Facebook could launch two dozen ‘TV-like’ original shows in June

Facebook might be getting ready to make its video dreams a reality: According to Business Insider, the social network plans to launch two dozen original shows in June. Its no secret that the company has been looking for partners that can create unique programming since 2016 and even tapped CollegeHumor co-founder Ricky Van Veen to lead the effort. Van Veen previously admitted that Facebook is “exploring funding some seed video content,” including “original and licensed scripted, unscripted” shows, to add to its live sports programming for the website’s new Video tab.

In addition to Van Veen, Facebook also hired former MTV executive, Mina Lefevre, to spearhead the creation of original content, both scripted and unscripted. Lefevre is well qualified for the part after having worked on Teen Wolf, Scream and other MTV shows. Business Insider says Facebook, with the help of these two key individuals, has been looking for both longer, big-budget shows and shorter ones that are cheap to produce. Think House of Cards and Scandal for the premium ones and low-budget YouTube productions for the other.

The company has already given some of the ideas it was presented with the go-ahead to start filming and has reportedly signed up A-list celebs to star in some of them. Apparently, one of the programs it greenlit is a collaboration with Conde Nast, a dating show that would have people meet in VR before they meet in real life. In order to build a solid foundation for the effort’s launch, Facebook paid for these shows upfront. However, it plans to move to a revenue-sharing model by inserting mid-roll ads in the future.

While BI’s sources couldn’t give the publication a complete list of original shows, they at least gave us an idea of what they could be about. One of the sources said the social network is obsessed with capturing Snapchat’s audience, so it’s targeting them with a bunch of shows for teens.

Facebook declined to comment when we asked about the report, but it didn’t deny that it’s working on launching original programming. The company pointed us to some of its older statements, including this one from a spokesperson:

“As we shared last year, we are funding some seed video content from our partners, and are evolving the initial Live deals to include other types of video content we’d like to experiment with. We want to show people what is possible on the platform and we learn best from our partners. With this program, we hope to enable creativity and experimentation with video that is community-driven and takes advantage of the social interaction unique to Facebook. In the long-term, we expect to support partners through a rev share model, like Ad Break.”

It also pointed us to this old statement from Van Veen:

“Earlier this year, we started rolling out the Video tab, a dedicated place for video on Facebook. Our goal is to kickstart an ecosystem of partner content for the tab, so we’re exploring funding some seed video content, including original and licensed scripted, unscripted, and sports content, that takes advantage of mobile and the social interaction unique to Facebook. Our goal is to show people what is possible on the platform and learn as we continue to work with video partners around the world.”

Source: Business Insider

Hackers target French presidential candidate just before election

Why it matters to you

Hacking interference continues to be a threat to democratic elections all over the world.

Just two days prior to the presidential election in France, approximately nine gigabytes of hacked data related to centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron was published on Pastebin earlier today. In addition to email correspondence from professional and personal accounts as well as financial documents, the anonymous user that dumped the data mixed in a collection of fake documents; possibly in an attempt to confuse voters prior to the election.

Releasing a statement about the hack, a representative for Macron’s political movement En Marche! said “The En Marche! Movement has been the victim of a massive and co-ordinated hack this evening which has given rise to the diffusion on social media of various internal information. The seriousness of this event is certain and we shall not tolerate that the vital interests of democracy be put at risk.”

The leaked data appeared online late Friday night, specifically after the cutoff time which French candidates are barred from continued campaigning. Different from the United States, that ban continues until polls close on late Sunday evening.

Interestingly, the French presidential election commission announced that the media should be wary of publishing specific details about the hacked emails. They warned that publishing that information could potentially lead to criminal charges. The group is expected to meet on Saturday to further discuss the hacked data.

While the email hack is suspiciously similar to hacking activities that occurred during the U.S. Presidential election, the impact of the email release is unlikely to alter the course of the French election due to the short time period leading up to the end of the election. At this time, Macron is holding a sizable lead over far-right challenger Marine Le Pen. Recent polling indicates that Macron is leading Le Pen by more than 25 points, specifically attracting 63 percent of the vote over Le Pen’s 37 percent.

Touchable BlindPad puts visual information at your fingertips

This touchscreen tablet operates differently than your usual iPad, with 192 magnetic buttons across its 12 x 15cm surface. They can move up and down almost instantaneously to create patterns representing the layout of a room or other visual data and hold their position thanks to two steel plates inside the tablet or vibrate. That enables visually impaired users to “read” it with their fingers. Researchers at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) say it’s intended as a complement to a Braille display, or white canes with audio GPS embedded for navigation.

