Bricasso ‘printer’ makes mosaic art out of Lego tiles
If you fancy playing with Lego blocks and you’re not familiar with Jason Allemann, take a few minutes to browse his work. He’s one set of hands behind JK Brickworks, a site that posts rather unique builds with the plastic bits, including gravity-powered walking animals. For his latest project, Allemann built Bricasso: a device that scans an image and then “prints” a mosaic of it using 1×1 tiles. What’s more, it’s constructed entirely out of Lego parts. Bricasso uses a Mindstorms EV3 color sensor to scan the source photo — which has to be pixelated from the jump — and saves the data needed to complete the finished piece.
From there, a 1×1 circular block grabs the 1×1 square plates from a gravity-fed dispenser on the side of the building area. That tile holder has a 450-plate capacity and Bricasso is capable of producing designs that contain up to nine different colors. The first row of the image acts as a key, telling the device which tile stacks to use. Allemann says he may venture into more three-dimensional construction in the future, but for now, what he’s created here is pretty great.
Filed under: Misc
Via: Gizmodo
Source: JK Brickworks
Teaching a robot to feel, live on the opera stage
Myon is a shiny white humanoid robot and the star of My Square Lady, an opera that opened this month in Berlin’s Komische Oper in Germany. The operatic robot is a product of the Neurorobotics Research Laboratory at Berlin’s Humboldt University and the European Union’s Artificial Language Evolution on Autonomous Robot‘s project. Myon sings, of course, and it shuffles in stilted, mechanical motions while interacting with the rest of the carbon-based performers. No one controls Myon from backstage — researchers and the cast worked with the robot for two years, teaching it how to sing with the orchestra, move around the stage, and react to visual and auditory cues. The opera itself is all about Myon, a robot trying to learn what it means to be human and feel emotion.
My Square Lady isn’t the first stage performance to feature a singing robot: As Vice reports, Japanese playwright Oriza Hirata premiered I, Worker in 2008, and even Asimo learned how to sing and dance back in 2010. And then there’s AIST’s HRP-4C fashion robot, which does… this. Uncanny.
Source: Vice, Komische Oper
LG’s hexagonal battery promises longer-lasting smartwatches
Quite a few smartwatches are round, so why are they still using rectangular batteries? LG Chem certainly doesn’t think that makes sense. It just started shipping a hexagonal battery that should deliver 25 percent more capacity in circular watches, where a lot of space normally goes to waste. You’re theoretically getting another four hours of juice, or enough to make it through a long night without resorting to a low-power mode. The company isn’t naming customers, but it’s safe to say that LG’s next wave of rounded wristwear will last that much longer. And that’s just the start — LG is planning more unusually-shaped batteries that will extend the running time of gadgets without dictating their look and feel.
Filed under: Wearables, Mobile, LG
Via: 9to5Google
Source: Korea Times
Dr. Dre’s ‘The Chronic’ Also Available Exclusively on Apple Music
One of the ways Apple will draw customers to Apple Music is through exclusive content that’s unavailable on other music services. Pharrell will release his new single “Freedom” exclusively on the platform, Taylor Swift has already promised to make her 1989 album available on Apple Music, and now Apple has confirmed that Dr. Dre’s album The Chronic will also make its streaming music debut on the service.
Released in 1992, The Chronic has never before been made available on any streaming music service, including the hip hop star’s own Beats Music service.
As outlined by Rolling Stone, the site that first reported the news, the album had been the subject of an ongoing legal battle between Dr. Dre and his former label Death Row Records, which may be the reason why it’s been previously unavailable. Dre received full digital rights to The Chronic in 2011 and is free to release the album on Apple Music.
Exclusive content will likely be an ongoing feature in Apple Music, with Apple working to secure deals with a number of artists. Ahead of Apple Music’s debut, the company was rumored to be in talks with dozens of high-profile musical acts like Florence and the Machine and Taylor Swift.
