Opera 20 brings appless video chat to Android
For those of us who are overwhelmed by the vast array of video chat apps out there the new version of Opera may offer an appless video chat solution for you.
Opera 20 brings to Android a WebRTC-compatible browser that allows users of the browser to enter into a video chat across mobile phones and computers simply by entering the address of a video conference into the URL bar of the Opera 20 browser. If you are the creator of the video chat, then you have to visit a site such as appear.in to get an address for the video conference to share with your friends or colleagues. No special software or apps other than Opera 20 is needed.
The WebRTC (real time communication) protocol is a newer standard that promotes communication between browsers without having to rely on third party solutions to enable communication. With the addition of this protocol into the new version, Opera has joined the ranks of Firefox and Chrome who have been offering the protocol since last fall.
You can find the updated version of Opera in the Google Play Store.
The post Opera 20 brings appless video chat to Android appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Fleet of underwater gliders could improve global weather forecasts
While our entire climate model is based on the world’s ocean currents, there’s a surprising lack of detailed measurements in that area. Researchers from Rutgers and elsewhere want to rectify that with the Challenger Glider Mission, which will see the launch 16 unpowered, autonomous submarines later this month. As with past adventures, the 7-foot long craft will ply deep currents across 80,000 square miles of five ocean basins, using buoyancy changes and fins for propulsion and navigation. From there they’ll transmit real-time current, temperature and salinity data to the Iridium satellite network. Combined with other observational methods, that could help scientists refine current climate models and improve forecasting. Researchers will also gauge the health of our planet’s oceans using phytoplankton measurements — definitely a hot button issue at the moment.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: Rutgers
Casino on your desktop, browser and mobile – but what more?
Playing casino games on the internet has become a wide spread and popular activity in the last 20 years – this is how much has passed since the first real money online casino was launched. Online casinos are emerging even now, in this time of worldwide financial crisis, as the internet gambling industry – iGaming, as those involved call it – tends to maintain its profitability.
Online casinos have become more and more elaborate in the two decades since their first introduction. If at the beginning they were slow, resource-hungry packs of low fidelity graphics and sounds, some – not all – software packages have become more and more sophisticated, balanced and usable, with better graphics and sounds, and much better features – not to mention the games.
After a time people started to miss the one thing online casinos don’t have and real life ones do: personal contact. Developers had an answer to this issue, too – they have developed a thing called ‘live casino gaming’ – where players don’t have to make do with the impersonal, yet elaborate and precise random number generators anymore, having the chance to play their favorite game against a live dealer. These live dealers – usually young, attractive and female (wink!) – sit in a studio and deal classic casino games, like blackjack, roulette and baccarat – and smile, chat and encourage players during their playtime.
With the evolution of portable internet-capable devices, developers have discovered a new, unexplored platform to expand on. Mobile casino games – even live ones – started to emerge, with a complete set of features: touchscreen optimized interface, secure mobile payment solutions, specific promotions and games. Nowadays most online casinos have a mobile platform – most of them accessible through a mobile browser window, but some – including a live casino app made by Playtech – as native mobile apps to run on the latest mobile hardware. These mobile casinos are the latest step online casinos have taken in the course of their evolution.
I wonder what could be the next step in the evolution of online gambling – keeping in mind that the technology serving as a platform for every online activity is evolving before our very eyes. I can imagine a completely immersive casino experience, using either one of the wearable smart devices – like Google Glass or its competitors, for example – and a ‘desktop’ solution that can be used with one of the wearable gaming devices – like Oculus Rift. I can imagine voice commands used by casino software, gesture control for the poker and blackjack table, the use of bitcoins for depositing funds at casinos – and many other things, that I can’t include here, as the text I write could turn into a piece of science fiction.
Until that time, we can make do with what we have. I usually play at Platimul Play online casino – it has all my favorite games, some of them even on mobile, and live dealer games (including ones against dealers in Playboy bunny outfits) in case I want a smile besides my blackjack wins. Give them a try.
Alleged Bitcoin founder hires a lawyer in bid to ‘clear his name’
While Newsweek continues to stand by its claim that Dorian Satoshi Nakamoto is the founder of Bitcoin, the man at the center of the allegation has decided to lawyer up. Despite having already denied his involvement, Nakamoto has now shared a personal statement with Reuters to “clear [his] name” and make it clear how much he has suffered from Newsweek’s report. Once believed to be in control of a million dollar Bitcoin fortune, the Californian resident detailed his struggle to find work, adding that the article has damaged his prospects of finding a job and caused him and his a family “a great deal of confusion and stress.” Apparently, he even cut his internet connection last year, citing financial issues. Nakamoto says it’ll be his first and final public word on the matter, but given the fact he’s sought legal counsel, the supposed father of Bitcoin may have more to say behind closed doors.
