Coolpad is launching Cool VR 1x in India for an immersive 3D experience

Coolpad, the Chinese smartphone maker, will release its visual reality gear for Coolpad devices, the Cool VR 1x, tomorrow in India.

Quoting a recent report, Syed Tajuddin, CEO, Coolpad India, said that the global VR market is expected to touch an estimated $120 billion by 2020 and India, with its huge smartphone base, is set to become the largest VR market.

The timing is perfect for the launch of wearable products in India and with our superior technology offering, we are confident in generating favorable response in this segment as well like we did in the smartphones segment.

The Cool VR offers an immersive virtual reality experience with its 95-100° viewing angels and works effortlessly with any phone, not just Coolpad devices, that pans from 4.7-5.7 inches and sports an HD display, and includes gyroscope. The device is equipped with customizable lenses that help in optimizing the focal length and object distance, making Cool VR comfortable to use for long durations as per company claims.

The Cool VR 1x will be exclusively available on Amazon priced at ₹999 ($15) starting June 24, 2016.

Virtual reality needs a defining game, says Batman: Arkham VR publisher

Batman: Arkham VR came as something of a shock during E3 2016. Not only because it was one of the few things that hadn’t been leaked widely before the show started, but that it awarded the “best game” crown by many visitors.

You can read our thoughts on it here (spoiler alert – we think it’s awesome), but David Haddad, Warner Interactive Entertainment’s boss, isn’t sure it will be the defining game that virtual reality desperately needs.

Arkham VR is slated for an October release, around the same time as the PlayStation VR headset, but when talking to VentureBeat at E3 he suggested it was more a toe-dipping exercise for the company.

A truly defining game is yet to come.

“If you look at platforms, how they scale and when they scale they ultimately all have some piece of defining content,” he said.

“The Xbox had Halo. The Wii had Wii Sports. HBO had the Sopranos that propelled them.

“Hopefully this holiday we’ll see more of that defining content. But given that we’re in the early stages with this, we’ll see it evolve.”

READ: Best PlayStation VR games at E3 2016: Farpoint, Resident Evil 7, Batman and more

Rather than a platform defining title then, Warner’s Batman VR is still just a test at this stage in VR’s development – an impressive one, but a test nonetheless.

“It’s clearly early days for VR, but it’s a place where, particularly with beloved brands like Arkham and studios like Rocksteady, we just want to be in the space learning,” said Haddad.

Pluto might still have an ocean underneath its icy shell

Thanks to New Horizons, we now know just how complex Pluto’s surface is, with its mountain ranges, deep cracks, volcanoes, canyons and heart-shaped plain. Scientists think those tectonic features are the result of a subsurface ocean slowly freezing over. According to a study led by Brown University graduate student Noah Hammond, though, tha ocean might still exist in liquid form even today. The team took into account all the data the probe gathered, such as Pluto’s diameter and density to simulate a large body of water transforming into ice. Turns out the dwarf planet would have shrunk if the water its crust is hiding froze long ago. Its surface would have looked much different.

See, due to the celestial body’s high pressure and low temperatures, a freezing ocean would have turned into ice II — a crystalline form of ice that’s more compact than what we’re used to. Ice II would have occupied a smaller volume and wouldn’t have led to the expansion of Pluto’s surface. “We don’t see the things on the surface we’d expect if there had been a global contraction,” Hammond said. “So we conclude that ice II has not formed, and therefore that the ocean has’t completely frozen.”

It’s not an absolute certainty at this point, of course. If Pluto’s ice crust is thinner than 260 kilometers (around 850,000 feet), then the ocean would have frozen over without forming ice II. Scientists believe the crust is thicker than 260 kilometers, though, and might even be close to 300 kilometers.

Francis Nimmo of the University of California at Santa Cruz told New Scientist that Pluto and other rocky planets could be more hospitable to life than watery moons like Jupiter’s Ganymede. In case Pluto does have a seabed, it could have what it takes to sustain some type of life form. Of course, we wouldn’t know for sure until space agencies start sending robots to dive into extraterrestrial bodies of water.

Via: New Scientist

Source: Brown University

BioLite camp stove add-on can cook wood-fired pizza

BioLite’s latest add-on for its BaseCamp stove is perfect for outdoorsy types sick of eating chili and hotdogs while exploring the great outdoors. It’s an oven that goes right on top of BaseCamp, and you can use it to make wood-fired pizza, flatbreads and other food you can bake. The company calls this oven the PizzaDome, because let’s face it — it might be capable of cooking other food, but you’re going to use it to make pizza. It’s comprised of a built-in thermometer, a ceramic stone to keep things evenly cooked and a lid to keep heat from escaping.

