Microsoft Research packs stylus with sensors for grip-based tools
Believe it or not, there has been limited research into the way we hold a pen for different writing tasks. A team at Microsoft Research has taken aim at those fine motor skills with a prototype stylus and tablet combo. The duo packs in inertial sensors to track the position of each while in use. A multi-touch grip sensor wraps the outside of the stylus that not only monitors how its held, but can also initiate tasks with a mere finger tap. Sure, button controls have long been built into styli, however this effort investigates the grip as a means of swapping between tasks. During the test, holding the pen-like peripheral a certain way accesses a specific tool set or keeps a resting palm from prohibiting movement with the other hand. On the tablet, the sensors can tell when the slate is being passed off to another user — swapping to that person’s fine-tuned presets automatically. Of course, all of this is still in the research phase, but enhanced touch recognition for stylus-driven devices like the Surface Pro 3 would certainly be a welcome boost.
Filed under: Misc, Peripherals, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
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Accessory of the Day: Samsung OEM battery for Gravity Smart and Touch 2 $7.20
Own a Samsung Gravity Smart or a Samsung Gravity Touch 2 and need a replacement battery? Thiis 1500mAh Lithium Ion battery is manufactured by Samsung and is a perfect option for replacements or folks who just like to keep a spare on hand. At just $7.20 (Prime eligible), one of these would also make a great gift!
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Adobe Updates Line of iOS Apps With New Features, Enhanced Creative Cloud Syncing
At its Adobe MAX conference today, Adobe is announcing updates for nearly all of its iOS apps, bringing new features that emphasize the creation of shapes and brushes along with enhanced syncing with the company’s Creative Cloud services. The updates come alongside a new Creative SDK public beta to allow developers to build mobile apps connecting to Creative Cloud, as well as a number of enhancements to the core Creative Cloud apps.
Building on its existing Adobe Kuler app, which allows users to create color palettes using any photo and which is now being rebranded Adobe Color CC, the company is now rolling out two additional “Capture” apps for mobile: Adobe Brush CC, which turns photos into brushes for use throughout Photoshop and Illustrator apps, and Adobe Shape CC, which automatically converts high-contrast photos of objects into vector art for use in Illustrator.
Adobe Shape CC (left) capturing a shape to be used in Illustrator (right)
Meanwhile, the newest version of Adobe Photoshop Mix is now a universal app for both iPad and iPhone, while Adobe Photoshop Sketch brings new acrylic and pastel brushes and integration with brush sets created in Adobe Brush CC.
Adobe Illustrator Line now allows users to utilize content from the Creative Cloud Market and includes new smart spacing and grid tools. Adobe Lightroom for iOS now allows specified users to comment on photos shared through Lightroom’s web interface, and includes additional language support in addition to the ability to sync GPS information from the iPhone with Lightroom desktop.
Adobe Illustrator Line
Finally, Adobe Premiere Clip lets users edit video shot on an iPhone or iPad right from the device, or send to the full Premiere Pro CC for more advanced editing.
Adobe Premiere Clip
Core Creative Cloud apps are also seeing a number of updates today, including new 3D printing support for Photoshop CC, a new Curvature tool for Illustrator CC, interactive EPUB support for In Design CC, SVG and Synchronized Text support for Muse CC, and 4K/Ultra HD viewing support for Premiere Pro CC.
All of Adobe’s updated iOS apps require a free membership to Adobe Creative Cloud, while desktop apps like Adobe Photoshop CC and Adobe Illustrator CC require separate subscriptions. Download links for all of the apps can be found below, while the full set of updates for Creative Cloud are expected to be available to members by the end of the day.
– Adobe Brush CC [Direct Link]
– Adobe Shape CC [Direct Link]
– Adobe Color CC [Direct Link]
– Adobe Photoshop Sketch [Direct Link]
– Adobe Photoshop Mix [Direct Link]
– Adobe Lightroom for iPad [Direct Link]
– Adobe Lightroom for iPhone [Direct Link]
– Adobe Illustrator Draw [Direct Link]
– Adobe Illustrator Line [Direct Link]
– Adobe Premiere Clip [Direct Link]
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Apple’s Sapphire Partner GT Advanced Technologies Files for Bankruptcy
GT Advanced Technolgies, Apple’s partner in a sapphire production facility in Arizona, today announced that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it seeks to reorganize its businesses. The company remains positive that it will continue to be able to meet its obligations during this time of transition.