Dorian Nakamoto official statement/denial. Very interested to see how @newsweek @truth_eater @jimpoco respond. pic.twitter.com/wfCyK1dQ48
– felix salmon (@felixsalmon) March 17, 2014
[Image credit: anatacoins, Flickr]
Filed under: Internet
Via: The Next Web
Source: Felix Salmon (Twitter)
Samsung Galaxy S5 ISOCELL camera is suffering some production issues; delay Imminent?
The story of early 2013 was the titanic battle between the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the HTC One for the Android smartphone crown, however, the conflict was marred by debilitating supply issues that befell HTC. The issues stemmed from a lack of HTC One camera modules which would eventually go on to severely impact HTC’s bottom line in the weeks after its release. While Samsung won that battle in terms of handsets sold, the tables have turned on Samsung in 2014 as the Samsung Galaxy S5 ISOCELL camera that was shown off earlier this week is apparently suffering from production issues.
This time, it’s not the camera sensor itself which is the problem; it’s Samsung’s new six-element lens which is constructed in an extremely complex and intricate process in which “even the slightest flaw results in a considerable optical distortion”. While the results of a successfully assembled lens are likely phenomenal, the current production yield of these lens is approximately 20-30%, even with Samsung outsourcing the assembly to a third party lens supplier. That’s definitely not a good sign, particularly with the April launch date looming, but hopefully some breakthroughs will happen in the near future to help Samsung meet its supply targets instead of delaying the Galaxy S5′s release in some regions.
What do you think about these new reports of delays for the Samsung Galaxy S5? Has Samsung bitten off more than it can chew with this new ISOCELL camera, and opened the door for HTC? Let us know your opinion in the comments.
Source: ETNews via Phone Arena
Google Play Games to bring cross-platform multiplayer to Android and iOS at GDC 2014?
Games are one area that Google and Android in general have paid very little attention to in general, though they have taken steps to remedy this recently with the changes they brought in with Google Play Services 4.1 earlier this year (read more about what this changed here). Well, it looks like Google may be bringing in a few more gaming-centric changes in the near future as a blog post recently went up detailing changes to Google Play Games which look to change the face of mobile gaming as we know it and could be announced at GDC 2014 this week.
That blog post was quickly taken down, however we have the benefit of a cached copy to divulge Google’s incoming changes to Google Play Games. The biggest of the changes appears to be the ability to support Android and iOS cross-platform multiplayer, both for turn-based and real-time games. As you can imagine, this is pretty exciting news as bitter rivals like Android and iOS users can now be bitter rivals on the battlefield as well. Other changes detailed in the post include the addition of gifting to Play Games which will enable you to send virtual goods to people in your Google+ circles or standard player search. Google also says there will be changes to AdMob which should help developers make the most of Google’s advertising machines.
Whether these changes actually get announced at GDC 2014 or if the blog post was taken down for some other reason remains to be seen, but it looks like some big changes are due for Google Play Games in the near future. What’s the most exciting part of these changes in your opinion? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: Android Developers Blog via Phone Arena
‘Haunted Empire’ Profiles Apple After Steve Jobs as a Company on the Decline
Former Wall Street Journal reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane’s highly anticipated book, Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs, debuts tomorrow with the goal of examining Apple’s transition following the death of Steve Jobs.
While the book includes some interesting tidbits such as Jobs’ comments on TV at a 2010 company retreat, Haunted Empire will likely not sit well with many Apple fans given Kane’s thesis that the company is entering a period of decline without Jobs’ guidance. That may indeed be the case, but the impression Kane gives readers is that she reached her conclusion before even embarking on the project, proceeding to selectively choose anecdotes to support her predetermined view.
Haunted Empire has relatively little praise for Apple, offering a rather disjointed series of chapters jumping from one topic to the next in an effort to show how dysfunctional Apple has become without Jobs. The book begins with a prologue setting the stage for Apple’s transition with a description of the company’s celebration of Steve Jobs following his death in October 2011. The first few chapters then focus on Jobs’ earlier decline in health, including inside details on his 2008 conversation with New York Times reporter Joe Nocera regarding his health issues.