BioLite’s camping stoves are known for having high-tech features, such as the ability to charge phones and action cams. It ran a successful Kickstarter campaign back in 2014 to fund the production of BaseCamp, which is larger than the older stoves it offers. PizzaDome was actually one of that campaign’s stretch goals, so it’s been in development for at least a couple of years. Now it’s finally available for $70 from the company’s website to make the dreams of pizza-deprived adventurers come true.

Source: PizzaDome

Alibaba founder says fake goods have ‘no place’ on his site

Alibaba founder Jack Ma has written an editorial for the Wall Street Journal, restating his stance on pirated goods. Last week, while speaking at an investor conference, the WSJ quoted Ma as saying that counterfeit products are “of better quality and better price than the real names.” However, the chairman has now taken to the paper to say that his statement was taken out of context, and that hooky goods have “no place on Alibaba.” Indeed, Ma says that his company has “zero tolerance” for “those who rip off other people’s intellectual property,” adding that copycat goods is “akin to thievery.”

He admits, however, that the dynamics of the market have changed and that’s left something of an opening for device pirates. He explains that Chinese manufacturers face “declining exports because demand from Western markets is not what it used to be.” Since westerners aren’t buying as many objects, these factories are often laying dormant, which is no way to run a successful or sustainable business. Ma adds that firms have “made investments in factories, equipment and people” that “must find new ways to adapt to this changing environment.”

The founder has also affirmed his company’s proactive stance in dealing with pirates, saying that for every hooky purse Gucci identifies, Alibaba will have shot down a further eight. But there’s an interesting twist in the editorial, which is how Ma’s stance on piracy shifts between the third and ninth paragraph. Up top, he’s talking about Chinese factories using tooling and raw materials from brand-name clients to keep the lights on. But further down, he describes the fight against piracy as a “battle against human greed.” Either way, Alibaba’s public position is anti-piracy, combined with a drive to “work together with brands” to get ahead of the copycats.

Source: WSJ

Science fund lets kids learn 3D printing, gene modification

President Obama declared June 17 to the 23rd to be the National Week of Making, and what better way to celebrate than funding research for kids? The National Science Foundation (NSF) created a $1.5 million “early-concept grant” for five youth-oriented projects. They include 3D printing for inner-city kids and a DNA project that teaches high schoolers to build their own organisms (yep). “A core tenet of the maker movement is that experiences involving active exploration of ideas … elicit enjoyment and foster lasting learning,” says Rutgers’ Elizabeth Bonawitz.

Each of the ambitious project gets $300,000 over two years, and they’re certainly diverse and ambitious. One aims “to measure psychophysiological indications of heightened engagement” of young makers using wearables and cameras. Researchers in another project will attempt to design maker spaces that “welcome [ethnic] groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM.”

More practical is a 3D printing “living laboratory” in Baltimore. Researchers will “study the impact of maker employment on inner city youth,” and see if it helps them improve in STEM subjects. Along the same lines, another team wants to develop a “Mobile Maker Center” that kids can use in science museums, libraries or play centers. “An idea at the heart of cognitive development is that children ‘construct’ knowledge by active exploration,” says Bonawitz.

The most ambitious project is perhaps the synethetic biology bioMAKERlab. It aims to help high school “learn and discuss not only critical ideas about synthetic biology but also test what it means to design and build your own organisms using DNA” says Orkan Tehan from the University of Pennsylvania. According to the description, the wetlab starter kit will let students “build genetic circuits that enable microorganisms to develop change color, smell and shape.” After all, why dissect frogs when you can build a new one?

Via: Techcrunch

Source: NSF

Apple Pay Holdout Walmart Expands ‘Walmart Pay’ to 15 More States

Walmart has announced that its mobile payments solution Walmart Pay is now available in fifteen additional U.S. states, including Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Virginia.

Walmart Pay is built into the Walmart app [Direct Link] for iOS and Android and works at any checkout lane with any major credit, debit, pre-paid, or Walmart gift card.

The payments solution is based upon a QR code checkout process that involves opening the Walmart app, selecting Walmart Pay, activating the camera, scanning the code displayed at the register, and waiting for the cashier to finish bagging your items. An electronic receipt is automatically sent to the app.

Walmart Pay’s widespread adoption at some 1,500 stores in fifteen more states, following statewide launches in Arkansas and Texas last month, further suggests that Walmart will not be adopting Apple Pay for at least the foreseeable future. Walmart Pay’s nationwide rollout is expected to be completed in 2016.

The word in late 2015 from Walmart senior vice president of services Daniel Eckert was that Walmart Pay allows “for integration of other mobile wallets in the future,” providing at least some hope that the retailer may eventually accept rival payment services such as Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay at its stores.

