Microsoft has just what VR needs
In a move we should have seen coming from a mile away, Microsoft announced that it will be opening up the Windows Holographic platform, which powers HoloLens, to other companies. Those partners will be able to build AR headsets like HoloLens, full-fledged VR headsets like the HTC Vive, as well as components powering those devices. It’s similar to Microsoft’s original approach to PCs with Windows — build the operating system and let others go wild with hardware — as well as its push for new form-factors with the Surface. With the VR market still feeling like the Wild West, a bit of stability from Microsoft could be a huge help.
Just as we’ve seen with desktops and mobile, the virtual reality market boils down to a few big platforms vying for dominance. Facebook has Oculus; Valve and HTC are betting on SteamVR for the Vive; Sony has its upcoming PlayStation VR; and Google is focusing on its DayDream platform for Android. At this point, Oculus and Sony are practically Apple-like, refined pieces of consumer hardware on platforms that nothing else can run on. Valve’s SteamVR and Google’s DayDream, on the other hand, are open to a variety VR headsets (you can already run some SteamVR games with an Oculus Rift). And Windows Holographic is … well, Windows.
“Nobody has built an operating system for this generation,” Microsoft’s Terry Myerson, executive vice president of its Windows and devices group, said during a Computex press conference. That alone makes Microsoft’s platform more compelling than the competition. While its partners likely won’t have nearly the amount of freedom as they would with something like SteamVR, there’s a certain amount of confidence in building for Windows. And until standalone Android VR headsets hit the market, Windows is the only platform that can power an AR/VR device on its own.
Surprisingly, Myerson told us that a third-party company might even make a consumer HoloLens before Microsoft. “Either way, that’s fantastic,” he said. While we’ve been impressed by HoloLens demos, the hardware still has some issues, particularly its very narrow field of view. If another company manages to come up with a better solution before Microsoft, that’s ultimately a good thing for the entire Windows Holographic platform.
At the moment, Microsoft has a decent stranglehold on VR. Both the Vive and Rift can only run on Windows, much to the chagrin of Apple fans. But it’s another thing entirely to own the entire VR pipeline, so that developers can build using Windows Holographic tools and consumers will be able to have VR experiences without juggling other storefronts from Oculus and Valve. Simplicity is what virtual reality needs at the moment, and Microsoft has a good shot at making that happen.
The biggest benefit of Microsoft opening up Windows Holographic? We’ll see plenty more companies getting into the VR game, which will hopefully lead to more innovative products. Ultimately, it’ll be far better for consumers if VR isn’t something that only a handful of companies like Facebook control. Partners already onboard with Microsoft’s vision include Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Acer, ASUS, Dell, Falcon Northwest, HP, Lenovo, MSI and others.
There are reasons to be skeptical: Microsoft’s attempt to bring Windows to the mobile world has been fraught with failure, to the point where it’s basically given up on smartphones. There was no mention of mobile at the Build developer conference, and I’ve heard from Microsoft reps that it’s just not something they’re thinking about in 2016. Microsoft has also backtracked from its Nokia acquisition in major ways, after laying off nearly 10,000 employees, writing down $8.5 billion from the deal (between this year and last year), and selling off Nokia’s feature phone business.
The difference with VR and AR, though, is that Microsoft isn’t several years late to the party. With HoloLens, it’s actually ahead of the curve — it’s a product that likely won’t have many consumer applications for years, and at $3,000 for the developer edition, it’s more expensive than today’s VR headsets. HoloLens is more comparable to Magic Leap’s mysterious augmented reality technology, which still hasn’t been publicly shown.
Microsoft has previously said that Windows Holographic is fully VR-capable, we just haven’t seen any examples of that yet. We might not have to wait long, though. At Computex, Myerson teased that it’s been working closely with HTC on a consumer VR product. And during its keynote and demo videos, Microsoft showed off people wearing the HTC Vive running Windows Holographic.
