How to take a screenshot on a Galaxy S7, S6, Note, or any other Android device
Taking a snapshot of your Android phone’s screen is easy, and there are all sorts of situations where a screenshot could come in handy, whether you want to share your home screen with friends or obtain pictorial proof of your latest high score.
This guide uses the Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S5, Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy Note 2, and Galaxy Note as examples.
More: Enlist in the Android Army: A beginner’s guide to Android
We’ve also included a guide to taking a screenshot on any other device using Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Jelly Bean (4.1, 4.2, 4.3), KitKat (4.4), Android 5.0 Lollipop, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, and Android 7.0 Nougat (that’s most of them).
How to take a screenshot on a Galaxy device by swiping the screen
Taking a screenshot on the Galaxy S7 — or almost any other Galaxy phone — with a swipe of your hand is easy.
Set your hand vertically on either side of the screen, and shape it like you are karate chopping the phone.
Horizontally swipe across the screen like your hand is a photo scanner.
You should hear the camera shutter, see a screenshot move across the screen, and receive a notification that a picture has been saved to the gallery.
It takes a few tries.
This technique works with the following devices, as well as most Samsung phones that came out after 2013.
Galaxy S7
Galaxy S7 Edge
Galaxy S6
Galaxy S6 Edge
Galaxy S6 Edge Plus
Galaxy S5
Galaxy S4
Galaxy Note 5
Galaxy Note 4
Galaxy Note 3
How to check if “Palm swipe to capture” is enabled on your Galaxy
If you can’t get it to work, you may have to enable the swipe feature in Settings.
Open Settings > Motions and gestures (in the Motion category).
Tick the Palm swipe to capture box.
Close the menu and find the screen you want to capture.
Enjoy!
New York greenlights massive 90-megawatt wind farm off Long Island
Why it matters to you
With increased energy demands, massive wind farms like this one can help supply clean and renewable energy.
New York is going all in on renewable energy.
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that a massive, 90-megawatt wind farm has been approved off the coast of Long Island, making it the largest offshore wind farm in the United States. This project is part of Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard which aims to have 50 percent of the state’s energy powered by renewables by 2030.
More: The Nevada sun will power Tesla’s gigantic ‘Gigafactory’
It’s being called the South Fork Wind Farm and will be New York’s first offshore wind farm. Long Islanders have little to fear about their beach views, as the wind farm will be 30 miles off the coast of Montauk. It’s expected that the South Fork Wind Farm will produce 1,000 megawatts of energy, enough to power 50,000 homes. This is one of the state’s first steps towards hitting its 2030 goal of hitting a 2.4 gigawatt target. If that target is met, it will power 1.25 million homes.
“New York leads the nation in pioneering clean energy innovation, and this bold action marks the next step in our unprecedented commitment to offshore wind, as well as our ambitious long-term energy goal of supplying half of all electricity from renewable sources by 2030,” Cuomo said in a press release.
Regardless of the politics of the current presidential administration, Cuomo is all in on curbing climate change. “This project will not only provide a new, reliable source of clean energy, but will also create high-paying jobs, continue our efforts to combat climate change, and help preserve our environment for current and future generations of New Yorkers,” he said.
Deepwater Wind is the company behind the South Fork Wind Farm. Much like Tesla’s Powerwall, it too will utilize battery energy storage facilities.
With New York being so steadfast in thinking green, it will be interesting to see if other cities follow suit.
FCC announces approval of broadband funds for rural New York State
Why it matters to you
If you live in rural New York State, or another rural area, and find it hard to locate affordable broadband services, this FCC decision will be encouraging.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created the Connect America Fund in 2011 to bring its program to support rural voice communications services into the modern age. The new fund applies the same universal service monies to help bring broadband connectivity to rural areas that are unprofitable for the private sector.
The FCC has a new Chairman, Ajit Pai, who was recently appointed by newly inaugurated President Trump, and Pai now taken his first significant action since being appointed. Specifically, he announced that a petition brought by New York State’s own broadband program to utilize money from the Connect America Fund was approved.
More: Court upholds FCC’s plan to fund upgrades for broadband access in rural areas
In total, $170 million in federal funding will be added to $200 million from state funding and private investors to expand access to broadband connectivity in rural New York State. Speaking about the initiative, Chairman Pai said, “Broadband is critical to economic opportunity and job creation. This is a first step of many to fulfill my promise to empower Americans with online opportunities, no matter who they are and no matter where they live.”
