Samsung reveals a curved, quantum dot monitor aimed at gamers

Samsung has revealed the CH711, a curved quantum dot monitor built “with gamers in mind.” It also appears to be targeting Mac users and designers with the model, judging by the sharp-looking white color scheme and marketing shots (above). The displays, in 27- and 31.5-inch sizes, feature 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, a pronounced 1,800R curvature, 178-degree viewing angle and 125 percent of sRGB coverage. Cables are hidden in the stand, which also lets you flip the monitor to a vertical position, though the heavy curve might make that format a bit awkward.

Samsung has used quantum dots, rather than OLEDS, in TVs for awhile. However, it has only recently used the tech in its monitors, having unveiled a pair of new models at IFA 2016 in September. Most display experts think that OLED (favored by LG) picture quality is superior to quantum dots (used by Samsung) because of the impeccable blacks and lack of light bleed. However, quantum dot displays don’t suffer from OLED’s lag issues and are an improvement over regular LEDs, making them a better choice for gaming monitors.

A curved screen also makes a lot more sense for a monitor than a TV, given how much closer you generally sit to it. And Samsung has previously said that a sharp 1,800R radius “closely follows the curvature of the eyes.” While it said colors are “richer and more vibrant” thanks to the quantum dots, it didn’t give any other color specs, such as whether it’s an 8-bit or 10-bit panel — a detail that would be important for graphics pros.

We also don’t know the crucial price or availability, but Samsung will show off the screens at CES 2017, along with the GFG70 and CF791, the other curved quantum dot screens it recently unveiled.

Source: Samsung

Amazon patent reveals its drone-deploying flying warehouse plan

Amazon’s drone-delivery plans apparently don’t stop with using flying contraptions to ferry people’s purchases to their homes. Based on a patent it filed with the USPTO, the e-commerce giant dreams of launching big floating warehouses near crowded areas and happenings like sporting events. The company calls the blimp-like structures “airborne fulfillment centers,” because that’s precisely what they are. Amazon envisions deploying drones carrying memorabilia or food from these floating warehouses, which will have billboards for advertising, to people attending music festivals or championships.

To reduce the work drones have to do, the blimps will have shuttles to lower them and the goods they have to deliver to the ground, as well as to carry stocks and even people up to the flying warehouse. Amazon also wants all those components to be able to communicate with each other through a mesh network, say, to relay data about wind speed at various altitudes. Plus, the company wants them to be able to communicate with remote computing resources and a command center in charge of inventory. It’s just a patent at this point, though, and a pretty far-out idea at that. Since we might never actually see this one become a reality, check out the image that came with the filing below to see what it could look like.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: USPTO

Amazon planning huge Digital Day sale on Dec. 30 for apps, movies, games, and more

Amazon’s Digital Day sale will discount over 1,000 online-only titles.

Amazon’s Prime Day turned out to be a huge success, and the retailer is now looking to replicate the magic with its first-ever Digital Day sale. For one day only, December 30, Amazon will discount over 1,000 online titles, including apps, games, TV shows, movies, music, ebooks, and more.

Amazon is promising discounts of up to 80% on video games, 50% off on TV shows and movies, 75% off on hundreds of digital comics, and much more. An annual subscription to Plex Pass will be discounted by 50%, and Amazon’s teaser for the sale also lists Destiny, Titanfall 2, and Microsoft Office Home & Business 2016 among others.

The sale comes at an apropos time, as a lot of people will be looking to buy digital content to complement their new gadgets. However, Amazon drew a fair amount of criticism for the quality of deals listed in its Prime Day sale, so we’ll have to wait and see until the sale goes live to see if there’s anything noteworthy on offer.

The sale will be live for 24 hours, and will kick off at 3 a.m. ET on December 30. Head to the link below to see a preview of the deals that will be going live tomorrow.

See at Amazon

Trump isn’t responsible for Sprint bringing 5,000 jobs to the US

President-elect Donald Trump said he was contacted by Sprint executives today and told that the company was making an investment in domestic jobs, according to Reuters and Bloomberg. “Because of what’s happening and the spirit and the hope I was just called by the head people at Sprint and they’re going to be bringing 5,000 jobs back to the United States,” Trump said outside his Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida. “Masa [Son] and some other people were very much involved with that.”

