Category: Computers, Science & Technology

This is going to give the Raspberry Pi a run for it’s money!

Today is Star Wars Day! May the Fourth Be With You! Cute, huh?

So, how many people wrist tattoos?

Apple confirms tattoo issue with Apple Watch in updated support document

9to5Mac – “Apple has confirmed reports of problems using the Apple Watch on tattooed wrists. The company has quietly updated a support page on the heart-rate functionality.

Permanent or temporary changes to your skin, such as some tattoos, can also impact heart rate sensor performance. The ink, pattern, and saturation of some tattoos can block light from the sensor, making it difficult to get reliable readings.

Apple Watch owners on Reddit and Twitter have been posting conflicting reports and video, some showing that the heart-rate functionality works fine with their tattoos, others showing either no reading at all or erratic readings…

The issue seems to primarily affect those with solid areas of deeper inks, like black and red.

For those concerned that the watch may not work at all if it is unable to detect skin contact, I can confirm that all functionality works even when worn over clothing if you switch off wrist-detection in the companion app on the iPhone. The wording here is misleading, as it continues to switch on when you raise your wrist.

If you’re unable to get a heart-rate reading and want to use your Apple Watch for workouts, the support document suggests using a separate chest-strap heart-rate monitor offering Bluetooth connectivity.”

This is, indeed, impressive tech!

BUILD 2015: A closer look at the Microsoft HoloLens hardware

Microsoft Devices Blog – By: Todd Holmdahl – “We demonstrated a number of exciting new scenarios, made possible through HoloLens powered by Windows 10. Among other things, we announced that for the very first time, we would provide an opportunity for thousands of developers at Build to experience our hardware.

So far, the feedback we have received has been pretty incredible and the possibilities that we asked people to imagine are coming to life. The era of holographic computing is here and today I’m honored to share more information about our HoloLens hardware and how it works to make holograms real.

Transforming the world

Our vision for holographic computing is to transform the world with holograms – seamlessly connecting the digital world with real life. With the ability to design and shape holograms, you will have a new medium to express your creativity, a more efficient way to teach and learn, and a more effective way to visualize your work and share ideas. This means your digital content and creations will be more relevant when they come to life in your world.

Holographic experiences are made possible across a world of devices through Windows 10, including HoloLens – the first fully untethered holographic computer running Windows 10, because holograms are Windows universal apps, and all Windows universal apps can be made to work as holograms.

While a variety of specialized components make up HoloLens, it’s the way in which they are combined that makes the whole system seem like science fiction. Like the way the optical system works in lock-step with the advanced sensors, or the way the holographic processing unit makes light work of large amounts of data per second.

They all work together to enable holographic computing natively with no markers, no external cameras, no wires, no phone required, and no connection to a PC needed – doing a whole host of things that are in reality very difficult and technically complex – turning what was once science fiction into science fact. That untethered engaging experience is in-line with our vision to ensure that content comes first, allowing you to freely move within and around it.

Comfortable fit

HoloLens is a true collaboration between industrial designers, human factors experts, and engineering teams, and is designed like a performance car with great weight distribution for the most comfortable fit possible.

The device weighs significantly less than the average laptop, while at the same time containing significantly more computing power. And, to accommodate a large number of customers, HoloLens is designed to adjust to fit a wide range of head sizes and shapes while also accommodating most eyewear, without putting any undue pressure on your ears or nose.

HoloLens’ see-through holographic high-definition lenses enable you to see holograms right in your world, right in your lives, with more reality than ever before. Employing an advanced optical projection system, the see-through lenses generate multi-dimensional full-color images with very low-latency so you can see holographic objects in the physical world.

Unlike typical VR systems, where the physical world is completely occluded, the see through lenses allow you to continue to see much of the world around you. This is because we want to allow you to be present in the real world. With HoloLens, the experience leads – content comes to life, holograms join your real world environment – and the device quickly fades to the background.

Spatial sound

HoloLens has spatial sound so you can hear holograms even when they’re behind you.