The idea of having VR and AR devices working on a single platform is pretty compelling. Microsoft gave us a glimpse of how it’s envisioning the evolution of the HoloLens platform in the video above. It shows someone wearing a HoloLens headset collaborating with a colleague wearing an HTC Vive, and another colleague wearing HoloLens in another part of the world. Together, they were able to design a retail space virtually, almost as if they were in the same room with each other.
Sure, it’ll be years before that sort of collaboration is possible, but what’s important now is that Microsoft is building towards that future. And hopefully, that’ll mean cheaper and better access to virtual worlds for everyone.
Stay on top of all the latest news from Computex 2016 right here.
Instagram rolls out its Facebook-style algorithmic feed
Back in March, Instagram announced plans to re-order the feed of accounts you follow based on what you’re likely to care about most. The idea is similar to with Facebook does with the News Feed: displaying posts that might interest you the most rather than showing content in chronological order. A few days after the announcement, Instagram took to Twitter to let us know the algorithm-driven approach wasn’t in place yet, but this week the company announced the feature is now rolling out to all users.
In a short blog post the company revealed that in the time since the March announcement, the small group of users who’ve been privy to the re-ordering were much more active in the app. Instagram says that “portion of the community” has been liking more photos and posting more comments. If you haven’t already noticed the new order of posts when you log in, you will soon as its rolling out to everyone now. Instagram vows to continue to approve the feature as well, which should mean the snapshots and videos you want to see most will rise to the top of your feed.
Source: Instagram
Computex highlighted VR’s growing pains
2016 is the year of virtual reality. Consumer versions of three major VR headsets — the Oculus Rift, HTC’s Vive and the PlayStation VR — have or are about to hit store shelves, while smartphone-based models like the Gear VR are growing in popularity. But even as VR gains momentum, it’s still an enigma for most people. This was never more apparent than in the halls of this year’s Computex in Taipei. VR was front and center, but instead of traditional game demos, we saw examples of curious and niche applications that suggest the use case for VR is still evolving.
Take the VR rower I tried a few days ago, which had me wearing a HTC Vive while using an ergometer. I do like the idea of pretending you’re paddling in a kayak rather than on a stationary rower, but it doesn’t seem very practical for most consumers as it requires the investment of not just VR headset but a specialized computer. How many people will buy this? Will gyms and fitness centers cough up the cash for it? If they do, how will they solve the issue of the sweaty headset? (Believe me, it’s a real issue.)
The same goes for the Birdly flight simulator. It’s admittedly pretty cool to flap your arms as wings, but the use case seems extremely niche — it’s just for the one game! And if a consumer like you and me isn’t going to buy it, who will? Arcades? Luxury health clubs? Will they then offer rentable headsets for each customer? This is an example of hardware looking for an audience.
Besides, the technology itself doesn’t seem to be fully baked. The most glaring example of this are VR backpacks, which aim to solve the wire nest problem of current headsets. I tried out the MSI Backpack PC here at the show, but HP released something similar last week as well. Another company, Zotac, didn’t even bother creating a special chassis for the PC; it simply crammed one of its VR-ready mini PCs into what looks like a regular canvas backpack and then connected a Vive to it.
The whole concept is extremely silly and impractical, with the clunky setup making virtual reality look even dorkier than it already is. Plus, these VR backpacks are really just stopgap measures until companies like Oculus and HTC figure out a wireless solution.
It all seems as if the VR industry is still messing around with half-baked ideas. And this is a problem because right now we’re here (thousand-dollar gaming PCs and bulky VR headsets connected with inch-thick wires), when we need to get to there (seamless, VR entertainment that’s as immersive as Star Trek’s Holodeck).
Despite the barriers, however, it’s clear that VR has momentum. Google announced its Daydream platform a couple of weeks ago, which could lead to a whole new generation of VR-compatible smartphones. Microsoft entered the fray as well earlier this week by opening up its Windows Holographic technology to VR use cases.
And even though virtual reality is expensive right now, it’ll get more affordable — and accessible — in the future. AMD, for example, just announced a $200 VR-ready GPU, which is far cheaper than anything else currently on the market. Of course, the technology will have to improve too.
