Nintendo plans new NFC figures and games in a bid to rescue the Wii U
We hope you liked Skylanders, because Nintendo is apparently setting up its own range of toys to accidentally tread under foot. At the company’s financial briefing this morning, it outlined a Mario figure that could be used across multiple titles, somehow tying into game saves too. It’s not the first for Nintendo’s console: Pokemon Scramble connected NFC toys to the Wii U last year. Interestingly, Nintendo had apparently declined exclusivity on Activision’s lucrative Skylanders series.
These physical characters and games, grouped together as NFP (which apparently stands for both NFC Featured Platform and Nintendo Figurine Platform), will debut at this year’s E3, alongside a new IR reader for 3DSes that will make the toys compatible across both the handheld and the Wii. With 3DS sales currently totaling 43 million, and the Wii U struggling to top six million, it’s probably a wise business decision.
The briefing also revisited the Wii U quick-boot function the company teased back in January, including a short preview trailer. The teaser plays out almost exactly like its earlier mock-up — except, you know, real. Iwata says the quick-boot feature will be included in the console’s summer update. Care to take a look? Check out the video below.
Apple’s North American Sales Head Departs, Japan Sales Chief Doug Beck to Take Over [Mac Blog]
Apple’s head of North American sales, Zane Rowe, will be leaving the company, reports The Wall Street Journal. Rowe, who initially joined the company two years ago from United Continental Holdings, will be replaced by Doug Beck.
Beck already oversees sales in both Japan and Korea, and following Rowe’s departure, he will take over North American sales.
Doug Beck has done a great job helping to grow Apple’s business in Japan and Korea. His role is expanding to include North America sales as well,” said Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet.
During Apple’s January earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted sales in North America were down somewhat year over year, largely due to supply/demand balance issues with the iPhone 5s. Sales in Japan, however, which were managed by Beck, Rowe’s replacement, were up some 40 percent.
No reason has been given for Rowe’s departure, but he joins Apple’s VP of Public Relations Katie Cotton in leaving the company. Cotton’s retirement was announced earlier today, following more than 18 years at the company.
The departure of both Cotton and Rowe comes just as Apple has hired a new chief of online and retail, Angela Ahrendts, who officially joined the company last week.
Engadget Daily: NYC’s smartest neighborhood, pulsing pill for pooping and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Hyperrealistic virtual reality adventure Loading Human headed to Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus
Combine an Oculus Rift with Myst and you’d wind up with an experience similar to Untold Games’ upcoming title Loading Human. Based on Unreal Engine 4, the adventure game hopes to take VR to hyperrealistic heights, should it receive Kickstarter funding, of course.
New York’s next big neighborhood is its smartest
NYC’s next and largest development since the Rockefeller Center is called Hudson Yards, and its gonna be loaded with sensors. But this connected neighborhood won’t simply provide a hub for the quantified community, it’s also about future-proofing, green power and self-sustainability.
Nintendo had another very bad year and it’s all the Wii U’s fault
It’s no secret that Wii U sales have been less than great. In fact, they’ve been so bad that Nintendo’s blaming its reported loss of $456 million on the console. At least it’s got Mario Kart going for it, right?
Pulsing pill promises to put an end to problematic pooping
Pooping. We all do it, though some not as frequently as they should. To combat the all-too-common problem of constipation, Vibrant developed a vibrating pill that stimulates your bowel movements without any drugs. What’s more, its test trials have been 100 percent successful with no side effects.
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Filed under: Misc
Arizona will get non-stop clean energy from hot air drafts
Many green energy sources only generate power in a narrow range of conditions. Solar panels won’t work when it’s dark, for instance, and wind turbines are useless when everything is still. If Solar Wind Energy Tower has its way, though, we’ll soon get clean electricity around the clock. It recently received permission to build a tower in San Luis, Arizona that produces power through hot air downdrafts; water injected at the top of the tower cools the desert winds, dragging them toward turbines at the bottom. Since it’s almost always hot in the area, the plant should run all day and night for much of the year. An ideal summer day could have it churning out a healthy 1,250 megawatts per hour.