Using a scientific model that characterizes how the human ear receives sound from a specific physical location, HoloLens can synthesize a binaural sound so that you perceive it to come from a specific location in the physical space around you. There’s also a microphone array which is used to capture your voice commands, a depth sensor that is used to spatially map your environment and interpret your hand gestures, and a photo/video camera so you can share what you’re doing with others.

The advanced sensors in HoloLens capture information about what you’re doing and the environment you’re in. This is done through the inertial measurement unit (IMU) which includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer. It’s this IMU, coupled with head tracking cameras, which enables HoloLens to understand where your head is and how it’s moving.

Processing power

In addition to the IMU, HoloLens comes with a CPU and GPU. But that wasn’t enough to handle all the processing required to understand our world, so we had to go beyond the traditional CPU and GPU.”

This could actually be very cool! This demo was done at Microsoft’s Build event.

As a reminder of what Hololens is, check out the intro to it:

It’s about time!

Microsoft cracks down on misleading (and frequently malicious) advertisements

PC World – By: Lucian Constantin – “Microsoft is taking a hard stance against advertisements that trick users into visiting malicious websites or downloading potentially harmful applications.

The effects will be seen in Internet Explorer, whose SmartScreen Filter feature will enforce new rules against misleading ads beginning June 1. The filter will display warnings to users when they encounter such ads (pictured at top).

‘There has been a recent increase in the number of online advertisements that are intentionally misleading in nature,’ Microsoft said in a blog post Tuesday. ‘We’ve found that these types of advertisements often try to convince a user to do something, the consequences of which they may not fully understand, such as visiting an infected website or downloading a program that can negatively impact their browsing experience.’

The company updated its evaluation criteria for malware and unwanted software to include ads that mislead, deceive or confuse users; ads that are indistinguishable from the content of websites they’re displayed on; ads that contain malicious code; and ads that directly invoke file downloads.

If you’ve ever visited a site and received a warning that your computer is running slow and needs some kind of update or a notification that you need to update Java or some other browser plug-in despite already running the latest version, then you’re already familiar with the type of deceptive ads that Microsoft wants gone.

Google has also made changes to its products and services this year to crack down on deceptive ads and websites that lead to potentially unwanted software. The new policy is enforced in Chrome through warnings, in Google Search and Google’s advertising network.”

This will be MegaMan, without the name “MegaMan!”

The successor to Mega Man has been delayed until September

The Verge – By: Andrew Webster – “It’s been a long time since we heard news on Mighty No. 9, the crowdfunded spiritual successor to Mega Man, created by longtime series producer Keiji Inafune. The game was originally slated to launch this month, but today a new release date was announced: September 15th.

For collectors, though, the delay may just be worth it, as developer Comcept has partnered with a publisher, Deep Silver, to release a boxed version of the game, which will be coming to the Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, and PC. That’s in addition to the originally planned digital version of the game, which will also be coming to the 360, PS Vita, and 3DS (the portable versions will be launching sometime after the 15th). The game will also be getting additional content as part of the deal, including a new level and an unlockable character called Ray. ‘This comes with the price of a short delay,’ says Inafune in a statement, “but we are confident that the extra content is worth the wait.”

Inafune is best know for his work at Capcom during the glory days of Mega Man, and his latest game doesn’t stray too far from that formula. It, too, stars a robot boy who fights powerful robot masters while running, jumping, and shooting through a futuristic side-scrolling world. It even takes place in the year 20XX and features an evil doctor. The game will include features like a two-player co-op mode, as well as the ability to switch the music from modern tunes to classic 8-bit-style tracks. The game began life as a Kickstarter project in 2013, looking to raise $900,000 to fund a new Infaune game — it went on to earn more than $4 million.”

I have the Google Nexus 10 and it is cool, but, as the article suggests, now may be a good time to get a Nexus 7!

Google officially discontinues Nexus 7 tablet

Slashgear – By: Adam Westlake – “If you’re in the market for an affordable, highly-rated, not-too-big-not-too-small tablet, your chances to buy the Nexus 7 are quickly running out. If you were planning to purchase one from Google directly, then your ship has already sailed. That’s because the company officially discontinued the 7-inch tablet on Friday, and is no longer selling it on the Google Store’s website. You can still find one from other places, but you better act fast.

