Engadget Daily: surviving Aliens on the Oculus Rift, a guide to drones and more!
Today, we fight off aliens on the Oculus Rift, meet SoftBank’s new robot, Pepper-kun, investigate the reality of commercialized drones in the US and go hands-on with Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S. Read on for Engadget’s news highlights from the last 24 hours.
Up close and personal with Samsung’s vibrant Galaxy Tab S
Meet Samsung’s newest family of slates: the 8.4- and 10.5-inch Galaxy Tab S. Both models are snappy and and easy to hold, but what really sets this duo apart are their vibrant Super AMOLED displays. What’s more, they can communicate with your Galaxy S5 over Wi-FI Direct.
What you need to know about commercial drones
Drones have the potential to fundamentally change certain businesses and industries, so why aren’t the skies filled with commercialized UAVs? Well, mostly because they’re illegal. Read on as our own Steve Dent discusses the ABCs of drone flight in the US.
How I got stabbed in the chest at E3 2014 (an Oculus Rift tale)
Demos are a thing of the past: Oculus Rift’s second development kit was running full-on games at E3 2014, and Ben Gilbert was there to take part in the action. He also got (virtually) stabbed in the chest by an alien.
Are you ready for your first home robot? Meet Pepper
This is Pepper-kun, and he could be your very first robot butle… er, friend. As long as you’ve got $1,900 to spare, of course. Built by SoftBank, this android-on-wheels is the company’s “first step” toward affordable humanoid robots.
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Could Cortana be on Android devices one day? Microsoft says “Maybe”
In the realm of virtual personal assistants, Apple has Siri, Android has Google Now, and Microsoft has Cortana. The last of these is the newest, currently only part of the Windows 8.1 developer’s preview, however that hasn’t stopped it garnering quite a lot of attention in the press. As a big Xbox and Halo video game series fan, I find myself wishing Cortana, who features as a major character in the games, would be ported to Android. Which poses the tantalizing question: Could Cortana be on Android devices one day?
I definitely seems like a long shot given that neither Apple nor Google seem content to bother supporting other mobile platforms with their respective assistants, however Marcus Ash, a Windows Phone Group Program Manager has said some interesting things about their aspirations with Cortana:
“We want to scale Cortana internationally and across devices. The Android/iOS question is interesting. We’re asking, would Cortana be as effective if she didn’t have access to the details on your phone? We’re still trying to get Cortana adopted on Windows Phone and figure out what it wants to become there. But we’re actively talking about this.“
If that’s not a “maybe”, then I don’t know what is. Perhaps damningly for Cortana, the Microsoft assistant is hardwired into using Bing as its search database, which would always struggle competitively against Google Now and its Google repository. Having said that, I’d still love to see them try, and at least we know the possibility is there.
Would you want Cortana on your Android device? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Source: Search Engine Land via TalkAndroid
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[VIDEO] OnePlus One; meet water. Water; meet the OnePlus One.
The OnePlus One has been a particularly noteworthy phone in the first half of 2014, combining performance and value in a manner that is typically reserved for Google Nexus devices. At just $299 for the 16GB version and $349 for the 64GB version, it’s a hard deal to pass up on given the device has some of the most impressive specs on the market at the moment, perhaps bar only a Quad HD display. For that kind of money, you might expect OnePlus to perhaps skimp on some part of its maiden Android smartphone, perhaps waterproofing. But as GadgetGuruHD finds out in his YouTube video, that might not necessarily be true:
As you can see, despite being dipped into slightly suspect kerb water, the OnePlus One comes out unscathed. This definitely suggests the OnePlus One probably has some kind of nano-coating on its innards to prevent water affecting it which is always a huge plus. We’d have to wait for a more comprehensive test to see exactly how waterproof (or water resistant) the device is, but if you were worried at all that the OnePlus One might not stand up to a little splashing, let your qualms be relieved.
What do you think about the OnePlus One being waterproof? Are you going to get one? Let us know your opinion in the comments.