Walmart is among a handful of retailers that have refused to support Apple Pay since its American launch in October 2014. The retailer was originally committed to the Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) consortium and its now indefinitely postponed payments service CurrentC before launching Walmart Pay.

Walmart’s resistance to Apple Pay persists even as other former holdouts such as Best Buy and Rite Aid have reversed course and begun accepting the iPhone-based payments service at their U.S. stores. Walmart rival Target, meanwhile, is developing a QR code-based mobile wallet solution of its own.

The Walmart app [Direct Link] is free on the App Store for iPhone and Apple Watch.

Related Roundup: Apple Pay
Tags: Walmart Pay, Walmart
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SanDisk’s ‘iXpand Memory Case’ Adds Up to 128GB of Storage, Optional Battery

SanDisk recently announced a new line of cases for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s, aiming to give users expanded storage capabilities without needing to upgrade their iPhone model. Called the iXpand Memory Case and available in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB, SanDisk’s new cases ensure durable protection for Apple’s smartphone while adding to the iPhone’s base storage capacity via the Lightning port.

Working in conjunction with the free iXpand Memory Case app [Direct Link], users can set their camera roll to automatically back up to the accessory’s storage in order to avoid running into a situation where an excess of photos and videos prevents them from capturing any more media content. The app also password protects any content saved within the Memory Case, and can be migrated to and from SanDisk’s SecureAccess desktop software for Windows and Mac.

The iXpand Case App is the companion to your iXpand Case allowing you to access and manage your content stored on your case. Get quick access to view your photos and play your, videos, music and access other files, with easy sorting options. The app automatically organizes and arranges all the content into photos, videos, music – so that you do not have to worry about it.

Easily save videos and photos, play videos and music directly from the memory case, create playlists of your favorite music, and manage the optional add-on battery pack. You can even setup automatic transfer of all your photos and videos directly to the case.

The iXpand Memory Case is also functionally expandable with the 1900mAh battery pack accessory, which the company says can double the life of an iPhone. The pack is automatic and doesn’t require any separate manual start since it can “detect when your phone’s battery runs low, and kicks in to charge it.”

SanDisk has begun selling the iXpand Memory Case on Amazon in its three different memory configurations: 32GB ($59.99), 64GB ($99.99), and 128GB ($129.99). Each case for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s is also available in Blue, Grey, Red, and Teal. The battery pack accessory has no specified release date, but anyone interested can pre-order today for $39.99.

Tag: SanDisk
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45 amazing and cringeworthy selfies: From the dangerous to the downright gross

The selfie phenomenon is unrelenting, you can’t open a browser without someone’s self-taken mugshot gurning down on you.

That said, we’d be lying if we didn’t dot our own social media accounts with a surreptitiously taken smartphone snap taken at arm’s length, quite often featuring ourselves and a celebrity that would rather be anywhere else. So who are we to cast judgement on others?

Of course, there are some selfie takers that just beg for us to not only cast judgement but to ruthlessly take the Michael. After all, they’ve done most of the hard work for us and, in many ways, their picture already humiliates them as much as we ever could.

That’s why we’ve collected some of the best and worst selfies found from around the web in a handy to flick through gallery above. Some are quite admirable, some just downright stupid. And then there are some that reside in a category we haven’t even made up yet. We certainly hope you have as good a laugh looking through them as much as we did.

READ: Sponsored or sincere? The most controversial selfies from around the web

We’ve also included our favourite selfie YouTube video too, which you can watch below and marvel at just how dumb members of our species can be sometimes. Enjoy.

The G-BOOM bluetooth speaker is now just $80

It’s 2016: We’ve landed rovers on Mars, developed self-driving cars and even made hoverboards (kind of). So, we shouldn’t still have to choose between performance and portability when it comes to Bluetooth speakers.
The G-BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Boombox offers a balanced solution to that problem. It delivers top-quality sound for up to six hours on a single charge, all while taking up as much space as a lunchbox. It’s normally over $100, but Engadget readers can pick one up today for just $80 with free shipping, making it the lowest price on the web.

It has a 2.1 speaker configuration, dual rear-firing bass ports and an ultra-durable housing making it perfect for on-the-go use, or serving as a go-to living room speaker. With its respectable playback time and integrated carrying handle, you can count on the G-BOOM to pump out your tunes no matter where your day takes you.

Summer’s in full swing, so now’s the ideal time to pick up a speaker that’s rugged enough to handle your adventures. At GDGT Deals’ low price of $80 with free shipping, these are sure to go quick, so don’t wait!