Posted on 21 February 2011.
OnOne’s DSLR Camera Remote HD works in conjunction with your WiFi-enabled computer and compatible Nikon or Canon DSLR camera to let you instantly adjust your camera’s settings, fire the shutter, review images, get a live viewfinder preview, and record video from the cozy confines of your iPad.
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Posted on 21 February 2011.
Namco finally brings Flight Control, the popular plane landing game which has been present on iOS for quite some time. For a whopping $4.99, you can be well on your way to strategically landing planes on their respective colored runways. The addicting game allows you to trace out your route for multiple planes as you try to land them safely without crashing into each other. The game includes 10 different planes for you to choose from along with the ability to track your stats and high scores. If you’re ready for the challenge, then head on over to the Android Market for more info and to download the game. Don’t forget to give us your thoughts in the comments below. Is $4.99 a deal breaker for you?
Flight Control For Android Now Available In The Market
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Posted on 05 February 2011.
All talk of the legality of sharing via BitTorrent aside, the peer-to-peer networks based around torrent files have quickly become one of the most popular ways to share large files. If you are one of the many using BitTorrent files for perfectly legal reasons, you might be happy to know about the newly release uTorrent app for Android. The app links into your uTorrent desktop client to remotely start, stop, and pause downloads and check current status. Though those remote capabilities are pretty nice, the real reason you’ll want uTorrent is for the ability to add torrents found on your phone to your desktop queue.
You will need Android 2.1 or higher to get it, but you can find it in the Android Market now. This is only an alpha build, so expect future updates to bring much more.
[via Androinica]
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Posted on 17 January 2011.
Earlier this month we told you that Amazon had launched the developer portal for its forthcoming Android App Store, where developers will be able to upload their Android apps for a 30% cut of whatever sales are made. However, it seems that Amazon has decided to control the prices of the apps sold in their store.
Developers will be able to suggest a price, but the final decision will ultimately come down to Amazon. From the beginning it seemed questionable that users (and developers for that matter) were going to turn to the Amazon store as opposed to the traditional Android Market, but with this news I am fully expecting Amazon’s experiment to flop relatively quickly.
Amazon set to control prices in their Android App Store
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Posted on 07 January 2011.
Ford has just announced that their SYNC App-Link technology will be available in Ford Mustang 2012 models. App-Link extends the current abilities of SYNC, such as hands-free calling and music search, by allowing users to control third-party apps on their mobile device using SYNC’s voice recognition. Currently, the service works only with Pandora with Stitcher compatibility coming in early 2011.
Check out the full presser after the break.
Ford Mustangs will have SYNC App-Link to control Android apps with voice recognition
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Posted on 04 January 2011.
When I think of my utopia, I imagine being able to sit on my couch and control the temperature inside my fridge with my phone. Well, thanks to LG, my perfect world will become a reality with Thinq, a new smartphone application which will allow users to control things like ovens, fridges, washing machines, and robot vacuum cleaners.
In order to use Thinq, both the appliance and the phone will have to be compatible. The appliance will be connected via WiFi, and will operate on a two-way frequency allowing the appliance to send notifications to the phone, and the phone to send commands to the appliance. It all sounds a bit silly, but I for one know I hate getting up to check the dryer to see when it needs to be turned up again. This technology is expected to be formally announced at CES, so we’ll see what info we can track down while we’re there. Stay tuned.
LG Thinq will allow you to control household appliances with your phone
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Posted on 03 January 2011.
Engineers have regained communications with the “Zombie satellite”, a rogue satellite that has spent nine months threatening satellites along the geosynchronous arc.
Galaxy 15 is now responding to commands and ground controllers, Intelsat announced this week.
Galaxy 15 stopped communicating with engineers in April, but the craft continued blaring powerful C-band television signals as it drifted uncontrollably through geosynchronous orbit, terrorizing satellites along its path.
It required maneuvers by Intelsat and other operators affected by fly-bys of Galaxy 15 — including SES, Telesat and SatMex — to avoid serious interference and service interruption.
A solar storm may have crippled the satellite, but officials are still investigating the root cause of the anomaly.