The FCC’s order authorizes Connect America Phase II support to regions with applicants that are chosen through the competitive New NY Broadband Program. Monies will be utilized that were previously turned down by Verizon in 2015.
The FCC Universal Service Fund sets aside $4.5 billion each year, administered through a number of universal service programs that support high-cost areas in rural America with support for voice and broadband networks. It’s clear that whatever other policies Chairman Pai supports or opposes, providing funding to support rural broadband initiatives is one area where the FCC will continue to participate under the new administration.
How AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile are preparing for Super Bowl 51 crowds
Why it matters to you
Super Bowl 51 will draw tens of thousands of fans to Houston in early February, and mobile carriers are making sure they’re prepared to handle the onslaught.
The Super Bowl: A time-honored tradition in the United States in which two football teams face off in a nail-biting fight for the championship. More than 117 million are expected to tune into this year’s festivities, and TV networks are prepping for the coming onslaught. But those in attendance pose a bigger infrastructure challenge — especially when it comes to wireless service. At last year’s Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, California, the big game’s 71,088 attendees downloaded nearly 16 terabytes of data across all major networks.
It’s no surprise, then, that carriers are taking steps to beef up wireless coverage in and around the Houston, Texas NRG Stadium well ahead of time. T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T are leading the charge.
T-Mobile
T-Mobile has been laying the necessary groundwork for the past year. On Thursday, the carrier announced that it has permanently increased 4G LTE capacity nearly 20 times around NRG Stadium, and by more than 10 times at nearby airports, venues, and hotels, including George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston Hobby Airport, Discovery Green, Minute Maid Park, Toyota Center, Rice Stadium, and George R. Brown Convention Center. T-Mobile says that overall, the greater Houston area now has 5 times more capacity than before.
That’s not all the self-styled Un-carrier’s done. It’s beefed up the area’s LTE spectrum with Extended Range LTE, a type of signal that travels twice as far from T-Mobile’s towers and is four times better in buildings. It rolled out carrier aggregation, a feature which combines multiple LTE signals to supercharge connectivity. It deployed new antennas in “trouble spots” — specifically, inside buildings and in “spots where regular towers don’t reach as well.” And it installed antennas in Houston’s underground tunnel system.
Microsoft may use the cloud to fill its promise of one operating system for all devices
Why it matters to you
Microsoft has long hoped to run a single version of Windows 10 on all devices, and this rumor suggests a path towards that goal.
Last week, unnamed sources said that Microsoft is currently working on an “adaptive shell” for Windows 10 so that the platform can properly scale out across PC, mobile, console, HoloLens, and embedded devices. As it stands now, all Windows 10 devices share the same Windows 10 core component, but the surrounding operating system “shell” is somewhat different on each class of device. An “adaptive” shell would mean a more complete Windows 10 package that could adjust according to screen size, form factor, and target computing environment.
Having an adaptive shell would seemingly be the final piece in Microsoft’s one-OS-to-rule-them-all puzzle. The company began this journey with its Windows 10 OneCore subsystem, laying the foundation for Microsoft and Windows 10 developers to address multiple device classes and applications. Microsoft then developed its Universal Windows Platform so that one Windows 10 app can work across all of these devices.
More: Microsoft demos Game Mode and more in latest Windows 10 Insider build
On a more technical level, this “Composable Shell” (or CSHELL) is reportedly comprised of sub-components, allowing Windows 10 to quickly adapt to a specific screen size or device class, similar to how Windows Continuum can move between smartphone mode and desktop mode. This would eliminate the need to create and maintain separate versions of Windows 10 on desktop, smartphone, and Xbox One.
The Composable Shell rumor is seemingly the foundation of an additional rumor that appeared this week claiming Microsoft is working on a “Cloud Shell” for Windows 10 as well. The news arrives by way of a document that describes Cloud Shell as a new “lightweight iteration of Windows designed for the modern computing world.” It’s slated to arrive in Windows 10 sometime during 2017, and could have something to do with Microsoft’s Windows on ARM initiative set to appear in the Redstone 3 update coming in the second half of 2017.
The Cloud Shell suggests that Microsoft could be working on a cloud-based version of Windows 10 that can run on x86-based devices (Intel, AMD) and ARM-based devices (Snapdragon, Tegra, Exynos). Combine this with the Composable Shell, and one Windows 10 build residing in the cloud could possibly run on multiple device classes and processor architectures. The Universal Windows Platform framework, and the Windows Store, are reportedly tied into the Cloud Shell, too.
