LG’s new SmartThinQ Sensor will bring some smarts to your everyday appliances
Smart appliances are everywhere nowadays, but it can be really tough to find connected products that don’t cost an arm and a leg. To help solve this problem, LG today announced some new sensors that will breathe some life into your older, non-connected household items.
The new connected gadget to come from the company is called the SmartThinQ Sensor, which can be used to communicate with the SmartThinQ application by sensing feedback such as vibration and temperature. For example, attaching one of these sensors to a washing machine door will allow the app to notify you when your laundry is finished. Or if you place it on a refrigerator, the new sensor can send you a notification when a particular food item is about to expire. You can also keep track of how many times the door is opened, even if you aren’t at home. LG says you can even connect it to an air conditioner that will let you remotely control it through the SmartThinQ app.
Pricing and availability information is still unknown at this point, but LG will show off these new sensors at IFA 2015, which we will be attending. For more information, feel free to check out the press release attached below.
EA releases first ‘Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes’ trailer
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes was announced by Electronic Arts at E3 2015 in June. Details surrounding the card-based role-playing game were kept to a minimum at that time, but now EA is ready to show how the game operates. The company released the very first trailer for Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes earlier today and it is packed with key characters and glasses from the beloved franchise. Players will be able to collect characters through cards and upgrade them with new abilities and gear as they advance. Gameplay, as expected, is also turn-based.
Hit the break to watch the trailer.
Collect your favorite heroes from the entire Star Wars™ universe and form powerful teams to dominate the competition.
Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes allows you to join the galactic hologames in a cantina far, far away. Build your team and fight in memorable, RPG-style turn based battles across iconic locations to become the most legendary hologamer in the galaxy!
Click here to view the embedded video.
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Alphabet’s Life Sciences division is partnering with Sanofi to battle diabetes
Earlier this month we talked about Alphabet’s first new company to oversee, Life Sciences. Life Sciences was, and basically still is, Google’s health company. They are now teaming up with Sanofi, pharmaceutical company which makes diabetes medication, to monitor and treat people with diabetes.
The two companies will develop small devices to monitor statistics and software to make sense of the stats in order to find new treatment options.
Andrew Conrad from Life Sciences says Sanofi has lots of experience with insulin and could help Google build devices to provide dosages, or automatically adjust the medication based on the person’s blood sugar reading.
“Sanofi’s experience making insulin—which controls diabetics’ blood sugar levels—might help Google design smaller, Internet-connected devices that could automatically suggest or adjust insulin dosages in response to blood-sugar readings or doctor-prescribed patient exercise regimes.”
Source: Wall Street Journal
Via: Engadget
Come comment on this article: Alphabet’s Life Sciences division is partnering with Sanofi to battle diabetes
T-Mobile pushing security update to its LG G4
Security, sound, and video. That’s the focus for a software update T-Mobile is pushing to its LG G4.
Throughout August, devices from a multitude of companies have received software updates to patch the Stagefright vulnerability. T-Mobile is taking its turn today in pushing the security update to its LG G4.
The carrier is also adjusting sound settings by separating ringtone and notification options. Finally, T-Mobile is allowing users to record video in slow motion.
The new build, which is labeled H81110n, is sized at 353MB and should reach devices during the week.
Source: T-Mobile
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Australia gives tourists a reason to put the selfie stick away
If a virtual reality gaming center, trees with email addresses and the opportunity to cuddle a koala weren’t enough to tempt you into taking a trip down under, perhaps an opportunity to participate in a massive-scale selfie project will do the trick. At least, that’s the aim of a new service launched by Tourism Australia called GIGA Selfie.
Users open an accompanying app while standing on a round platform the company sets out in pre-announced locales; the platforms are plainly marked with where to place your feet. The app accesses the camera on smartphones and then directs users on where to position their phones to connect with the service via an overlay on the camera’s UI. For example, an icon will show users they should position themselves to be facing a far-off pier before the app counts down the time to the shutter snap.
A video posted by Australia (@australia.jp) on Aug 20, 2015 at 7:28pm PDT
A downloadable video then stitches together the close-up shot taken by the users’ smartphone camera with an image of the surrounding area taken from the distant focus point. The result is a video that starts with the close-up selfie image, then zooms out to display the stunning surrounding landscape. The first opportunity to participate in the GIGA Selfie service will be at Surfers Paradise in the Queensland region of Gold Coast on September 5th and 6th. Interested travelers or Aussie locals can find more information on future GIGA Selfie locations on the company’s website.