Intelsat says the spacecraft temporarily lost Earth lock on Dec. 17, causing it to lose enough power to shut down its primary C- and L-band payload. On Dec. 23, the battery completely drained and the baseband equipment command unit reset automatically, as it was designed to do. The spacecraft then began accepting commands and sending telemetry again, allowing engineers to place it in safe mode.
In other space news, Germany and the United States are jointly developing secret spy satellites under the guise of a commercial programs despite opposition from France, according to US diplomatic cables on Wikileaks.
The project, named HiROS, which stands for High Resolution Optical Satellite System, envisions the construction of an undetermined number of high-resolution observation satellites capable of spotting any object on the planet down to a size of just 50 centimetres (about 1.5 feet). The satellites will also have the capacity to take infrared images at night and to send images much quicker back to earth than the satellites currently in service, the cables showed.
According to Wikileaks, US and German officials have decided it should be presented as a civilian project with environmental aims, run by commercial entities. But in reality it is “under the total control” of the German intelligence service BND and the German aerospace centre DLR, the cables showed.
A DLR spokesman on Monday denied HiROS was a spy satellite.
“The purpose of HiRos will be to transmit data for public services, for example for crisis management in natural catastrophes,” Andreas Schuetz told AFP in an email.
“HiROS is not a spy satellite nor a secret project,” he said.
The German government would probably like to lessen their dependence on the French Spot system. The French two-satellite Pleiades spacecraft, for high-resolution (sub-meter) optical Earth-imaging , are currently operational.
DLR and Astrium GmbH of Germany co-financed work on an optical imager for South Korea’s Kompsat-3 satellite, scheduled for launch in 2011. The Kompsat-3 imager is designed to provide a ground resolution as sharp as 70 centimeters.
Earth observation satellites include Ikonos and DigitalGlobe in the United States.
Ball Aerospace (right) built DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-2, launched on October 8, 2009. The satellite includes a panchromatic sensor with a 46 cm (18 in) maximum resolution and a multispectral sensor of 184 cm.
The Ikonos GeoEye-2, due to launch in early 2013, will have a resolution of 25 cm, making it the highest resolution commercial Earth observation satellite in orbit.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is a planned infrared space observatory and is the scientific successor to the Hubble Space Telescope . Its main scientific goal is to observe the most distant objects in the universe beyond the reach of either ground based instruments or the Hubble.
The Spitzer Space Telescope (SST), is an infrared space observatory launched in 2003. The planned mission period was to last until the onboard liquid helium supply was exhausted. This occurred on 15 May 2009. Without liquid helium to cool the telescope to the very cold temperatures needed to operate, most instruments are no longer usable. However, the two shortest wavelength modules of the IRAC camera are still operable with the same sensitivity as before the cryogen was exhausted, and will continue to be used in the Spitzer Warm Mission.
Aerospace.org provides systems engineering and integration for many NRO spacecraft such as the Space Based Infrared System which continues to struggle with cost overruns, with several Nunn-McCurdy breaches. The initial $2.16 billion contract has now increased to $10.4 billion.
Related DailyWireless Space and Satellite News includes; Eutelsat Launches Ka Band Internet Satellite , O3B: Funded for Launch, SkyTerra 1 Launched, Broadband Satellites: Black Hole?, LightSquared: Phase 1, LightSquared: 5K Basestations by 2011, LightSquared Announces LTE Network, FCC Okays Terrestrial LTE for SkyTerra, TerreStar Successfully Launched,Broadband Satellites: Looking Up, WiMAX and/or Satellite, HughesNet’s Spaceway 3 Now Available, Hughes Launches Switchboard in the Sky, HughesNet & Broadband Corporation, Spot Beam Sats Multiply, Clearwire & SatTV Do a Deal, Sprint Beams Up with MSV, TerreStar: I-HSPA for Satphones, Satphones: Merger Ahead?, Inmarsat + SkyTerra = Spectrum Sharing, Mobile Satellite on the Move, TerreStar Gets a Slot, Satellite Repeaters – Grounded In Reality?, WildBlue Partners with DirecTV & Echostar, John Malone in Space, TerreStar Gets a Slot, BSkyB + Google, SkyNet Satellite Hacked?, Lockheed CEO: Space is Broken, MSS: AWS Alternative?, WildBlue: AT&T’s DeathStar?
