Nintendo resurrects its best controller for Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U
Not only is one of Nintendo’s most loved games soon to arrive on the Wii U, but you’ll also be able to play it using one of the game company’s best controllers. An officially licensed adapter will let you plug in up to four GameCube controllers when playing the next-gen iteration of Super Smash Bros. As Joystiq points out, we don’t know if there’ll also be support for Nintendo’s wireless Wavebird via the same piece of kit, or whether GameCube controllers will work with other Wii U titles. Neither do we have any pricing. What we do know is that the adapter will be shown off during a tournament at E3 on June 10th (check out the video below at 2:20). It”ll then presumably go on sale in time for the launch of Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U this winter — and, from Nintendo’s perspective, it surely can’t come soon enough.
Source: Nintendo (YouTube)
Samsung Galaxy Gear update switches it from Android to Tizen
When Samsung debuted its new line of Tizen-powered wearables, it looked like the original Galaxy Gear had been put on notice. Instead of leaving early adopters in the cold, the Korean smartphone maker has decided to make good on its promise to bring the wearable up to date — by switching it from Android over to its own OS. The update includes improvements to performance and battery life, a new standalone music player, customizable shortcuts, and voice-controlled camera commands. By installing the update, which at the moment is available as a manual download or via Samsung’s Kies software, you will lose any third-party tweaks or unsupported Android features that you’ve previously installed. However, you will gain many of the features present on the Gear 2 (except those dependent on additional sensors). Samsung hasn’t pushed an over-the-air update out yet, but that may not be a bad thing. It means some that may have accepted the update out of hand are less likely to make a decision they might regret later.
Filed under: Wearables, Software, Mobile, Samsung
Source: SamMobile
GO Launcher 5 PRIME free for limited time
GO Launcher has reached version 5, with the developers stating the UI and UX have been recreated from the bottom up. To mark the release of GO Launcher 5, the developers are offering the PRIME version which usually retails for $5.99 for free for a limited time.
The PRIME version of GO Launcher unlocks the following features:
- Remove Ads to ensure pure & clean user interface
- 6+ Transition animations to show off & wow your friends
- 3D transition: cloth, crystal, snake; crossfade, fly-in, curve, page turn
- Security lock to lock apps & protect privacy
- Wallpaper filters enable you to transform every moment into arts
- Side dock to switch between running tasks
- More gestures to quickly access to apps, contacts, settings
The deal is valid from May 30th to June 1st and to activate your free PRIME purchase just do the following:
1. Install GO Launcher 5 http://goo.gl/uP3jBG
2. Open the menu and go to Preferences > About GO Launcher EX > Enter Activation code appsales OR appszoom
You must be a new user to GO Launcher for this offer to work.
The post GO Launcher 5 PRIME free for limited time appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Virgin Galactic’s space flights cleared for US blastoff
Virgin Galactic’s plans to charter its first space flights by the end of the year have been given another huge boost after it got the green light to begin planning launches. The company, which is now deep in its testing phase, signed a deal with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to help it set clear guidelines on how its missions will take place in US airspace. The agreement doesn’t give Virgin a license to embark on regular trips to space (at least not yet), but instead paves the way for Richard Branson and co. to operate Galactic like a commercial airline.
The FAA will see that future space flights are integrated into the National Airspace System, clearing the skies for launches of Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft and SpaceShipTwo jet from Spaceport America in New Mexico. Although the the deal ticks off another major box, Virgin’s commercial flights still face more approvals. It’ll have to pass safety audits, environmental checks and sign insurance deals before it’s anywhere near ready. Once that’s done, Richard Branson says his family will jump aboard the first commercial space flight followed by 600 people who have already reserved their ride.
Filed under: Transportation
Via: BBC News
Source: Virgin Galactic
Microsoft’s UK Store will now sell you a Windows Phone
It’s weird to think that before Microsoft spent a few billion euros to acquire Nokia’s smartphone division, it didn’t sell Windows Phone handsets directly on its online UK store. Now that Nokia is officially part of the mothership, Redmond has begun getting its house in order and has made three Nokia smartphones available to buy direct. This means you can order the Windows Phone 8.1-powered Lumia 630 for £129, the Lumia 1320 for £329 and Nokia’s current flagship, the Lumia 1520, for £549. A quick shop around might let you pick up the two older smartphones for less, but if you’re looking to get a new Windows Phone direct from the source, Microsoft’s got you covered.
[Image credit: sonson, Flickr]
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft Store UK
This augmented reality motorcycle helmet could save your life
“I was in early morning traffic when an inattentive driver hit me from behind and I was thrown from my motorcycle.” Ryan Shearman, founder and CEO of Fusar Technologies, tells me at Augmented World Expo 2014. It’s the kind of thing that could happen to any motorcyclist — and indeed, happens too often — but it also served as a spark of inspiration. “It started the wheels turning in my head: how can I make motorcycle riding safer?” His answer was to build a better helmet.