In addition to sharing exclusive songs and album releases on Apple Music, Apple is also hoping to engage artists and customers through its Apple Music Connect platform, a social network that lets artists share photos, videos, and other content with fans.
The company’s worldwide 24/7 live radio station, Beats 1 radio, will also feature one-of-a-kind content like interviews and music curated by celebrities. Eminem, a close friend of Dr. Dre, will be the first Beats 1 interviewee following tomorrow’s launch of Apple Music and Beats 1, and Dr. Dre will host his own radio show on the station.
14 best new Android apps from June of 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONQ9j4W89XM
Despite being the beginning of summer, the Android apps and games world was surprisingly active. We had Google I/O 2015 at the beginning of the month and E3 in the middle. The result has been noticeable as we’ve seen quite a few great new things come out this month. Let’s look at the best new Android apps and games from June of 2015.
Adobe Photoshop Mix, Color CC, Brush CC, Shape CC
[Price: Free]
Adobe released not one, but four new applications in the month of June. The first is the new Photoshop Mix app that acts as a photo and image editor. It’s not overly powerful but it does a good job. With that was Color CC which helps you discern the colors used in a photo or image, Brush CC that allows you to create and save various brush types, and Shape CC which turns images into vector graphics. They all plug into the Adobe Creative Cloud and they’re all free to download.
Chaos Rings III
[Price: $19.99]
Chaos Rings III is the first of a few large Square Enix releases that we’ll talk about today. Chaos Rings III is an RPG that has you exploring a ruined world to complete missions and find hidden treasures. It features gorgeous, Kingdom Hearts-style graphics, decent music, and a long story line. You can also engage with Battle Mode if you want to take a break from the story. It’s expensive but there’s a lot to do and there are no in app purchases.
CloudPlayer by doubleTwist
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
CloudPlayer by doubleTwist is a unique music player because it allows you to play songs from your cloud storage. This is similar to how Google Play Music does things, except CloudPlayer allows you to use OneDrive, Google Drive, and Dropbox to listen to music. The interface is pretty good and other features include a 10-band EQ, AirPlay and Chromecast support, and support for lossless codecs. It’s free to try if you’re interested.
Dragon Quest VI
[Price: $14.99]
Dragon Quest VI is a jRPG out of Square Enix and it joins Dragon Quest IV and V as the trilogy that tells the Zenithian storyline. It features first-person, turn based battles, portrait mode game play, retro graphics, and some side quests and mini-games to give you a break from the main story. In classic Square Enix fashion, the game clocks in with a fairly lofty price tag but there is a long story with dozens of hours of game play and there are no in-app purchases.
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions
[Price: $13.99]
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions was a particularly awesome release because the strategy RPG world had been begging for a Tactics game for such a long time. This is a remake of the original PlayStation game with revamped graphics and the menu system has been revamped for touch screen controls. The game play has also been tweaked for touch screens which was surprisingly nice. It’s expensive like all Square Enix titles but it’s a long game and, again, no in-app purchases.
The GameOn Project
[Price: Free]
The GameOn Project is an application that helps you find games. The way it works is you install the app, open it, take a survey, and then you’re recommended games based on how you answered the questions. Listing all the games you know may be tedious and some of the questions are a bit weird, but the results are fairly decent. It’s also totally free with no in-app purchases so it’s worth a shot if you’re looking for games.
Google Photos
[Price: Free]
It feels like a good long time since Google Photos came out but it was a June release. For those who don’t know, Google Photos is a cloud-based photo storage app where you can store an infinite amount of your photos and videos for free as long as you don’t mind Google processing them down a little bit. It also works as a gallery app so you can see your entire collection. It’s simply a must have application.
Moments
[Price: Free]
Moments is a new application released by Facebook that essentially does the same thing as Google Photos. With this service, you can backup your photos and share them on Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram as you so choose. Photos can be tagged, searched, and otherwise organized. You can also save photos other people share with you directly to the service. It’s not as powerful as Google Photos, but it’s worth a shot if you’re big into Facebook.