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Posted on 21 December 2010.
It is most functional when performing basic mouse duties or acting as a remote control for media capabilities. The free options allow for mouse control, custom application remotes and turning a web camera into a spycam.The most basic features dominate the free apps, while more sophisticated options will require an in-app purchase. (…)
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Posted on 12 December 2010.
VLCRemoteControl rates quite high on the Geek Coolness scale. The application lets you control VLC media player wirelessly over your home network. VLC Media Player is a separate program that runs on your computer. It is designed to play any type of audio or video that you throw at it. VLC has the ability to accept commands over the internet; VLCRemoteControl uses that ability to great coolness.
I imagine this app would be perfect for folks who don’t sit in front of their computers. This is not as odd a circumstance as you might think. Many people – including myself – use a computer to watch videos on their TV’s and listen to music through their entertainment system. VLCRemoteControl allows me to control any computer in my house running VLC media player.
The trouble is, it doesn’t work all of the time.
CrackBerry.com‘s feed sponsored by ShopCrackBerry.com. VLC Remote Control for BlackBerry
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Posted on 03 December 2010.
The Call Control Android App by Kedlin Company is a call blocking and blacklist app that is community powered for the Android platform. This app’s community has a large directory of spam callers that are blocked instantly.
The main features that the app has are blacklist, whitelist your contacts, call blocking and private call blocking. The app also features a call log, lookup feature and the ability to report a call from the main menu.
Overall, the app works really well and is easy to use. The large community that it’s directory is based on helps to block calls right from when you install the app. The app comes with a 14 day trial and you can purchase the full version right groom the app for a one time fee of $7.99. Thumbs Up.
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Posted on 09 November 2010.
Nokia has taken back control of the Symbian operating system, 18 months after it set up a non-profit foundation to oversee its development.
Nokia said today that it will have no adverse impact on Symbian’s device roadmaps or shipping commitments. Nokia plans to continue to invest its own resources in developing Symbian. Symbian^3 is the latest version of the Symbian platform, with over 250 new features.
The six major smartphone operating systems are Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, Nokia’s Symbian/Meego, Microsoft’s Phone 7, RIM’s BlackBerry OS and Palm’s (now Hewlett-Packard’s) WebOS. They run on ARM processors.
About two years Nokia paid 264m euros to buy out the other shareholders in Symbian. The Finnish phone giant then teamed up with others, such as AT&T, LG, Motorola, NTT Docomo, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, STMicroelectronics, Texas Instruments and Vodafone to set up the Symbian Foundation to manage and dissemate the open source mobile phone operating system.
The Symbian Foundation isn’t shutting down, but it will change its role to license Symbian software. Nokia will take Symbian platform development back into its fold and make it available “to the ecosystem via an alternative direct and open model.”
The result of the changes, says Nokia, is that the Foundation will reduce headcount in operations and staff and, by April of next year, will be governed by a “group of non-executive directors responsible for licensing the OS.”
Nokia said it expects to sell more than 50 million Symbian^3 smartphones and already has some on the market, such as the Nokia N8, Nokia C7, and Nokia C6-01. The Finnish handset maker will meld Qt, its app development framework, with Symbian to improve the struggling OS.
Symbian is still the OS embedded in the majority of the world’s mobile phones, but the OS has lost the backing of most handset makers, leaving Nokia as the only major manufacturer left supporting it.
MeeGo is the new thing. MeeGo is an open source project that was formed when Intel and Nokia merged their respective Linux mobile operating systems to create a unified platform. It combines two earlier Linux efforts, Nokia’s Maemo (which works on ARM processors) and Intel’s Moblin (which works on Intel’s Atom processors). MeeGo can run on both ARM and Atom processors.
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Posted on 18 October 2010.
Image by Flickr User SlipstreamJC
I, like many many other geeks, suffer from an affliction called gadget lust. Every new, shiny, blinky gadget that comes down the pike and replaces the previous shinky, blinky gadget must be had. I suppose it’s a subset of the general capitalist disease, but it’s a particularly virulent (and expensive) strain. And it’s not something I really want to cure.
I’d rather treat the disease. Manage the symptoms, as it were.
