Watch out Apple as Microsoft Band is coming to 765 Best Buy stores this month
Microsoft may or may not have intended their first foray into health and fitness to be a hit, but the Microsoft Band always appears to be selling out. It now seems that Microsoft has been building up inventory of the wearable, seeing as yesterday it finally went back on sale online.
Now, Windows Central has confirmed that 765 Best Buy stores in the US will begin selling the Band sometime this month. The information comes via internal documents detailing the launch event, although a date is not yet set to our knowledge.
The Best Buy stores are positioning the device in their increasingly extensive smartwatch display area, with a live demo for customers to interact with before buying. All three SKUs (small, medium, and large) will be available to purchase.
Save 50% today on this dual-layer hard case for Lumia 1320
This Lumia 1320 hybrid case provides serious protection against drops and scratches while sporting a built-in kickstand that can be used for watching movies and more. The inner-most layer is made of a shock absorbing silicone that sits underneath a thick plastic exterior. Yours today for only $4.95
LG G4 running Android 5.1 surfaces on test site
Following up on the success of last year’s LG G3 smartphone, LG is working on a “radically different” LG G4 for release sometime in 2015. The device may debut as soon as April and new test results suggest LG is on track with development of the device. One of the benefits the company may have when they release the LG G4 is that Android 5.1 will have been available just long enough for it to ship on the G4 out of the box.
The test results for the LG G4 that surfaced on the html5test site show LG running Android 5.1 on the G4. The specific build number is LMY29F, which matches the build number running on the Google Android One smartphone. A newer version, build number LMY47E, of Android 5.1 has also been spotted in the Chromium issue tracker database running on a Nexus 5.
The hardware for the test device is listed with model number LG-H818, which is supposedly the Asian market variant of the LG G4.
source: MyLG
Come comment on this article: LG G4 running Android 5.1 surfaces on test site
Report: No Lollipop for non Z-branded Xperia products. Really Sony?
The few. The proud. The furious. In the past few weeks Sony has inspired more than a few doom-and-gloom reports, though the latest bit of news, if true, would be a much more hot-headed affair. The beleaguered Japanese giant has finally clarified its Lollipop update plans (we knew it would be coming to Z-devices in the near future) and they are sure not going to please those who don’t have cash to burn.
@roi_rdzdal Hi Roi. The Android 5.0 Lollipop update is only going to be available for the Xperia Z series, we do apologise.
— Sony Xperia (@sonyxperia) March 6, 2015
While it’s true that one should never say never, this tumultuous Tweet has basically confirmed Lollipop won’t be appearing on any non-Z device. To make matters worse, there are actually a couple more reports with the same message (one even from the 4th) that eliminate the potential of misspeaking. Considering that Sony has just announced one such “standard affair” offering, it’s sure to make some people very angry, as it will cast a cloud over the potential [tech-savvy crowd’s] uptake of said product. Casual consumers as well, should they be aware, probably won’t be too thrilled with the “pledge” to drop support either.
Given that Sony’s mobile division isn’t exactly doing well, the absolute last thing it should be doing is angering potential or existing consumers. Still, given the fact that money is so tight, and the products in question aren’t exactly genre defying, spec-blazing miracles, the decision to drop Android update support isn’t hard to understand.
How serious are you about virtual reality?
The absolute best/worst virtual reality stock photo we could find
Are you prepared to dedicate a room in your house to virtual reality? Perhaps you’re a little less crazy than me, but you’re okay with a wire running across your living room to a headset? Or maybe both of those sound crazy to you, but a headset that can plug into your phone is okay?
These are the emerging options for virtual reality: a medium finally coming into its own, that’s poised to disrupt industries and hairdos the world over.
Polygon‘s Ben Kuchera sent me this fascinating piece last week, written by Robert McGregor, which compares virtual reality to swimming pools. Stay with me. The long and short of the analogy is this: Both concepts are incredibly compelling, and both require a very serious investment for maximum impact. You can have fun with a kiddie pool (Google Cardboard), but you can have a lot more fun with a multi-level, ornate swimming pool (HTC Vive).