But while we wait for the future to arrive, I guess we’ll have to live with awkward PC backpacks and strange flapping-bird contraptions at technology trade shows.
Stay on top of all the latest news from Computex 2016 right here.
Sega classic ‘Wonder Boy III’ remake is decidedly modern
The Wonder Boy series originally debuted in arcades in 1986, spawning five sequels over the next few years, namely Wonder Boy III: The Dragon’s Trap. That platformer made its way to the Sega Master System in 1989, featuring colorful and rich gameplay with “Metroidvania” elements and rave reviews from critics upon its release.
Now, developer Lizardcube and publisher DotEmu are looking to bring the classic to life once more for modern players with a drastic facelift. The new Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap is a gorgeous, hand-drawn affair with a new soundtrack to match its stunning looks. While the core gameplay is said to remain the same, taking players through a complex world as the shape-shifting protagonist Lizard Man, it looks to be introducing several new elements along the way.
Lizardcube will be releasing the game for both PC and consoles, though there’s no concrete date just yet.
Via: Polygon
Researchers take nanocars out for an open-air test drive
Nanocars, those molecular-scale vehicles that might one day carry around tiny payloads, have been zipping around in vacuum environments for awhile now. But one breakthrough the nanocar researchers at Rice University have been searching for is the ability to operate these nanomachines in ambient, open environments.
“That’s when they will show potential to become useful tools for medicine and bottom-up manufacturing,” Rice University chemist James Tour said in a press release. Rice’s latest model of nanocar features adamantane wheels that are slightly hydrophobic, which allows them to move on the surface (in this case, glass slides) without becoming completely stuck. While actually “driving” a nanocar still hasn’t become a reality, Tour said the nanocar test drive was meant to determine, “what makes a nanocar ‘hit the brakes’ and how much external energy we need to apply to start it moving again.”
As it turns out, the open nanoroad for these nanocars is actually full of potholes and potential roadblocks. According to NC State analytical chemist Gufeng Wang, “molecules absorbed from air generate many potential energy wells, just like puddles on the potential energy surface.” In other words, any little atom on the road could give you a flat tire when your car is a single molecule. Luckily for the world’s first nanocar race, that vacuum-based event will have a lot fewer obstacles on the track.
Nest co-founder and CEO Tony Fadell steps down
The CEO of Google’s home automation company, Nest, is leaving. Tony Fadell made the announcement today in a blog post, saying he will remain as an advisor to Alphabet and CEO Larry Page. Marwan Fawaz, a former exec with Adelphia, Charter and Motorola Mobility and chairman of CableLabs, will step in as the new CEO.
Fadell is most well known for leading the engineering team that developed the iPod, before he left Apple to co-found Nest with Matt Rogers in 2010, which focused on home devices like its connected thermostat. Google bought the company in 2014 for $3.2 billion before Nest itself acquired Dropcam a few months later.
Despite releasing a few updated products since then and Fadell taking control of Google Glass, Nest hasn’t lived up to everyone’s expectations, with delays and outages. In an interview with The Information, Fadell claimed some members of the team at Dropcam were “not as good as we’d hoped.” Former Dropcam CEO Greg Duffy responded by saying that was simple scapegoating, and challenged Fadell to release Nest’s financials to show how the company is doing.
There wasn’t much in the way of a response from Google, but the company did just unveil a new Google Home device — without any Nest branding. As far as what’s next for Fadell other than the advisory role, he’s already working on a smart go-kart for kids.
The incoming CEO Marwan Fawaz was hired by Google in 2012 to run Motorola’s cable box business, which it sold to Arris a year and a half later. In an interview with the New York Times, Fadell called Nest a “healthy” business with over 1,100 employees, and in a statement, Alphabet CEO Larry Page Fawaz will help “bring Nest products to even more homes.”
Statement from Larry Page/Alphabet:
Under Tony’s leadership, Nest has catapulted the connected home into the mainstream, secured leadership positions for each of its products, and grown its revenue in excess of 50% year over year since they began shipping products. He’s a true visionary and I look forward to continuing to work with him in his new role as advisor to Alphabet. I’m delighted that Marwan will be the new Nest CEO and am confident in his ability to deepen Nest’s partnerships, expand within enterprise channels, and bring Nest products to even more homes.