The Nexus 7 was first released back in 2013, so it’s fair to say it had a good run. The Android-based tablet received great reviews, but what really made it a long-term success was the fact that it was affordable and continually received updates from Google.

Manufactured by Asus, the Nexus 7 was even treated to Android Lollipop, the latest version of the operating system, although not with bug-free results. The discontinuation shouldn’t come as a big surprise, however, as Google pulled a similar move back in March with the Nexus 5 smartphone, not to mention the Nexus 9 tablet’s release last fall.

If you still want to get your hands on a Nexus 7 before it’s too late, Amazon and eBay are probably your best choices. Even if you didn’t have Google’s aging tablet specifically in mind, this is a great chance to score a bargain, as the Nexus 7 can be found for prices much lower than the Nexus 9.”

It would be cool, but do you give the drone a Christmas present?

Matternet To Test The First Real Drone Delivery System In Switzerland

Techcrunch – By: John Biggs – “The Swiss postal service, Swiss Post, is going to attempt drone deliveries for the first time ever using Matternet, a company working on perfecting drone-based delivery systems. The first tests will happen in Switzerland this summer as proof of concept to ‘to clarify the legal framework, consider local conditions and explore the technical and business capabilities of the drones.’

That’s right: robots are about to deliver our mail.

The first Matternet drone, called the ONE, can transport items up to 1 kilogram (2.2 pounds) over 20 kilometers – or about 12 miles – on one charge. The company hopes to use the drones to deliver light packages like medicine, documents, and parts.

Founded by Andreas Raptopoulos and Paola Santana, the company was rooted in Raptopoulos dream of building a flying car. After attending the Singularity University summer program at NASA Ames Laboratory, he founded Matternet to bring quadcopters – on a smaller scale – to places where they were needed most. They have raised $2.2 million in seed capital from investors including Flextronics, Scott Banister, and Nas.

Matternet previously tested its drones in Haiti where it delivered medicine and supplies to inaccessible areas. The company now hopes to run three pilots in Switzerland and they have already flown more drone hours than anyone else in the world.

‘Our product is vertically integrated into a complete transportation solution. Swiss Post comes to us, we supply them all the technology (drones, landing pads, batteries, charging stations, cloud software) and they just focus on operations,’ said Raptopoulos.

‘Quadcopters may be the biggest invention in vehicle technology since the internal combustion engine. They allow us to build vehicles that are extremely simple mechanically and are 90%+ software which is bound to improve dramatically over then next 3-5 years. Things like weather performance, performance in GPS-denied environments, ‘sense and avoid,’ etc will make these vehicles way more robust and useful by the end of the decade. This platform will allow software to eat transportation,’ he said.

The ultimate goal is to bring transportation to places where it is currently nearly impossible. By sending a drone – or a few drones – into sparsely-populated areas, you can create a flying postal service that is autonomous, safe, and speedy.”

Google Glass for the rest of us. But, will anyone care?

New version of Google Glass coming soon, says Luxottica CEO

c|net – By: Richard Nieva – “The new version of Google Glass, the search giant’s Web-connected eyewear, may be here soon.

The chief executive of Italian eyewear company Luxottica, Massimo Vian, said his company is working on the new product, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. He said it’s coming soon, but did not give a specific timeline.

Luxottica, the company behind Ray-Ban and Oakley, has partnered with Google since last May to make frames for the device. Vian was speaking at Luxottica’s general meeting in Milan, Italy, the Journal said.

‘The team is heads down building the future of the product and we’re not commenting on rumor or speculation,’ Google said in a statement.

The news is only the latest indication that Google has not given up on its experimental product. The device, which overlays images and graphics on what a wearer already sees, has had a rocky development since it was unveiled in 2012. Privacy advocates have criticized the product’s built-in camera and people have derided the device for being nerdy. Early users of the product earned the nickname ‘Glassholes.’

In January, Google said it was discontinuing the current version of Glass, and putting the product development under the purview of Tony Fadell, co-founder of Nest, the smart-home device company that Google acquired in February 2014. Fadell is a former Apple executive and the hardware guru behind the original iPod music player.”