And what it comes down to for me, as an engineer and a technophilic geek, is examining the use case for each new gadget that I start lusting over. I have to take a coldly considered look at how the gadget would be incorporated into my life, and whether the change in behavior and routine it would bring will make life easier and/or more fun.
A few examples:
iPhone 4: I think the newest update to the groundbreaking smartphone is great (even taking into consideration the antenna issues, and whatever your feelings are about AT&T). The screen is awesome, it’s faster, the double cameras are cool, and so forth. It’s totally worthy of gadget lust, but I didn’t upgrade. My contract cycle was not up this time around, so we would have had to spend extra money to get this upgrade. With that in mind, I looked at what changes it would bring to my daily use patterns, and the answer, in all honesty, was “none.” So I passed. Next year, when my contract is up, I’ll probably jump on iPhone 5, but that’s next year. For now, I’m in remission.
iPad: This is a case where the gadget lust found a use case justification. As a blogger and editor, I have to check email and my blog constantly, and create light content as needed. The iPad fit a niche between my phone and my laptop making the bulk of my online time much more elegant and lightweight. It was an easy purchase.
Logitech Z515 Speakers: I spend a lot of my sitting in a cubicle, and I like to have a little quiet music going. For a year or more, I’ve had a set of rechargeable capsule speakers. They’re ultra portable, but the fidelity isn’t much better than the speaker in my iPhone, I had to recharge them via USB each night, and plug them into a mic jack each morning. Then Logitech offered some review units of various speakers, and the Z515 caught my eye. It’s a rechargeable bluetooth-enabled portable speaker, which meant I wouldn’t have to go through the routine of plugging things in in the morning, and unplugging in the evening. The sound quality is leaps and bounds ahead of the capsule speakers (but then, it’s also more than 6 times larger and heavier). I can keep it plugged in, but the battery will last 8-10 hours on a charge. And best of all is the bluetooth. I come in, tap a single button, and it connects to the last audio source it used previously (usually my phone), and I can start playing music right away. It saves me minutes each day, and delivers a better listening experience. The use case analysis gives it a big thumbs up (which is why I plan to buy them when the review period is over)!
3D Television of Any Kind: Since 3D movies have, for the most part, failed to deliver the kind of experience to make everyone NEED to have such technology at home, I see no use case that makes sense to spend the extra money. Indeed, having to use special glasses (which will get lost or broken in a house with kids and animals), and the reduced viewing angles means the use case has a negative score.
You get the idea.
So yes, there are going to be new, shiny technological gadgets for us to lust over coming out every week (don’t get me started on all the new set-top boxes!). But we have to be able to take an intellectual cold shower and look at a few key factors before running our credit cards up to the limit:
1. Will this gadget save me time by having and using it?
2. Will this gadget improve the quality of my work or play?
3. Will this gadget make some aspect of my life easier/simpler/more elegant?
If you can’t honestly answer yes to any of those questions, then you should consider asuaging your gadget lust with the enjoyment you can get going onto the forums for the particular gadget and making fun of other people lusting over it. Or, I guess you could try guiding them through this same thought process and helping them manage their disease as well. Though that’s not as fun.
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Posted on 24 September 2010.
A couple of weeks ago we hosted a back-to-school party for my six-year-old’s class. We were supplied with a 
Hexbug party pack from Hexbug consisting of Hexbug Nanos, a Battle Bridge set and Habitat sets and pieces. My family had a great time setting everything up and my wife worked hard creating bug-themed food. We had “caterpillars” which were Cheetos Puffs with eyes on them, dirt and grass colored cupcakes with gummy bugs on them, “bug slime” (or blue Kool-Aid, for the layman), the classic “ants-on-a-log,” and of course gummy bugs and worms.
Once the six and seven-year-olds arrived it was the typical chaos that you would imagine. The kids were quite taken with the little vibrating bugs that looked like multi-color roaches. The activities soon centered on the sets that were built and great times were had by all.
The Battle Bridge was a huge draw. What’s the fun of having robots bugs if they cannot compete on the field of battle? This led to many “king of the hill” type matches. Two bugs enter, one bug leaves…
Another new element that was sent to us to try was the spiral ascension piece. This allowed the Hexbugs to travel up a higher level to explore. 
