Found a piece of furniture you like? Take a picture and GrokStyle can find it
Why it matters to you
When the GrokStyle app comes to the market, the world becomes a giant catalog for your shopping pleasure.
Remember that time you were over at your friend’s place? You saw a cool chair or table and asked them where they purchased it, only to find that they can’t remember? It’s a scenario that everyone has been in one time or another. What if you could finally get those answers by taking a simple photo of the furniture in question?
GrokStyle is a company that is working on an app that recognizes objects in a picture. Founded by Sean Bell and Kavita Bala, it uses a deep learning technology to learn visual similarities among products so it can find what you are looking for.
More: DigitalBridge lets you visualize paint, furniture, and more in your home
“GrokStyle basically gives you a buy button that answers questions like ‘I want that, what is it, where can I buy it?’ Then it also answers some follow-up questions like ‘what goes with that object and how do I use it in my home?’ We want to respond to all of these different questions using computer vision,” Bell told the Cornell Daily Sun. “You can take a picture on your phone or find it online and that will get into our system.”
The system works by using a deep neural network and algorithms to read an image. It processes it with many layers to predict a visual fingerprint. This fingerprint is nothing more than a list of numbers that represent vectors, but a large-scale search compares it with millions of other images that look similar. “Because we’re so accurate, the things that are most similar are mostly the same product,” Bell continued.
For now, GrokStyle will remain focused on identifying furniture due to its common structure and characteristics. In the future, Bell hopes to expand their outreach into other areas. Clothing is the logical next step, but that can be difficult since it changes shape when it is worn. This makes it difficult for computer vision. “We are planning on moving into fashion and starting with products where fit is less of an issue,” says Bell. “For example, handbags, shoes, and accessories.”
Currently, GrokStyle is still only available in demo form for select users, but people may contact the founders through their website.
Instagram’s new gallery feature lets you showcase up to ten photos and videos
Post more than one memory at a time without overloading your followers.
Ever wanted to post a bunch of pictures in a row on Instagram, but felt too bad about inundating timelines? Instagram’s new gallery feature lets you attached up to ten photos or videos to a post to share multiple scenes from a memory with your friends and family.
The new feature is easy to use. Simply tap on the “Select Multiple” option when creating your post and then tap up to ten existing photos or videos from your gallery. When you’re finished, Instagram will publish the post to your timeline with a small dotted indicator bar on the bottom of the photo to lets your followers know there’s more to see if they swipe left.
The update is available today for Instagram on Android. If you haven’t seen the update already, you can grab it directly from the Google Play Store.
BLU Life Max: All the phone you could want for £90?
Blu is a company renowned for building very affordable smartphones without too many compromises in performance and quality. Granted, they never quite compete with the best phones out there, but they certainly push the limits of what you can expect for your money. At no time has that been more true than now, with the arrival of the Blu Life Max, which is currently available on pre-order in the UK for just £89.99.
From a design standpoint, there’s nothing entirely remarkable about the materials and finish used by Blu. As you’d expect, it’s built predominantly from plastic, but the screen is coated in a protective glass which is slightly rounded towards the edges.
The back features a removable plastic battery cover, finished with a grippy texture and fake stitching which reminds us very much of the finish on some of Samsung’s older devices. In fact, it’s almost identical to the texture and design of the Galaxy Note 4’s back cover. It’s just as thin and bendy too.
Pocket-lint
Perhaps the biggest surprise is that Blu has included a fingerprint sensor, which isn’t something you’d expect to see in a phone that costs less than £100. But it’s there, and it works. Although it it can be a little tricky to press your finger on since the back cover doesn’t sit completely flush with the edges of the sensor.
There’s a large 5.5-inch screen on the front of the device, with a 720p standard HD IPS panel. It’s not the sharpest display around, but the content sits close to the surface and it’s generally pretty bright and colourful, all things considered.
As you’d predict based on the price, there are compromises on the internal componentry side in a £90 phone. Apart from the 720p screen, the phone also has a bare minimum 2GB RAM and 16GB storage, although you can boost that using a microSD card up to 512GB. There’s also a mid-range quad-core processor from MediaTek, and an 8-megapixel main camera.
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Perhaps the one specification that does impress is the battery capacity. With a beefy 3,700mAh of battery juice – and considering all the other components and screen resolution – we could be looking at a phone that easily makes it through two days of use. Especially with Android Marshmallow’s battery optimisations on board.
Blu is due to launch the Life Max on 6 March for £109, but if you want to snag one for less, you can buy the newest affordable Blu phone for just £89 if you pre-order from the company’s Amazon page.
Instagram albums: How to share multiple pics and videos in one post
Instagram is completely different now.
On 22 February, the photo-sharing app introduced a feature: the ability to share multiple photos and videos in a single post. You can combine up to 10 pics and videos in an album-like post and swipe through to see them all. It’s perfect for when you want to show off a set of pics from a party, or maybe even a step-by-step tutorial on how you made some cake. Here’s everything you need to know about this feature.