Statement from Tony Fadell:
Last year, I began discussions with members of my team about my next endeavor. After six years of working on Nest, leading it through 4.5 years of double-digit growth and consistently high marks from customers, I leave Nest in the hands of a strong and experienced leadership team, with Marwan at the helm and a well-defined, two-year product roadmap in place. I’m looking forward to my new role as an advisor to Alphabet and Larry, which will give me more time and flexibility to pursue new opportunities to create and disrupt other industries – and to support others who want to do the same – just as we’ve done at Nest.
1/2: What a ride! Proud of what we’ve built @nest! Great team, business, products, awesome roadmap & momentum https://t.co/BAgi3hSi3e
— Tony Fadell (@tfadell) June 3, 2016
1/2: What a ride! Proud of what we’ve built @nest! Great team, business, products, awesome roadmap & momentum https://t.co/BAgi3hSi3e
— Tony Fadell (@tfadell) June 3, 2016
To my partner, mentor, and friend Tony, thank you for everything. https://t.co/32mOm2Enot
— Matt Rogers (@nestmatt) June 3, 2016
Source: Nest Blog
Cornell researchers create 3D printer that builds as you work
There’s no denying the benefits of 3D printing for hobbyists and folks looking to prototype potential products. However, making changes typically means waiting for the current version to finish printing and starting a new build from scratch. Researchers at Cornell University are looking for a better solution that makes for easy tweaks and they’ve built “an interactive prototyping system” to do so. The “on-the-fly” 3D printing setup outputs the design that’s being worked on as its created in a CAD file, allowing the user to pause for testing, measurements or to change the model that’s still in progress.
Using a wire frame construction that looks similar to what the 3Doodler pens create, the system builds a model of the object’s shape rather than a complete solid. With a “low-fidelity sketch,” a designer is free to make any changes before moving on to making the filled in shape. In other words, if you were working on a toy plane that would carry a Lego figure (one of the group’s projects), you could print the underlying structure of the object to see if it would work rather than wasting your time and materials on an in-progress version.
What if you need to remove something that’s already been printed? Well, the device has a cutter that removes those pieces and the printer’s base is aligned by magnets. The magnets make it removable for those tests and measurements, but ensures you put it back in the right place to resume construction. A CAD plug-in designs the wire frame version of the object and while printing can continue while changes are being made to the digital file, the system will pause when it gets to that area until any tweaks are finished. The project received support from Autodesk and the National Science Foundation, so hopefully a consumer-friendly version will become available in the future.
Via: Geek.com
Source: Cornell University
New stats show how many newspaper jobs the internet has claimed
Anyone reading this, an article that exists only on the internet, is aware of the dramatic shift that’s taken place in the media world since the 1990s. As internet penetration has grown, newspaper sales have dipped dramatically, as have traditional newspaper jobs. New research from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics quantifies these losses — and they’re hefty.
Between 1990 and 2016, the newspaper publishing industry shrunk by nearly 60 percent, from roughly 458,000 jobs to 183,000 jobs, the bureau found. In this same time, the number of internet publishing and broadcasting jobs rose from 30,000 to 198,000. In just under three decades, the newspaper industry has transformed from a media juggernaut into a secondary form of communication, and there are no signs this trend will reverse any time soon.
Most newspaper organizations have migrated online, including The Washington Post and The New York Times, where they tend to carry over traditional subscription models. In August 2015, more than four years after launching a digital paywall program, The New York Times announced it had accumulated more than 1 million digital-only subscribers. However, its overall revenue continued to decline. In the first quarter of 2016, The New York Times Company reported a net loss of $14 million, despite growth in its online subscriptions. It now boasts roughly 1.2 million digital-only subscribers.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics also found that radio broadcasting had seen job declines since the 1990s, though of a more modest nature: The number of people working in that field fell from 119,000 to 87,000, a change of 27 percent. Meanwhile, motion picture and video production industries gained jobs, jumping from 92,000 to 239,000, an increase of 162 percent.
