Apple reportedly snaps up social maps app Spotsetter
Last year, Apple bought a string of companies in an effort to better its rather unpopular Maps app, and it looks like Cupertino isn’t quite done yet. According to TechCrunch, the company has also snapped up social maps app Spotsetter in a deal that’s a lot less low-key that its Beats acquisition. Apple reportedly bought the company not only for its technology, but also for its two founders: former Google Maps engineer Stephen Tse and ex-Siemens consultant and FitFiend CTO Johnny Lee. Spotsetter, if you’ve never heard of it before, shows your friends’ recommendations and trusted reviews of various establishments overlayed on a map. Also, you can use it to search for particular locations and see if your friends have been there, or to read reviews about them.
So, yes, it serves the same purpose as Foursquare — in fact, it’s one of Spotsetter’s data sources, along with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and quite a large number of online review sites. Apple hasn’t confirmed anything thus far (though Lee already announced the company’s closure a few days ago), but we don’t see the app on either the App Store or Google Play anymore. If the deal is true, Spotsetter’s features will likely be integrated into Apple’s Maps app, along with technologies from WiFiSlam, Locationary, Embark, HopStop and Broadmap.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Mobile, Apple
Via: BusinessInsider
Source: TechCrunch
Razer’s CEO is sorry for ‘screwing up on anticipating demand,’ wants to do better
If you pre-ordered Razer’s new 14-inch Blade laptop the day it was announced, there’s a good chance you still don’t have it. Frustrated? Don’t worry — your voice has already been heard; Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan says he’s sorry. “We suck at this,” he said in a heartfelt Facebook post today. “I suck at this.” Unfortunately, Razer has made a habit of underestimating customer demand, and Min’s team is struggling to find a solution that won’t keep customers waiting. “We’ve tried different things,” he said. “We’ve tried doubling / tripling / quadrupling manufacturing capacity, we’ve ramped back to phasing in launches by geography… we’ve pushed back launch dates, and still we end up disappointing our customers.”
Frustrated, Tan admitted that this isn’t the first time he’s apologized for this. “Every time we launch a new product, demand just far outstrips the supply.” Naturally, the young CEO wants Razer’s launches to be smooth, and pledges to continue to tweak and change the company’s distribution plans for future product launches. How, exactly, he plans to do this isn’t clear, but it sounds like he’ll be trying something new soon: “We’ll have more news on this shortly,” he concluded. “Which of course also means we will be shipping something new very soon.”
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Filed under: Gaming
Via: Slashgear
Source: Facebook
Hubble’s latest deep field imagery is the most colorful picture of the universe we’ve ever taken
Want to feel amazed, isolated and inspired all a the same time? Look to the stars. Form here on Earth, space seems like and endless empty void — but anybody familiar with NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope know things look a bit more lively from orbit. For the last decade, the orbiting machinery has been snapping photos of deep space, giving us stunning views of stars and galaxies far beyond our reach. This week NASA released the telescope’s most recent composite image: the Hubble Ultra Deep Field 2014 (pictured above). It’s gorgeous, stunning and a tad overwhelming. NASA says it’s also made up of the most colorful deep space images ever captured.
Like the deep field images before it, this latest picture is actually a composite of shots taken from 2003 through 2012 (previous composites ended at 2009). These images were used to study star birth in deep space, filtered through Hubble’s near-infrared capabilities. Still, researchers wanted more, and have imbued the telescope’s latest imagery with ultraviolet light data, creating the vibrant display of stars you see above. It’s more than just a gorgeous view, however — images like are important to NASA’s plans for the James Webb Space Telescope, Hubble’s successor. Hungry for more details? Check out the full resolution image at Hubblesite at the source link below, or check out the underlying video.
Filed under: Misc, Transportation
Source: Hubblesite, NASA
IBM’s Watt-sun: great at solar forecasts, useless at Jeopardy
Pop quiz: if you worked on a research project at IBM that dealt with chewing on large amounts of data to predict how efficient solar power arrays could be, what would you call it? If you said “Watt-sun,” you’d be on a roll. Tongues may have been planted firmly in cheeks when the name suggestions started flying, but Watt-sun is no joke. It’s a solar forecasting platform that continually mashes up data from scads of sources — from existing models to satellite views to cloud cover imagery captured by cameras lashed to poles — to try and predict much sunlight solar panels will actually be able to suck up.