It would be fun to have a few of these, so one could create tall towers of Hexbug habitats with multiple levels of fun.
These things are built kid tough. Everything was dropped from kid height or knocked off a table at one point during the day, with no damage. The Hexbugs themselves are surrounded by rubber (legs and body) so they are pretty tough, but I was really surprised to see how well the habitats are put together. Any parent reading this knows what it is like to put some plastic ‘thing’ together and have something break – usually because there is a plastic tab that bends or is made too thin and snaps. The habitats, tracks and bridge sets never had this problem. They are very sturdy, constructed out of heavy grade plastics and reinforced where they need it.
After the party was over, each child took several Hexbugs home (which is a great idea for goody bags) and a pack of batteries. Our neighbor, who is a school teacher, had a class pet die; so we donated some habitats and Hexbugs to the school. Now they have class pets that will offer hours of discussion and will never die – just add new batteries. The Hexbug line of toys has been out for a while, however they now seem to be getting the attention they deserve. I believe they will be a huge hit this holiday season, especially since the bugs themselves fall into the under $10 price point and the habitats can range in price from $10 to $30. New sets will be arriving in stores soon, so keep an eye out for new exciting products.
Here is another video link that I think is too good not to share. Click here.
All Hexbugs and Habitats were provided by Hexbug. All pictures and video by Tony Sims.
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Posted on 13 August 2010.
When I got my hands on the T-Mobile MyTouch 3G Slide and had a chance to play with the enhanced Genius features, I kept wondering why we couldn’t all have the cool features of sending email and text messages using just our voice. The guys over at Google obviously have some form of telepathy and heard my thoughts.
Google today announced in a press conference in San Fransisco that they have released an updated voice service for all devices running Android 2.2 and above. the new enhanced voice control add-on for Android now includes Voice Actions that allow you control more features of your Android device than previously permitted.
Quoted from Google announcement today:
Voice Actions are a series of spoken commands that let you control your phone using your voice. Call businesses and contacts, send texts and email, listen to music, browse the web, and complete common tasks, all just by speaking into your phone
I played around with the application a little this afternoon and I can say that’s its working very well on my Google Nexus One. Accurate voice recognition and command detection seemed to be the order of the day and most of my attempts at sending emails, text messages and navigation commands went through without a hitch.
Mike LeBeau, the lead engineer for Voice Actions, show you how it all works in this video:
Google have added quiet a few extra command to the existing voice search facility in Android, they include:
If you’ve already got Android 2.2 on your device, when you get a chance, head over to the Android Market and download the updated Voice Search application.
You can click or scan the QRCode below from your phone to head over and download it now.
What other features do you think Google could add to Android to make our every day lives more exciting?
View full post on AndroidSPIN | Your No.1 source for Everything Android.
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Posted on 30 July 2010.
JumiMouse Plus enables near total control of your PC. For Windows machines a user can control the mouse, enter text, or take over other programs.
JumiMouse works well at working as a touch-mouse remote for a computer, which is an ideal way to control things such as media playback or simple scrolling. Getting started involves both downloading the iPhone app from the App Store as well as a free download from the JumiTech web site. There is a scroll bar on the right side of the screen for quickly scrolling through pages.
There are two types of keyboards for entering text; the standard iPhone keyboard or a Windows-centric that fills the entire screen. (…)
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Control Your PC with Jumi Mouse | Best iPad Apps | Best Free Apps
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Posted on 28 July 2010.
iPhoto ‘09 can extend its organizational powers well beyond your desktop into the realm of online albums. From within iPhoto, you can manage your Flickr and Facebook albums with ease.
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Posted on 24 July 2010.
Remember the OnStar app for the Chevy Volt? The one that allowed you to remotely start your car, lock and unlock doors and check vital engine statistic all from your Android handset? If you were kicking yourself that you might only get a chance to experience it by owning a new Volt, that shouldn’t be a problem anymore. OK, you’ll still need to buy a new car, but at least the options have opened up as General Motors plans to bring the same OnStar technology to its complete lineup of vehicles for 2011.