The downdraft tower should be ready for action in 2018, and Solar Wind Energy Tower hopes to license the technology to others. As you might imagine, the need for a hot climate is going to narrow the customer list — you won’t see this system in more temperate regions. However, it could be a boon to both the southern US as well as Africa, the Middle East and other places where heat is far more abundant than eco-friendly energy.
Via: Phys.org
Google Camera app updated to version 2.1.042 [Download]
Many people were extremely happy that Google finally decided to release a standalone app for their stock Google Camera last month. It brought with it all the nice goodies that Google have been teasing on the stock camera app for the longest time, however it was missing one feature that many other camera apps have by default: the ability to take photos while filming video.
Thankfully, with an update to version 2.1.042 (from 2.1.037), the Google Camera app has added this new feature in which should make quite a few people happy. It is a relative minor update so it’s not clear if any other updates have been made, but be sure to let us know in the comments if you spot something else.
The update should be rolling out as we speak, however if you need your Google Camera hit now, we’ve got the APK available for download down below:
Google Camera version 2.1.042 APK download
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Apple Seeds OS X Mavericks 10.9.3 Build 13D61 to Developers [Mac Blog]
Apple today seeded build 13D61 of OS X 10.9.3 to developers, just over a week after releasing the ninth OS X beta, build 13D55, and nearly two months after the first 10.9.3 beta.
The beta is available through the Software Update mechanism in the Mac App Store as well as through the Mac Dev Center.
Apple continues to ask developers to focus on Graphics Drivers, Audio, Mail, Contacts and Calendar sync over USB in iTunes, and Safari. As was discovered with the first beta, 10.9.3 adds new support for 4K displays, offering “Retina” resolutions that improve readability along with support for 60Hz output from the Retina MacBook Pro.
OS X 10.9.3 is likely nearing completion, as AppleCare employees were today seeded 10.9.3 build 13D62, one build later than what developers are receiving. A public launch could come as soon as this week.
Carefully choreographed robot pretends to do magic, recites Asimov
Who claims science isn’t magic? Well, anybody you might ask, really — but that doesn’t stop Techno-illusionist Marco Tempest from trying to meld the two. In a recent TED talk, Tempest used a top hat, a yellow ball and a robot named EDI (no, not that EDI) to discuss the role deception plays in creating automatons with lifelike attributes. “Magic creates the illusion of impossible reality,” he says. “Technology can be the same.” He explains that equipping robots with friendly faces, reassuring voices and sensors that help them see and predict human movement are part of this illusion, as are rules like Isaac Asimov’s laws of robotics. “A robot may not harm humanity or by inaction cause humanity to come to harm,” EDI echoes. Even so, Tempest’s robotic illusion falls flat; EDI’s stage presence is rife with personality, sure, but it’s also very obviously choreographed. It is still pretty fun to watch, though; check it out at the source link below.
Filed under: Robots
FCC’s new net neutrality rules face heavy opposition (update: vote still on schedule)
Despite FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler’s insistence that he is on the side of an open internet, the controversy over proposed net neutrality rules continues to expand. Resistance to the new rules is now coming from voices within the FCC and major internet companies including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, Yahoo and more. The plan was for the five commissioners to vote on their approval next Thursday, but today one of them, Jessica Rosenworcel, called to push back that vote by a month (update: an FCC spokesman says the vote will go forward as scheduled). Citing “real concerns” with Wheeler’s proposal and a need for time to consider the “torrent of public response” received, she wants the delay so public conversation can continue. That would mean putting the agency’s legal staff out front to explain the measures and answer questions in ways that are accessible to the public, instead of starting a Sunshine Period that would end the ability to accept public comment.