GT indicated that as of September 29, 2014 it had approximately $85 million of cash. In addition, it is now seeking debtor-in-possession financing, which, once obtained, would provide the company with an immediate source of additional funds. These funding sources will enable GT to satisfy the customary obligations associated with the daily operation of its business, including the timely payment of employee wages and other obligations. […]
“GT has a strong and fundamentally sound underlying business,” said Tom Gutierrez, president and chief executive officer of GT. “Today’s filing does not mean we are going out of business; rather, it provides us with the opportunity to continue to execute our business plan on a stronger footing, maintain operations of our diversified business, and improve our balance sheet.
“We are convinced that the rehabilitative process of chapter 11 is the best way to reorganize, protect our company and provide a path to our future success. We remain committed to our roots in innovation and our diversification strategy. We plan to continue to operate as a technology leader across our core set of businesses.”
GT’s finances have taken a significant hit as it has retooled to support its partnership with Apple, turning its focus to ramping up sapphire production for Apple rather than selling furnaces to other companies. Still, with Apple making a series of pre-payments to GT to help fund the new initiative, the circumstances surrounding the bankruptcy filing are not yet clear.
Apple had been widely expected to include sapphire display covers on at least some iPhone 6 models, but the development did not come to pass. With Apple having no commitment to purchase from sapphire, it is possible that an unexpected decision by Apple to omit sapphire from the device put GT into a precarious financial position. Apple is planning to use sapphire on some versions of its upcoming Apple Watch, but it is unclear whether it is indeed sourcing sapphire from GT for the product, and if so, whether the quantities involved would be enough to support GT’s efforts in the area.
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Adobe Creative Cloud updates continue to boost mobile productivity
Adobe has offered mobile apps with a variety of tools for quite some time. With the arrival of the new suite that accompanied Ink and Slide earlier this year though, it became clear the creative software outfit wanted to equip those slates and smartphones to do useful work. At Adobe Max 2014, the company’s annual conference, new updates are on tap that continue the mobile focus for Creative Cloud.
Let’s chat mobile apps first, shall we? A new trio of “capture” apps make their debut, and on the surface seem to be quite handy. Brush CC constructs brushes from any photograph that can then be used in Photoshop or Illustrator. For example, you could snap a picture of some thick marker lines and easily transform ‘em for work on the desktop. These next two are perhaps the most useful of the three. Shape CC takes a high-contrast photo of an object, piece of typography or whatever and creates vector art. Find a leaf that’s perfect for a logo? Just snap and image and you’ll have it when you’re back from that coffee run. Lastly, Color CC (what was known as Kuler) sorts all of those swatches, and it’ll create a palette based on an image should the need arise.
For those looking to edit video on the go, Adobe Premiere Clip bolsters that task. The app takes videos shot on an iPhone (or iPad, if you must) and offers editing tools needed to polish the footage before beaming it out to the masses. It also allows you to create clips for Premiere Pro CC on the desktop. Of course, I haven’t had a chance to put these to work myself, so I can’t speak to how well they boost the typical workflow just yet.
As you might’ve guessed, all of the apps are iOS only — working on either iPhone or iPad for now. Existing apps like Photoshop Sketch, Photoshop Mix, Lightroom Mobile, Illustrator Draw (Adobe Ideas) and Illustrator Line all get updates to boost productivity as well. Adobe released a Creative SDK earlier this year, so third-party apps can tap into Creative Cloud. We should be seeing the fruits of that soon enough. Unfortunately, there’s no word on when the Android faithful can expect to see Adobe’s apps land for their devices.
When you jump from app to app now (desktop and mobile), Creative Profiles will allow you to access the bits you create during the course of a project. All of the images, color palettes, brushes, fonts, and more will be easily accessible in each piece of software, and across devices, thanks to Creative Cloud Libraries. This should translate to some significant time savings usually wasted hunting for assets. It also means that glimpses of inspiration captured on the commute to the office will be ready when your arrive. For designers that pass Photoshop layouts off to developers, Creative Cloud Extract will tidy up that workflow, allowing you to send along the requisite project files in a more efficient manner.
Making good on the promise form back when Microsoft first announced the Surface Pro 3, Adobe is delivering touch support across “key design applications” for Windows. We expect to hear more when Max kicks off today, but Photoshop and Illustrator are definitely included. There are plenty more app-specific updates on the desktop side, and you can find all of the minutiae on those right here. Like previous updates to Creative Cloud, this entire lot is free for subscribers, and it’s all set to arrive before the end of the day. If you haven’t opted in, you can still nab the iOS apps that are free to all users.
Want to catch the official announcements? You can access the livestream from Los Angeles here at 12:30 PM ET/9:30 AM PT.