Source: Department of Labor
Backlit Pluto photo shows evidence of possible clouds
Can’t get enough of the ninth planet-no-longer in our solar system? Neither can NASA, which continues to receive images that its New Horizons spacecraft took on its Pluto flyby last year. One shot on July 15th caught the dwarf planet backlit by the sun, which revealed never-before-seen atmospheric phenomena that might just be the first evidence of clouds.
Taking these rearward shots of Pluto shows things the spacecraft’s approach photos don’t, thanks to sunlight reflecting off the dwarf planet’s surface and illuminating the haze in its thin sky. The top of the photo shows long wispy formations that could be clouds, the first evidence of any from New Horizons’ photo collection and possible proof of the methane clouds predicted by models of Pluto’s atmosphere. The bottom of the image shows a cleaner silhouette of mountain ranges and valleys.
This photo was taken from 13,400 miles past Pluto 19 minutes after New Horizon’s closest approach. At that distance, the picture has a higher resolution at 1,400 feet per pixel than shots taken as New Horizons headed toward the dwarf planet. Obviously, less distance means clearer detail of terrestrial features, but the closest we’ve seen was a photo strip of the surface at 9,850 miles out. Unless NASA has more images up its sleeve, these might be the sharpest of the planet we’ll see for a while.
Source: NASA
MacRumors Giveaway: Win a Bebop 2 Drone With Skycontroller From Parrot
For this week’s giveaway, we’ve teamed up with Parrot to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win a Bebop 2 drone with a Skycontroller as part of Parrot’s “It’s Flying Season” event where the company is discounting its entire line of drones by $30 to $100.
During the promotion, all Minidrones are available for $30 off, the Bebop 2, Bepop, and AR Drone 2.0 are available for $50 off, and the Bebop 2 Skycontroller Black Edition is available for $100 off. Parrot’s discounts are active from May 6 to July 4.
The Bebop 2, priced at $500 during the sale, is Parrot’s newest drone, launched in December of 2015. It’s lightweight and compact at 500 grams, and according to Parrot, it’s been built with the “latest generation” of sensors and technologies to reach 25 minutes of flying time with a 2700 mAh battery. Its four three-blade propellers are designed to offer optimal maneuverability and it’s able to reach speeds of 37 mph horizontally and 13 mph vertically.
A dual-core processor powers the Bebop 2, and a stabilization camera takes a photo every 16 milliseconds to determine speed. An ultrasound sensor analyzes flight altitude up to 16 feet, and a pressure sensor measures altitude beyond that. Positioning is controlled through an accelerometer and a 3-axis magnetometer, and a GPS chipset geo-localizes the drone and helps measure speed.
Parrot’s Bebop 2 is piloted over Wi-Fi using a smartphone or tablet and can be used with an optional RC-style Skycontroller. The Skycontroller allows the Bebop 2 to be controlled from further away (up to 6,561 feet) through two joysticks and customizable buttons for an intuitive flight experience. The accompanying app allows the Bebop 2 to be flown right out of the box, with or without the Skycontroller. Tilting a smartphone left, right, forward, or backward controls the Bebop 2 and an automatic landing button brings it back down when the flight is over.
A 14-megapixel fisheye camera built into a 3-axis framework is included in the Bebop 2 to take wide angle (180 degree) HD photos and videos of the areas where it’s flying. The Bebop 2 is built from a flexible glass fiber-reinforced ABS chassis and it has shockproof feet for landings.
We have a Bebop 2 Skycontroller drone to give away to a lucky MacRumors reader. To enter to win, use the Rafflecopter widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winner and send the prize.
You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page. Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years of age or older are eligible to enter.
a Rafflecopter giveawayThe contest will run from today (June 3) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on June 10. The winner will be chosen randomly on June 10 and will be contacted by email. The winner has 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before a new winner is chosen.
Tags: giveaway, Parrot, Bebop 2
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