Source: YouTube via Phone Arena
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Canadian Supreme Court rules internet anonymity is key to privacy
Congratulations, citizens of Canada, it’s your God-given right to travail the internet as UrTheWurst420 hurling sexually graphic insults at children singing pop songs on YouTube. And, unless the police get a warrant, they won’t be able to tie that account to your actual identity. In a landmark ruling the Supreme Court of Canada found that online anonymity is a vital component of personal privacy. The ruling came down following the case of Matthew Spencer, who was tried and convicted for possessing child pornography in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Law enforcement asked Shaw Communications for information on a particular user, including the name and address on the account, which would now require a search warrant to obtain. The evidence in this particular case was allowed to stand as the court said police believed they were acting lawfully, but future requests for information would have to go through the courts first.
The decision written by Justice Thomas Cromwell “falls short of recognizing any ‘right’ to anonymity,” but recognizes the clear “privacy interest in anonymity depending on the circumstances.” And therein lies the crux of the matter. It’s reasonable to expect your privacy be maintained online, and your anonymity in many cases is central to that perceived privacy. Only with probable cause should that veil of privacy be lifted according to the court.
Law enforcement and conservatives in the government are upset with the ruling. By enshrining online anonymity as a core component of privacy tracking criminals or terrorists becomes slightly more difficult, thanks to additional bureaucracy. However, privacy advocates have applauded the decision. A guarantee of anonymity encourages free speech, dissenting political views and whistle blowers.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Globe and Mail
Bjork’s interactive ‘Biophilia’ album is the first downloadable app in MoMA’s permanent collection
We’ve seen lots of crazy things on display at the Museum of Modern Art — a “rain room,” a sex toy that works with your phone, a sleeping Academy Award-winning actress. Now you can add “tablet app” to that list. Bjork’s “Biophilia,” an interactive album released on iOS and Android, has become the first downloadable app to join MoMA’s permanent collection. First released in 2011 (and still available for sale), the album allows listeners to “contribute” to songs by playing with interactive on-screen visuals. In “Solstice,” for instance (pictured above), the orbits actually allow you to control the string music, with the option to save and record your own version. Ultimately, it was that interactivity that earned the app a spot in the collection. “With Biophilia, Björk truly innovated the way people experience music by letting them participate in performing and making the music and visuals, rather than just listening passively,” said MoMA senior curator Paola Antonelli in a blog post.
Of note, this isn’t the first app to join MoMA’s collection; it’s just the first downloadable one. The first app was actually John Maeda’s 1994 collection “Reactive Books” — floppy disks tucked inside physical books. (Oh, the nineties.) “Apps are highly ‘collectible’ because of their finite or semi-finite nature-they might be connected to live feeds and to the Web, but their infrastructure design is stable and defined, unlike that of websites,” Antonelli wrote. As one of MoMA’s own collectibles, the app is on display at the museum seven days a week. That said, to spare you the $25 ticket price (and the trip to Manhattan), we’d suggest you just download it yourself for $12.99.
Filed under: Internet
Via: AppleInsider
Source: Museum of Modern Art, Biophilia (iTunes), (Google Play)
See Handoff on OS X Yosemite and iOS 8 in Action
With iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite, Apple is focusing heavily on increased integration between desktop and mobile through several new “Continuity” features, including Handoff, which allows users to start a task on one device and swap to another nearby device.
While Handoff doesn’t appear to work reliably at this point in time and is listed as one of the features currently unavailable in the beta software, some users have been able to get it working, giving us a quick glimpse at how the feature works.
A video from French site Mac4Ever displays how the feature works with Maps, Safari, and Mail. A map opened on the iPhone is automatically picked up by the Mac, displayed in the lower left corner of the screen, with the process repeated for a site in Safari and an email message in Mail.
Handoff is also demonstrated in a second video from Cult of Mac, which explains how Handoff works and shows the feature being used with Safari and Mail. The video also demonstrates a second Continuity feature, which allows Macs and iPads to make and answer phone calls relayed through an iPhone.