One thing to keep in mind is that customers likely don’t want to stream Windows 10 to a device. Instead, this solution works extremely well in a corporate environment where the data center creates individual virtual machines in the local cloud that are streamed to “thin client” devices that have nothing locally installed.
Of course, having Windows 10 running in the cloud points to the possibility of a subscription-based service for the mainstream market. Perhaps Microsoft is looking into a way for Android, Linux, MacOS, and other platforms to run Windows 10 without disrupting the device environment (like dual-booting or running a virtual machine). Perhaps we’ll learn more about Composable Shell and Cloud Shell during Microsoft’s annual BUILD conference in May.
OnePlus 3T vs. Pixel XL: Can the 3T rival Google for almost half the price?
In all but a handful of areas, OnePlus’s newly refreshed flagship legitimately matches Google’s more expensive handset.
The Google Pixel XL isn’t a cheap phone, nor is it supposed to be. Its competition is the iPhone — and, less directly, Samsung’s Galaxy line. Yet the price hike compared to last year’s Nexus 5X and 6P leaves the door open to OnePlus. The Chinese upstart has recently upgraded the OnePlus 3T to Android 7.0 Nougat, bringing closer to par with the Pixel’s software.
Inevitably, there are corners to be cut when you’re selling a phone around the $439 mark, compared to Google’s $749 and up for the Pixel XL. But as it happens, the 3T does manage to give Google’s larger Pixel a run for its money. Let’s take a look at how it measures up across the board.
With 5.5-inch displays, both the Pixel XL and OnePlus 3T are relatively large handsets. Overall, the 3T does a better job of masking its heft — it’s both thinner and lighter than Google’s phone, with more angular sides for easier one-handed wrangling.
That said, OnePlus’s design doesn’t shake things up too much, using much the same look manufacturers like HTC and Huawei have been riffing on for a few generations now. Despite claims (largely dubious claims, in my opinion) of it being an iPhone copycat, the Pixel’s slightly-wedge-shaped, glass-backed profile is unlike anything else on the market. And that’s probably no accident.
Google’s back panel is more unique-looking, but OnePlus’s feels better in the hand.
That glass window, however, is notoriously bad for picking up hairline scratches — my Pixel XL started picking them up within days, even as I was babying it more than usual. (And as an aside, the fact that the glass is flush with the metal surface, with no camera hump, means the metal part can also pick up scratches more easily.)
On the inside, these two go toe-to-toe in terms of specs, with OnePlus actually beating Google in some areas — the 3T has more RAM and a larger base storage option. The Pixel, as we’ll discuss later, has the better camera of the two by a comfortable margin. It also has an advantage in terms of screen resolution, but the jump from Full HD to Quad HD isn’t especially noticeable unless you’re looking really close.
In other areas, it’s a wash: battery capacities are comparable, and both handsets have excellent fingerprint scanners, though on opposite sides of the phone.
| Display | 5.5-inch 1080p Optic AMOLED | 5.5-inch 1440p SuperAMOLED |
| Operating System | Android 7.0 (Oxygen OS 4) | Android 7.1.1 (Pixel UI) |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 | Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 |
| RAM | 6GB | 4GB |
| Storage | 64GB/128GB | 32GB/128GB |
| microSD | No | No |
| Dual SIM | Yes | No |
| Rear camera | 16MP (1.1-micron pixels), f/2.0, OIS | 12MP (1.55-micron pixels), f/2.0 |
| Front camera | 16MP, f/2.0 | 8MP, f/2.4 |
| Battery | 3,400mAh | 3,450mAh |
| Quick charging | Dash Charge | USB-PD |
| Dimensions | 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35 mm | 154.7 x 75.74 x 8.6 mm |
| Weight | 158g | 168g |
| Price | $439-479 | $769-869 |
Having bounced between both phones for the past few weeks, I can’t say I’ve noticed any huge difference in day-to-day battery life — no real surprise considering the largely identical display sizes, CPU and battery capacities. Both phones are good for a day’s use, topping out at between 4 to 5 hours of screen-on time per day, depending on the proportion of time you’re on LTE.
One advantage OnePlus has, however, is Dash Charge, the company’s proprietary quick-charging standard that’s a good deal faster than just about anything else out there when it comes to bringing a depleted phone back to life. (The other side of that coin is that you can only buy compatible cables and chargers from OnePlus, whereas Google’s quick charging uses USB standards.)
