The new Unreal Engine will bring eerily realistic skin to your games
It hasn’t been hard to produce realistic-looking skin in computer-generated movies, but it’s much harder to do that in the context of a game running live on your console or PC. That trip to the uncanny valley is going to be much easier in the near future, though, thanks to the impending arrival of Unreal Engine 4.5. The gaming framework adds subsurface light scattering effects that give digital skin a more natural look. Instead of the harsh visuals you normally get (see the pale, excessively-shadowed face at left), you’ll see softer, decidedly fleshier surfaces (middle and right). The scattering should also help out with leaves, candle wax and other materials that are rarely drawn well in your favorite action games.
That’s not the only party trick. A new raytracing technique should produce soft, reasonably authentic long shadows in sunsets. Mobile games can finally handle dynamic shadows, too, so a character carrying a lantern may look that much more ominous. Developers will have to implement the new Unreal Engine in their projects before you can see the upgrades first-hand, but it shouldn’t be too long before you’re playing shooters and other titles that feel much more true to life.
Source: Unreal Engine
.CPlase_panel display:none;
BBC iPlayer now gives you a month to catch up on programmes
Back in April, BBC Director General Tony Hall announced that as part of an iPlayer revamp, the default programme catch-up period would be extended from seven days to 30. It’s taken just over six months, but the BBC has now agreed the necessary terms with rights-holders and widened its playback window for TV and radio programmes. The extension complements its recent redesign and cross-device resumable playback features, but not all content will adhere to the BBC’s new availability rules: current affairs programmes like Match of the Day, Crimewatch and news reports will still be exempt, meaning you’ll have to get catch up on those long shots and mugshots before that weekly playback period expires.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Source: BBC Internet Blog
.CPlase_panel display:none;
Because Android Wear is so 2014: Someone has put Windows 95 on a Samsung Gear Live
As part of the tech community, sometimes it is the most awe-inspiring thing to simply look back at what we have achieved over the years and how technology that exists today eclipses what we had even imagined was possible just a handful of years ago. Take Windows 95 for example – the operating system was widely lauded in its time and many of us had our whole lives running through the system. Well, 19 years after its release, someone has managed to get Windows 95 on a Samsung Gear Live. That someone is Corbin Davenport, and while it’s not the smoothest running thing (or the clearest), it is an amazing feat to see – even if Windows 95 was designed to run on much more basic systems. Check it out running in the video below:
Now practically, don’t expect everyone to go rushing and putting Windows 95 on their Gear Lives. But it does serve as a nice reminder, if just a nostalgic one, of how far our devices – even wrist wearable devices – have come over the last 20 years. If anything, it should make us appreciate Android Wear even more as it enables us to do things that we previously only dreamed of doing on our wrists, and now we’re living the dream. Tears, much?
What do you think of running Windows 95 on a Samsung Gear Live? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
//<![CDATA[
ord = window.ord || Math.floor(Math.random()*1E16);
document.write('‘);
//]]>
The post Because Android Wear is so 2014: Someone has put Windows 95 on a Samsung Gear Live appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
.CPlase_panel display:none;
See how models use their devices in this Samsung Galaxy Note 4 fashion show
I don’t know if most phones get this kind of treatment, but Samsung has apparently thought it necessary to help advertise its latest smartphone device in this Samsung Galaxy Note 4 fashion show which showcases the device in various (and generally awkward) scenarios – clearly I’m not into fashion. As you’ll see from the video below, the show, which takes place in Taiwan, highlights the different colours of the Note 4 as well as what is presumably a Swarovski encrusted Note 4 and the Samsung Gear S also makes a melodramatic appearance too. Check it out:
It seems almost implausible that a device, much less a smartphone should be the subject of a fashion show, but there it is. It probably has a lot to do with Samsung advertising the Note 4 as ‘fashionable’, particularly with the Taiwan launch of the day approaching on October 9th. All that’s left really is for the device to be actually released, for which we’re extremely excited about – with a Snapdragon 805 and 5.7-inch Quad HD display, the Note 4 brings size and power to the phablet section of the market.
What do you think about this Samsung Galaxy Note 4 fashion show? Let us know you opinion in the comments below.
Source: Samsung Taiwan via SamMobile
//<![CDATA[
ord = window.ord || Math.floor(Math.random()*1E16);
document.write('‘);
//]]>
The post See how models use their devices in this Samsung Galaxy Note 4 fashion show appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
.CPlase_panel display:none;
Bing shows lyrics in search results to help you avoid karaoke disasters
Bing can not only help you do math homework or write history papers; thanks to its latest update, it can also keep you from having a Phoebe moment where you mishear a song verse. The Bing Team has just announced that the website now displays full song lyrics right on the results page whenever you search for a copy. You don’t even have to choose what link to click anymore — you’ll see the lyrics (a “good quality” one, the team promises) as a top result, along with a box that displays song and album details. So the next time a “friend” signs you up for a spot at an open mic or karaoke bar as a prank, you can easily check if Alicia Keys was really singing about concrete jungle wet dream tomatoes.
