Head on up to ‘South Park’ with Oculus Rift and have yourself a time
If it’s been your childhood dream to explore South Park in 3D, consider it realized thanks to a new Oculus Rift experience from Tool. Over the course of a “few short weeks in June,” the production company, inspired by The Stick of Truth RPG, faithfully recreated the fictional Colorado town allowing anyone with an Oculus headset to explore its scrapbook streets, interact with characters and find hidden easter eggs. For example: if you navigate through the town’s church doors, you’ll almost certainly “fall” into Hell. You can beat a hasty retreat, however, if you bump into Saddam Hussein, who’ll whisk you back to the snowy streets of South Park (just don’t ask us who killed Kenny). While the experience is best suited for Oculus Rift owners, the cartoon landscape is also available inside your browser. You can find that and the Oculus source files using the links below.
Filed under: Wearables, Internet, Software, HD
Via: Wired
Source: South Park VR (Browser), (Oculus ZIP)
NVIDIA Shield 2 could launch globally on July 22, report says
The successor to last year’s NVIDIA Shield could arrive in around three weeks time, says new reports. What’s more, rather than launching in the United States and then rolling out to other countries, the presumed Shield 2 could get a global launch. The time frame, according to sources close to French media, suggest the device will be here as soon as July 22.
Likely powered by an NVIDIA Tegra K1 CPU (2.5 GHz) with a GeForce Kepler GPU, other specifications being rumored for the gaming and entertainment unit include 4 GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and a 1440 x 810 pixel display. Presumably, the Shield 2 runs the latest or very recent version of Android out of the box. Its predecessor has done very well for itself in terms of software updates and added enhancements along the way. If NVIDIA is able to pick up where the former leaves off then gamers will be in for a serious treat this summer.
Via GforGames
The post NVIDIA Shield 2 could launch globally on July 22, report says appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Chumby’s smart alarm clock relaunches with 1,000 apps
Remember Chumby? You probably haven’t heard much about the snuggly tiny computer/smart alarm clock since its makers’ company disbanded, but now it’s back from its semi-retired state. Its current owner, Blue Octy LLC, just announced that it’s relaunching Chumby’s full service (it went offline in 2013), which comes with 1,000 apps and faster, more efficient performance. The device, for those who haven’t heard of it before, first launched in mid-2000s, way before everyone has a smartphone to take the place of many other gadgets, and was meant as a high-tech alternative to the bedside clock radio. It’s one of those things people used to call “internet-connected devices” and could display Facebook, Twitter and RSS feeds, even video streams.
Unfortunately, the device needs to connect to the Chumby network to function. So, when its original creator (Chumby Industries Inc.) went out of business last year, Blue Octy launched a limited service that lets owners use the device as an alarm clock and a music player, at least. This development gives them the power to make the gadget more useful, though it obviously won’t be free. It’ll cost $3 per month to restore Chumby to its former glory — after all, the company needs money to keep the service running.
After a year of limited service, the full @chumby service is back! #rebootyourchumby #chumbylives #chumby
– chumby (@chumby) July 1, 2014
Filed under: Misc
Kudoso’s router tech rewards kids with internet time for doing chores
It’s easy to spend an inordinate amount of time on the internet, and understandably parents would rather their children didn’t grow up permanently glued to a screen. Stripping their hands of tablets and computers is one way to impose down-time (and/or incite a tantrum), or you can go the positive reinforcement route and swap screen time for good deeds. This is where Kudoso’s router software for managing your family’s internet habits comes in. On top of standard parental controls for keeping your little ones away from some of the darker corners of the web, Kudoso lets you set tasks for your children that are worth points with which they can buy internet time.
You set these through Kudoso’s web interface, as well as confirm when an activity has been completed. In this way, kids accumulate currency to spend visiting any sites you’ve authorized. Some can be more expensive than others, too, so an hour of Facebook access might be twice the price as the same amount of time on YouTube, for example. Kudoso is also integrated with free education portal Khan Academy, allowing your children to accumulate points by dedicating some screen time to academic endeavors. Currently seeking $50,000 of crowdfunding cash through Kickstarter, the team behind Kudoso later plan to plug FitBit data into the software for measuring activity-based tasks, if the campaign’s stretch goal is hit.
A pledge of $89 will buy you the Kudoso software, but it’s only compatible with a small handful of existing routers. Add another 30 bucks, however, and you’ll receive a Kudoso router with the software pre-installed. And, if you don’t have that kind of cash to spare, then don’t worry — we won’t tell anyone if you hijack the concept and create a crude spreadsheet version of your own.
