This 8K ‘VR’ ride is the craziest thing I saw at SXSW

When I heard that several Japanese companies were getting together to show off an 8K VR ride at SXSW, I was instantly excited. I’ve spent a lot of time writing about 4K video, but haven’t had much time with 8K setups, let alone one in VR. After getting to the show, though, I learned it isn’t really a VR experience — it’s just taking place on a giant screen that fills up everything you can see. I quickly got over that slight disappointment after seeing the crazy rig powering the ride, which looks like something straight out of Disney World. As far as weird SXSW experiences go, this one takes the cake.

Japan’s NHK Enterprise, NHK Media Tech, RecoChoku and Victor Entertainment worked together to build the ride, which is meant to show off the possibilities of 8K video. NHK is already broadcasting a few 8K channels, even though TVs supporting the technology likely won’t arrive until 2020. The ride is powered by Wonder Vision’s Sphere 5.2 Immersive Screen, which uses hydraulics to pick up two audience members and fully immerse them in the screen. Backing the entire experience is the infuriatingly catchy song Tokyo Victory from the popular Japanese rock group Southern All Stars.

As I stepped into the ride, it felt just like climbing onto something you’d find at a theme park. After securing my seatbelt, I was lifted several feet in the air. It was at that point that I realized I wasn’t very secure in my seat, so I also spent much of the time holding on for dear life. The ride mostly consists of flybys of major Tokyo landmarks, but because it was projected in a brightly lit convention center, I couldn’t actually see much. I have a feeling the entire experience would have been significantly more rewarding if they just blocked out external light.

The bits I could actually see looked clear, but it was definitely not the best way to show off the potential of 8K. I’ve seen 8K demos at CES that look as clear as staring through a window. If these Japanese companies really want to see us on the idea of 8K, they should probably invest in some curtains.

Click here to catch up on the latest news from SXSW 2017.

NASA plans to make a telescope out of the Sun

As NASA astronomers peer further and further into space, they require ever larger and more powerful telescopes to do so. That’s why one team of researchers from the Jet Propulsion Lab have proposed using the biggest object in our solar system, the Sun, as a cosmic magnifying glass.

According to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, massive objects will bend the space around it and cause the path of objects traveling within that space — including light itself — to curve as well. And, under the right conditions, that light can bend just enough that it magnifies the view of space behind it. This is known as gravitational lensing and astronomers have leveraged its effect for years to help boost the visual prowess of our telescopes. We discovered the exoplanet Kepler 452b in this manner and that thing is hundreds of millions of light years away.

However, there are some technical challenges with this plan. As the JPL team explained during a presentation to NASA’s recent Planetary Science Vision 2050 workshop in DC, the observational instruments would need to be stationed 550 AU away from the Sun in order to focus its light accurately. 1 AU is the distance between the Sun and the Earth so 550 AU is smack dab in the middle of interstellar space. For reference, Voyager 1 is currently only 137 AU from Earth and it’s taken 40 years for the plucky little spacecraft to get there.

There’s also the issue of the Earth’s orbit. Depending on the planet’s position relative to the Sun and observational instruments, window for observing specific stars or sections of the sky could be extremely limited.

Despite these technical difficulties, the payoff for actually implementing this system would be huge. Currently, we have difficulty separating the exoplanet and its host star in our imaging. Like the TRAPPIST-1 shots that came out earlier this week, generally what you get is an amorphous blob of pixels. But with the Sun as a gravitational lens, telescopes equipped with starshade technology will be able to see the exoplanet itself.

Not only that, the magnification will be an order of magnitude better than what we can currently achieve. Rather than image a couple of pixels, we’d be able to capture 1000 x 1000 pixel images — enough to see a 10km square of a planet’s surface — from 100 light years away. The Hubble can’t even manage that when looking at Mars. The magnification effect would also drastically increase our ability to analyze the chemical makeup of atmospheres of distant exoplanets through spectroscopy.

So while the challenges of implementing such a system are daunting, the scientific rewards for doing so would be astronomical.

Via: Popular Mechanics

Source: Air & Space Magazine

Fossil’s smartwatches start receiving Android Wear 2.0

Fossil may have been a bit late to introducing Android Wear watches, but it’s one of the fastest out of the gate with the Android Wear 2.0 upgrade. The fashion brand has started rolling out Google’s latest software to its Q Founder, Q Marshal and Q Wander watches as of today. There are no surprises if you know what 2.0 brings, for better or worse. You’ll get the more intuitive interface, Google Assistant, a new Google Fit app and the option to download apps directly to your wrist. The bigger deal is simply that Fossil’s wristwear is getting the update so quickly.