The remote control and monitoring functionality should really open up a new way to experience you car. Figure out some way to use GPS and Google Maps to remotely drive the car to pick you up and you basically have a Bat-Mobile (body kit, paint job, and rocket booster sold separately). You still need to sign up for an OnStar subscription starting at a pricey $18.95 per month, but I like where this technology is going. Hopefully more manufacturer’s will adopt similar systems in the future. Check out the video at this link for a better sense of what you can do with your Android phone and OnStar.
[via Engadget]
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Posted on 12 July 2010.
It’s happened to us all: you double-click on a file and are dismayed to see it opening with the wrong application. Here’s how you can control which application opens a file—or an entire file type—temporarily or permanently.
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Posted on 29 June 2010.
Cisco today introduced a home energy management system, which it will test with customers of utility Duke Energy. Cisco will offer it to other utilities, says C/Net.
Cisco’s home energy controller is a countertop touch-screen device that allows people to monitor electricity usage and reduce waste by taking advantage of off-peak pricing. With hosted Energy Management Software, your utility can provision and manage thousands of homes with energy management features.
Duke plans to pilot-test the devices and related back-end services for a year starting this summer with customers in Charlotte, N.C., and in Cincinnati who already have smart meters installed.
The controller will act as a hub for home-networked devices, which can report their energy use and be controlled from the display wirelessly. Existing appliances can be connected using two-way thermostats or smart plugs, which talk to the controller via the Zigbee protocol. Cisco said it plans to support other wireless protocols over time.
Cisco is working with big utilities like Duke Energy, Florida Power & Light, Germany’s Yellostrom, and Canada’s Enmax. Cisco recently invested in Grid Net, a startup specializing in WiMAX. Its vendor partners include General Electric, Accenture, Oracle, Arcadian Networks, Itron, Landis+Gyr, Siemens, Schneider Electric and Verizon. It also has its EnergyWise platform for controlling building and data center energy use.
The initial per-household cost is estimated at $900, says Forbes, a sum Cisco says it will charge utilities for its home energy system, with the unspoken expectation that the utilities will likely subsidize the devices and pass on the cost to consumers via their electric bills.
Google’s Web-based Powermeter and Microsoft’s Hohm application are free of charge, online. A Web interface and smartphones can access Google’s and Microsoft’s services.
Cisco is betting consumers will prefer a standalone device.
To connect smart meters, utilities are using their own licensed frequencies, cellular networks and WiMAX, explains Earth2Tech
Grid Net, formed a collaboration with GE Energy and Intel, focusing solely on WiMAX for their last mile connectivity. Motorola, General Electric and Grid Net are part of a group of companies installing smart meters in almost 700,000 households and businesses in Australia by 2013. Grid Net and GE Energy also appear to be positioned to rollout initiatives in U.S. WiMAX cities.
Silver Springs Network provides a connection to electricity, water and gas meters over a neighborhood area network (NAN). It supports a variety of WANs, including Zigbee and cellular networks. Florida Light is deploying hundreds of thousands of smart meters in people’s homes throughout Florida using Silver Spring Networks IP-based networking infrastructure.
Related Smart Meter stories on Dailywireless include; Obama Announces $3.4B in Electric “Smart Grid” Grants, Smart Grid Gets Unwired, Smart Meters on The Stimulus Channel,
Obama Announces $3.4B in Electric “Smart Grid” Grants, WiMAX SmartGrid Coming to 700K Australians, Home Networking: A Universal Spec?, Google Power Meter, M2M: Big Deal, Wireless Power Standard Emerging, and Sprint Announces Smart Grid Ambitions, ABI: Stimulus Means Big Bucks for Wireless, The Smart Grid: Licensed or Unlicensed Spectrum, Cellular-enabled SCADA, Smart Grid: Dumb or What?, Smart Grid: It’s Alive!, Google: Smart Power R US,
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Posted on 24 June 2010.
What Gadget geek hasn’t said to themselves, “boy, I wish I could control my phone via my PC”, or, “man, I wish I could record my Android device doing this or that”? Well, thanks to the folks over at xda-developers, it’s now a (relatively simple) reality. I just tested this method out on my HTC Hero, and it works brilliantly. You’ll just need to install a few things.
Here’s the basic instructions:
Download Android sdk. Place android-sdk-windows folder on root of your C:\
http://developer.android.com/sdk/index.htmlDownload(skip login) and install JRE(JDK) 6
http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/widget/jdk6.jspDownload the attached java file, unzip it, and just run it.