[Image credit: Getty/Paul Bradbury]
Filed under: Internet, Microsoft
Source: Bing
.CPlase_panel display:none;
ESPN deal reportedly lets you stream live NBA games without needing TV service
ESPN has made plenty of forays into streaming video, but services like WatchESPN typically require that you already have TV service. That partly defeats the point of viewing online, don’t you think? However, you might not face that limitation for much longer. According to sources for the Wall Street Journal, the NBA has signed a pact with Disney (ESPN’s parent) to launch a new streaming service that doesn’t demand a cable or satellite subscription — a big deal for ESPN, which still makes most of its money from paid TV. Just how it differs from the NBA’s own League Pass isn’t clear, although both are focused on live regular season games. In other words, you’ll still have to fire up an old-fashioned TV to watch the playoffs in real-time. Just when it arrives isn’t clear, although you may not have to wait long for an announcement. If the tipsters are accurate, the NBA will announce its partnership as early as Monday.
[Image credit: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images]
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Source: Wall Street Journal
.CPlase_panel display:none;
How would you change Sony’s Xperia Tablet Z?
Welcome to How Would You Change, where we go through our old reviews asking if, now that you’ve had a year or so to use these devices yourself, what you’d have done differently. This week, it’s Sony’s Xperia Tablet Z, which reviewer Mat Smith found to be the company’s best tablet yet. Unfortunately, he also found that Sony has a problem selling the merits of its devices, since it lacked a headline-grabbing standout feature like a pixel-rich display or custom software features. Still, we’re sure some of you picked up this device, so now’s your time to tell us what you do and don’t like over on our product discussion forum.
Source: Engadget Product Forums
.CPlase_panel display:none;
Microsoft’s RoomAlive turns your den into a video game level
Remember IllumiRoom? It’s the Microsoft Research project that pairs an Xbox Kinect with a projector to extend your TV onto a wall, with immersive (and hallucinogenic) effects. Redmond has just revealed that IllumiRoom 2.0 is now called RoomAlive and is a huge leap over what it was last year. The new system projects content throughout your entire room that you can interact with (or shoot), as shown in the insane video below. Instead of a single Kinect and projector, it uses multiple “procams” consisting of off-the-shelf projectors, Kinects and a smaller computer to control them. Microsoft claims that it’s completely auto-calibrating and self-locating, enabling it to calculate the entire 3D geometry of your room in minutes.
Once installed, RoomAlive can track multiple players and weapons, letting them hit or blow up creatures, whack-a-mole style. It can also project textures and cyber-critters onto your walls and furniture, transforming your den into a holodeck or a factory, for example. Another demo brought to mind the 3D game in the movie Her, with the players controlling a character that tries to avoid being killed by “robots” emerging from your walls and floor. Finally, there’s a game that requires you to physically dodge booby traps, with any failure resulting in a bloody wound projected virtually onto your body.
It looks amazing, but we were also excited by Illumiroom’s potential, and it’s still far from becoming an actual product you can buy. In any case, not too many folks could afford to rig up a room with multiple projectors and Kinects the way Microsoft did. Still, like Oculus, it’s not hard to see huge potential in the research. And unlike the Rift, it could one day transform games into something that actually gets you off the couch.
[Image credits: Microsoft Research]
Filed under: Gaming, Microsoft
Source: Microsoft
.CPlase_panel display:none;
Bose’s NFL deal won’t let players wear other headphones on camera
Back in March, the NFL reached a deal to make Bose its official audio provider — nothing special at the time, especially given the league’s fondness for technology agreements. However, it now looks like this pact is about to influence the headphones you see on camera. The NFL has confirmed to Recode that the arrangement prevents players and coaches from wearing anything but Bose gear in the moments they’re on TV in an official capacity, whether it’s just before kickoff, on the sidelines or in locker room interviews. In other words, the scenarios you see in a few Beats commercials (where players tune out interviewers and hostile fans using the company’s headphones) would get the athletes in trouble.
Such deals aren’t that unusual elsewhere. FIFA, for instance, prevented teams at the 2014 World Cup from using Beats either on game days or at media events. For Americans, though, the NFL exclusive is bound to be much more noticeable — something Bose is no doubt counting on as it tries to win the high-priced audio wars. It has just 22 percent of the US’ over-$100 headphone market versus Beats’ whopping 61 percent, according to the NPD Group, so any success with the agreement could mean that you’ll see considerably more Bose hardware both on and off the field.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio/Video, Apple
Source: Recode
.CPlase_panel display:none;
Google+ gets Material
Back at Google I/O, Google walked us through their material design philosophy, and ever since, they’ve been updating apps to go along with it.
Google has just updated another app in the play store with the same design we’ve already scene in Google Hangouts, Google Now, Chrome, Google Play Newstand, Cloud Print, Google News and Weather, Google Drive and associated apps, their phone dialer app, and probably a few others I can’t think of right now. The latest addition is the Google+ app.
The new design for Google+ brings an even flatter experience, changes up the colors a bit, and makes everything more consistent with their new design philosophy; a philosophy that you will really see take shape when Android L is released. Word on the street is they have updated how the photos section works. It should make for a smoother experience, and I’m sure there are one or two bug fixes in there as well.
I haven’t received it on my Moto X (2013) yet so don’t freak out that you haven’t gotten it. Check the Play Store to see if the update is available on your device.
Source [Engadget]
Deals, Discounts, Freebies, and More! Click here to save today!
The post Google+ gets Material appeared first on AndroidGuys.
.CPlase_panel display:none;
AIVAnet 