Filed under:
Mobile
Via:
Ubergizmo
Source:
Australia.com
Tags: australia, camera, mobilepostcross, selfie, smartphone, TourismAustralia
Mini review video: our verdict of Samsung’s GS6 Edge+ in under a minute
They say bigger is better, but that doesn’t appear to be true when it comes to smartphones — especially curved-screen ones. As much as we loved Samsung’s 5.1-inch Galaxy S6 Edge, we found the larger GS6 Edge+ harder to hold, thanks to both its larger 5.7-inch panel and its uncomfortably contoured back. That said, while we might not recommend it to the dainty-handed among you, we still liked the device enough to award it a strong score of 87 out of 100. All told, we found that its gorgeous looks, premium build quality, fast performance and stellar camera were enough to mostly outweigh its less-than-ergonomic footprint. That’s the gist of our quickie review video up there, but if you have time for a long read (and have big enough hands that you might actually consider buying this), you can check out our full review here.
Filed under:
Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung
Tags: GalaxyS6EdgePlus, gs6edgeplus, mobilepostcross, review, samsung
New ‘Feminist Frequency’ video examines ‘women as reward’
In 2012, Anita Sarkeesian asked for $6,000 on Kickstarter to create a YouTube series dissecting the way video games commonly portray women, to be housed under her Feminist Frequency brand. Sarkeesian’s project raised $160,000 and she’s since released eight videos in the Tropes vs. Women in Video Games series, covering the “Damsel in Distress” trend, “Ms. Male Character” theme and the idea of “Women as Background Decoration.” The latest video, released today, covers “Women as Reward” and it discusses the myriad ways women are offered as hyper-sexualized trophies in some popular video games.
“The Women as Reward trope is set up to fulfill a very specific male entitlement-oriented fantasy,” Sarkeesian says in the video. “In many cases game creators may not even realize their mechanics are working to cement this mentality, but when games use a woman’s affection, her body or her sexuality as a carrot on a stick, they’re actively encouraging men to think of women as objects, prizes and status symbols.”
Sarkeesian breaks down the way women’s bodies are offered as prizes in franchises including Metroid, The Witcher, Ratchet and Clank, Grand Theft Auto, Resident Evil and Metal Gear. She argues that the “women as reward” trope contributes to the idea of male entitlement, which she describes as “the conviction that men are owed something by virtue of their gender.” She continues, “One of the most harmful aspects of male entitlement is the false belief that men have a right to survey and use women’s bodies.”
She also notes, “When presented with critical analyses of the poor representations of women in many popular games, this intense male entitlement manifests in aggression, abuse and threats.”
Sarkeesian is consistently a target of online harassment. In 2014, she had to cancel a speech at Utah State University after receiving death threats and learning that organizers could not prevent people from carrying concealed firearms into the venue, as long as they had a permit. Sarkeesian was the subject of a Nightline investigation into online harassment in the video game universe and she was a guest on The Colbert Report in October, where she discussed GamerGate and some of the threats she’s received because of her work with Feminist Frequency.
As always, Sarkeesian begins her latest video with the following disclaimer, though this time around it’s especially notable, considering she immediately starts talking about Metroid, a widely beloved, classic game:
“Remember that it is both possible and even necessary to be critical of the media we enjoy.”
Source:
Feminist Frequency on YouTube
Tags: anita-sarkeesian, anitasarkeesian, feminism, feministfrequency, hdpostcross, tropesvswomeningames, women
Samsung Announces Round ‘Gear S2’ Smart Watch
Samsung today unveiled its newest smart watch, the Samsung Gear S2, which is the company’s first watch that includes a round display instead of one that’s square or rectangular.
Positioned as Samsung’s seventh smart watch release, the Gear S2 comes in three varieties: Classic, standard, and 3G. The Classic version includes a black case with a black leather band, while the standard version includes a dark gray case with a matching rubber band or a silver case with a white rubber band. According to Samsung, the Classic model is for users “who prefer a more timeless watch design,” while the standard model is “ideal for those who are on-the-go and have an admiration for minimal and modern design.”
