Opera Mini’s built-in video compression finally hits Android

More than a year after hitting iOS, Opera is finally bringing its innovative video compression feature to its Android browser, Opera Mini. You’ll have to enable “video boost” manually in the browser’s “high savings mode,” but once you do your videos will load much faster than before. Of course, that also means you’ll lose quite a bit of quality, which could be noticeable on newer high-resolution Android screens. But if you live in an area with crummy bandwidth, or just travel a lot, you’ll probably get plenty of mileage out of video boost. (The browser will even count the amount of videos it’s optimized for you.)

Source: Opera Mini (Google Play), Opera

Facebook wants to detect slang before it’s popular

It’s tricky to catch slang while it’s still cutting edge. Unless you’re in the right social circles, you’ll probably hear that lingo when it hits the mainstream… in other words, when it’s already passé. Facebook might have a way to catch those words while they’re still hip, though. It received a patent for social glossary technology that would detect slang, acronyms and other neologisms. The conceptual software would look for terms that don’t have a known meaning (including familiar words out of context) and add them to the glossary if appropriate. It’d even pull terms out of the glossary if they fall out of favor — say, describing something as “totally tubular” when you’re not an ’80s-era surfer.

The code would make a note of the social groups using that slang based on everything from location to common traits like age. While it could automatically add terms on its own, Facebook raises the possibility of polling users to decide whether or not their turns of phrase should get official recognition.

This is just a patent, and there’s no telling whether or not Facebook will ever use it. However, it could come in handy for both you and the social network. If Facebook can understand what you’re saying (even when your parents can’t), it can give you more relevant news articles or determine your mood. Yes, it could also be used to deliver more targeted ads, but it could be worthwhile if it determines whether someone is a trendsetter or just another Gretchen-from-Mean-Girls wannabe.

Via: Business Insider

Source: USPTO

Ford hopes you’ll watch movies in self-driving cars

If and when self-driving cars become a practical reality, you’ll probably want something to do during your journeys besides chatting with passengers or checking your phone. Thankfully, Ford might have an answer. It recently obtained a patent for an “autonomous vehicle entertainment system” that would let you watch videos when you’re hands-free. Kick your vehicle into self-driving mode and a projector system could swing into action, complete with its own screen — yes, you could watch a movie while you’re on the way to visit family. Think of it as in-flight entertainment, just grounded.

As with most patents, there’s no certainty that Ford will ever use this. While the car maker is serious about autonomous vehicles, it could just as easily resort to flat-panel displays and other less dramatic hardware. There are some safety concerns, too. Do you really want the driver to be completely oblivious to road hazards? For this to work, driverless car tech will have to advance to the point where it’s truly reliable — where you can watch a 2-hour flick without worrying that your car might plow into a bus.

Via: Forbes, The Next Web

Source: USPTO

The best clothing iron and ironing board

By Jackie Reeve

This post was done in partnership with The Sweethome, a buyer’s guide to the best things for your home. Read the full article here.

After putting in more than 20 hours on research and testing, on top of 31 hours spent producing our original guide, we can say that the Black+Decker D3030 Allure is the best, most reliable, and easiest-to-use iron for people who hope to spruce up the occasional wrinkled outfit or tablecloth without spending too much time or money. If you need an ironing board to go with it, we recommend either the sturdy and smartly designed Homz Durabilt or the compact and inexpensive Laundry Solutions by Westex.

How we tested

We asked Sweethome staffers to test irons and boards in our New York City office. Photo: Michael Hession

We set up irons and boards all over the Sweethome office and asked staffers to come in and try them. Our testers’ familiarity with irons ranged from the occasional user to the fairly expert. We put out silks, table linens, quilting cottons, button-down shirts, and T-shirts at every ironing station, alongside feedback forms that asked questions such as “How easy is it to use? How much steam does it release? How does it feel to hold—does it feel well designed and well built?” We also asked whether the ironing boards felt sturdy, and we requested thoughts on their size (both of their surface and of their frame when folded up). And then we let the ironers get to it.

Our pick

Our top pick, the Black+Decker D3030 Allure, has a smooth glide, tons of steam, a user-friendly design, and an extended warranty at a great price. Photo: Michael Hession

Among the irons we tested, the Black+Decker D3030 Allure packed the best combination of features, offering a smooth glide, tons of steam, a user-friendly design, and an extended warranty, all at a great price. The Allure generally retails for around $50, but often you can pick it up for as little as $35. It isn’t as powerful as our upgrade pick, the Rowenta SteamForce, but in our testing it came in only second to the SteamForce in giving off steam, and it costs a quarter of the price. The Allure is also lighter than most of the irons we looked at, and our testers agreed that its Comfort Grip handle felt the best to hold and use overall.