With VR, as it stands right now, there are distinct tiers. I’ve broken out four here, but I’d love to hear arguments for more distinct tiers. And no, I’m not including augmented reality solutions; VR and AR are, currently, distinct mediums.
TIER 1: Google Cardboard
The kiddie pool analogy with Cardboard is apt: It offers a great taste of VR, with none of the comfort, fidelity or depth that other headsets offer. It also costs next to nothing and works with nearly any phone (Android, and some apps also support iOS). The benefits of Cardboard are ease-of-use (accessibility) and price (accessibility).
It is the ultimate trade-off of low barrier to entry versus depth of experience — no one is spending more than 15 minutes in a Cardboard. Zero people. Even if you could, you wouldn’t; go figure, it’s not that comfortable pushing a piece of cardboard to your face.
Those aren’t knocks against Cardboard, but a comparative measurement. Putting someone in Cardboard remains the easiest way to give an interested person a quick VR demo. That cannot be oversold: Cardboard is very easy, and that’s a crucial component for the adoption of a new medium. It works with basically any smartphone! There aren’t any headstraps or controllers! It doesn’t cost very much money!
And hey, if you’d never experienced a pool of water, a kiddie pool is a pretty exciting first experience.
TIER 2: Gear VR
One gigantic step up from Cardboard, in both experience and cost, is Samsung’s Gear VR. The South Korean phone giant teamed with Facebook-owned Oculus VR on a phone-powered experience that offloads some functionality to the headset: a touchpad, a gyrometer and lenses (among other bits). There’s a strap, and you’ll need to do some fiddling to get it set up, but it’s mostly plug-and-play with your Galaxy Note 4 phone (and soon the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge as well).
Sure, you need to own a very expensive, brand-new phone to use Gear VR. And sure, you need to shell out another $200 to buy the headset. And yeah, after that, real games cost money in Gear VR. But the games are such a tremendous step up in depth and engagement from the experiences you get with something like Cardboard that it’s all worth it.
If we’re sticking to McGregor’s simile, Gear VR is the gym/sports club membership that grants you regular access to a swimming pool. A full, real pool! But it’s not yours and there’s limited access and other people are in it and whatever else. There’s no depth-tracking in Gear VR, and your experiences are limited by the Note 4’s processing power, but it’s a great second step in the VR continuum. And a pretty accessible one at that!
TIER 3: Morpheus
Yet another massive step up from Gear VR and similar experiences is Sony’s Project Morpheus: a highly capable VR headset with a high-res built-in screen, powered by the fairly capable PlayStation 4 game console. We’re getting into “I’m buying an out-of-ground pool” territory here.
With Morpheus, when it launches in 2016, you’ll need:
- A PlayStation 4 game console
- A PlayStation 4 camera
- A Morpheus headset
- Space to run a wire from your PlayStation 4 to the Morpheus processing box — a separate, small unit that has onboard processing and acts as a go-between from the console to the headset
- Space to run a wire from the processing box to the headset
- (Optional) PlayStation Move controllers
Ideally, you’ll also have some space to move around, and nothing getting in the way of any wires. This is a much more serious commitment to VR, and one that’s going to pay off tremendously in terms of experience.
Project Morpheus just got an update this week at the Game Developers Conference, where Sony revealed beefed-up specs and new software demos. The experiences you’re able to have in Morpheus are far deeper than in Gear VR: I ducked and dodged bullets in The London Heist, and my colleague Joseph banged his head into the wall dodging a murderous shark.
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Not only is it a gorgeous screen, but also the PlayStation 4 is simply capable of delivering more processor-intensive experiences. The camera tracks movement in three dimensions and Move controllers approximate hands far better than anything you can use with Gear VR. Morpheus is admittedly limited by the PlayStation 4 hardware, but that’s a pretty high limit.
TIER 4: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and bleeding-edge VR
Call up the construction crew and go all in: It’s fantasy pool time. If you’re getting Oculus VR’s Rift or HTC and Valve’s Vive, get ready to dedicate a full room in your home to VR. Or maybe you’ve got a massive open area with a spare 15 x 15-foot chunk?
