Kraftwerk takes techno pop into the third dimension
Not to be undone by bands that release artwork via fax machine or by albums released in sheet music form, German electronic mainstay Kraftwerk’s next record will be available in a 3D format. It’s a fairly unusual approach to making music as you can’t really hear 3D (unless you experience synesthesia). This latest collection of tracks will be released on Blu-ray in autumn. Ralf Hutter, the only remaining original member, told Rolling Stone that it will consist of 3D performances with surround sound.
Kling Klang, the bands’ private studio, is working on converting archival footage into 3D and arranging the images to synch with the music. The footage is largely taken from tour dates earlier this year; specifically performances such as the MoMA in New York, the Opera House in Sydney and the Tate Modern in London. Hutter, who formed the band in 1968 with partner Florian Schneider, said the bands’ signature minimalism “is really a multimedia concept. Not just music.”
Via:
The Guardian
Source:
Rolling Stone
Tags: 3D, album, Blu-Ray, kraftwerk, music
All your favorite Podcasts in one place with Wondercasts Review
Overview
Tired of listening to the same 4 songs over and over that the disc jockeys force you to listen too? Talk radio bores you and your uninterested in corny jokes and advertisers attempting to sell you everything you don’t need or want?
I can’t speak for you, but that’s me, I have found myself driving to my destinations in silence. No radio, no phone, just fresh air, and energy.
Although finding quality content that I can control is no longer an issue. I recently have been introduced to Wondercasts available for download via The Google Playstore. Wondercasts allows you to manage and listen to your favorite podcasts, discover new podcasts, allows you to cast the podcasts to your television, and also enables you to download podcasts to your device when you don’t have access to an internet connection.
Setup
Setting up Wondercasts was extremely simple. All I had to do was download the application from The Google Playstore which is free with an ad removable option for just .99. After the installation was complete I was able to start browsing Wondercasts for podcasts without creating an account or registering any login credentials.
Function
I have been using Wondercasts daily for the past 7 days. Upon using Wondercasts, I didn’t have any real expectations on what the app would or wouldn’t offer nor did I feel I needed it. I had previously used IHeart Radio and had no complaints and for a while I used it every day. Until now I was uninterested in searching for any podcasts or even starting fresh with a new podcast provider.
Out the gate, I was greeted with a crisp professional user interface(u.i.) that utilized Google’s Material Design standards. The clean white background accented with baby blue (my favorite color) was very inviting and started my Wondercasts experience off well.
Not to mention I was able to immediately search the vast content that Wondercasts provided without being badgered to create an account or login via Facebook or Google+. Wondercasts conveniently categorized their menu thus allowing easy navigation.
The menu options:
Podcast– allows one-click access to all of the Podcasts that you subscribed to.
Lists– is the section that displays the podcasts that you have saved offline to view when you have no internet connection
Downloads – shows you real-time status of the size of the podcasts you are downloading along with an estimated download time.
Settings– is quite detailed and useful compared to a lot of other applications. The settings menu allows you to update podcasts cover art, control playback controls, options to save battery and more.
Popular– this section allows content discovery, you can search popular casts. If you were unable to find any podcasts that interest you, you are able to filter your search by genres. Example you could search for business podcasts and catch up on TED Talks business section and get knowledge from the great speaker Simon Sinek or Sports & Recreation and find podcasts on America’s team the Dallas Cowboys.
After discovering podcasts that I was interested in my experience became even more entertaining and pleasing. I stumbled upon a business podcast entitled “Build a Badass Business”. The display image of “Build a Badass Business” was crisp and high resolution and I immediately realized that the playback controls were the same color as the graphics of the podcasts which is a very nice touch. That was just the cake here comes the icing, the playback controls have very cool animations that you will discover when pressing them. Also when listening to a podcast you can set a timer for how long you would like to listen. Another feature that I found useful was when you are playing a podcasts if you access the overflow menu(3 linear dots near the top of the application) you can access a Go to option. The Go to option allows you to type in the time code of the podcast to easily access a specific point in time in the podcast down to the second you want to hear.
Using Wondercasts for the past few days I have discovered multiple podcasts that I have begun to listen to daily. I believe it was just the simplicity, design, and easy to discover content that allowed me to quickly become comfortable with Wondercasts and made it a daily option for me to visit like Youtube and Spotify.
Who will find Wondercasts useful
Wondercasts is a well-rounded application that does a lot of things right. Individuals who travel frequently, those who want to spend their driving time in a more useful manner than listening to music Wondercasts is a good option for you. Wondercats has a wide variety of content to choose from movies, sports, business,news & politics etc. There are multiple genres that could benefit and entertain you.