Runner-up

Our runner-up pick, the Shark Ultimate Professional GI505, is high-powered and equipped with a generous 10-foot cord. Photo: Michael Hession

If the Black+Decker D3030 Allure is sold out or unavailable, we recommend the Shark Ultimate Professional GI505 in its place. It would be a great buy at a steep sale price, too. Equipped with a nice, long, 10-foot cord, it heated up quickly and tackled wrinkles about as well as the Allure. But it’s a little heavier and a bit more expensive (closer to $60), and it comes with just a one-year warranty. It also has a temperature-control display that’s a little less intuitive to use.

Upgrade pick

The Rowenta DW9280 SteamForce, our upgrade pick, shoots out more steam than any other iron. Photo: Michael Hession

The Rowenta DW9280 SteamForce iron was the best overall at wrinkle busting in our tests. It melted creases out of linen napkins and pressed quilt seams with almost no effort. We’ve never seen an iron give off more steam. But it’s heavier and much more expensive than our top pick and runner-up, so we recommend it only for crafters, sewers, and anyone with busy households or tons of laundry—that is, anyone who’s willing to make the investment to save time and energy.

Ironing board

The Homz Durabilt ironing board was by far our favorite. But it’ll cost you both dollars and space. Photo: Michael Hession

We investigated ironing boards for the first time and were floored by the smart design and sturdiness of the Homz Durabilt. The top of the board itself is metal mesh rather than metal with holes, which helps steam flow through your garment. The cover is made of high-quality cotton and thick foam padding that fits well, and in our testing it was the easiest board to open and adjust. But it’s pricey and a little bulky if you’re short on storage or ironing space.

We honestly weren’t wild about any of the more affordable boards we researched and tested; all were fairly mediocre. For something that’s compact and at least sturdier than other ironing boards at a similar price, you might want to look at the Laundry Solutions by Westex board.

If you need an ironing mat option, we have a recommendation in our full guide.

Wrapping it up

After more than 20 hours of research and testing, our pick is the Black+Decker D3030 Allure. It’s the easiest-to-use and most reliable iron we tested, and it produced almost as much steam as an iron that costs three times as much. We’d pair it with either the compact and inexpensive Laundry Solutions by Westex ironing board or the bulkier but smartly designed Homz Durabilt.

This guide may have been updated by The Sweethome. To see the current recommendation, please go here.

BioWare loses another storyteller as Cameron Harris steps down

Senior Editor Cameron Harris will leave BioWare — and the video game industry as a whole — in April, she announced in a series of tweets on Friday. At BioWare, Harris had a hand in crafting the narratives of Dragon Age: Inquisition, Star Wars: The Old Republic and Mass Effect: Andromeda, which is due in 2017. She entered the video game industry in 2007 as a technical editor at Microsoft, and over the years she’s also worked with Nintendo and ArenaNet, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“I had a great time at BioWare, working with so many talented, passionate folks,” Harris said in a tweet. “I’m grateful for everything you taught me over the years.”

Harris is the third notable departure from BioWare this year alone. Mass Effect: Andromeda lead writer Chris Schlerf left in February to join Destiny studio Bungie, and long-time Dragon Age lead writer David Gaider exited in January.

Harris gave a talk at GDC 2014 on the importance of editors in creating strong video game stories, and we’ve embedded that presentation below.

Via: Eurogamer

Source: @camharr

NEC can verify your identity using sound-capturing earbuds

Sure, you could use your fingerprint to unlock your phone, but NEC developed a way to verify your identity with your ears. The corporation announced technology this week that used the way in which sound resonates in the ear canal to identify a person. Ear shape is also unique to each of us, so NEC created a way for microphone-equipped earbuds to measure the acoustics after sending out a sound. What’s more, the company says the technology works with 99 percent accuracy and only takes about a second to take its measurements.

“Since the new technology does not require particular actions such as scanning a part of the body over an authentication device, it enables a natural way of conducting continuous authentication,” NEC’s Shigeki Yamagata explained.

If you’re hoping to try out the in-ear tech sometime soon, you’re going to have to be patient. NEC says it’s working to commercialize the system during the 2018 fiscal year. As far as implementation goes, the company sees the best uses for the authentication technology to ensure security of critical infrastructure and continually verifying someone’s identity during confidential calls. NEC also aims for the system to be used in navigation or voice guidance situations where the directions are only intended for one person.

