Vimeo’s On Demand store comes to Roku boxes

First and foremost, Vimeo is known as a portfolio site for professional and aspiring filmmakers. YouTube, meanwhile, is seen as the place to monetize online videos, given its huge viewership and support of pre-roll advertising. Vimeo has spent years trying to change its image, however, and prove it can also be a place for video makers to earn money. Part of that push has been Vimeo On Demand, an iTunes equivalent for creative and usually independent works. Starting today, it’s available on Roku hardware, giving Vimeo and its users a larger potential audience.

In addition, Vimeo has updated its Roku channel with adaptive streaming, meaning video quality will be tailored automatically for your internet connection. It’s also supporting the Roku 4 and adding activation codes, so you’ll never have to sign in by pecking out your email and password. All of this means that if you own a Roku box, it should now be much easier to watch Vimeo originals like Darby Forever. Handy the next time you have people over and want to watch something that isn’t House of Cards.

Some iOS 9.3 users can’t visit web links

As important an update as iOS 9.3 may be, it’s clear that Apple still has to work out a few kinks. Some users are reporting that they can’t open web links after the upgrade, whether it’s in official apps (such as Mail, Messages and Safari) or, in some cases, third-party apps like Chrome. If you’re affected, tapping a link either does nothing or triggers nasty crashes and freezes. Some users report having success by using other apps, toggling JavaScript off and on or uninstalling apps that use Safari extensions, but there don’t appear any surefire fixes.

We’ve asked Apple what it’s doing to address the bug, although at least one user on Apple’s forums understands that the company already escalated the issue to its engineers. If so, you’ll likely see a fix arrive in the near future. The link bug doesn’t appear to affect most users, but it’s safe to say that a patch can’t come soon enough if you’re noticing this problem.

Via: ZDNet, BGR

Source: Apple Support Communities

Pandora creator takes over as CEO

Pandora isn’t just shaking things up with hints of on-demand listening. The internet radio pioneer’s board of directors has abruptly appointed founder Tim Westergren as CEO, with outgoing leader Brian McAndrews leaving the company immediately. It’s part of a broader management shakeup that also includes new chief financial, operating and product officers. Just what prompted the changes isn’t clear from the official statements — Pandora only says that these moves are meant to “accelerate the company’s growth,” and notes how Westergren has been deeply involved since the beginning.

The timing at least seems appropriate. Pandora is looking to expand beyond its signature radio streaming with the acquisition of Rdio, and the New York Times heard that the company has considered selling itself in recent weeks. It comes on the back of sub-par results where active listening dropped slightly year-over-year. Westergren’s CEO role gives him the principal say in where his company is going, whether or not that involves a sale — he doesn’t have to worry that someone will sully his vision for online music.

Source: Pandora

Delivery drone flies drinks and balls to golfers in Japan

Rakuten, just like Amazon, is experimenting with drones that can quickly deliver goods to its customers. Unlike Jeff Bezos’ company, however, the e-commerce giant is starting small with a service designed for golfers. From May, players at a specific course in Japan’s Chiba prefecture will be able to take out their phone and request some new golf balls or refreshments. A Mini Surveyor drone developed by the Autonomous Control Systems Laboratory — a company from Chiba which Rakuten has now invested in — will then fly them over from a base station near the course’s clubhouse.

Credit: NHK

According to NHK, Rakuten will then assess whether the technology can be expanded to other golf courses and, ultimately, people’s homes in a similar manner to Amazon’s proposed Prime Air program. It sounds like a sensible test bed, although we’re worried that some particularly audacious approach shots could see deadly quadcopters falling from the sky.

Via: Far East Gizmos

Source: NHK, Rakuten

New Jersey bill would jail you for texting while walking

There’s no question that using your phone while walking can be a problem — cities have tried everything from dedicated sidewalk lanes to padded lamp posts to prevent collisions with distracted pedestrians. They’ve even (unsuccessfully) tried to pass laws. However, that isn’t stopping New Jersey assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt. She recently introduced a bill that would ban any hands-on use of electronic communication devices while walking on the state’s public pathways. Get caught and you’d face the same penalties as jaywalking, which could include up to a $50 fine and 15 days in jail. Lampitt argues that you pose “just as much danger” as a jaywalker, since you may unwittingly smack into a car while you catch up with friends.