What We Like
- Beautiful User Interface
- Playback control animations
- Wide variety of podcasts /easy to discover new podcasts
- Download podcasts offline to your device
What We didn’t Like
- Upon constant usage did notice some force close errors
Summary
Wondercasts organizing podcasts for you to easily discover is not a new concept. Although what is great is that Wondercasts is an old concept packaged with great design, easy to discover content, small graphical and animated tweaks that enables a well designed useful app that simply works.
The post All your favorite Podcasts in one place with Wondercasts Review appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Apple TV Said to Have Motion Sensitive Remote Control Targeted at Casual Gamers
In a report corroborating several oft-rumored features of the next-generation Apple TV, including an A8 chip and a native SDK for creating apps, TechCrunch editor-in-chief Matthew Panzarino has revealed that the set-top box will also have a motion sensitive remote control with multi-axis sensors, a touchpad on the top, physical buttons on the bottom and a microphone for Siri.
Panzarino claims the redesigned remote control will likely be targeted at casual gamers:
A game controller with a microphone, physical buttons, a touchpad and motion sensitive controls would be extremely capable. While Apple is likely going to target the broad casual gaming market, I would not be shocked to see innovative gameplay blossom from that type of input possibility. Think, for instance, of multi-player gaming with several people using voice input, or many popular genres of party games that would do far better on the TV than on an iPad or iPhone.
A new Apple TV with an App Store and easy-to-use controller could lure a significant number of casual gamers away from competing platforms such as Nintendo, in the same way that smartphones have undermined other handheld gaming devices. Coupled with on-demand movies and TV shows, home automation and a streaming TV service, the new Apple TV could dominate the living room.
Almost instantaneously, the Apple TV will no longer be Apple’s “hobby” product.
If Apple did indeed ‘delay’ the Apple TV from being released at WWDC, then it probably had a reason. And, if my sources are correct, that reason could well be polish, polish, polish. The experience of using it is said to blow away the types of junky smart TV interfaces we’ve had to deal with so far. This is the first real Apple TV product.
Apple is expected to announce the new Apple TV at its September 9th media event.
Google AdWords to begin disabling Flash advertisements in Chrome
On September 1st, you will no longer see advertisements utilizing Flash. This doesn’t mean that you won’t see video-like advertisements anymore, just they will all be HTML5.
Google’s AdWords division states that this change will speed up browser performance and bring all advertisers in line with the new HTML5 standard.
There is already a setting in Chrome that allows you to disable these Flash advertisement plugins, but on September 1st, Google will switch this to “On” as default in the Chrome browser.
If you’re an advertiser, Google has already attempted to convert your Flash advertisement to HTML5, but there is a chance that it was unsuccessful in doing this. If it was unsuccessful, then your advertisement will be disabled and you will need to do the converting yourself.
Google had the following to say about the changes:
Video and interactive media bring consumers rich, engaging experiences on the web–but they can also impact browser speed and battery life. A few months ago, Chrome introduced a setting (https://goo.gl/cBhea4) designed to increase page-load speed and reduce power consumption by pausing certain plugin content, including many Flash ads. As soon as September (http://goo.gl/u5f019), this setting will be turned on by default so Chrome users can enjoy faster performance and view more content before charging their batteries.
Source: Google
Come comment on this article: Google AdWords to begin disabling Flash advertisements in Chrome
Amid widespread diversity complaints in the tech sector, Twitter claims it will do better in 2016
A huge topic in the tech world the past few years is the staggeringly low percentages of women and minorities employed in these sectors. A few companies have committed themselves to addressing this issue and, now, Twitter joins them.
In a blog post today, Twitter Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Janet Van Huysse, wrote that Twitter intends to perform better in 2016 with its hiring standards and retention of female and minority prospects. This is done in a move that she claims will commit Twitter to having a more diverse workplace that is representative of the diversity present in the company’s consumers.
We considered simply setting company-wide hiring goals, but we don’t want to stop at that. If our aim is to build a company we can really be proud of — one that’s more inclusive and diverse — we need to make sure it’s a great place for both new and current employees to work and to grow. That’s why these new goals focus on increasing the overall representation of women and underrepresented minorities throughout the whole company.
Van Huysse hopes to increase the overall percentage of women employed by Twitter to 35% and hopefully get to 25% for women in leadership roles inside of the social media company by the end of 2016.