- Finally! You can now save Instagram posts to revisit later – here’s how
Instagram: How do multiple pics and videos work in the feed?
In your feed, you’ll see multiple photos and videos in a post when there is a row of blue dots below the shared “album” post. You can swipe to see the rest of the pics or videos that have been shared — and the same goes for any you may share. On your profile, you’ll see the first pic or video from a post with in the top right. Just tap the post and then swipe to view the rest of the pics and videos in it.
Instagram: How do you share a post with multiple pics and videos?
You can upload up to 10 pics and videos and share them as a single post. Just tap +, then tap Library at the bottom of the screen, followed by the stack button, and select pics and videos from your phone’s library. After, adjust how each pic or video is cropped (tap it, then touch the screen to adjust), and when you’re done, tap Next. You’ll then be able to add a filter or edit each pic or video, per usual.
You can also change the order of which they appear in the post. To change the order of multiple pics and videos, while editing the post, just tap and hold one and drag it to another spot. If you’d like to remove a pic or video from your post, tap and hold one, then drag it to at the top of the screen. This all has to be done before posting, and like always, you can add a location and caption and tag people.
Once everything is set, tap Share. Posts containing multiple videos may take longer to upload. Instagram recommends that you’re connected to a reliable network when sharing them.
Instagram: Can you comment on a post with multiple pics and videos?
You can like and comment on a post with multiple pics and videos — just like a regular post. However, they appear on the entire post, rather than on the individual pics and videos included in the album.
Instagram: When will this be available?
This new feature is available as part of Instagram update 10.9 for iOS and Android . It is rolling out now.
Want to know more?
See Instagram’s help center or Pocket-lint’s tips and tricks guide.
Microsoft reveals another Windows 10 major update will arrive late 2017
Microsoft has quietly confirmed it is working on another Windows 10 update, and it will arrive later this year, following the Creators Update. The company hinted last summer that it would release two major Windows 10 updates in 2017. We know that the first update is the Creators Update, which is currently being tested by Windows Insiders (aka beta testers), but we haven’t heard anything about the second one. Until now. During Microsoft’s Ignite conference in Australia, Microsoft provided a basic timeline for the second Windows 10 update.
- Microsoft Windows 10 Creators Update: What’s new?
Microsoft
OnMSFT spotted a presentation slide that seems to suggest the update will be made available later this year, and it has a “production” date of 2018 for enterprise customers, meaning that’s when you can expect businesses to start rolling out the update themselves. Microsoft has not yet announced any features, but keep in mind the Creators Update hasn’t even released yet. That’s due out in April.
The new People bar feature has been cut from the Creators Update, so it’ll probably be folded into the upcoming second update. The second update may also usher in a new “Project Neon” redesign. Expect to hear more about all this at Microsoft’s Build 2017 dev conference in May.
You can see the timeline slide in the 23-minute mark, when Microsoft discusses the “two [releases] that we intend in shipping in 2017.”
Watson can diagnose heart disease by looking at medical images
IBM’s Watson technology has helped doctors before, but usually by poring through databases before offering its advice. Now, it’s ready to look at the patients themselves — or rather, their body scans. It’s following up on past promises by launching Watson Clinical Imaging Review, its first picture-based cognitive computing solution. The AI platform can sift through ultrasounds, x-rays and other medical data to both fill out health records and identify patients who might need critical care.
The imaging tech will first be used to diagnose patients with aortic stenosis, where the heart’s aortic valve narrows and constricts blood flow. Watson will combine heart imagery with medical records to spot patients who might need follow-up treatments. The approach will eventually expand to cover heart attacks, heart muscle disease, deep vein thrombosis and valve disorders.
IBM won’t make the solution widely available to health care facilities until later in the year, but it’s hoping that the impact will be worth the wait. In a chat with Mashable, the company’s Anne Le Grand says that Watson promises to improve both the quality and consistency of diagnoses. Both patients and doctors won’t have to worry so much about issues going unaddressed until they become urgent.
Via: Mashable
Source: IBM
Windows 10’s Mail and Calendar app finally gets a Focused Inbox
Taking a cue from Outlook on iOS and Android, the Windows 10 Mail & Calendar app is getting a few new features that might actually make desktop email manageable again. The latest version now includes an intelligent Focused Inbox, plus a new mentions system to help users find what’s really important in those long email chains.
Like the mobile versions of Outlook, the Mail & Calendar app learns which emails you’re likely to either read or reply to and filters the important ones into the Focused Inbox. Everything else gets filed away in the the easy-to-neglect “Other” tab. The filters can also be tweaked by manually flagging a message for one inbox or the other.