While numerous manufacturers have promised Android Wear 2.0 upgrades for at least some of their models, Fossil is one of the few to have an upgrade already in hand — even TAG Heuer won’t offer 2.0 until the end of March. It also bodes well if you own a Michael Kors smartwatch, for that matter, since Fossil had already promised an upgrade for that timepiece. We wouldn’t buy a smartwatch just for speedy updates, but it’s something to consider if you’re on the fence about your choice of Android accessories.

Source: Fossil

Twitter hopes you want to watch live lacrosse

Good news — Twitter has landed another sports streaming deal! Only… it’s probably not what you were expecting. The social network has scored the rights to stream National Lacrosse League games for the 2017 and 2018 seasons in the US and Canada. The arrangement will offer you one game per week as well as playoff games and the Champion Cup series. The first game takes place March 17th at 7:30PM Eastern, when Colorado visits Toronto.

The deal may have you scratching your head at first. Wouldn’t Twitter want to focus on baseball, hockey and other more popular sports? It no doubt wants those deals, but this helps it corner an underserved market. As Variety explains, the NLL doesn’t have a national TV broadcast deal. There’s a real chance this is your only way to watch top-tier lacrosse without visiting an arena or subscribing to the league’s internet-only service. Even though there will only be small crowd tuning into lacrosse each week, that group is unlikely to head anywhere else.

Source: National Lacrosse League

Popular teen social app Wishbone hacked

Popular teen social networking app Wishbone was hacked, according to a report today from Motherboard. Now, millions of email addresses and thousands of cell phone numbers are circulating the internet, many of them from kids under 18.

Wishbone is one of the top 10 most popular social networking apps for iPhone in the US, according to analyst firm App Annie. It lets users vote on pop culture-based questions like whether they prefer Dominos or Pizza Hut, whether they prefer eyeshadow or eyeliner, or which Kendall Jenner outfit they like best. After picking a side, they get to see how their friends voted. Hackers apparently accessed the app’s database through an unprotected API and took an estimated 2.2 million email addresses and over 287,000 cellphone numbers, along with personal information like birthdates and gender. No passwords or financial information were stolen, Wishbone said.

Wishbone owner Science Inc. told Motherboard the security hole is now fixed, and offered an apology to users in the following statement:

We value your privacy and deeply regret that this incident occurred. Maintaining the integrity of your personal information is extremely important to us. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this incident may have caused you. We are continuing to investigate this matter and have taken and will continue to take appropriate action to prevent future similar incidents. Please be assured that we will keep you informed of any developments in the investigation that may be of importance to you.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Motherboard

LG’s UltraFine 5K Display Shielding Fix Successfully Addresses Wi-Fi Interference Issues

LG’s UltraFine 5K Display returned to the market earlier this month after LG made some changes to the display’s shielding following the discovery that the original design left the display vulnerable to interference from Wi-Fi routers and other electronics. The issue was a bit of a black eye for Apple, considering the company recently elected to exit the display market and instead partnered with LG on the new 27-inch UltraFine 5K and its smaller sibling, the 21.5-inch UltraFine 4K.

We purchased one of the original UltraFine 5K units back in December, with our model carrying a manufacturing month of November 2016 based on its serial number. LG has now provided us with a unit manufactured last month after the design revisions were put in place, and we’ve had a few days to compare the performance of the two units in the presence of Wi-Fi routers.

In day-to-day usage, we failed to see any issues with the original model, even with an AirPort Time Capsule located just three feet from the display, inside the two-meter radius LG recommended users should keep as a minimum once the company discovered the issue.

We were, however, able to induce the issue in the unit by bringing another Time Capsule into very close proximity with the rear of the display, causing it to flicker and disconnect from the host computer. The display sometimes reconnected to the computer on its own once the interference was removed, but other times it required that the Thunderbolt 3 cable be briefly unplugged or even the entire UltraFine 5K be power cycled before it would reconnect.

With the revised UltraFine 5K Display in hand, we’ve been able to subject both displays to side-by-side testing that confirms the issue has been successfully addressed. While the issue is easily reproducible on the original model as long as the Wi-Fi router is in close enough proximity, we were unable to recreate the issue on the revised model despite extensive efforts.

With Apple once again shipping the UltraFine 5K Display, new orders are currently showing in-stock availability in Apple’s U.S. online store, although Personal Pickup remains unavailable.

Apple’s discounted pricing on the display of $974 is scheduled to run through the end of this month, at which time the display will return to its normal $1299.95 price. Apple already extended its discounted pricing on USB-C and Thunderbolt 3 accessories once and it’s possible the promotion could again be extended, but for those who want to make sure they receive the discounted pricing, they should be sure to order by March 31.