And if they don’t reach these goals? Van Huysse wants you to call them out. “We’re holding ourselves accountable to these measurable goals, as should you.”
Source: Twitter
Come comment on this article: Amid widespread diversity complaints in the tech sector, Twitter claims it will do better in 2016
Mirrativ is a cross between Twitch and Periscope, isn’t limited to just game streams
What happens when you mash up Periscope with Twitch? That’s essentially what you get with Mirrativ, a new app from Japan-based DeNA.
The new Android-only app is designed to make it extremely easy to broadcast whatever is on your phone or tablet screen. Despite the fact that DeNA is a mobile game company, streams aren’t limited to gaming. Showing off the UI, apps, reading from an e-reader, watching a video — nothing is off limits from this platform. In addition to capturing what is on screen, Mirrativ can also show off your face at the same time. It’s even possible to use Mirrativ simply to show off what you are doing using your phone’s camera just like Periscope.
Further borrowing pages from Periscope’s playbook, streams are non-permanent and so there is no way to revisit them once the session ends. Again, just like Periscope (and Meerkat) streams are instantly shared with a user’s follows and followers can not only interact through live comments, they can also add stars as a way of rating the broadcast.
While it’s hard to say how popular Mirrativ will be, the fact that it can be used for regular app demonstrations, how tos, and just about anything, certainly makes the app appealing for those looking for something a bit different. You can download Mirrativ right now, but you wouldn’t be able to broadcast just yet. For now, the company is giving a sneak-peek of live stream demos and won’t open up the platform to new broadcasters until sometime next month.
Back to school: the essential Android apps for students
As we prepare to bid a fond farewell to summer, classrooms and lecture halls are starting to fill up with eager and not so eager students returning to pursue a diploma, degree or simply just a passing grade. To reduce some of that back to school tension, we’ve put together a list of useful Android applications that should help lighten your academic load. This selection has a little bit of everything and features a blend of software capable of helping students of all ages. So if you’re ready to transform your smartphone or tablet into a powerful study buddy, pull up a chair and check out these must-have apps.
Dictionary
Okay, so this one might be a given, but if it’s not loaded in your device’s app drawer, you’re definitely missing out. More than just an index of definitions, Dictionary also includes a top-shelf thesaurus and vocabulary expanding features like “word of the day.” There’s also a few snazzy inclusions like voice search and audio pronunciations that should help with those tough words like “anemone” and “worcestershire.” There’s even support for Android Wear baked right in.
EasyBib
You’ve barely been back in class for a few weeks and a heavy demand for papers appears to be a popular trend among your professors and instructors. With such a hefty workload coming on, you’ll soon find yourself using the B-word — bibliography. The process of logging in citations can be brutally tedious, but it’s often necessary. Thankfully this easy to use application simplifies the process.
To get this sourcing party started, fire up EasyBib and point your device’s camera at a book’s barcode. You’ll have a choice of over 7,000 citation styles, including ASA, AMA, CSE and ACS all with a single tap.
SimpleMind
As a budding scholar your mind is loaded with tons of ideas and sometimes it can be hard to keep things organized. If you’re looking for something to calm your raging brainstorm, SimpleMind has some easy to use tools wrapped in a light 1.5MB package. This mind mapping software charts your ideas in a color-coded web for fast access. Not just limited to mobile gear, you can also edit your tops via cross-platform support for Windows and Mac.
Fast Scanner
If you’re ever in need of a scanner, there’s no need to buy a big bulky overpriced machine that will only crowd your already cramped dorm room. Fast Scanner uses your device’s camera to capture single or multiple page documents and export them as PDFs. You can use this app to send files via email or archive them for your records.
Graphing Calculator
If you’re a math major or your area of study requires some heavy number crunching, you’ll definitely need a good calculator. As for freebie apps, Graphing Calculator by Mathlab digs in pretty deeply. Equipped with scientific, fraction, algebra and matrix calculator modes, things can get a little heavy. However, even if you’re studying the arts, this potent software can most likely run circles around your device’s stock application. So you might as well give it a try.
Duolingo
If you’re taking up a second language or planning on studying abroad, your linguistic skills will most likely need a coach. Instead of drilling you with grueling challenges and making you run laps for incorrect answers, Duolingo uses a variety of games and visual cues to teach you a new language. Easy to use, the app’s developer claims that 34 hours of Duolingo are comparable to a semester of university-level education. Even so, while we endorse the app, we don’t recommend dropping out of class.