.@techMSS There were folks in front of the @FCC earlier today: pic.twitter.com/9QrWp4ZaLn
– Alina Selyukh (@alinaselyukh) May 7, 2014
Comments from the public are getting noisier than ever also, as protesters were even marching in front of the FCC today. One of the other FCC commissioners, Mignon Clayburn, blogged about the concerns she expressed back in 2010 when the original rules were implemented, including prohibiting the controversial “pay for priority arrangements” completely.
Read my new blog on #NetNeutrality http://t.co/4DBY4zt96G
– Mignon Clyburn (@MClyburnFCC) May 7, 2014
Thoughts on #libraries, #ERate, #netneutrality: http://t.co/Fup5UsNz3T
– Jessica Rosenworcel (@JRosenworcel) May 7, 2014
At the same time, Gigaom points out that a number of internet companies have signed on to a letter (PDF) calling for the FCC to “protect users and Internet companies on both fixed and mobile platforms against blocking,discrimination, and paid prioritization and…make the market for Internet services more transparent.” Names on the letter include over 100 internet companies including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, Level 3, Cogent and many others.
Update: According to FCC spokesman Neil Grace, the vote will proceed as scheduled. “Chairman Wheeler fully supports a robust public debate on how best to protect the Open Internet, which is why he intends to put forward his proposals for public comment next week. Moving forward will allow the American people to review and comment on the proposed plan without delay, and bring us one step closer to putting rules on the books to protect consumers and entrepreneurs online.”
According to recent news reports, the Commission intends to propose rules that would enable phone and cable Internet service providers to discriminate both technically and financially against Internet companies and to impose new tolls on them. If these reports are correct, this represents a grave threat to the Internet.
Instead of permitting individualized bargaining and discrimination, the Commission’s rules should protect users and Internet companies on both fixed and mobile platforms against blocking, discrimination, and paid prioritization, and should make the market for Internet services more transparent. The rules should provide certainty to all market participants and keep the costs of regulation low.
Such rules are essential for the future of the Internet. This Commission should take the necessary steps to ensure that the Internet remains an open platform for speech and commerce so that America continues to lead the world in technology markets.
Sincerely,
Amazon, Cogent, Dropbox, Ebay, Etsy, Facebook, Foursquare, Google, Kickstarter, Level 3, LinkedIn, Lyft, Microsoft, Netflix, Reddit, Tumblr, Twitter, Vonage Holdings Corp., Yahoo! Inc., Zynga
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook
Source: New America Letter to FCC, Jessica Rosenworcel, Mignon Clyburn, Gigaom
NASA discovers star clusters like Orion may have formed from the outside in
Astronomers have long thought that star clusters form when clouds of gas and dust condense, constructing themselves from the center out. But as recent findings suggest, this might not be the case. Researchers combing through data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and using infrared telescopes have offered a different take. After studying two clusters — NGC 2024 at the center of the Flame Nebula and the Orion Nebula Cluster — evidence showed that the stars on the outside for the formations where actually the oldest. “Our findings are counterintuitive,” said study head Konstantin Getman. “It means we need to think harder and come up with more ideas of how stars like our sun are formed.” Other possible explanations? Well, stars could continue to form in the center due to density, or older stars could’ve been pushed to the outside thanks to interactions with others. For now, the team looks to expand its search for a similar age range in other clusters.
Filed under: Science
Source: NASA
Google Wallet on Android now juggles all your internet accounts
As good as Google Wallet might be for payments, you’ve so far been locked into one Google account; that’s not so hot if family member need to borrow your phone to send some cash. That won’t be an issue after today, since Google has updated Wallet’s Android app with a tweaked interface that lets you use multiple Google accounts. You’ll also get shipment updates for orders from distant retailers.
There’s also an under-the-hood upgrade that should affect other apps you use. A Google Play Services refresh makes it easier for developers to put Google Wallet Instant Buy buttons in their titles; when they do, it’ll be trivial to buy something on a whim. That’s not great news if you’re an impulsive shopper, but we suspect that those with a good handle on their finances will be happy with the improvements.
Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, Mobile, Google
Source: Google Play, Android Developers
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