The bill isn’t coming out of nowhere: Lampitt mentioned a National Safety Council report that documented 11,101 incidents over the space of 10 years, some of which included injuries. However, turning this into an honest-to-goodness law may prove difficult. Police officers frequently have much higher priorities than stopping your Facebook Messenger session, and it may be difficult to enforce the legislation unless you do cause an incident. It might be easier to run ads encouraging people to stay focused than to haul offenders into court.

Via: The Next Web

Source: The Guardian

Kuvee’s smart bottle is like a Keurig, but for wine

I’m no wine snob. Heck, my familiarity with wines doesn’t extend much past knowing the difference between reds, whites and pinks — excuse me, rosés. (Whatever.) And even if I find a wine I like, discovering similar brands or flavor profiles is an infuriating hit-or-miss process. Luckily, a forthcoming “smart” bottle system from Kuvée promises to take the frustration out of finding new wines. I recently tried out a prototype bottle for a weekend. Here’s how it went.

The Kuvée bottle system is a two-part affair. The device itself stands roughly a foot tall, is slightly larger around than a standard 750ml container and features a large, full-color LED touchscreen where the front label should be. The bottle itself is hollow and charges on an included docking station. Really, it’s more of a “smart sleeve” for the system’s aluminum-clad refill canisters. You simply unscrew the twist cap from a refill, slide the bottle over it and click the two together. The bottle features a proprietary spout mechanism that prevents air from getting into the refill canister. This is meant to keep the wine fresh for up to a month. What’s more, it allows you to crack open multiple bottles to taste and try without the worry over whether you’ll be able to finish it before the wine turns.

The Kuvée’s digital features are no less impressive. When you insert a canister of wine into it, the front touchscreen recognizes what it’s pouring and displays a slew of pertinent information about it. Not only will the label automatically appear, but users can scroll through information about the vintner, taste profiles and food-pairing options.

All this information is pulled from Kuvée’s servers via an onboard WiFi connection. Kuvée’s co-founder Vijay Manwani says that the system will eventually offer a Netflix-like recommendation engine that suggests similar wines that you might enjoy. Additionally, if you find a wine you’d like to try, you’ll be able to order it directly through the bottle’s interface. (Of course, you’ll need to use a laptop or mobile device to initially set up your account.) Unfortunately, neither of these features was active on the prototype I tested, which is a shame, because they’re pretty central to the whole system.

Do you want to be the schmuck who blows two Benjamins on this thing only to have the company fold, thereby rendering the entire system useless?

Given how early a prototype I tried — it won’t launch until October, and even that will be limited to just California and Massachusetts — there are still some lingering questions regarding how viable the system will be. For one, it only accommodates wine in its proprietary refill canisters. As with a Keurig coffeemaker, there’s no way for users to manually refill a bottle. That means your wine options are limited to what Kuvee sells. Granted, the company expects to have nearly 50 varieties at launch, but that’s obviously just a fraction of what your local BevMo offers.

That, in turn, makes me question its long-term chances. This system is going to cost $200 for just the bottle itself ($180 if you pre-order), while refills are going to retail for $15 to $50. Do you want to be the schmuck who blows two Benjamins on this thing only to have the company fold, thereby rendering the entire system useless? I sure don’t. We’ll simply have to wait until October to see how things shake out.

Periscope’s first year is part of a livestreaming success story

Twitter’s social livestreaming service, Periscope, has accomplished a lot in just one year. Users have generated 200 million broadcasts on the app since launch and they watch 110 years of live Periscope content every day. That’s more than 100 years of live horror movies, puddles, crime watching, museum tours and an ice cube melting in a glass of whiskey — every day.

Periscope went live in March 2015, and by August it had cultivated 40 years of live video watched every day. Clearly, that number has ballooned since last year. We blame the whiskey.

Periscope’s apparent success has a lot to do with the internet community’s infatuation with live content. Sites such as Twitch and YouTube Gaming have introduced livestreaming to millions of people, and apps like Periscope make it accessible for social networkers. Facebook jumped on the live-content bandwagon in February with its own streaming service, Facebook Live. Now, it looks like Google might be the next passenger, following reports that it’s developing a livestreaming app called YouTube Connect.