StudyBlue
No matter how high-end your mobile device may be, it can’t do all of your homework for you. You’ll still need to study. A must have tool in any respectable crammer’s arsenal is the flashcard and StudyBlue manages to modernize this age-old staple. It’s a lightweight piece of software that offers an eco-friendly solution to using dozens of costly index cards. You can keep study notes with you at all times and remotely share flashcards with classmates on the fly.
Here Comes the Bus
So you’re not the student, but your kid(s) are and the school bus is their primary method of transportation. This app can definitely help give you peace of mind. Used by multiple school districts, Here Comes the Bus keeps parents connected to their precious cargo by sharing details like bus arrivals and departures. It also supports push notifications that will notify you of schedule changes, along with alerts of when a bus is within five minutes of your stop.
Squid
The thought of typing notes on a smartphone or tablet sounds downright torturous to some people and we’d have to agree with such sentiments. Perhaps you’d rather jot them down on your mobile device, but you didn’t pick up Samsung’s new king-size smartphone. No worries, Squid (formerly known as Papyrus) has you covered.
You can scribble notes directly on your phone with a stylus or your finger and file them away for safe keeping. In addition to handwritten drafts, users can mark notations and highlights on PDF files. Plus all of your notes can be backed up to the cloud via Dropbox or Box.
Easy Voice Recorder
If handwritten notes sound too retro for your style of studying or you often find yourself falling asleep during class, you’ll need a good voice recorder to keep up with your instructor’s lectures. Thankfully, Android has plenty of options to choose from, but we’re going to recommend one in particular. Easy Voice Recorder by Digipom offers a simplified audio capturing software that lets you encode sound samples in a variety of codecs including PCM, AAC and AMR. There’s also widget support for fast access.
Wrap-up
The process of starting or returning to school can be grueling and hopefully our selection of applications will help you hit the ground running. In addition to the aforementioned software, Google’s app catalog has a stellar suite of productivity tools that are often preloaded on Android devices. However, if your setup is somehow light on programs from Mountain View, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive and Calendar are almost mandatory downloads.
If you liked our selection, or one of your favorite academic applications didn’t make this list, be sure to let us know in the comments.
‘XCOM 2’ delayed until February 2016
XCOM 2 was supposed to launch in November, but apparently planet-wide alien invasions are tricky to schedule. Firaxis has pushed XCOM 2‘s release date back to February 5, 2016, noting that the game isn’t up to the studio’s standards quite yet.
“We’ve set a high bar for the sequel and the entire team has been working hard to make sure we deliver a great follow-up to Enemy Unknown,” a short blog post reads. “We just need a little more time to make it the best possible game.”
Firaxis wants XCOM 2 to have “more depth, more replayability and more investment in your soldiers,” the post continues. XCOM 2 is a sequel to 2012’s widely acclaimed strategy game, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and it’s a continuation of the strategy franchise that began in 1993. In XCOM 2, Earth is overrun by hostile alien forces and players are part of a guerrilla resistance squad attempting to take back the planet. There’s still no word on a console or mobile launch for the new game.
Delays are a common sight in the video game universe, and just this week we asked one developer why his game was pushed back two whole years after receiving a ton of early attention. The short answer? “It’s complicated.”
Source:
XCOM
Tags: Delay, firaxis, Firaxis-Games, hdpostcross, TakeTwo, XCom, XCOM2
‘Mighty No. 9’ team aims to calm angry backers with exclusive demo
Kickstarter backers of Keiji Inafune’s Mighty No. 9 are feeling a little burned. When its Spring release came due, Comcept pushed the release back to fall; when that September launch came on the horizon, the game was delayed until 2016. “We feel bad,” producer Nick Yu told us earlier this month. “Really, really bad.” The company knows its messed up, and agrees that backers deserve something for their patience. So they’re getting something — on September 15th, the game’s second launch date, Kickstarter backers will get access to an exclusive demo of the Mighty No. 9’s single player campaign.
The backer-exclusive trial version will include four playable, complete stages from the final version of the game — with all of the story-mode cutscenes intact — six challenge mode stages and the option to enable an 8-bit soundtrack mode in the options menu. Players will also be able to pick from the game’s full set of language options, including Japanese and English voice overs and subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Japanese and Italian.
Finally, Comcept will be handing out Steam codes for Mighty Gunvolt, an 8-bit Inafune-style platformer starring characters from Mighty No. 9, Gal Gun and Azure Striker Gunvolt, to all Kickstarter backers on September 29th. It’s not the full game backers may have been hoping for, but at least it’s something. Does it quell your frustration? Let us know in the comments below and sit tight: Comcept says codes will land in backers’ inboxes next month.