Sprint issued a press release, patting itself on the back for the deal. “We are excited to work with President-Elect Trump and his administration to do our part to drive economic growth and create jobs in the U.S.” CEO Marcelo Claure said in the statement.

“We believe it is critical for business and government to partner together to create more job opportunities in the U.S. and ensure prosperity for all Americans.”

“I just spoke with the head person,” Trump told Bloomberg. “He said because of me they’re doing 5,000 jobs in this country.”

Here’s the problem: Despite what Trump and the press release from Sprint said (and what its CEO recently tweeted), these jobs were part of a previous announcement from Softbank (Sprint’s parent company) CEO Masayoshi Son — not the direct result of working with Trump.

In mid-October, Softbank announced that the company was sinking $100 billion into a tech-investment fund.

Just spoke w/ @realDonaldTrump about @Sprint turnaround & bringing 5k jobs back to America to strengthen the economy https://t.co/zPVjI50vlY

— MarceloClaure (@marceloclaure) December 28, 2016

When I reached out to a Sprint spokeswoman asking if the announcement was a direct result of working with Trump or part of a pre-existing deal, she copy and pasted the press release I’d sent along with my first email. I responded saying I already had the press release and asked again if this was a direct result of working with Trump or part of a pre-existing deal in place. I tagged Sprint in a tweet about the situation, and it wasn’t until after that started getting retweeted that the spokesperson responded.

“This is part of the 50,000 jobs that Masa previously announced,” she said. “This total will be a combination of newly created jobs and bringing some existing jobs back to the U.S.”

This is where we are, folks: Our president-elect is tying his name to something he didn’t have anything to do with, much like he did with “saving” 1,100 jobs at HVAC company Carrier, including 300 that weren’t moving to Mexico in the first place. In November, Trump exaggerated that he stopped Ford from moving a Kentucky production plant to Mexico. In reality Ford announced it wouldn’t move production of one model line to Mexico.

The most troubling thing here is that Sprint played along, even though, when pressed, it admitted the claims weren’t the result of working with Trump.

Source: Reuters, Bloomberg, Sprint

Oculus now owns an eye-tracking company

Google isn’t the only company trying to figure out eye-tracking for virtual reality — Oculus VR is on the case too. The Facebook-backed VR company has confirmed that it recently acquired Danish startup The Eye Tribe, a firm best known for creating software developer kits that bring gaze-based controls to smartphones, tablets and PCs. Now, that technology belongs to one of the highest profile VR headset makers on the market.

Although Oculus was happy to confirm the acquisition, mums the word on details: we don’t know how much the company was acquired for, what the Eye Tribe’s future is outside of Oculus or when we might see this technology in a future product. Still, the aim of the purchase seems obvious — The Eye Tribe has been working on a foveated rendering for VR, which increases VR performance by only rendering the part of the simulation the user is directly looking at. Either way, it’s a good purchase for Oculus: a casual glance at the VR landscape shows eye-tracking as the next big problem to solve. Knowing where a player is looking could increase immersion, reduce performance bottlenecks and even help prevent simulator sickness.

Via: TechCrunch

‘Mario Kart 64’ is the Wii U Virtual Console’s latest addition

Sure, Mario Kart 8 is great and all, but if you wanted to see the original version of “Toad’s Turnpike” on the Wii U, your options have been pretty limited. Tomorrow changes that, as Mario Kart 64 will release on the system’s Virtual Console. Revisiting the Nintendo 64 game will run you $9.99, and for that you’ll get off-TV play and dim, washed out graphics — the latter is a staple for just about everything on Virtual Console.

Kart 64 is scheduled to come out on Wii U tomorrow, and if you already own it on the Wii Virtual Console it should only cost $2 for the upgrade. Need help passing the time between now and then? You could always take a few minutes to wonder if this, coupled Excitebike 64’s recent re-issue, is a hint at the Switch’s launch software. Then, laugh it off as being absolutely unrealistic because you know better.