The third model, the 3G Gear S2, features the same design as the standard model but includes a 3G radio to connect to 3G cellular networks. With dedicated 3G capabilities, the 3G Gear S2 can be used without a phone, unlike the Apple Watch and most other smart watches on the market.
“For the past several years, Samsung has pioneered and advanced the wearables category, bringing brave new concepts to the smart wearables market,” said JK Shin, CEO and Head of Samsung’s IT & Mobile Business. “The Samsung Gear S2 reflects Samsung’s most progressive innovation. It is the perfect complement for any occasion, easily taking you from day to night, from work to workout–and ensuring that you get more out of every moment in your day, by making it smarter and ultimately more personal and fun.”
Each of 11.4 millimeter thick Gear S2 watches includes a 1.2-inch diameter touch display with a resolution of 360 x 360 (302 pixels per inch), a 1 GHz dual-core processor, 512MB RAM, and 4GB of storage space. It charges wirelessly, has two to three days of battery life, and includes NFC, WiFi, and Bluetooth. On the battery front it outshines the Apple Watch depending on use, but it has less storage space than the Apple Watch’s 8GB.
The bezel of the Gear S2 rotates, a feature that’s used to navigate through the operating system to interact with apps, and it also uses dedicated Home and Back buttons. Samsung plans to release apps and watch faces designed specifically for the circular display of the Gear S2. Taking a cue from Apple, Samsung designed a new 24-hour fitness activity log for the Gear S2, which will let users view daily progress and get reminders to help them stay on track with fitness goals.
Samsung’s Gear S2 watch runs the Tizen operating system instead of Android, making it incompatible with the Android Wear app for iOS that Google launched earlier today.
Samsung has not yet released pricing details on the Gear S2 or provided a release date, but the company plans to provide more information at the IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin, which starts later this week.
Droid MAXX 2 pictures and specs suggest Verizon-branded take on Moto X Play
Just when you thought the rumors and images of the new Droid Maxx 2 (perhaps the Moto X Play that won’t see the light of day in the United States) couldn’t get any better, new images were recently brought to light. Late last week saw the team at Android Police sharing what looks to be a Verizon-branded take on the Moto X Play.
Taking a look at the pictures we see the usual Verizon tramp stamp is present, along with a removable back. We’re intrigued by the fact that a SIM card slot is on the top of the phone yet still offers a removable back.
Nonetheless, the front of the phone is identical to the new Moto X Play with the same 5.5-inch 1080p screen. Under the hood it looks to be equipped with the 64-bit Snapdragon 615 processor, 2GB of RAM and the 3630mAh battery.
Strangely, it appears the smartphone only has about 8 gigabytes of usable space for applications. We’re anxious to learn whether there’s expandable storage or if other sizes will be offered.
Don’t forget that the Droid Turbo 2 is also expected at Verizon later this year as well.
Source: Android Police
The post Droid MAXX 2 pictures and specs suggest Verizon-branded take on Moto X Play appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Google is working to make 4K video less of a data hog
Ultra HD 4K video is still in its infancy, but there’s no doubt the format will become increasingly popular in the next year or two. Huge players like YouTube and Netflix already support it, but delivering such high bandwidth video content remains a challenge. Google’s trying to do its part to solve that problem by developing a more efficient video compression codec called VP10. The new codec has been in the works for nearly a year, but the company gave some details about how effective it can be over the VP9 format it’ll eventually replace. In an interview with CNET, Google product manager James Bankoski said that VP9 uses half the bandwidth needed to deliver the same quality video as the popular H.264 format — and with VP10, the company is trying to cut it in half again.
Reduced bandwidth usage isn’t the only thing VP10 has going for it — it should also provide shaper images, better color, and a better dynamic range between lights and dark. But despite some strong technical credentials and the backing of Google, widespread adoption of VP10 is hardly a foregone conclusion. H.264 is still the dominant video compression standard, and its successor (HEVC / H.265) will likely see widespread support.
Still, this is a battle that isn’t yet won, and the dominance of YouTube means that VP10 will have a fighting chance against HEVC. The fact that VP10 is open source is another point in its favor; the licensing for HEVC could add red tape and costs for developers and devices makers. It’ll be a while before this conflict comes to a head, however: Google said it hopes to hit its performance targets for VP10 by the end of next year.
Source:
CNET
Tags: 4k, google, h264, h265, hdpostcross, hevc, vp10, vp9, youtube
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