Filed under:
Gaming
Source:
Kickstarter
Tags: comcept, delay, gaming, inafune, KeijiInafune, kickstarter, megaman, mightyno.9, mightyno9, videogames
The best WiFi router (for most people)
This post was done in partnership with The Wirecutter, a list of the best technology to buy.
Read the original full article below at TheWirecutter.com
After spending a total of 200 hours researching and testing over 20 WiFi routers, plus analyzing reader comments and feedback, the $100 TP-Link Archer C7 (v2) is the router we recommend for most people right now. This dual-band, three-stream wireless-ac router usually costs between $80 and $100 — the same price as many older, slower routers. But unlike those slower routers, the C7 supports the fastest connections of every major device you can buy today.
We compared the Archer C7 against 21 different routers over a 10-month testing period. On most of our tests, the Archer C7 was the fastest — outperforming routers that cost twice as much. You won’t find a better-performing router than the Archer C7 for less, and you’ll have to spend a lot more money to get a better one.
How we picked
The six routers we tested.
Wireless-ac, or IEEE 802.11ac, is the latest mainstream WiFi version, and your new router should have wireless-ac. It’s the new standard in many laptops, smartphones, and tablets from 2013 and later, including many of our recommendations at the Wirecutter. New MacBooks and high-end Windows laptops have wireless-ac, and so do almost all flagship smartphones from the past year: the iPhone 6, HTC One, Moto X, Samsung Galaxy S5, and more. Unless you go very cheap, your next gadget with WiFi will probably have wireless-ac.
Our Wi-Fi router pick is dual-band, which means it supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz signals—giving you a way to escape 2.4GHz wireless interference from your neighbors’ WiFi networks and giving you access to the much faster speeds of 5GHz wireless-ac. The vast majority of laptops, phones and tablets support one or two streams, but high-end laptops like the MacBook Pro support three. A three-stream wireless-ac router ensures that you’re going to get the fastest connection on any device you own — or plan to buy in the near future.
Any router you buy should be dual-band: a 2.4GHz band for wireless-n and earlier, and a 5GHz band for wireless-n and -ac (5GHz faster, but it can have worse range than 2.4GHz and not every device supports it).
How we tested
The original four finalists for our best Wi-Fi router article.
We evaluated our finalists’ the short- and long-range performance on their 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. To test, we put each router in the same location and set up four client testing spots in a 2,577-square foot, one-story house. We set up two locations within sight of the router (at 11 feet and 43 feet), and two test stations blocked by walls, rooms, and other objects (at 13 feet and 43 feet).
Our pick
We wish TP-Link included a USB 3.0 port in the Archer C7. Otherwise, its physical connections are pretty standard and easy to access.
The TP-Link Archer C7 (v2) emerged from our tests as the best router for most people. We’ve tested the Archer C7 against different combinations of routers, at different times, using different setups, for almost an entire year In each testing arrangement, the Archer C7 was the top-performing router across most of our individual tests, often by a lot. The C7 has the performance and range of routers that cost $200 or more, but it usually costs $100 and can often be found for less.
In our most recent tests, we pitted the Archer C7 against two AC1900 routers — T-Mobile’s Personal Cellspot (a modified Asus RT-AC68U, which is normally around $185) and Netgear’s $200 R7000 –as well as the $115 Archer C8, TP-Link’s more-expensive followup to the C7. The C7 beat them all on our short-range tests for 2.4GHz and 5GHz. It wasn’t as fast as any of them on 2.4GHz at long range (surprising to us, since the C7 was usually the fastest router on other versions of this test), but it beat them all again on 5GHz.
Its long-range 2.4GHz signal was still over 22Mbps — faster than most peoples’ home internet connections and seven times faster than a 1080p Netflix stream. And the strength of its long-range 5GHz performance is critical; you’re more likely to pick this band and stick with it, since your wireless-ac devices will only get wireless-ac speeds on 5GHz.
In closing
The TP-Link Archer C7 can’t be beaten for the price. It’s the router we’d recommend to anyone who needs the best performance across the greatest distance. The Archer C7 is also one of the cheapest three-stream routers you can buy — any device you own, or will buy in the near future, will get the fastest wireless connection it can handle.
This guide may have been updated. To see the current recommendation please go to The Wirecutter.com
Filed under:
Networking
Tags: netgear, router, thewirecutter, TP-Link, wifi, wirecutter
AIVAnet 