Why does that matter? Well, if you were a power company fleshing out your part of the power grid with solar cells, you’d want to know how much juice to expect from them. Factors like weather and the intricacies of the sun’s path across the sky make forecasting tricky, but Watt-sun project manager Hendrik Hamann told Gigaom that Watt-sun is about 35% better at its predictions than the next best thing. Watt-sun’s been tested in about a dozen solar sites around the country and if it’s a good as its creators say, it could be a big help for a country struggling to wean itself off dirtier forms of energy. Alas, the team behind the project doesn’t plan to turn Watt-sun into an actual product — here’s hoping they change their minds.
[Image credit: Flickr/Michael Mees]
Source: Gigaom
This cover of the ‘Game of Thrones’ theme was made with an NESkeytar
Enjoy this for what it is: a bitchin’ chiptune cover of the theme song to the nerdgasm, soft porn fantasy-fest that is HBO’s Game of Thrones. And, yes that is a “keytar” with a Nintendo Entertainment System attached that YouTuber Theremin Hero is deftly fingering to play the show’s epic opening theme. Dude’s even rocking Think Geek’s 8-bit tie. Clearly, he’s committed. The full video is after the break.
(Full disclosure: I’ve tried reading book one of Game of Thrones at least twice on a plane ride and failed to get hooked. Same goes for season one of the show. I just don’t get it.)
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment
Via: LaughingSquid
Source: YouTube (Theremin Hero), ThereminHero
AT&T’s prepaid GoPhone service now gets your tablet online
AT&T may want to think twice about the name for its prepaid GoPhone service — it’s not just for phones anymore. You can now bring your own tablet to the no-contract offering, with pricing similar to what we’ve seen on the carrier before. Spending $15 per month will get you a (frankly paltry) 250MB of data, while bumping that up to $30 or $50 will get you a far healthier 3GB or 5GB, respectively. Should you need more, you’ll pay for it in $10 blocks that give you 100MB, 500MB or 1GB, depending on the existing plan.
Just don’t expect to connect any cellular tablet you have on hand. Right now, AT&T is only promising compatibility with a handful of mostly older devices; while the Nexus 7 is still fresh, tablets like the third-generation iPad and Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 are decidedly behind the curve. If you’ve been meaning to get mobile data going on an older slate before you head out on vacation, though, this may fit the bill.
[Image credit: AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez]
Filed under: Tablets, Wireless, AT&T
Via: Android Central
Engadget Daily: life with self-driving cars, the world’s largest video game collection and more!
Today, we investigate the pros and cons of self-driving cars, uncover some of the most intriguing devices from Computex 2014, celebrate Tetris‘ 30th birthday and learn about the world’s largest video game collection. Read on for Engadget’s news highlights from the last 24 hours.
What you need to know about self-driving cars
Self-driving cars have the potential to make our roadways safer and more efficient, but what does a world full of AI-controlled vehicles really look like? Read on as our own Sean Cooper explains the reality of life with autonomous cars.
Baby steps toward better wearables at Computex 2014
Between the multitude of knock-off, e-ink and prototype devices at Computex 2014, it’s obvious the evolution of wearables is just beginning. Read on as our own Sarah Silbert investigates such gadgetry from this year’s conference.
Cable companies are reportedly funding fake consumer groups to attack net neutrality
It’s no secret that cable companies could benefit from prioritizing web traffic, but they may be using nefarious means in an attempt to squash the open internet. Vice is reporting that several providers are funding fake consumer groups to battle net neutrality.
The world’s largest video game collection just went up for auction
What you’re looking at is just a glimpse of the world’s largest video game collection, which includes (brace yourself) over 11,000 titles. The best part? It’s currently up for auction.