Filed under: Software
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Facebook completes its $19 billion acquisition of Whatsapp
Well, that was quick: it’s only been three days since Facebook cleared the last, decidedly European hurdle to closing its $19 billion Whatsapp acquisition, and it’s already made things official with the SEC. Regulators in the United States and Europe were concerned about the effects the deal would have on competition in the rough-and-tumble messaging realm (though Google is apparently gearing up to give the combine social giant a run for its money), but the other major concern was making sure user data stays private. Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, put it bluntly back in April (PDF warning): to hear her tell it, “WhatsApp has made a number of promises about the limited nature of the data it collects, maintains, and shares with third parties – promises that exceed the protections currently promised to Facebook users.” Facebook apparently managed to ease those fears, but with the deal now closed it’s time to see what the folks at 1 Hacker Way actually do with Whatsapp. Our guess? Nothing too great.
Source: SEC
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Is a Google mobile chat app on the horizon?
Reuters reports that there is a potential Google mobile chat app in the works.
Software giant Google Inc plans to launch a mobile messaging app it is likely to test in India and other emerging markets, the Economic Times newspaper reported on Friday, citing sources.
If this is true, it means apps like Kik, WhatsApp, GroupMe, Line, and WeChat have yet another competitor in the already crowded mobile messaging space.
How is a Google mobile chat app different than Google Hangouts?
The main difference is that this new app would be solely focused on mobile messaging, not SMS, and would not require a Google log-in.
Google has made a strong effort to focus on emerging markets, and with the Android One idea in full swing, you can bet that Google will continue to look for ways to dominate market share in those countries.
What do you think; is a Google mobile chat app a good idea?
via [Reuters]
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Watch the US Navy’s swarm of robotic boats take to the sea
Overwhelming numbers can help win a sea battle, but sailors are far too valuable to simply throw away — and the US Navy knows it. To that end, it recently tested a swarm of robotic gunboats that work in tandem to either protect a main warship or surround the enemy. As you can see in the video below, they’re very well coordinated. The vehicles’ Control Architecture for Robotic Agent Command and Sensing (CARACaS) lets them both operate independently while sharing their paths and radar data with each other, keeping them both out of each others’ way and aware of any potential threats.
Any fully operational boats would primarily serve as shields, but they would have guns (thankfully, human-operated) to attack lighter targets that don’t give up quickly. The Navy doesn’t have a definite timeline for when you’d see these drones on the high seas, though. While they work well in a controlled environment like the one you see here, researchers want to improve the onboard sensors so that they can handle a wider range of unexpected situations. You don’t want unmanned seacraft running amok in the middle of a firefight, after all.
Filed under: Robots, Transportation
Via: IEEE Spectrum
Source: US Navy Research (YouTube)
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Work on NASA’s space taxis delayed after protests over contract allocation
Waiting for a space taxi? It looks like it might show up a little late. Of course, it’s only NASA astronauts currently in line for one of the agency’s recently commissioned spacecraft, but both companies involved — Boeing and SpaceX — will have to down-tools after the third company in the mix (and the only one to not get commissioned) protests the awarded contracts. While Boeing scooped the lion’s share ($4.2 billion), SpaceX also picked up $2.6 billion in funding to develop craft that will shuttle astronauts to the ISS. Currently NASA relies on Russian ships for this expensive service. Sierra Nevada claims it could do the same work as Boeing, but for a full $900 million less. The disgruntled firm also claims NASA’s own debrief on the selection contains inconsistencies and raises “serious questions.” NASA has 30 days to respond to the allegations. With current seats on Russian craft running a cool $70 million a time, that certainly puts the cost of a cab stuck in traffic firmly in perspective.
Filed under: Transportation, Science
Via: Spaceflight Now
Source: Reuters
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UK’s iconic red phone boxes go green to charge people’s gadgets
The traditional red phone box, once a familiar sight on Britain’s streets, used to provide a quick and simple way to communicate while traveling. However, as smartphones have become essential parts of our everyday lives, thousands of iconic booths have fallen out of use and been consigned to waste dumps. In a bid to preserve their presence, enterprising companies have turned them into free WiFi hotspots, but others believe they can also serve as the perfect place for mobile users to grab some extra charge while on the move. Solarbox took the wraps off the first of six such kiosks in Tottenham Court Road, London last week, offering commuters and tourists the opportunity to top-up their device for free.
The boxes have gone green in more ways than one: they’ve been given a fresh coat of paint and have an 86cm solar panel mounted to the roof. There’s also a reinforced screen fixed inside the booth that displays ads as people wait for their phone to charge. The Solarbox is open between 5:30am and 11:30pm, 365 days a year and can charge up to 100 phones per day. It’s also capable of delivering a 20 percent battery boost in 10 minutes — perfect if you need a bit of extra juice to file your TPS report while on the train home.
Filed under: Cellphones
Via: BBC News
Source: Solarbox
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AIVAnet 