Source: EPFL

Nike is livestreaming an attempt to run a sub-2 hour marathon

While it’s Friday night here, three Nike-sponsored athletes are up early on a Saturday morning in Italy. The company has made it a quest to break the two-hour barrier for a marathon run, as Lelisa Desisa, Eliud Kipchoge and Zersenay Tadese go for that 1:59:59 time on the F1 track at Monza. You can watch live on Twitter or Facebook right now (we’re as shocked as you are that no network jumped to broadcast a two-hour run). They’re running with a pack arranged for maximum aerodynamic efficiency while following a Model S (no exhaust fumes) to find an optimal pace at an average of 4:34 for each mile. Sure, it’s no reusable rocket launch, but we’ll follow along with this potentially amazing feat from the couch.

Source: Nike

Facebook might launch its own premium TV shows next month

Facebook is going after Netflix and other streaming services with its own original programming. 

The social network, which has been focusing hardcore on video lately with a big push into live video broadcasts, 360-degree videos, stories, and auto-playing clips in the news feed, is reportedly developing about two dozen shows and plans to start premiering them in mid June, according to Business Insider. Some of the shows will even be longer, primetime-level shows like House of Cards on Netflix.

• Facebook Personal Fundraisers: What are they?

It’s also working on smaller shows, around 5 to 10 minutes each, which will be added to Facebook’s revamped video tab daily. There will even be a virtual reality dating show from Conde Nast. Other shows may feature A-list celebrities, too, with one major star already contracted in a deal. These new shows will presumably also be viewable through Facebook’s video app for the Apple TV and other set-top boxes.

• What’s the point of Snapchat and how does it work?
• What is Facebook Live, how does it work, and which devices support it?

Keep in mind Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s CEO, has mentioned in the past that he wants Facebook to evolve into a platform that offers “episodic content” – probably because it’s a way for Facebook to tap into the billions of dollars spent on TV advertising each year.

Unlike Netflix, however, all of Facebook’s original video content will be free to watch and share. 

Microsoft HoloLens becomes an AR assistant for spinal surgery

Since the HoloLens was introduced, Microsoft has pitched it as both a gaming peripheral and a practical assistant in the workplace. Professionals have already started using its augmented reality tech to help out, from building engineers donning it to visualize structural blueprints or Duke surgeons testing it during brain operations. Those were preliminary applications, but augmented reality software company Scopis has released a platform for HoloLens specifically to aid in spinal surgeries.

The Holographic Navigation Platform, as Scopis calls it, projects a mixed-reality overlay on the patient through the HoloLens during a surgical procedure. Surgeons can use it to track pedicle screws and use gestures to adjust virtual displays like a customizable HUD, keeping important numbers in their field-of-view.

Obviously, improving accuracy with Scopis’ 3D-positioning tech would likely reduce surgery time and invasive depth. But using visual overlay technology would also cut down on the radiation exposure that comes with the current spine-envisioning method of fluoroscopy. As we noted in the Duke tests, wearing the wireless HoloLens headset is far less cumbersome than prior mixed reality setups. But a private company betting on Microsoft’s AR system is another step toward integrating the tech into professional use.

Source: Business Wire

People actually crowdfunded this smart pillow

The connected home is getting out of hand. These days your mattress can do everything from keep tabs on your cheating spouse to start your coffee each morning. But why let the surface you sleep on have all the smarts when you can pay $300 for a pillow that knows when you’re sleeping and when you’re awake. Like Santa but from 1984.

Behold the Sunrise Smart Pillow from Mode Modern. It’s currently being via a Kickstarter that has septupled its $50,000 funding goal with nearly two weeks left in the campaign.

This thing is, in a word, ridiculous. There are more gizmos packed into it than Inspector Gadget’s chest cavity. Embedded color-changing LED lights flip on in the mornings to both rouse you from your slumber and display customizable wake up message. The pillow incorporates a gyroscope and accelerometer monitor how often you toss and turn. It plays wireless music through a Bluetooth connection as well as a variety of white noises. Heck, the Sunrise can even guide you through meditation sessions.

And, of course, all that data it generates gets fed back into its associated mobile app. Because obviously your pillow needs an app. It’s 2017, everything needs an app. The Sunrise pillow is currently discounted to $130 through the end of its crowdfunding campaign if you want to throw away only half as much money as you would two weeks from now.

Via: CNet

Source: Kickstarter

DT Giveaway: Enter to win an LG G6, then kiss your point-and-shoot cam goodbye

With the success of the LG G5, the LG G6 is a phone to have on your radar. With an impressively large 5.7 inch screen, the latest Android 7.0 Nougat baked in and two 13 megapixel cameras, there’s a lot of phone to love in a compact and easy to use package. Teaming up with LG, we’re giving three winners their own unlocked LG G6 in Platinum! Follow the link below to enter, then check out our full review of the G6 here.