Place it anywhere you want. It doesnt have to be in the sdk folder like the screenshot program.Make sure your phone is plugged in for a minute or two.
If you cant get it to control, run the automount app or dual mount sd widget.
Just a note… I had to go to the control panel and type the following to get the java program to recognize my phone:
cd C:\android-sdk-windows\tools
adb devices
And thats it! Easy to use remote control and screencasting for your Android device. What do you think about it? Let us know in the comments.
For more information on Android and the current Android mobile phones, check out our Android Guides
Control your Android phone with your PC, unofficially of course
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Posted on 15 June 2010.
The new Xbox 360 launched today, and is priced at $299. The older Elite model will stick around for $249 and the Arcade will drop to $149. ESPN and Microsoft said Xbox 360 owners will be able to stream live sporting events if they are also Xbox Live Gold subscribers. A new ESPN channel will feature more than 3,500 live sporting events during its first year.
Microsoft officially announced their full-body motion control system for the Xbox 360, now called Kinect on Sunday evening during the E3 2010 trade show. Microsoft says it will be available in November.
Microsoft director Alex Kipman, originally named it after the Brazilian city of Natal, as a tribute to his country of origin.
A 45-minute theatrical performance by Cirque du Soleil utilized Kinect with a 76-person cast of “dancers, musicians, acrobats and clowns,” with 25-foot high projection screens above the stage.
There are supposedly going to be around 12 titles available when Kinect launches later this year, according to USA Today. Current rumors suggest there will be two version of Natal with the more expensive version priced at $189.
So-called “gesture control” systems utilize camera sensors to detect radar-like beams that hit objects in the room. Such systems have a surprisingly fine level of detail, even able to recognize different hand signals or small movements — even incorporate facial recognition.
Kinect was first announced on June 1, 2009 at E3 2009 as “Project Natal”. Microsoft said that over one thousand software development kits began shipping to game developers that same day. It is scheduled to be released in time for Christmas 2010.
The technology utilizes Microsoft’s software research, with Microsoft adding software control to 3DV, an Israeli 3-D camera company it recently acquired.
A light source puts out a train of short light pulses. Each pulse becomes a “light wall” that moves forward and illuminates the field of view. The energy detected by each camera pixel corresponds inversely to the distance, so the light reflected from a near object is captured completely while the reflection from a distant object appears too late to be captured, explains Broadcast Engineering. The 3DV Zcam offered keying that’s based on range-mapping, allowing objects to be attached to layers, eliminating the need for chroma key.
At the Society for Information Display in Seattle last month, companies showed off 3-D displays that don’t require glasses. These sets often use lenticular lenses, which are integrated into the display and project different images in two fixed directions. But a viewer needs to stand in designated zones to experience a 3-D effect; otherwise the screen becomes an out-of-focus blur.
Microsoft’s prototype display can deliver 3-D video to two viewers at the same time (one video for each individual eye), regardless of where they are positioned. It incorporates Kinect technology to determine location. The market for 3-D-capable televisions is expected to grow from 2.5 million sets shipped in 2010 to 27 million in 2013, according to the research firm DisplaySearch.
Perhaps gesture recognition will be incorporated into public art projects. Experiential marketing — without the marketing.
The Wireless Association announced today a five day interactive event in the main hall of Washington, DC’s Union Station. From June 14th-18th, CTIA will host a 50-foot-wide “Wireless Freedom Dome”– a 360-degree interactive experience where visitors can submit photos and messages using their wireless devices.
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Posted on 05 June 2010.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will take personal charge of the firm’s mobile business, admitting that the software giant has lost ground in the smartphone sector and is probably only the number-five player in the market.
“We were ahead of this game and now we find ourselves number five in the market,” Ballmer told attendees at the D conference in Los Angeles this week, reports The Telegraph. Ballmer was referring to Apple’s iPhone OS, RIM’s BlackBerry, Symbian and Google’s Android.
“We missed the whole cycle. I’ve been quite public about the fact that I’ve made some changes in leadership around our Windows Phone software.”
That change refers to Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division, who retired last week without a direct replacement. The development has meant that Ballmer is currently directly in charge of the Windows Phone division. When asked about filling Bach’s role, Ballmer said “it doesn’t make sense to replace him.”
