engaged within Facebook’s walls.

Related research and analysis from Gigaom Research:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

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drag2share: Is There Such a Thing as a Sonic QR Code?

Source: http://disquiet.gizmodo.com/is-there-such-a-thing-as-a-sonic-qr-code-1570000263/+gmanaugh

Is There Such a Thing as a Sonic QR Code?

There are at least two things that Sony Pictures marketing executives did not consider when preparing a cross-promotion between its new Spider-Man film and the song-identification app Shazam. I first read about this promotion this morning on io9.com , because pretty much the first thing I read every morning is Morning Spoilers on io9.com. The film in question, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, opens this Friday, May 2, in the United States. Expecting extended discussion about Peter Parker’s doomed romance with Gwen Stacy or the rise of his frenemy Harry Osbourne to lead the high-tech firm founded by his father, instead there was news of an intriguing little digital-audio phenomenon.

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