As for the mention system, users can now tag each other in an email by typing the @ symbol to bring up a list of contacts, similar to how the web version of Outlook currently works. Selecting a contact adds that person to the chain and will highlight their name in the body text so they can see exactly where in the chain they’ve been mentioned. Users can also filter their emails to search for ones where they’ve specifically been tagged.
On the calendar side, the app is also getting intelligent travel reservations and packaged delivery reminders based on your emails, as well as some new color categories and the ability to subscribe to popular calendars like holidays and sports schedules.
Microsoft says the new features are currently rolling out to Mail & Calendar users with Office 365 and Outlook accounts over the next few weeks, and that they’ll be bringing the same features to third-party email accounts in the near future.
Source: Windows Blog
Caltrain asks White House to reverse high-speed rail funding cut
After Republicans successfully lobbied US Transportation secretary Elaine Chao to halt approval of a $650 million dollar grant for an electrification project that would have laid the groundwork for a high-speed rail network, Caltrain is asking the public for its support in getting that decision reversed.
Specifically, Caltrain launched a White House petition on Monday, requesting that the President allow the project, which would generate an estimated 9,600 jobs, to continue as planned. The electrification project is currently on pause after the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) decided that it needs “additional time to complete review of this significant commitment of federal resources.” Unfortunately, Caltrain has already signed binding agreements to begin work in earnest on the project by the start of March and the penalties associated with missing that deadline are severe enough to derail the entire project.
Please sign the White House petition urging the President to save Electrification & 9,600 jobs. #StandWithCaltrain https://t.co/QthSSNZQoT pic.twitter.com/Zpg72Co4q1
— Caltrain (@Caltrain) February 20, 2017
The petition has so far generated just under 3,500 signatures — it requires 100,000 by March 20th to make it to the president’s desk. Though there’s no guarantee that he’ll do anything with it when it does.
Via: CurbedSF
Source: WeThePeople.gov
ColorWare is Now Selling Apple’s AirPods in 58 Colors if You’re Willing to Pay $289
ColorWare, a company that custom paints Apple products, today announced that it is now accepting orders for Apple’s AirPods, which can be purchased from the site in range of different colors.
For $289, a $130 premium over the $159 price of the AirPods, ColorWare will paint them in one of 58 different shades, from solids to metallics in every color of the rainbow. A deep glossy black is also an option, giving customers who have been wanting a “Jet Black” set of AirPods a way to get it.
Each AirPod can be painted in a different shade, and for an extra $30, ColorWare will also paint the AirPod Charging Case. Along with a custom color, users can also choose a matte or gloss finish, for a set of AirPods that are totally unique.
To paint various products, ColorWare fully disassembles them and carefully custom paints each individual component. On its Twitter account, ColorWare says developing a process for the AirPods was “FAR from easy.”
It was FAR from easy, but we made it happen! AirPods now come in your choice of 58 colors: https://t.co/9ukve4qGKe #WeDidIt pic.twitter.com/suvrPPoazy
— ColorWare (@ColorWare) February 22, 2017
The total price for a fully customized set of AirPods plus case is $319, which is about double the price of a plain white set of AirPods purchased from Apple. In addition to shelling out quite a bit of money for a custom set, those who order AirPods from ColorWare will also need to wait for approximately six weeks for their order to arrive. ColorWare often lets customers send in their own devices to be painted, but this isn’t currently an option with the AirPods.
Because $319 is a lot of money to shell out for an accessory, ColorWare does offer paint samples so users can test colors out before placing an order. Each set of three paint samples costs $15.
All ColorWare work is guaranteed for 12 months, and 24 months with the purchase of an additional warranty. Returns are available for the first 30 days but are subject to a 25 percent restocking fee.
ColorWare paints a range of devices, from iMacs and MacBooks to Apple accessories like the Magic Keyboard and the Magic Mouse 2. The company also paints other accessories, like game consoles and headphones (including Beats), plus it offers a range of skins for products like the MacBook and iPhone.
Tags: AirPods, ColorWare
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Latest Chrome Canary Build Includes Support for MacBook Pro Touch Bar
The newest build (58.0.3020.0) of Chrome Canary, Google’s experimental browser, includes support for the Touch Bar built into the 2016 MacBook Pro, indicating Touch Bar support will soon be added to the Chrome browser.
On the Touch Bar, the current Chrome Canary build offers a search/URL bar, forward and back buttons, a refresh/stop option, a button for opening a new tab, and a button for adding a new bookmark.
It’s much a simpler implementation than Touch Bar support in Safari, which includes preview tabs for quickly switching between windows. There are also no controls available for video or music playback in the browser.
Features are tested in Canary before being added release builds of the Google Chrome browser, so Touch Bar support is expected in Chrome 58, set to be released during the week of April 25th.
Those who want to give Touch Bar support a try ahead of the release of Chrome 58 can download Chrome Canary from Google.
Tags: Google, Chrome
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