Ballmer said that Microsoft’s Windows would be featured on a new range of tablet computers but denied Jobs’s claim that the PC is dead. “People are going to be using PCs in greater and greater numbers for years to come. Depending on what you’re trying to get done with the device at different times, there will be people who absolutely will want the comfortable and familiar look of Windows.”
The entertainment and devices business accounted for about 13 percent of Microsoft’s US$58.4 billion in fiscal 2009 revenue, but the unit has struggled to keep pace with rivals.
Two weeks ago Apple officially overtook Microsoft in market value, becoming the world’s biggest technology company. Apple’s market value is now US$222 billion, edging it ahead of Microsoft, worth US$219 billion.
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Posted on 17 May 2010.
SES WORLD SKIES, a division of SES S.A., the second largest satellite operator in the world, today announced plans for an intricate set of orbital maneuvers later this month aimed at steering its AMC-11 satellite away from Intelsat’s troubled Galaxy 15 spacecraft, referred to in recent media coverage as a “Zombie” satellite.
According to Space.com, a solar storm in April shut down the electronics payload of the Galaxy 15, rendering it unresponsive to ground controls. It stopped responding to commands April 5 and is now closing in on the orbital slot occupied by AMC-11 with its active payload, and will be in a position to cause potentially severe interference during a two-week period starting around May 23, according to Intelsat and SES estimates.
Galaxy 15 has drifted out of its 133 degrees west longitude orbital slot and is now on an eastward path along the geostationary arc
As the satellite approaches AMC-11 at 131 degrees west, SES WORLD SKIES plans to have AMC-11 match the eastward drift of Galaxy 15 in order to maintain a minimum separation between the two satellites. This synchronized drift is designed to protect AMC-11 services from interference caused by Galaxy 15.
At the same time, SES WORLD SKIES will move its new SES-1 satellite to the opposite side of Galaxy 15, thereby enabling some customers, including cable television networks, to leapfrog their broadcasts over interference caused by the zombie spacecraft. Customers will either be able to maintain services on AMC-11 during its drift, or repoint antennas to SES-1 in order to best protect their services.
SES WORLD SKIES operates a fleet of 27 satellites – part of the 43 spacecraft of the SES group
Several “undead satellites” are drifting out of control along the geosynchronous arc, creating havoc.
In a top secret operation, the U.S. Defense Dept. is conducting the first deep space inspection of a crippled U.S. military spacecraft. To do this, it is using sensors on two covert inspection satellites that have been prowling geosynchronous orbit for nearly three years.The failed satellite being examined is the $400 million U.S. Air Force/Northrop Grumman Defense Support Program DSP 23 missile warning satellite. It died in 2008 after being launched successfully from Cape Canaveral in November 2007 on the first operational Delta 4-Heavy booster.
The Orbital Sciences and Lockheed Martin “Mitex” inspection spacecraft involved are part of a classified Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) technology development program. When initially launched on a Delta 2 from Cape Canaveral in 2006, the project involved maneuvering around and inspecting each other at geosynchronous altitude.
Some 6,000 satellites have been sent into space since the Soviet Union launched the first man-made orbiter, Sputnik 1, in 1957. About 3,000 satellites remain in operation, according to NASA.
Related DailyWireless stories include; Satellites Collide, Chinese Destroy Satellite – Create Space Debris Field, Satellite Fallout, U.S. Antisatellite Weapon to be Tested, Geosync Spies, Space Cold War, Antartic Communications, Space Capsule, China/US Space News, Russian Satellite Hit, Pacific Satellites Fail, T-Minus 10 for Space X, Space Lasers, Satellite Jam, Advanced EHF – Wait for It, Pacific Telecommunication Council: 007, State Department on Space Policy, Robot Space Combat, F.I.A. FUBAR, Space Cold War, Space Radar Launch, Satellite Jam, Lockheed CEO: Space is Broken, NRO Rides Again, T-Minus 10 for Space X.
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Posted on 10 May 2010.
This Bluetooth headset, which already integrates with the iPhone, can now stream audio from more apps over Bluetooth, and even control the iPhone’s volume with its single button.
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