In any case, what’s much more meaningful is the difference in software. Neither phone strays too far from vanilla Android — both the Pixel UI and OnePlus’s OxygenOS keep things looking and feeling pretty “stock.” But in both instances there’s a wealth of smaller features to get stuck into.
The biggie for the Pixel is Google Assistant, Google’s AI, well, assistant which has been steadily gaining smarts since the phone’s release, but which still hasn’t reached “killer app” status. Assistant combines Google’s knowledge graph with the information in your Google account, and some of the best speech recognition I’ve seen in a phone, to do useful stuff. (And there’s an awful lot of stuff it can do.) But there are also limitations — including issues drawing in certain info from multiple Google accounts.
Google Assistant still isn’t quite the killer app it was made out to be.
The Pixel also gives you Google’s revamped Pixel launcher, along with a selection of beautiful (and exclusive) live wallpapers, many of which use your location, the weather and time of day to visualize the current climate.
Other Google tricks include smart caller ID through the dialer app — something Nexus phones have enjoyed for a while. And unlimited full-res photo backup through Google Photos, so the size constraints of the 32GB Pixel are less worrisome than you might expect.
That’s all built on the rock solid foundation of Android Nougat, with headline features like split-screen multi-window and an overhauled notification system. (And rounded off by Google’s promise of two years of fast Android OS updates, and live customer support through the Settings app.)
With OnePlus, it’s all about customization. From whether you want on-screen or capacitive buttons, to which icons are displayed in the status bar, to the color of just about everything. If you like to tune your phone and style its appearance and behavior to your own personal tastes, you’ll find plenty to tinker with in OxygenOS.
OnePlus also has the ever-present alert slider, a staple iPhone feature which bizarrely hasn’t found much traction in the Android world, and its three settings can be tuned to your liking as well.
And there’s a bewildering array of gestures you can enable, from double-tap-to-wake to more exotic options like drawing an O on the screen for the camera, or a V to open the flashlight. (Compare that to the solid but less diverse lineup of “Moves” in Google’s Pixel UI, including basics like raise to wake, and double-tap to wake.)
OnePlus’s software suite is all about customization.
The rest of the software is lean enough to not get in the way, with OnePlus fielding an array of Material Design-inspired apps that are speedy, fully-featured and gel well with the rest of the UI.
If there’s one software trick I haven’t found much use for, though, it’s OnePlus’s widget shelf, the main reason being that most widgets are poorly supported, and thus either broken or weird-looking. Your mileage will vary depending on the apps (and widgets) that you use.
Camera performance is the clearest differentiator between these two.
Having used both extensively over the past few weeks, there’s really no doubt in my mind that the Pixel has the better camera overall. But then, you’d hope so for a $400 premium over the OnePlus 3T. The difference is as much about Google’s excellent auto HDR+ processing as it is about the different sensors and optics.
The 3T’s camera is good, solid reliable. But the Pixel is on another level.
OnePlus goes with a traditional 16-megapixel camera with small 1.1-micron pixels behind an f/2.0 lens, with optical image stabilization. Google’s 12-megapixel camera has the same f/2.0 aperture without OIS, but much larger 1.55-micron pixels. So right off the bat, you’d expect potentially more detail from the OnePlus 3T, and better low-light pics out of the Pixel.
That’s mostly how things play out, but the megapixel advantage doesn’t do OnePlus much good in a direct contest with the Pixel — though its camera certainly performs well for the price point.
Both phones produce good-looking images in daylight, though the Pixel delivers a brighter, more vibrant image, with slightly warmer colors too. The 3T is also a little more susceptible to motion, with the resulting blur being noticeable around the edges of shots.
In high-contrast and moving shots, Google’s HDR+ processing (and bigger pixels on the sensor) allow its camera to create more balanced shots without blowing out brighter areas.
And in low light, the difference is even more striking. OnePlus quickly runs up against the physical limitations of its camera, whereas Google has both physics and software processing on its side, allowing it to capture stunning shots which ooze with color detail.
OnePlus’s secret weapon when it comes to capturing more detail is HQ mode, which sucks in more fine detail at the cost of saturation and color detail. It’s a very situational mode that can be susceptible to motion blur at times, and it’s less reliable in producing a better shot than HDR+.