Via: Geek.com

Source: NEC

Coleco officially pulls its name from the Chameleon

Last month the Coleco Chameleon showed up at Toy Fair promising a taste of retro-gaming glory. But those promises have come to naught after a non-start to its Kickstarter and numerous accusations regarding faked prototypes. Today the Chameleon suffers another blow as Coleco Holdings, the company with the rights to the Coleco name and properties, has terminated its association with RetroVGS and the Chameleon project.
Coleco partner Chris Cardillo gave Engadget the following statement, which will also appear on Coleco’s Facebook page:

“Retro has decided that the work that they have created is not sufficient to demonstrate at this time. Consequently, we can no longer proceed with the project and the Chameleon project will be terminated. This separation is amicable. We wish Retro luck in the future.”

This isn’t the only blow RetroVGS has suffered in the past week: On Saturday David Giltinan, the managing editor of RetroVGS’s RETRO Magazine, announced his departure from the company. He cited the ongoing issues with the Chameleon as the impetus behind his leaving, saying “I have to separate myself from everything associated with it.” Though he conceded poor messaging from RetroVGS, he also asserted that there was “no ill intent or maliciousness on the part of the team.”

We’ve reached out to RetroVGS for comment on the future of the project.

What Hollywood doesn’t understand about virtual reality

As a screenwriter, I’ll frequently find myself at a meeting with a Hollywood executive who keenly lets me in on a secret: Virtual reality is “the future” of scripted entertainment. While there is little doubt that the old ways for television and movies are changing — shows are getting shorter for YouTube or longer for Netflix — I wonder if the executives extolling the virtues of VR have actually strapped on a pair of goggles and taken a good, hard look at this future they champion. Because from what I see, quality scripted VR entertainment is still science fiction.

There’s been no shortage of attempts from very talented people to create quality scripted entertainment for virtual reality headsets. Sundance’s New Frontier program has been a major cheerleader. In the past two years, it has debuted VR content that ranges from whimsical comedy to date-rape drama to wacky ’80s-inspired sci-fi. This year’s most polished piece of “scripted entertainment” as we might traditionally know it, Defrost, starring Carl Weathers, tells the story of a patient awakening from a 30-year cryogenic freeze. I watched as my friends took turns behind the eyes of this character, craning their necks around the room trying to make sure they weren’t missing any content hidden in their 360-degree virtual space.

And herein lies the first hurdle to virtual reality: sociability. I’m hardly an anti-VR curmudgeon. In fact, I’m excited to upload my mind and live in a virtual world. But you know what? I’m in the minority. For most people, watching scripted entertainment is a shared social experience. New episodes of Game of Thrones are a party, and I know plenty of married folks who feel like they’re committing some kind of entertainment infidelity if they skip ahead on episodes of House of Cards. For the singletons, Netflix ‘n’ chill remains a crucial, tried-and-true hookup formula.

The key element in all of these experiences is as old as the medium. It’s the ability to share in the reactions of others as we watch the same screen: to look at their faces as they laugh, squeeze their hands when you’re scared, or make a move for a kiss when the time is right. Attend a midnight screening of The Evil Dead or The Rocky Horror Picture Show to behold the power of the social movie-watching experience. Virtual reality lands on the wrong side of this social experience. You put on the goggles alone, you enter a black box alone, and you emerge alone. Pass your headset to your friend and do something else until she’s done. That does not a Game of Thrones party make.

That’s not to say that there is no social aspect to virtual reality, of course. But for scripted entertainment, the only real parallel would be the book club. Like VR, reading is solitary and personal, but discussions about it can be a highly social experience.

But the notion of book-club-level discussions about scripted VR entertainment presupposes that it is of such substance and quality to merit them. And herein lies the second hurdle for scripted VR: We just don’t know how to tell those stories yet. VR is very different from what any writer, director or cinematographer is used to, because the viewer can direct her attention in a 360-degree space, away from center stage. Not only does she have the freedom to do that, but she has an actual incentive to look away — why else would this story be told in VR if there weren’t things to look at all over?

It is simply no longer a given that a director has the audience’s attention focused on a stage. This renders classic cinematic tools such as cuts, pans and zooms obsolete. Strictly speaking, these techniques are not required to make a film. It’s entirely possible that an auteur director can find a way to work with these limitations to create something artful, like Alexander Sokurov’s Russian Ark (2002) — filmed with one single Steadicam shot through 33 rooms of a museum. But this kind of challenging, experimental film is not for everyone — and even Sokurov needed to contend with the fact that the viewer could look away at any moment.