Filed under: Household, Peripherals, Networking
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Kudoso (Kickstarter)
Biobots made from tissue could one day be implanted in humans
It turns out that robots don’t need to be BigDog-sized to be freaky. Scientists at the University of Illinois have created one a mere centimeter (half-inch) in size built on a 3D-printed hydrogel backbone. The “ew” part is what powers it: a strip of skeletal muscle cells triggered by an electric current. Previous biobots built with heart tissue couldn’t be controlled, but muscle cells can be activated with electric pulses and made to “walk” at different speeds by varying the frequency. If that’s not making you queasy yet, how about this: the researchers think that such devices could be used for surgical robots, mobile environment detectors and even “programmable tissue engineering.” That sounds like a noble goal, but we imagine Cyberdyne Systems thought the same thing.
Filed under: Robots, Science, Alt
Via: Techcrunch
Source: University of Illinois
Samsung announces pricing for a bunch of recently announced budget Galaxy smartphones
Samsung introduced 4 new Galaxy budget devices yesterday. These devices are running KitKat OS with a TouchWiz Essence UI on top, which is a lightweight version of TouchWiz. They’ll probably target emerging markets.
Samsung didn’t announce pricing for these devices yesterday, but Samsung Netherlands has revealed how much will they cost in the region:
- Galaxy Ace 4: €219
- Galaxy Core 2: €179
- Galaxy Young 2: €99
- Galaxy Star 2: still unknown, probably something similar to Galaxy Young 2
These prices seem rather hefty. There are better alternatives for less money in our opinion (shout-out to Moto G), at least for some of these devices. What do you think?
Source: Samsung Netherlands
Via: SamMobile
The post Samsung announces pricing for a bunch of recently announced budget Galaxy smartphones appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google Voice integration with Hangouts is nearly done, debug tool suggests
Google Voice integration with Hangouts is just a matter of time. We wrote about it earlier this year. Hangouts would then be Google’s unified chat client, it would serve all your communication needs. This merger of sorts is one step closer to completion.
A Reddit user managed to get a screenshot of Google Voice integrated Hangouts app thanks to a debug menu. Mentioned user used an app called #DebugAllTheThings in order to get it to work. You can download the debug utility on the XDA page linked below and see it for yourself, though you’ll have to be rooted. The integration won’t work, of course. You can try to run it but you’d be out of luck, the best you can do is get what is shown already via the screenshot below.
Source: Reddit and XDA
Via: Pocketnow
The post Google Voice integration with Hangouts is nearly done, debug tool suggests appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Android 4.4.4 rollout for HTC One M7 and M8 GPE has started
Just a day or two after Android 4.4.4 update rollout started for Motorola Moto G Google Play Edition, same thing is happening for HTC’s One Google Play Edition smartphones, both M7 and M8.
As you might already know Android 4.4.4 isn’t exactly what we’d call a big update, it came knockin’ not even a month after the 4.4.3 update. Though it is highly recommended you update your device as soon as possible. According to Google it improves performance, security, stability and squashes some bugs.
Do you own either of these devices? DId you get the update yet?
Via: PhoneDog
The post Android 4.4.4 rollout for HTC One M7 and M8 GPE has started appeared first on AndroidGuys.
That ‘wood’ suck: Moto X catches fire, but is still operational Afterwards
When the wooden back covers for the Motorola Moto X were announced, a lot of people were adamant that one way or another, the wooden backs would somehow catch on fire. While the possibility of plastic or metal phones to catch fire or explode still exists, the fact that a wooden back can catch alight and stay alight is probably the most worrying eventuality. Unfortunately, that eventuality has actually happened to a camper who’s Moto X catches fire after managing to find its way into a campfire.
Perhaps predictably, the phone was still on fire when it was fished out, although thankfully it appears the battery does not appear to have expanded. The above photo is the only evidence of the traumatic event, but the miracle of this story is that the phone actually still boots up and functions normally. While this might just be because only a small part of the phone caught fire, it’s still pretty impressive it survived considering it was basically fuel for the fire. Not bad, Motorola; not bad at all.
What do you think about the wooden back covers for the Moto X? Has this happened to you? Let us know your stories in the comments below.
Source: Google+ via Phone Arena
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The post That ‘wood’ suck: Moto X catches fire, but is still operational Afterwards appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Google’s trippy Cube experiment lets you play DJ with six videos at once
If you’re bored with regular music videos, there’s now something a little more interactive from Google called The Cube. It sprang from the Creative Labs division, which has done similar music video experiments in the past. As you can see in the embed below, you can manipulate the box by grabbing it with a mouse or finger and revealing different videos on each face. As you move from one side to another, the music also mixes in rhythmic sync, playing two or three tracks at once. Google cooked up the idea at a conference earlier, and hopes to demo more projects on it in the future. It works on a computer or recent Android handset with the latest version of Chrome. After trying it ourselves on a Nexus 5 with Chromecast, we’d recommend sitting down first, though.
Via: Techcrunch
Source: The Presets
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