Portal by Pushbullet
[Price: Free]
Portal by Pushbullet is a new application that helps you move files from your PC to your Android device and vice versa. The interface is done in the flavor of Material Design and it’s extremely easy to set up and use. You can move a file, multiple files, or even whole folders at your whim and you can use the app to browse and open files you’ve transferred. The only caveat is you need Android Lollipop or better to use it.
Shoot by BitTorrent
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Shoot by BitTorrent is a phone-to-phone transfer app that allows you to transfer whatever you need between two Android devices. It works by generating a QR code that the other device scans. Once the connection is made, the file is downloaded. This provides a dead simple solution to those who want to share files whether they’re large or small. The free version is a trial but you can pay for the pro version as an in-app purchase and unlock the app permanently.
Seigefall
[Price: Free with in-app purchases]
Seigefall is a new freemium-strategy game from Gameloft. In terms of game play, it falls somewhere between Boom Beach and Clash of Clash by Supercell but with way better graphics, more control, and more to do. It features a very long campaign mode and plenty of things to upgrade. It is a freemium title so keep that in mind but as far as freemium games go, this is probably among the best that will be released this year.
Wrap up
If we missed any great new Android apps and games that you thought should be on this list, let us know about them in the comments below! To stay up to date on the latest Android apps and games news, check out our newsletter using the button below!
To see our complete list of Android apps and games lists, click here!
Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile’s CEOs are paid…. a lot
One would expect that the carriers in the United States pay their chief executive officers by performance. By that assumption, the total compensation for Lowell McAdam, Randall Stephenson, Marcelo Claure, and John Legere would be in order of their employers’ position in the market. That, however, is not the case. The total compensation for each CEO really varies because each company has a different set of incentives on top of base salaries.
So who is the highest paid leader among carriers in the United States? Hit the break to find out.
During the fiscal year that ended in March 2015, AT&T Randall Stephenson earned nearly $24 million, easily trumping the competition. Lowell McAdam, Verizon’s CEO, actually came in fourth at $18.3 million. Sprint’s Marcelo Claure and T-Mobile’s John Legere were surprisingly ahead of Lowell with $21.8 million and $18.57 million, respectively. Why is it surprising? Verizon is the nation’s largest carrier, Sprint is constantly getting heat for its network’s quality, and T-Mobile is still rising. It would make sense, in looking at it that way, for Stephenson and McAdam to be the highest paid.
Sprint defended Claure’s total compensation by saying that comparing it to the other CEOs is unfair and that he had several one-time payments when hired.
Here is what the Big Four’s CEOs earned in the last fiscal year:
- Randall Stephenson (AT&T): $23.98 million
- Marcelo Claure (Sprint): $21.8 million
- John Legere (T-Mobile): $18.57 million
- Lowell McAdam (Verizon): $18.3 million
For the current fiscal year, I would expect Legere’s total compensation to see the most change. The carrier is investing a lot in its network and adding customers at a rapid pace. The likelihood of being acquired by an even bigger company will certainly help, too.
Source: FierceWireless
Come comment on this article: Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile’s CEOs are paid…. a lot
LG Tribute 2 and LG Volt 2 available now from Boost Mobile
Today, Boost Mobile announced the releases of the LG Tribute 2 and LG Volt 2. Both feature LG’s Rear-Key and selfie features.
First up is the Tribute 2 is $99.99. It has a 4.5-inch, 854 x 480p IPS display and a 1,900mAh battery that offers up to 16 hours of talk time. In comparison, the first Tribute contained a 4.5-inch, 800 x 480p display.
Next, the Volt 2 comes in at a $149.99 price point. This device has a 5-inch, 1,280 x 720p IPS display, which is an upgrade over the 4.7-inch, 960 x 540p display on its predecessor. In addition, the front-facing camera is now 5MP, rather than 1.3MP, and the rear-facing camera is 8MP.