Customers purchasing the UltraFine 5K Display, regardless of what vendor they use, should make sure they are receiving revised units to ensure they are protected from the Wi-Fi interference issue. The first three digits of the display’s serial number (visible on the exterior of the box) correspond to the last digit of the year and the two-digit month of manufacture, so buyers should look for serial numbers starting with 702 or 703.

Those who purchased earlier units may be eligible for repairs if their units are exhibiting the interference issue, and affected customers should contact LG or Apple for information on repair procedures.

We’ve arranged for a repair of our affected unit through the live chat option. Once the repair request is initiated it can take a day or two to receive a shipping label and repair details, and LG tells us it can take up to 7-10 business days for the actual repair once the display has been received at the service facility.

Related Roundup: Displays
Tag: LG
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Bing looks to dethrone Google as the search king (Review)

Overview:

Bing Search is the Microsoft equivalent of the Google app and features a search engine and a proto-web browser that allows you to utilize Bing to search the web in style.

Developer: Microsoft

Cost: Free

Impressions:

Bing is Microsoft’s answer to Google and it’s juggernaut of a search engine. Bing has some neat tricks that try to set it apart, and it prioritizes results differently than Google, trying to get the information most relevant to you near the top. The app itself is an attractive, smooth experience, as expected from Microsoft with their trend towards a modern metro UI. The main screen features a selection of categories for you to search in, as well as a large “Search” button. The search menu brings you to a familiar search page, with the option to search privately, as well as use your voice to search or identify music. The voice detection is solid, but the lack of Cortana, Microsoft’s voice assistant, is pretty disappointing.

The Bing search app also has a news crawl, that features cards of news from different categories that the app deems is relevant to you based on your search history similar to Google Now. The ongoing theme of this review is the comparison to Google, especially since it’s for Android. The question really boils down to how it compares to Google and it’s built-in integration into Android, and if it offers enough to really make you want to use it over Google at all.

1 of 4

I’d have to say no, it can’t really compete on Android with Google, simply because Google search is so deeply integrated into the OS that Bing just can’t offer the same convenience. Admittedly, the Bing results compared to my Google results of the same searches are fairly comparable, but not so much in Bing’s favor to really say I’d prefer it.

Bing also integrates the actually robust Rewards system, which gives you points for doing searches and completing challenges that you can redeem for real life prizes like gift cards. The Microsoft Rewards program is the best thing about Bing by far, with tangible rewards that I’d actually use just for searching on Bing.

Conclusion:

I will say that if you’re a hardcore Windows ecosystem user, who prefers Edge to Chrome and buys into the Windows Store and Cortana for your everyday use, then Bing is an excellent app. It’s well designed and slick looking while acting as a solid and very usable search engine and browser that saves your searches across platforms and provides curated content. The Rewards program is worth the price of admission alone, even if you only use it for that, it’s certainly not a bad reason to use Bing. Everyone likes free stuff that’s easy to get. At any rate, give Bing a look just to get a different flavor of search from your phone.

Download Bing Search on the Google Play Store

With Snapchat Bitmojis, you can now put your favorite friends on speed chat

Why it matters to you

Frequent Snapchatters can chat a bit more efficiently with a quicker way to access friends from the home screen or the Today screen.

Snapchat is making speed dial cool again with Bitmojis that look like your favorite friends. Officially launched March 14 in both iOS and Android updates, the new feature allows users to add their most frequently chatted friends to their home screen or the “Today” screen on iOS.

The new shortcut comes after Android users first noticed the feature last week, now available outside beta testing for both Android and iOS users. The feature makes it possible to start up a chat without having to open up Snapchat and dig through the interface to find a friend. The feature emerges from the company’s acquisition of Bitmoji last year that led to the possibility of creating sticker avatars in your own likeness.

More: Snap’s historic stock market debut turned its founders into multibillionaires

For Android, the update allows users to put their friends right on the home screen. After updating Snapchat, users just need to tap and hold in a free space on that screen. Selecting “widgets” from the options will now include Snapchat among the options. Android users can add up to four “speedchat” friends this way — and rearrange them to personal taste.

On iOS, the feature adds friends to the “Today” screen, the shortcuts and calendar reminders accessible by swiping to the right from the home screen. Once on that screen, users can scroll down and tap “edit,” then add the Snapchat widget and choose “Snapchat best friends.” That iOS home screen can also be reorganized by tapping and holding the three lines to the right of existing widgets, then dragging them into the desired order.

The update brings the iOS version to 10.4.0.0 and the Android option to that same number. According to the Google Play Store, the update also brings with it a few bug fixes.