For now, it’s no coincidence that the best-scripted VR experiences are much less like television and far more like stage plays. But again, with stage plays, the director expects you to look at the stage, not goggle around the entire venue looking for off-shot content. This problem is clear in Defrost. You are in the point of view of the awakened patient. Your family has changed during the years you’ve been asleep, and now you’ve been reunited again. It should be a powerful emotional moment. But you can’t help but wonder what you’re missing. Turn around and look behind you — shut up for a second, long-lost husband and kids — and, yep, there’s Carl Weathers standing there, breathing. Watch other people watching Defrost — they’ll invariably hunt around the room, searching for more content. It’s like seeing theatergoers scanning the aisles for hidden scenes during the climax to Romeo and Juliet.

This is not to say that scripted entertainment in VR is impossible. A good example is Wild: The Experience, a 2015 piece that spun off the Reese Witherspoon movie Wild. You are seated in a forest grove and are encouraged to look around and contemplate your natural setting as her character, Cheryl Strayed, slowly walks toward you. She sits and you watch, and then she looks past you. Her gaze draws your attention and you turn — suddenly her mother is behind you. They have a conversation. You are an observer. And then they leave. You’re left on a stump, and if you look around, you might see that — spoiler — a little fox has approached you. That’s it, but it’s memorable and it’s moving. Wild: The Experience works because it embraces VR — it makes use of user-driven, interactive discovery to propel the narrative experience.

Unlike in Defrost, exploring is a key part of Wild: The Experience. Wild is, essentially, a type of video game, not too dissimilar from non-VR exploration titles like Gone Home and Firewatch. In these experiences, the story is discovered and “scripted” together with the viewer through interaction — it does not unfold before them on a stage.

These game-like virtual worlds also create an opportunity to experience the story simultaneously with other players. I can imagine an animated, “multiplayer” version of Wild: The Experience. One told using exploration and the language of video games, instead of cuts and zooms, where you and your friends could explore and discover the story together. This would solve both of the problems with scripted VR — it would not force the viewer to watch a stage, and it would create a new kind of social experience, unique to virtual reality. As a writer, this is the kind of exciting “scripted entertainment” that VR offers. It’s just that the script has less dialogue, more emphasis on “found documents,” and only a handful of actors. It is entertainment that fits the medium — though it’s unlikely that this is the future Hollywood envisages.

[Images: Randal Kleiser Productions (Defrost); Fox (Wild: The Experience)]

Google Street View takes you on a South African safari

So you’ve wanted to see African wildlife in its native habitat, but the prospect of booking such an expensive trip makes your bank account weep. What to do? Google can help. It just introduced the Mzansi Experience, a virtual visit to South Africa that uses Street View to give you a sense of the country’s grandiose landscape. On top of seeing elephants, leopards and other fauna, it’ll take you to everything from Cape Town’s Table Mountain through to Durban’s Golden Mile. While this still won’t be as awe-inspiring as a real safari, it’ll require much less effort… and it might even inspire you to go when your finances allow.

Via: SlashGear

Source: Google Maps

Apple Granted Patent for Liquidmetal Home Button on iOS Devices

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office today granted Apple a series of 40 new patents, including one that describes various implementations and benefits of a Liquidmetal home button on iPhones and iPads.

Liquidmetal alloys, otherwise known as “bulk solidifying amorphous alloys” in the patent filing (via Patently Apple), have a number of unique properties, including high strength, corrosion resistance, light weight, and malleability.

Apple has annually renewed its exclusive rights to use Liquidmetal since 2010, but how it plans to use the alloys remains unclear. Early speculation centered around Apple using Liquidmetal for the iPhone SIM Tool, while other Liquidmetal home button patents have surfaced as early as 2014. Meanwhile, Steve Zadesky, named on this and other Liquidmetal patents, recently announced he was leaving Apple.

Today’s patent explains how Liquidmetal’s high elasticity makes it an ideal material for a pressure-sensitive home button that would deform slightly when pressed, but return to its normal shape when you remove your finger or thumb. Liquidmetal would always retain this elasticity, while other materials like titanium or stainless steel could become irreversibly deformed and adversely affect the home button.

A second embodiment of the patent details a home button with a switch comprising a small actuator positioned adjacent to Liquidmetal material, whereby pressing the actuator deforms the bulk solidifying amorphous alloy. The efficient design could be easier for Apple to manufacture compared to conventional pressure-sensitive home buttons that use dome switches placed on a substrate with or without an actuation nub.

It does not appear that Apple’s upcoming products, including the rumored iPhone SE, iPhone 7, and new 9.7-inch iPad Pro, will adopt Liquidmetal, given the absence of any recent rumors surrounding the alloys, but Apple’s continuous renewal of the material implies it remains interested. It is common for Apple to patent inventions that are not publicly released until years later, if ever.

United States Patent No. 9,279,733 describes Apple’s invention in more detail.

Tags: patents, Liquidmetal Technologies, USPTO
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