Even with the current boon, there’s still a market cap for livestreaming services. Meerkat was the first social livestreaming app of its kind, but once Twitter blocked it and launched Periscope, its time in the spotlight came to an end. Meerkat is still around, but it’s shifting into a social network “where everyone is always live,” according to early reports.

Source: Medium

Tumblr revives Replies to restore the art of conversation

Were you miffed when Tumblr replaced its longstanding Replies feature with instant messaging, effectively forcing you to have private chats about a funny GIF? The social service heard your gripes — it’s not only bringing back Replies, but making them more useful. Authors can finally reply to their own posts, and you can reply to a post multiple times if you’re embroiled in a conversation. To prevent chaos, Tumblr will let you limit replies to service regulars or only those you follow.

The update also sees a big revamp to Notes that makes it much easier to see the content you actually care about. No longer will you see endless likes and reblogs clutter the page — they’re reduced to a single line, and you’ll only see the conversations. In other words, the Notes section now behaves more like the comments section on many of the social sites you visit.

Tumblr had promised that Replies would return, but they likely couldn’t come soon enough. Yahoo bought Tumblr with dreams of becoming a major player in the social world, but it didn’t pan out as expected. The company needs to do whatever it can to not only keep existing users, but draw in people who’d otherwise be happy sticking to Facebook or Twitter. Giving them a more familiar (if not completely original) experience may be the key to making that happen.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Tumblr

Sony is open to bringing PlayStation VR to PCs

PlayStation VR is one of the more affordable advanced virtual reality headsets hitting stores, but it has a big catch: you need to own a PS4 (and a PlayStation Camera) to use it. What if you’d just like to try it with your computer instead? You may well get that chance. According to a translation of a Nikkei interview with Sony’s Masayasu Ito, the company is “considering plans” to let you use PlayStation VR with a PC. After all, he says, the PS4 and PCs share similar parts (namely, similar processor and graphics architectures) — it wouldn’t be a big stretch to support both.

This isn’t to say you should be cancelling your pre-order for that HTC Vive or Oculus Rift. To no one’s surprise, Sony is focused on building games to make sure PlayStation VR succeeds on its home turf. There will be an “expansion into various fields,” Ito says, but anything besides the PS4 is playing second fiddle right now. Still, the very possibility of PSVR on PCs is intriguing. It could introduce some much-needed competition into a field that’s only just getting started.

Via: Reddit, Polygon

Source: Nikkei (translated)

Facebook preps in-store purchases for Messenger

Facebook already lets you send money to friends through its Messenger app, but it appears the social network has much loftier ambitions for financial transactions. The Information reports that Menlo Park is preparing to offer its chat app as another way to pay for things thanks to a feature for in-store purchases. Based on code for the iOS app, Facebook is working on a way for you to use Messenger to pay for goods in person. As The Information notes, this would put Zuckerberg & Co. in the mobile payments fray that includes Apple Pay, Android Pay and several others.

The application’s code hints at more upcoming features, too. There’s a reference to “secret conversations” tool, but unfortunately there’s little explanation. Sure, it could mean encrypted chats like WhatsApp and other apps offer, but it could also be a way to hide threads within Messenger. Details are scarce on that one for now, so we’ll have to wait and see if more info creeps out or for a formal announcement.

Facebook seemingly wants Messenger to play a bigger role in how you go about your day as well. The Information also viewed source code that discusses syncing calendars, sharing quotes from articles and beaming News Feed-style status updates to only a select few friends. In terms of your calendar, the code references being able to add events and “organize your day.”

Since the app’s code is the source for all of this info, we could be waiting a while before Facebook makes anything official. However, it’s certainly interesting that the company has some big plans in the works for Messenger, including a way to handle payments that’s more than just sending money to a friend. That money-sending feature was tipped in source code several months before it arrived as well, so perhaps we’ll get some official word soon enough. We’ve reached out to the social network on the matter and will update this post when/if we hear back.

Via: The Next Web

Source: The Information