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Beats Expands ‘iBeats’ Trademark to Cover Digital Music Downloads, Streaming Music [iOS Blog]
Beats has had a trademark on the term “iBeats” for several years, and has produced iBeats in-ear headphones in collaboration with Monster, but recently, the company filed a new application to expand the iBeats trademark to include new music-related uses.
Initially covering only audio video equipment such as headphones, clothing, music performances, and various advertising methods, the trademark has now been expanded to also encompass areas such as broadcasting, social networking, digital music downloads, and streaming music.
Audio recordings featuring music; video recordings featuring music; downloadable audio and video recordings featuring music, music performances, and music videos; prerecorded music, namely, digital downloads; user interface for television and video on demand communications equipment; Computer software for use in the delivery, distribution and transmission of digital music and entertainment-related audio, video, text and multimedia content; computer software for enabling transmission, storage, sharing, collection, editing, organizing and modifying audio, video, messages, images and other data for use in social networking, online chats and interactive gaming, for use in creating social networking databases and for use in social networking database management; computer software for creating searchable databases of information and data for peer-to-peer social networking databases; Gift cards, namely, magnetically encoded gift cards.
Beats Electronics filed the new application on April 25, likely at a time when it was in talks with Apple over an acquisition. It is unknown why Beats has expanded its iBeats trademark, but it is possible that the company has plans for new products and services under the name.
Apple officially announced its $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics on May 28, and the deal is expected to be finalized during the fourth fiscal quarter. The acquisition includes both the Beats hardware business, which encompasses its lineup of headphones, and the Beats Music streaming service.
Motorola schedules 24 hour “Try Then Buy” promotion for Moto X on June 9
Been on the fence over whether to pick up a Moto X smartphone? This Monday is the day you’ve been waiting for; Motorola is going to let you try one out before you buy it.
Called “Try Then Buy”, it’s a 24 hour promotion through Motorola’s website which lets users customize their very own Moto X. Once built and shipped to you, you’ll have two weeks to put the phone through its paces. Like it? Keep it! Don’t want it? Send it back!
Here’s the gist of it:
- On Monday, June 9, beginning at 12 a.m. EST, you can register for a unique promo code here. Registration will stay open until we’ve exhausted our limit.
- At that time, you can enter your information, and we’ll email you a unique, one-time promotion code.
- Next, you’ll design your Moto X here.Make sure to choose the no-contract version for the promo code to apply.
- When you’re done, apply the code at the end of checkout in the Enter Promo Code box.
- Your promo code is good until the expiration date that is included with your code.
What better way to check out all of the touchless gestures and software features like Quick Capture and Active Display?
Note: the deal is only open for 24 hours–closing on Monday, 6/9, at 11:00 p.m. CT–and while quantities last. Click here for some answers to your Try Then Buy questions.
The post Motorola schedules 24 hour “Try Then Buy” promotion for Moto X on June 9 appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Action Launcher 2.1 beta adds double tap to lock and “OK, Google” functionality
Action Launcher has long been one of our favorite 3rd party launchers for Android, and as long as you’re a beta tester, it just got much better. The app has gone for some time without any new features being added to it, most likely due to Mr. Lacy’s other great endeavors. We’re happy to see some of the great new features in the newly published beta version 2.1.
LG and HTC have adopted a nice feature that allows you to double tap your screen to lock your device. It’s proven very handy and extremely popular among consumers. Action Launcher users can now take advantage of this feature, as well. A few other great features added to the lineup are “OK, Google” hotword detection (as long as you’re on 4.4 KitKat), Roboto Condensed font, and icon resizing in the dock.
This is one of the biggest updates we’ve seen to Action Launcher in quite awhile, and it’s definitely welcome. Check out the full changelog below, and join the Google+ community if you’d like to take advantage of these awesome new features.
2.1 beta changelog
- “Ok, Google” voice activation. Requires Android 4.4 or later.
- Double taping empty space on a Home screen powers the screen off.
- Option to enable Roboto Condensed.
- More fine-grained control over where icon text labels display.
- Option to disable drawing of Cover/Shutter indicators.
- Icon scale can be configured for items on Home screens, Dock, Quickpage and Folders (previously was only applied on Home screens).
- Misc. stability improvements.
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