Ultimately, the OnePlus 3T has a good, solid camera that occasionally surprises you with a really excellent shot. HQ mode brings out lots of fine detail, but the smaller pixels on the sensor means your get darker, murkier low-light pics.
On the other hand the Pixel is better overall — with Google’s camera, it sometimes feels like it’s too easy to get fantastic shots, especially in low-light or high contrast situations. But you do sacrifice a bit of fine detail at times.
That’s a major difference between these two — one of the biggest, next to the Pixel’s advantage in software. The other trump card Google can pull is its phone’s privileged position as the first device with new Android software versions. You know you’re good for speedy updates for two years from purchase, something which is a far less certain if you buy the OnePlus 3T.
Google’s camera magic also extends to video, where it’s able to use the built-in gyro to smooth out wobbly footage, even when the camera’s shaking about all over the place. It’s easily the best video stabilization I’ve seen in any Android phone. By contrast, the OnePlus 3T is a solid performer in video, despite some focus-hunting issues in moving shots. But the lack of any software stabilization feature shows.
Whether extras like the above are worth the extra money though, has to depend on your budget. I think I could get by quite happily with the OnePlus 3T — camera, software and all — though I do appreciate how often the Pixel camera really does knock it out of the park with amazing photos. And in the longterm, the confidence that comes with Google’s speedy software updates.
Google Pixel + Pixel XL
- Google Pixel and Pixel XL review
- Google Pixel XL review: A U.S. perspective
- Google Pixel FAQ: Should you upgrade?
- Pixel + Pixel XL specs
- Understanding Android 7.1 Nougat
- Join the discussion in the forums!
Google Store
Verizon
OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 3
- OnePlus 3T review: Rekindling a love story
- OnePlus 3T vs. OnePlus 3: What’s the difference?
- OnePlus 3T specs
- Latest OnePlus 3 news
- Discuss OnePlus 3T and 3 in the forums
OnePlus
Amazon
Best Accessories For Honor 6X
So what if the phone cost you nothing? Use the savings on accessories!
The Honor 6X isn’t particularly outstanding, but it’s capable enough to keep up with everyone else without costing you an arm and a leg. If you’re looking for some basic accessories for your very basic smartphone, read on.
See Honor 6X at Amazon
- Belkin PowerHouse ChargeSync
- AUKEY Waterproof Case
- Sunnest MicroUSB Charger
- AmazonBasics In-Ear Headphones
- SanDisk Ultra microSDHC card
Belkin PowerHouse ChargeSync
The Honor 6X is a decently attractive device, so put it on display with a charging dock. This one from Belkin is made of aluminum and works with any smartphone that charges with Micro-USB. The charger itself also adjusts so that it’s always in line with the port.
See at Amazon
AUKEY Waterproof Case
The Honor 6X isn’t water resistant, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take it into the water. Grab this affordable waterproof pouch from AUKEY to take your smartphone with you out into the depths of the sea. The pouch is IPX8 certified, so you can submerge the phone with nary a worry.
See at Amazon
Sunnest MicroUSB Charger
Get a charging cord that can withstand all that life requires of you. The Sunnest Micro-USB charging cord is long enough to live in any outlet in your room and durable enough to be dragged through the dirt. It comes in a variety of colors, including a gold-toned one that matches the gold-hued Honor 6X. These charging cords also support fast charging and they come in a pack of three!
See at Amazon
AmazonBasics In-Ear Headphones
Need a pair of earbuds that work well and match your smartphone? A pair of AmazonBasics in-ear headphones will do the trick. These come in four metallic colors, three of which pair with each of the Honor 6X varieties quite nicely. The buds also feature a built-in microphone, along with a clip to affix them to your shirt and two extra earbud sets in the box.
See at Amazon
SanDisk Ultra microSDHC card
Good news! The Honor 6X isn’t limited to its 32GB offerings, which is great if you’re planning on packing away the data. The SanDisk Ultra microSDHC card is capable of up to 80MB/s transfer speeds and comes with an SD adapter, so you can use it in a camera or easily plug it in to a computer with the appropriate card slot. The microSD card is waterproof, temperature proof, shock proof, x-ray proof, and magnet proof. It’s available in seven different denominations.
See at Amazon
ICYMI: Boeing’s swanky new space suits and 3D-printable skin
Today on In Case You Missed It: Boeing debuted its next-generation flight suit that astronauts will be wearing aboard its Starliner CST-100 when the spacecraft takes off in 2018. They’re cooler, lighter and far more fashionable than the ones US Shuttle crews had to wear into space. Plus, who doesn’t want to look like Benny the blue LEGO space guy?