Handoff, Mac/iPad phone calls, and the other Continuity features will continue to be refined during the iOS 8/OS X Yosemite beta testing period. Both iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite are currently available to developers and are expected to be released to the public in the fall.
LinkedIn to face lawsuit for sending repeat invitations to your contacts
If you’ve given professional-networking site LinkedIn access to your email account, you may be aware that the site uses your contact list to recruit new members. What you probably weren’t aware of, though, is that LinkedIn can send your contacts invitation emails followed by reminder emails — at the risk of making you look like a needy user who can’t take a hint. This practice is at the crux of an upcoming lawsuit against the company, with a District Judge in San Jose, California ruling that the repeat emails could injure users’ reputations.
US District Judge Lucy H. Koh in San Jose ruled that members who sued can continue to pursue damages for the revenue LinkedIn made using their email address contacts. The site apparently doesn’t include any disclosures about sending multiple invitations to contacts. Judge Koh also explained that the networking site may have violated California’s right of publicity, which protects against the use of someone’s name for commercial purposes without consent. Members of the class-action lawsuit are currently looking to expand the case to include more members.
For LinkedIn’s part, spokeswoman Crystal Braswell said: “We are pleased that the Court rejected plaintiffs’ unfounded “hacking” claims and found that LinkedIn members consented to sharing their email contacts with LinkedIn. We will continue to contest the remaining claims, as we believe they have no merit.”
Filed under: Internet
Via: Bloomberg
Source: LinkedIn class action
These are the biggest Xbox One games at E3 2014
Sure, you could spend the rest of your days playing Titanfall online, but what if you’d like to give your Xbox One something a little different to play? Microsoft’s message for this E3 was clear: games, games and more games. We took to the company’s booth this week to find out what you’d be playing this fall, and whether you like shooters, driving games or indies, you should be all set for first-party titles. How does Redmond stack up to Sony’s plan for the PlayStation? We’ll let you be the judge.
FABLE LEGENDS
For a lot of people, the Fable franchise has been heartbreaking from the word “go.” The series’ promise of ultimate freedom was never truly fulfilled and even the series’ creator, Peter Molyneux, has said the last was a “train wreck.” If the past three entries left you wanting, Fable: Legends might not change that. Instead of going for the series-typical action-RPG, Legends looks more like a shallow co-op romp than a lengthy single-player game where your actions determine your appearance (doing good deeds caused a halo to form around your head, for example). Three players work to take down waves of enemies and gather loot; even if you play solo, you’ll have comrades fighting alongside — they’ll just be AI-controlled. Where it gets unique, however, is when a fourth person plays as the villain. From there, you’re taking almost a tower-defense-style look at each match, and directing enemies toward the advancing heroes.
I thought this aspect was fun, but couldn’t help but pine for a traditional Fable game where I could kick chickens, have a wife (or husband) in every city and collect a trail of flies. A beta for the title launches this fall, and a full release is planned for next year.
SUNSET OVERDRIVE
Sunset Overdrive is absolute mayhem. Developer Insomniac Games’ latest takes everything it’s known for (colorful action, ingenious weapon systems and pure irreverence) and poured it into a game where you can fire explosive propane tanks at glowing orange monstrosities whilst grinding around on power lines and defending a vat of the energy drink from the monsters it created. In the multiplayer match I joined, there were countless explosions, particle effects and monsters on screen at the same time, and the game never once stopped being silky smooth as I bounced off of trampolines and onto roofs so I could rain hell from above with a freeze ray — even with seven other players. Granted, this was a very controlled setup in Microsoft’s E3 booth, so anything could happen when it launches this fall. While I’m confident that multiplayer should be a blast, I’m curious as to how the experience translates to a solo campaign. Insomniac knows how to tell a story though (just look at Resistance 3, for example), so I’m not too worried.