Snap Inc. went public earlier this month after rebranding itself in the fall as a camera company. The popular chat app is also inspiring some of the competition, with variations of the platform’s Stories (or a sort of status update that disappears like Snapchat messages) re-imagined inside Facebook and Instagram.

Put a frame on it: These award-winning science photos could hang in an art gallery

Why it matters to you

By promoting science as an art, Wellcome aims to create interest and discovery in odd places

3D printing, medical scanners, and computer generated imagery may appear at first to have nothing in common with paintbrushes, cameras, and sculpting tools — that is, until you see the winning shots from the 20th annual Wellcome Image Awards. The contest celebrates the best science images from around the globe, from the more traditional photographs taken with an actual camera to 3D sculptures lit with a myriad of light to visualize how the brain processes language.

The winning images, announced earlier this month, cover a range of mediums, from microscopes to computer generated imagery (CGI). The contest organizers said the 2017 winners cover a wider range of imaging technology than the contest has ever seen in its two decades of exploring scientific imaging.

More: These 10 extreme microphotographs offer an artistic look at a small world

The images are often scientifically significant, yet are just as awe-inspiring as a painting — and in fact, this year’s list includes a painting of Nobel laureate and neurobiologist Levi-Montalcini. While the contest includes a number of shots from microscopes and medical scanning, one experiment even dabbled into sociology, turning the Tweets with the hashtag #breastcancer into a stunning visual of how those 140 character (or less) thoughts are connected.

“The Wellcome Image Awards continuously uncovers striking images that open up a world of science often hidden to the naked eye,” said Fergus Walsh, contest judge and BBC medical correspondent. “There is a spectacular array of images here which will draw the public in, make them wonder and make them ask questions about things they’ve never even imagined.”

All 22 winning images were selected over the past year from the Wellcome Image’s picture library by the nine-member judging panel. Wellcome is a global organization currently funding 14,000 researchers worldwide, with ideas from medical advancements to social sciences. The images will be a part of gallery displays across Europe, the UK and Africa.

“It’s now 20 years since the first Wellcome Image Awards and we continue to be surprised and delighted by the range of extraordinary images we receive each year. We are thrilled that they will be displayed across the UK and abroad so that people can come and explore the stories behind these stunning images,” said Catherine Draycott, the head of the Wellcome Images program.

New Android Wear watches could give the smartwatch industry a boost

Why it matters to you

Smartwatches aren’t dead yet. If recent projections are to be believed, they may come back in style this year.

It’s been a common refrain for almost a year, now: The smartwatch industry died before it hit its stride. Case in point? Market analysts at IDC reported that Apple, one of the most successful smartwatch makers on the market, saw sales of its eponymous Apple Watch fall from 3.9 million in 2015 to just 1.1 million in mid-2016. But if rosier projections turn out to be true, smartwatches and wearables might finally come around over the next few months.

According to a new report from Canalysis, people will buy 18 percent more smartwatches in 2017 than they did the previous year, driving total annual sales to rise to $10 billion. Specifically, the firm expects shipments of as many as 28.5 million smartwatch units this year, and a subsequent decline in sales among traditional watchmakers.

More: The best smartwatch you can buy

Overall, Canalysis expects that the value of the smartwatch market will hit about two-thirds of the traditional Swiss watch market by the end of 2017. That’s despite the fact that the average price of smartwatches is projected to increase.

The firm predicts most of the growth will be driven by increased sales of Android Wear smartwatches. Several, including Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer’s Connected watch, will launch at the watchmaker conference Baselworld 2017 in late March.

“Watchmakers’ survival will depend on creating competitive smartwatches,” Canalysis analyst Jason Low said in a statement with the report. “Forming partnerships with competitive companies will be the first step. A well-formulated strategy to sell a watch will play a larger role as watchmakers have to appeal not only to watch fans, but consumers who are yet to buy a wearable.”

More: People are not buying as many smartwatches, but the Apple Watch still reigns supreme

Not not everyone is convinced the smartwatch market is primed for a turnaround, though.

Projections from eMarketer are much glummer. The firm expects smartwatch usage this year to reach about 40 million U.S. adults, far short of its initial estimate of 64 million. It blames the new projections on the high cost of smartwatches and a lack of well-defined use cases.

“Before Apple launched its Watch, fitness trackers dominated the wearables space, and consumer surveys consistently found that tracking health and fitness was the main reason people were interested in wearables,” Cathy Boyle, an eMarketer analyst, said in a note to investors. “They also reported high price sensitivity. Without a clear use case for smart watches — which have more features than fitness trackers, but significant overlap with smartphone functionality — the more sophisticated, expensive devices have not caught on as quickly as expected.”

Time will tell who’s right. But one thing’s for certain: Smartwatch makers haven’t given up hope yet.