Via: Game Informer

Source: Nintendo

Homestar Runner is back with a few laughs before 2016 ends

The internet felt like a kinder, simpler place during Homestar Runner’s heyday. As if to combat all the bad vibes 2016 has given the world, we have a new video featuring Homestar and shirtless luchadore Strong Bad reading a children’s book about a sports competition. Predictably, it’s incredibly charming. Without giving too much away, there are some solid Mr. Mister and Night Ranger references, as well as a gag about the obsolescence of Adobe Flash.

Maybe best of all, your enjoyment won’t depend on how good you are at ignoring the fact that Strongbad can type legible emails while wearing boxing gloves.

There have been a handful of new clips from the Homestar Runner crew over the past couple of years, but output hasn’t been as regular as fans would hope. Maybe that can change in 2017.

Via: The Daily Dot

Source: Homestar Runner (YouTube)

NFL is first to stream live sports on a key Chinese social network

If you enjoy Twitter’s live NFL games, you might just feel jealous very shortly. The NFL has struck a deal that will make it the first sports league to livestream on Sina Weibo, one of China’s largest social networks. The service has already streamed six regular games so far, but the pact will also have it provide the last Sunday Night Football game, a trio of playoff games and even the Super Bowl. Yes, you read that correctly — in one way, Chinese fans will have easier access to the biggest football game of the year than their American counterparts.

The agreement also gives Sina the right to show out-of-game on-demand clips, highlight videos and other footage.

It’s not hard to see why the NFL would go this route. Many NFL games don’t start at a convenient time for Chinese viewers, so TV coverage (and of course, the high-profile ad campaigns that follow) isn’t nearly as important as it is in the US. And of course, American football isn’t nearly as much of a cultural institution in China as it is in its home country. Sina Weibo’s livestreams could serve as a form of marketing for the NFL, giving it exposure that it otherwise wouldn’t get.

Source: NFL Communications

Twitter adds 360 video, still no edit button

Facebook and YouTube jumped on the 360 video train back in 2015, leaving Twitter to tardily trundle out their first all-direction footage experiments during the NBA finals back in June. But at long last, the social network is letting larger broadcasters post their own 360 videos through Periscope for users to view in their feeds.

360 Sunset in Florida. First ever #Periscope360 with @Brandee_Anthony https://t.co/AZWbnnT15S

— Alex Pettitt (@Alexpettitt) December 28, 2016

Posts marked with a red LIVE 360 badge in the bottom-left corner let you pan around by moving or swiping the screen while you’re tuning in. Anyone on Twitter and Periscope can watch, but only select partners can currently broadcast 360 video on the latter. Those interested in joining as they roll out the service to more Periscope users in the coming weeks can sign up here.

Source: Twitter blog

Twitter’s Periscope Now Supports 360-Degree Live Videos

Twitter’s video streaming service Periscope was today updated with support for live 360-degree video, allowing broadcasters to share a more immersive video streaming experience with their fans on Periscope and Twitter.

Live 360 videos are denoted by a special badge and when viewed, users can tilt, rotate, or tap on their devices to see additional angles of an uploaded video. 360 video works on iOS devices and some desktop browsers, but Safari is not supported. An example Periscope video is below:

360 Sunset in Florida. First ever #Periscope360 with @Brandee_Anthony https://t.co/AZWbnnT15S

— Alex Pettitt (@Alexpettitt) December 28, 2016

With 360 video on Periscope, you can experience moments with the broadcaster and take a look around – it’s one step closer to actually being there. Starting today, you’ll be able to join live 360 videos on Periscope and Twitter from some incredible broadcasters – getting front-row access at exclusive events, traveling to places across the globe, and getting up close with well-known personalities.

According to Twitter, the feature is limited to a “small group” of “well-known personalities” who will be broadcasting using the new feature. 360 broadcasts will be rolled out to additional users “during the coming weeks,” and Periscope users can apply to test the feature through the Periscope website.

Periscope can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Tags: Twitter, Periscope
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