That’s not all, a team of Spanish researchers have announced that they can now “print” human skin from their prototype 3D bioprinter. Simple culture some cells, feed them into the printer and this thing will spit out functional human skin. If only this technology were around in 1990, Liam Neeson wouldn’t have had to go and kill all those folks who burned him alive.
And finally, we got your TL;DR right here, folks. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Porn doesn’t need a XXX hologram
In December, the internet exploded with news of a XXX hologram. CamSoda, a small adult-cam site was bringing a holographic cam girl to the 2017 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo. I had to see it for myself.
Decades of work have gone into the pursuit of true, full-color video holograms as sophisticated as Princess Leia’s cry for help in Star Wars. I didn’t expect a porn conference to be the place where more than a half-century of scientific research would bear fruit. But two weeks after CES, I was on my way back to Las Vegas for porn’s premier event. I was fully expecting an industry stuck in the past, but hoping for something more.
When I arrived, AVN CEO Tony Rios greeted me and quickly assured me that despite what I might have heard, the show was bigger and better than ever. He took us up to the “Real World” suite, where a 2011 season of the MTV show was shot. As we walked the halls, Rios hinted at the party that had happened there the night before. The suite had an AVN-branded bowling lane and a giant, raised en-suite bath. I had the strange sensation of being on the defunct set of an MTV reality show now serving as the late-night playground for porn’s biggest stars.
Wild nights aside, Rios showed no signs of fatigue as he defended the industry and the event. Not only was he expecting a record 25,000 attendees, but the Hard Rock had also built an entire new wing specifically for AVN’s adult-novelty exhibitors.
That might come as a surprise for those who’ve followed porn’s recent history. After the stock-market crash of 2008, reports of the industry’s demise became commonplace. A mix of a weakened economy, the growth of free tube sites, and an ongoing battle with online piracy crippled the Hollywood-style studio system of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.
According to Rios, reports of porn’s death were premature. All I had to do was hit the show floor to see that the industry had evolved. It was now more nimble, diverse and technologically advanced than ever.
“We’re going to continue to see huge growth in cams, and I’m excited to see what happens with VR,” Rios said. “It’s still in its infancy and, you know, a lot people think they know what’s going to happen, but I’ve been around long enough—you just have to wait and see what actually bubbles up to the top.”
That “see what bubbles up” approach is why I was at AEE to begin with. The holographic cam girl is one of a series of often-bizarre experiments to come out of CamSoda’s labs. CamSoda is a relatively new startup in an established and booming segment of adult entertainment focused on connecting users to entertainers through live video and chat. Like Snapchat, Twitter and Facebook, porn’s new heavyweights aren’t content creators first but social-networking platforms.
And like their mainstream counterparts, CamSoda realizes iteration is key. In the space of a year, it introduced live 360-degree sex shows, an “iTunes for blow jobs” and, most recently, OhRoma, a VR peripheral that lets you smell your porn. In talking about the hologram and the company’s more practical pursuit of 360-degree live video, CEO Daron Lundeen employs the Silicon Valley cliché, “fail fast, fail often.”
“We’re the site that’s gonna experiment,” Lundeen told me. “If you got a new idea, a new technology that’s out there, we want to grab it, and try it, and use it.”
Compared to other, more established cam sites, like AEE title sponsor MyFreeCams.com and Chaturbate, CamSoda’s booth is relatively small, but no less kinetic. Women in plunging CamSoda-branded bathing suits line a horseshoe-shaped arrangement of tables. Some of the site’s most successful models are here signing autographs and performing for audiences at home at the same time. To the right of the booth is a series of experiments from the CamSoda labs. The crown jewel, like some outsize precious stone, is an inverted, rotating glass pyramid that appears to have a tiny stripper trapped inside.
Pay no attention to the lap dancing woman behind the curtain …
This is the “hologram” that we’d been promised, but it isn’t a hologram at all. As I’d suspected, CamSoda’s “invention” is a take on a parlor trick called Pepper’s Ghost that first appeared in 1862. It employs a series of angled glass panels to give the illusion of a full-color, 3D hologram. It’s the same trick that’s given life to dead celebrities like Elvis and Tupac and given increased visibility to living legends like Al Gore, Mariah Carey and even the prime minister of India.