Shearman calls his smart helmet the Gaurdian; it’s a DOT approved brain bucket with an Android board, two wide-angle cameras and bits and pieces from an Epson Moverio. “What it is, is a fully integrated and connected device that motorcyclists can wear that allows them to have a full cognitive awareness of what’s going on around them.” The Epson optics provide the rider with a detailed heads-up display, filling their view with data from the rear view camera, their current speed and navigation information.
“It also has video recording capabilities,” he told me. “Everything is recorded passively, but in the event that an accident is detected, that footage is locked into hard memory. It effectively has a black box feature built in.” It sounds like a great feature, but Shearman obviously wants it to be used as infrequently as possible. The helmet’s software package is being designed to monitor the cameras for potential hazards — if all goes well, the final product will be able to alert the driver of a dangerous situation before it becomes an accident. He also plans to add voice control to future prototypes.
The models Shearman brought to AWE were pretty beat up, but with good reason: the entrepreneur has been riding up and down California’s Pacific Coast Highway all week, shooting footage for his company’s upcoming Kickstarter video. The company plans to launch its crowdfunding imitative by mid July, and wants to have the Guardian on the market in about a year. Hungry for a safer helmet? Check out the firm’s website at the source link below.
Filed under: Transportation
Source: Fusar
Velociraptor-inspired robot can run almost as fast as DARPA’s Cheetah
There’s a new robot that’s almost matched Cheetah’s speed record, but it wasn’t designed after another speedy cat. Instead, it takes cues from something more terrifying: a velociraptor. The two-legged machine named Raptor was created by scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, who’ve even outfitted it with a tail like the extinct reptile’s for balance. In its current form, it can go as fast as 28.58 mph (46 km/h), just a bit slower than the famous mechanical cat’s max speed of 29.2 mph (47 km/h). Compared to DARPA’s robotic cat, though, Raptor’s technology is a lot simpler, even using ordinary springs as tendons to be able to run fast more effectively. Right now, Raptor’s confined to running on a treadmill like Cheetah’s older iterations, but its creators hope to make it more stable so it can run on any surface without a tether. Once that happens, all it’ll need is a velociraptor suit for the KAIST researchers to start their own (hopefully safer) Jurassic Park.
Filed under: Robots
Source: IEEE
HTC One M8 Prime development halted indefinitely
If like the many new HTC One M8 owners around you felt pretty hard done by when HTC announced they were working on an M8 Prime variant, then today you can feel a little bit better about your purchase as it appears HTC have halted development of the M8 Prime indefinitely.
Notorious leaker @evleaks took to Twitter to announce that sources have told him that the HTC One M8 Prime will no longer be worked on and the project has been halted indefinitely. There are no reasons given for the sudden change of heart, but for the time being at least the HTC One M8 will remain the main flagship device for the company.
SOURCE: evleaks
The post HTC One M8 Prime development halted indefinitely appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google’s EU-only form can help the internet forget about you
Google has now complied with a European court ruling that it must remove links to personal data if requested. It has just put up a “right to be forgotten” form to help you remove links about yourself from its search results — but not the pages themselves. To apply, you’ll need to explain why the pages you want de-listed are “irrelevant, outdated, or… inappropriate” and supply valid ID like a driver’s license. If your submission is accepted, Google will then strike the link from its searches and replace them with a notice similar to those it uses for takedowns. Google was not at all happy with the ruling, telling Re/Code earlier that it went too far by sacrificing the public’s right to know for the right to privacy. Meanwhile, it’s in the process of setting up a committee to evaluate requests with luminaries like Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales. Unfortunately, if you’re in the US or anywhere else outside the EU: Fuggedaboutit.
Via: Re/Code
Source: Google
Physicists use diamonds to reach quantum teleportation breakthrough
Quantum teleportation promises a leap into the next great era of computing — but first we’ve got to get it working consistently. Scientists at the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft say they’ve managed to reliably teleport quantum info stored in one bit of diamond to another sitting three meters away (roughly 10 feet). Now, they want to go much farther.
The key with quantum teleportation is its ability to move quantum information (called a qubit) from one point to another without that information crossing the space between those two points. That’s thanks to a phenomenon known as quantum entanglement, where the properties of a pair of particles are linked so tightly that measuring one affects the other, regardless of distance. In a research article published today in Science, the team described how they used quantum-entangled particles to consistently transmit data from one nitrogen-infused bit of diamond to another.
There have been other recent quantum teleportation successes, but reliability and consistency have been a concern. After all, a communication method that only works once every few thousand or even million attempts isn’t all that appealing. The breakthrough here, though, is that the team reports more accurate and more consistent quantum teleportation than what’s been done before. With this recent achievement, the team is looking to repeat the test over much longer distances. The physicists involved said the success of the overall scheme and the use of nitrogen-embedded diamonds could pave the way for quantum networks in the future.
[Image credit: Flickr/Getty Images]
Via: The New York Times
Source: Science
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