FORZA HORIZON 2
Not everyone wants to spend more time virtually tuning an absurdly expensive car’s engine than they do actually, you know, racing it. Forza Horizon 2 doesn’t force that, much like its predecessor didn’t. For better or for worse, Horizon 2 doesn’t immediately feel all that different from the first Horizon. I drove my bright red Corvette Stingray through the desert, carving out corners on cliffside roads, shunting anyone who came too close, while electronic dance music beats thumped in my headphones. Looking back, however, at least one aspect of my race stood out: I was encouraged to drive off-road. It sounds minor, yes, but seeing the suggested racing line (and my opponents) lead into tall grass changed the pacing of the competition a bit. We were all in low-slung, high-powered automobiles designed for racetracks — this forced us to slow down, and gave me a chance to overtake those who decelerated too much. And when I crossed the finish line in eighth place? A few fighter jets scrambled overhead, leaving multicolored contrails in their wake. It seemed a bit familiar, yes, but I was okay with it and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel this autumn.
ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST
Ori and the Blind Forest is one of the bigger pushes for Microsoft’s indie-game initiative, and it’s gorgeous. During my brief demo, I guided a charming, little white creature around a beautiful setting, hopping from platform to platform and launching fire attacks at pink and pulsing enemies. The PR reps on hand told me that all of the backgrounds are procedurally generated, meaning an algorithm assembles them, so if you go back through the same area three different times, you’ll see three different backdrops. Given that this game plays in the style of a classic Metroid or Castlevania where earning new abilities opens hidden areas in previously traveled areas, you’ll probably see the same scene more than once when the game launches this fall.
HALO: THE MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION
You didn’t think we’d keep Halo out of this, did you? Halo: The Master Chief Collection (MCC) packs four games onto one disc, some 100 multiplayer maps, a totally remastered Halo 2 and a whole lot more all into one $60 package this fall. Halo 2′s overhauled graphics don’t measure up to other recent shooters, but pressing the Xbox One controller’s “view” button brings the original 2004 graphics back, and you can see just how different the two games look. Better shadows, more detailed textures and, well, a lot more drama, come to light with the new visuals. Developer 343 Industries is remastering the audio, too if you’re into that sort of thing. Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo 3 and Halo 4 aren’t getting revamped, but that’s because they already looked pretty great running on the Xbox 360. I was told, however, that some post-processing effects have been added so they look a touch better. What’s more, the MCC is how you’ll access the Halo 5: Guardians beta this December, and Ridley Scott’s Halo: Nightfall live-action series after the collection’s November 11th release.
[Image credits: Microsoft]
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Microsoft
Netflix is shutting down its API, but helpers like InstantWatcher aren’t going away
Over a year ago, Netflix announced it was no longer issuing keys to its public API platform, cutting off any potential new developers from joining. That’s the service that allowed third-party developers to build apps that gave you different ways to browse and access its library of movies. Today, Netflix’s VP of Edge Engineering announced in a blog post that the API will go away entirely as of November 14th. Not all is lost however, as a “small set” of developers have been approved for private access, and the list includes helpful sites and apps like InstantWatcher, FeedFliks, Can I Stream It?, NextGuide, Flixster, Fanhattan and a few more. Not familiar with them? If you use Netflix, you should be, since they make it easy to browse movies by year, rating, or even what others have recently queued. Of course, some of our other favorite sites like AllFlicks aren’t on the approved list, and we’ve contacted them to find out their fate.
[Image credit: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Netflix Developer Blog
Playdate: Engadget plays the Destiny alpha on PS4!
Welcome, ladygeeks and gentlenerds, to the new era of gaming. The one where you get to watch, and comment, as other people livestream gameplay from next-gen consoles. Because games! They’re fun!
PlayStation’s Adam Boyes dropped a bomb during Sony’s E3 media briefing this week: PlayStation Plus members would get to check out a test-version of Bungie’s newest shooter, Destiny. Don’t have a PS4 or can’t otherwise jump in? Join us here at 7 pm Eastern / 4 pm Pacific as we explore a ruined Russia, drive speeder bikes and shoot lots and lots of aliens.
Watch live video from Engadget on www.twitch.tv
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD
Source: Twitch
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