In order to make your own porno Pepper’s Ghost, you’ll need to shoot your subject from four different angles. Once you have the video, just position your glass pyramid on top of your iPhone and press play.
Illustration by D. Thomas Magee
Anyway, I’d come to Vegas to find the future of porn, and while I was pretty sure this wasn’t it, I was ready for my demo. I was introduced to Alexis Monroe, who would be transformed into my own private hologram performer. She gave me a hug and quickly ran back to a small, makeshift studio outfitted with green fabric and a series of four cameras that would capture her movements in real-time and display them on the four sides of the rotating pyramid on the show floor.
I was placed in front of a microphone, pointed directly at the display, with a vibrating saddle donning a fleshy silicone nub at my feet and a petite fuck machine thrusting into thin air just behind me. The microphone was meant to enable two-way communication but was useless due to the surrounding noise. I stood mostly still as I attempted small talk with Monroe, who writhed around a plastic folding chair. She was like a small, soft-core stripper version of the Wizard of Oz on mute. It was, by far, the most bizarre lap dance I’ve ever experienced.
When pressed Lundeen admits that his holograms are more gimmick than true technological breakthrough—something fun to draw people in. He says the real attraction isn’t the medium but the models, and that his real focus is on simultaneous 2D and 360-degree live video broadcasting. But, he says, the spirit of experimentation that drives CamSoda is exactly why porn has been at the forefront of so many technological trends.
“I think that’s where adult probably has a leg up on most other industries,” Lundeen said. “We can put something like the hologram together very quickly without a whole lot of red tape.”
A quick sweep of the Hard Rock revealed an industry that emerged from a crisis more nimble and focused on the future than I expected. Surviving pioneers like Hustler, Evil Angel and Penthouse bumped up against cam sites like MyFreeCams.com and Chaturbate that were either nonexistent or in their infancy when the industry tanked. Rios points to the growth of virtual reality at the show as a sign of its vitality. VR exhibitors at AEE 2017 were up to more than 20, nearly double the number in 2016, he says. By contrast, CES, the world’s biggest technology showcase, put its official VR exhibitor count at 70. It has seven times the number of attendees.
But the most striking change on display at AEE wasn’t inside a headset: It was everywhere, in the blue glow of a laptop screen. At the Hard Rock hotel, big-name stars like Joanna Angel and Nina Hartley were lost in a sea of fresh young talent. These women, coiffed with every color of neon and pastel hair, giggled into tiny desktop cameras, pursed brightly painted lips and pushed together barely covered breasts. They offered a new face of a business once stuck in a mirror image of mainstream media. Like tech giants Facebook and Twitter, the big names in porn are banking on live streaming video, and like the latest batch of social-media celebrities, there’s no formula for a successful cam model.
Before our interview ends, Lundeen tells me what’s next for CamSoda labs. There’s “the whole T. rex strategy,” which, from what I can tell is a plush mascot that crashes events and cam sessions, and a new character called POV guy, equipped with cameras, battery packs and a cellphone for live video capture and real-time chat. But the least sexy of the three is the one that caught my attention: live, mobile broadcasting. This is the future of porn.
Lundeen knows you have to give people what they want. What they want right now is a connection unencumbered by creative camera angles, cheesy scripts and big-budget sets.
The people want live, frictionless tits. But what’s new?
The Engadget Podcast Ep 26: The Sounds of Science
Managing editor Dana Wollman and senior editor Nathan Ingraham join host Terrence O’Brien on the latest episode. First Dana and Nathan face off in the latest installment of Flame Wars, tackling the latest news around Google Voice, struggling streaming service Tidal and the Note 7. Then all three will try to unravel the first week of Donald Trump’s presidency and what it means for science in particular.
Relevant links:
- Why is Sprint throwing money at Tidal?
- Sprint buys a 33 percent stake in Tidal’s music service
- With its Note 7 apology, Samsung finally gets something right
- Samsung blames two different battery flaws for the Note 7 fires
- Google Voice gets a long-overdue visual refresh
- Trump’s plans for the EPA will stifle scientific research
- Agriculture Department lifts USDA gag order after public outcry
- Scientists prepare their own march against Trump
- Trump administration freezes grants and contracts at the EPA
- National park tweets, then deletes, climate data after gag order
- Reuters: Trump admin telling EPA to pull climate change info
You can check out every episode on The Engadget Podcast page in audio, video and text form for the hearing impaired.
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