As Jobs began to move to the sidelines with several medical leaves of absence, Tim Cook’s star began to rise with his handling of Apple’s day-to-day operations, and his so-called “Cook Doctrine” shared on an earnings conference call in January 2009 offered the first good look at the executive’s philosophy. Apple was flying high at that point on strong iPhone growth, but Kane alleges that Jobs resented Apple’s success under Cook’s stewardship:
Jobs returned to Apple at the end of June [2009] just as had said he would. On his first day, he threw a series of tantrums, ripping people apart and tearing up marketing plans. When Jobs heard about the press’s sterling evaluation of Cook’s performance, he hit the roof. Cook had done an excellent job, but the leadership and skill he showed in doing so was unsettling. He was also still sore about the “Cook Doctrine.” Jobs chewed him out in a meeting with other executives.
“I’m the CEO!” Jobs yelled.
NiLS Notifications Lockscreen with Floating Panel – APP OF THE WEEK
Another app of the week, another notification lockscreen. This lockscreen app I have reviewed in the past already when it first came out. NiLS Notifications Lockscreen is a crafty little lockscreen app that will show you your notifications in your lockscreen, but they have improved this app greatly. So much that I have dropped the previous lockscreen app I was using to start using this one again.
NiLS has introduced a new feature called the Floating Panel. And how I came back to this app was from a friend a mine who was rocking this on his phone. Every time he would look at his phone for a notification, I saw this cool little overlay of that message, and I asked him what he was using to have that on his phone. He told me NiLS, and I remember I rocked this app when it first hit the Play Store. So then I went and downloaded it again, and yes, I was impressed by the Floating Panel. What the Floating Panel does is, it makes it where you don’t technically put the widget within your lockscreen widgets. When activating the Floating Panel, it just automatically puts the widget on your lockaceen for you, and it floats above any other widget you might have in your lockscreen. Just a sexy quality that I love about it.
Where the Floating Panel really shines, is the fact that it has a few themes in the Play Store. You can make it look like your Hangouts bubbles, or make it more Holo looking which is what I have been using. You can swipe to the left or the right to get rid of the new notification, or you can click it to open it. Swiping down causes you to clear out your notifications, and the animations are very eye pleasing when doing all this swiping.
So if you want to check out NiLS, hit the Play Store link below. Also check out my video run-through below to see it in action. Let us know fi you downloaded it, and if it is satisfying your notification needs.
Kinect and Unreal Engine 4 power Alzheimer’s and dementia care project (video)
Sure, virtual reality and browser-based games are impressive, but Unreal Engine 4′s latest use is a bit more noble: improving the lives of Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. The Forest Project uses the game engine, smart TVs and Microsoft’s Kinect 2 tech in an attempt to create a temporary reprieve for those suffering from the cognitive diseases via an interactive, virtual woodland. There’s also a virtual dementia simulation that aims to help caregivers understand first-hand how their patients see the world, possibly improving care as a result. Should the dev team reach its crowdfunding goal, the arboreal environment could be just the beginning, with beach or Christmas-themed environments hinted as possible expansions.
Opaque Multimedia and Alzheimer’s Australia Vic need a fraction of what many modern game budgets command to bring The Forest Project to multiple platforms in early 2015 — $82,000 (AU$90,000). Other details are scarce, but seeing that the team is in San Francisco for this week’s Game Developer’s Conference, we may hear more as the show progresses.
Filed under: Gaming, Science, HD
Source: The Forest Project (Pozible)
Twitter CEO plans ‘personal trip’ to China, will include meeting government officials
Twitter’s Dick Costolo will make his first trip to China, traveling to Shanghai to talk with government officials and academics. The social network has rejected the idea that it would open an office anytime soon in China, as it would tie the company to Chinese law. A Twitter spokesman said: “Dick is visiting China because he wants to learn more about Chinese culture and the country’s thriving technology sector.” According to Reuters, Costolo will meet Shanghai officials including representatives of the Shanghai free trade zone, established in 2013 to test further market liberalization in China. Officials have previously denied reports that internet censorship and social network access would also be loosened within the trade zone.
At the moment, Twitter is banned in China, blocked by censors since 2009, although there’s still a small user-base that uses VPNs and other methods to access the network – tweets in Chinese are estimated to account for only 0.05 percent of all tweets. It could be a response to the competition: in the same week, China’s biggest Twitter-like social network, Sina Weibo (with 129.1 million monthly users), announced plans to sell shares on the US stock market.
Filed under: Internet
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