The common specs of each device include a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and enhanced LTE. They also come with features such as Knock Code (a personalized knock sequence to wake and unlock the smartphones), Gesture Shot (which allows the user to take a photo by holding up a hand gesture), Gesture Interval Shot (this takes four selfies at once), and Selfie Light (this improves photo quality in low light).
The post LG Tribute 2 and LG Volt 2 available now from Boost Mobile appeared first on AndroidGuys.
LG hexagonal battery aims to further wearable battery life
By the way LG continues to pump out smartwatches (three models within a year), it can be said that they are highly invested in the wearable movement. The news we’ve received today backs that up, as we get a glimpse on the LG’s R&D effort to make the most out of smartwatch battery capacity.
As reported on Korean tech news site, etnews, LG Chem has developed a coin-sized Hexagon Battery, intended to most efficiently utilize the space within circular smartwatches.
It is said that the shape and degree of freedom in the hexagonal design can increase battery capacity up to 25% (estimated at 4 more hours of use). LG Chem refers to the battery assembling technology as ‘Free Form Battery’. It uses a ‘Stack & Folding’ technique that allows it to be constructed in any shape or form.
It’s great to see someone recognizing that slapping on a square battery on a circular smartwatch isn’t the best solution, especially when battery life in smartwatches hasn’t been anything to brag about. LG Chem plans to have the Hexagon Battery in mass-production by the end of the year.
The post LG hexagonal battery aims to further wearable battery life appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Budget-friendly LG Tribute 2 and Volt 2 smartphones now available from Boost Mobile
Boost Mobile already offers a ton of attractive handsets that don’t break the bank, and today it looks like the Sprint MVNO is getting two more. The LG Tribute 2 and LG Volt 2 budget smartphones are now available for purchase for $99.99 and $149.99, respectively.
For starters, the Tribute 2 offers up a 4.5-inch IPS display with 854 x 480 resolution, a 1900mAh battery, a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage and microSD expansion up to 32GB. It also comes with 4G LTE connectivity, a 5MP rear-facing camera and runs Android 5.1 Lollipop out of the box. The LG Volt 2 features a 5.0-inch IPS display with 1280 x 720 resolution, a 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 processor, a beefy 2540mAh battery, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage and microSD expansion up to 32GB. This device has an 8MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, 4G LTE connectivity, and also runs Android 5.1 Lollipop.
Featuring LG’s iconic rear-mounted volume and power/standby keys, these two devices will give users the high-end smartphone feeling without the high cost. Additionally, both handsets come with a few familiar LG software features like Knock Code and QuickMemo+, and even handy camera features like Gesture Shot and Gesture Interval Shot. If you’re interested in taking a closer look at either of the new smartphones, head to the links below for more information.
OnePlus 2 will feature a fingerprint scanner that’s “faster than Touch ID”
Continuing the extremely slow rollout of features that will be present on the OnePlus 2, the company behind the “no-compromise” smartphone has just announced the next notable feature. The OnePlus 2 will come with a touch-enabled fingerprint sensor that, in the company’s words, will be able to unlock your device “faster than Touch ID.” Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint tech is actually quite fast and reliable, so it will be interesting to see if the OnePlus 2 can compete. OnePlus says the fingerprint scanner will give you the ability to store up to five fingerprint profiles, making it much easier to access your smartphone no matter which finger you’d like to use.
From OnePlus:
On the OnePlus 2, one quick tap takes you right to your homescreen. With the ability to store up to five fingerprint profiles, it’s fast, it’s safe, and it’s secure. Your smartphone is your most personal device, and its security should be personal, too.
Google recently announced that Android M would bring native fingerprint authentication support, which will help OEMs better implement fingerprint scanning tech into their smartphones.
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In case you need a refresher, the OnePlus 2 will also feature a Snapdragon 810 v2.1 processor and a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfer. OnePlus also announced that the phone would be unveiled in virtual reality using OnePlus-branded Cardboard headsets. Be sure to stay tuned to Android Authority as more OnePlus 2 features are announced.
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