‘Sensible Soccer’ is getting a modern remake
For kids growing up in the early 90s, the Commodore Amiga was the pinnacle of gaming hardware. It was no doubt helped by classic titles like Sensible Soccer and Cannon Fodder, which were the brainchild of Sensible Software founder Jon Hare. It’s been eight years since the last Sensible Soccer game hit the Xbox 360, but with Codemasters still holding on to the licence, Hare’s decided it’s about time for a reboot: Sociable Soccer.
Source: Sociable Soccer (Kickstarter)
See London through the eyes of a self-driving car
When a driverless car glides down the street, avoiding pedestrians and stopping at traffic lights, what exactly does it see? Is the machine’s perspective of the world so different to you and me? To give us an inside look, ScanLAB Projects strapped a laser scanner to a Honda CR-V and cruised through the streets of London. Although the car was being driven by a human, the LIDAR (light detection and ranging) equipment performed similarly to how it would in a driverless car. Like radar or sonar, this involves firing a laser in every direction and then measuring the time it takes to reflect back off nearby objects. These timings are then collected, analyzed and collected again to give the car a real-time picture of its surroundings. ScanLAB Projects is a London design company that uses the technology for art and visualisation purposes; they’ve already scanned museums, an underground railway line and the arctic circle. Its latest video — produced for the New York Times Magazine — combines the LIDAR recordings from the drive for a beautiful, eery look at the city.
Via: Gizmodo
Source: New York Times Magazine
ICYMI: Trekkie health scanner, car vending machine and more
Today on In Case You Missed It: A vending machine for cars (by Carvana) just launched in Nashville, removing the necessity of talking to a car salesman — or anyone, really — before driving off in a new ride. Stanford engineers made a health scanner device that can detect a tumor in your body based on the energy vibration that it sends out. And two crowdfunded devices aim to help snoring sleepers put a sock in it. The first, Nora, comes with a pillow that deflates or otherwise moves, to reposition the offending sleeper’s head. The other, Silent Partner, is a nose wearable that allegedly creates a quiet zone around the sleeper by sending out canceling sound waves.
Nest sells home surveillance in discounted packs of three
If you’re looking to create a low-level surveillance state within your own home, Nest has a bundle deal for you. Beginning this weekend, Nest will sell its WiFi camera in a three-pack for $497. That’s $100 off if you were to purchase the Nest Cams individually for $199. So you can either outfit your house with multiple cameras or give them out as gifts while saving yourself some cash. The bundle is available online at Nest.com, Amazon and Apple.com and in brick and mortar Best Buys and Home Depots.
Source: Nest
Firefox for iPhone and iPad Launches on App Store
Following a soft launch and months of testing, Mozilla has released Firefox for iOS on the App Store for free. The WebKit-based web browser for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch features a Firefox-like design, Intelligent Search, Firefox Accounts, Visual Tabs, Private Browsing mode on iOS 9 or later and more.
The web browser’s features are best suited for users that also use Firefox on Mac or PC:
- Intelligent Search: Suggested search results and list of search options, including Google, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, Twitter, Amazon and WordPress
- Firefox Accounts: Firefox browser history, passwords and open tabs synced between Firefox on the desktop and your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch
- Visual Tabs: A card-based grid of intuitive visual and numbered tabs easily let you find content for future reference
- Private Browsing: Firefox won’t remember any of your history or cookies, but new bookmarks will be saved
Mozilla Firefox was once a leading desktop web browser for PCs and Macs, but it has lost significant market share since Google launched its own Chrome web browser in late 2008. Firefox is now the fourth most popular desktop browser in many countries, trailing behind Chrome, Internet Explorer and Safari.
Mozilla was initially opposed to releasing Firefox on iOS because of Apple’s policy that requires third-party browsers to use its own WebKit framework and JavaScript engine, but the company eventually reversed course and announced plans to release an iOS app in December 2014.
Firefox for iOS is free on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and requires iOS 8.2 or later. The app is written in Swift 2.0 and open source on GitHub.
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Nexus Protect launched in Canada
Protecting your smartphone in case the worst happens usually requires buying an additional policy and/or relying on your mobile phone insurance but an increasing trend among manufacturers is to offer their own additional cover.
Nexus 6P / 5X in video:
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Not to be left out, Google joined the likes of Apple, HTC and Samsung by launching Nexus Protect alongside its new Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X smartphones and while initially only available in the US, Google has rolled out Nexus Protect in Canada.
Nexus Protect is great if you’re known for bumping and damaging your phone as it covers you for accidental damage and/or device malfunction for an additional year on top of the standard 1 year warranty. The service costs $69 and $89 for the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P respectively and covers up to 2 incidents during the two-year period, with a $79 excess payable for each claim.
The expansion into Canada may be as far as Google extends Nexus Protect or we may see the service launched in other countries where the new Nexus devices are on sale. Either way, we’ll keep an eye on this and let you know when we have more information.
What do you think? Do you have either of the new Nexus devices and do you want Nexus Protect to come to your country? Let us know your views in the comments below guys!
WSJ: Facebook’s Instant Articles aren’t bringing in a lot of money
The 20 participating publishers of Facebook’s Instant Articles program just aren’t getting as much money per post as they do for pieces posted on their own websites. As a result, the social network is now testing new advertising schemes, according to The Wall Street Journal. At the moment, each Instant Article can only have one 320 x 250 pixel-banner per 500 words of content, whereas a publication’s website would usually have three to four. Plus, the initiative doesn’t allow animated ads. The project’s manager, Michael Reckhow, told the WSJ that since receiving feedback from the publishers, Facebook has been experimenting by adding more banners to random pages, even animated and interactive ones.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Lenovo blames smartphones for its first loss in six years
Lenovo had a nice run of profits thanks to its PC business, but like many others, it’s finding smartphones to be a tougher go. Thanks to charges related to its Motorola acquisition and $300 million worth of unsold phones, the company incurred a hefty $714 million net loss for the first time in six years. PC sales didn’t actually help much, with revenue in that division dropping 17 percent over last year (though still less than its rivals). Despite all that, Lenovo said overall sales were actually up over last year to $12.2 billion, and added that the changes it made will save $650 million this year alone.
Source: Lenovo
Runtastic Results wants to be the P90X of mobile apps
There are currently a total of 15 Runtastic apps available across iOS, Android and Windows Phone. But the Austrian startup, recently acquired by sportswear giant Adidas, doesn’t want to stop there. Today, it is introducing Results, an application that focuses solely on body training. This is Runtastic’s version of the popular P90X fitness program, designed for the mobile era and to complement its other fitness-friendly software. Even though the app’s available at no cost on iOS and Android, a premium, $50-per-year membership is going to unlock a dynamic 12-week workout plan. Here, you will get support from the Runtastic community, a personal nutrition guide and more than 120 exercise videos — those, by the way, have been shot at 6K resolution, making them easier on the eye.
Vending machine dispenses your new car like a soft drink
Believe it or not, there are already vending machines for cars. However, they typically require that you walk over to your new ride — it’s not much more than a cute take on what you’d see at a regular dealership. Carvana isn’t happy with this state of affairs, though. The retailer is launching an automated vending machine that delivers your car to you, much like a regular machine dispenses your foodstuff of choice. When you drop in a specially supplied coin (no, you’re not depositing real cash), the robotic system fetches your ride from a 20-car tower and brings it to one of three delivery bays. You only have to wait patiently on the ground. Slideshow-340114
Source: Carvana
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