Wherever that space is, get ready to outfit it with a bleeding-edge PC. It’s not required, but why bother going this far and not all the way? The trade-off here is that every single time you use it, you’re going to be transported.
What Oculus and Valve are promising is the future of the medium: presence. I spent five minutes this week walking around and painting in three dimensions, with a virtual palette in one hand and a magical paintbrush in the other. It was an unbelievable experience, like nothing I’ve ever done before. I could have the same experience on the previously discussed VR solutions, but none would compare in depth.
Valve’s tracking solution — Lighthouse — enables an incredible ability to interact with the virtual world. While wearing HTC’s Vive, I was able to carefully articulate strokes in between a flower’s petals. It felt real. It was eerie.
For me, that is “presence.” The sense that I am actually somewhere else, not just allowing my brain to be tricked into believing I’m somewhere else. So I’m all in. I’m getting the in-ground pool. How serious are you about virtual reality?
Don’t miss out on all the latest from GDC 2015! Follow along at our events page right here.
[Image credit: Mediacolors/Alamy (stock lead image)
Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Wearables, Software, HD, Mobile, Samsung, Sony, HTC, Google, Facebook
Pick up this textured hard case and holster for the Note 4 today for only $9.95
Made from a durable polycarbonate, this Galaxy Note 4 hard case provides excellent drop protection thanks to the thick edging and impact resistant shell. Both the case and holster feature a patterned texture that gives you an enhanced grip. The holster clip swivels vertically and horizontally for optimal comfort.
New specs indicate HTC may change front camera on HTC One M9 Plus
Amongst the images of the HTC One M9 Plus that have started to float around, showing both the back of the device and the front with a physical home button, Twitter leakster @upleaks has updated the purported specs for the smartphone.
The change that was recently made is with the front camera. Previously, it was thought the device would have a 4MP Ultra Pixel camera. HTC has been moving away from that technology and it appears they have dropped it completely from the HTC One M9 Plus. The front camera is now believed to be a standard 13MP sensor, which is quite impressive itself for a front-facing camera.
source: Upleaks.info
Come comment on this article: New specs indicate HTC may change front camera on HTC One M9 Plus
The Big Picture: NASA’s vintage propaganda poster from 1965
Back when the US was in a race against Russia to send the first humans out there, NASA actively toured schools to spread word about what it does. That traveling unit of NASA employees is called the Spacemobile, and the image above is one of its posters. Yup, this really was from the golden age of space travel and not part of the agency’s vintage poster project. It was dated February 26th, 1965 to be exact, and it was used during the Spacemobile’s tour of New Zealand, as co-sponsored by the country’s Department of Education.
The National Archives placed this copy under a collection called “Propaganda Posters Distributed in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, ca. 1950 – ca. 1965.” And the image, with its 1960s aesthetic, fits in perfectly, doesn’t it? It has an Uncle Sam poster vibe to it, though it looks like it could also have been a movie banner or a book cover from that era.
[Image credit: The National Archives Catalog]
Filed under: Misc
Via: Space, Today’s Document (Tumblr)
Source: The National Archives Catalog
This is the HTC One M9 Dot View Case
One of the most innovative cases of 2014 is back with a new model for a new flagship phone.
Here’s a quick look at the new Dot View Case for the HTC One M9. If you used the case on the M8, you pretty much know what you’re getting here. It’s a sort of rubberized case that protects the back of the phone as well as the front. But the display has holes in it that allow images to show through. So you get some cool designs, and information such as the time and weather, missed calls and other notifications. And if that’s not enough, you’ll even have a game or two to play this time around.
We’ll take a deeper look once we’ve got retail units and finished software. And most important is that we’ll see if the case is a little more usable this time around — a number of us took issue with the front flap trying to spring back around when it was folded to the back, making it a little tough to type.
Google reportedly working on Android for virtual reality
According to a new report out of The Wall Street Journal, Google is working on a version of Android that would power virtual-reality applications.
Much like Android operating system that powers smartphones, the report claims that Android for virtual reality would be distributed to hardware manufacturers for free.
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