*Three prizes. Contest limited to participants in U.S. only.

LG G6

Palit’s GTX 1080 Ti HOF graphics card will nearly match the Titan Xp in price

Why it matters to you

If price isn’t an issue for you, Palit’s GeForce GTX 1080 Ti graphics card surpasses the Titan Xp in performance.

After introducing new GeForce GTX 1080 Ti cards under its JetStream and GameRock brands, Palit Microsystems is serving up an overclocked limited edition GTX 1080 Ti card through its Galax and KFA2 labels: The Hall of Fame Limited Edition. The card was reportedly built from scratch with extreme overclocking in mind and will sell for more than $1,200 when it arrives at the end of May.

Here are the specs of the upcoming HOF Limited Edition card compared to Nvidia’s reference design and the GTX Titan Xp:

Nvidia GTX Titan Xp

Galax/KFA2 HOF Limited Edition

Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti

Graphics chip:
GP102
GP102
GP102
Manufacturing process:
16nm
16nm
16nm
Transistor count:
12 billion
12 billion
12 billion
CUDA cores:
3,840
3,584
3,584
Texture mapping units:
240
224
224
Render output units:
96
88
88
Base speed:
1,481MHz
1,645MHz
1,481MHz
Boost speed:
1,582MHz
1,759MHz
1,582MHz
Performance:
12.1 TFLOPS
12.6 TFLOPS
11.3 TFLOPS
Memory amount:
12GB GDDR5X
11GB GDDR5X
11GB GDDR5X
Memory speed:
11.4GT/s
11GT/s
11GT/s
Memory interface:
384-bit
352-bit
352-bit
Memory bandwidth
547.2GB/s
484GB/s
484GB/s
Max power usage:
250 watts
350 watts
250 watts
Price:
$1,200
~$1,200
$700

As the chart shows, Palit’s upcoming GTX 1080 Ti definitely cranks the performance up a notch with higher base and boost speeds. It will be slightly higher in price compared to the GTX Titan Xp card, which crams 256 more cores into the GP102 graphics chip. Palit’s card also appears to outperform the GTX Xp despite having a slightly smaller memory amount and memory bandwidth.

Overall, the Galax and KFA2 models appear to be identical outside their packaging. Both include one DVI-D port, one HDMI 2.0b port, and three DisplayPort 1.4 ports. They also have a HOF-branded anodized aluminum backplate to prevent the printed circuit board from bending and to increase the card’s cooling performance.

That said, both models ship with the Trimax cooler that comprises of three 90mm fans encased in a white shield. This shield also plays host to a nifty onboard display so users can quickly see the card’s real-time info such as the current speed, the temperature, the current driver version, and so on. Owners can also use the free Xtreme Tuner Plus software to program custom messages.

Highlighting this screen is the card’s HOF lighting system, which illuminates the center fan’s border, the HOF logos parked on each side of the display, and the three eight-pin power connectors. That is right: You need three eight-pin connectors to keep this overclocked card juiced given that the PCI Express bus does not provide enough electrical meat to feed this beast.

Based on the product pages, the illumination system features the full RGB spectrum and different lighting effects although the card appears to use the “breathing” effect out of the box. Palit suggests that users can “create your own gaming rig,” indicating that the illumination is customizable through the Xtreme Tuner Plus software.

Overclockers UK lists the KFA2 model now to pre-purchase for around $1,232. The product listing shows the card to feature several noise-reducing technologies, a 12-layer printed circuit board, and a two-slot height requirement. Palit suggests using a 600-watt power supply to handle the card.

Aerix Drones is bringing miniature drone racing to your living room, front yard

Why it matters to you

Drone racing is rapidly taking off as a sport. This Aerix Drones kit lets you organize your own races with buddies.

As summer approaches, you’re likely keeping an eye open for entertaining group activities that will push your house party over the edge in terms of greatness.

One possible idea  — miniature drone racing! If that sounds appealing, then popular dronemaker Aerix Drones want to help. With your party-hosting success in mind, it’s launching the Aerix Nano FPV Indoor Drone Racing Package, a kit containing everything you need to get your very own Tiny Whoop-inspired drone racing circuit up and running.

The kit comes with a pair of high-quality, first-person-view goggles, a ready-to-race drone, the necessary charging apparatus, and a series of glowing neon — or optional LED — race hoops for you to speed through.

The racing drone boasts four beefed-up motors for maximum speed and agility, plus an onboard 5.8ghz video camera and transmitter for putting you in the pilot’s seat. (That’s where the goggles come in). The tiny drone can travel at 25 miles-per-hour, although it looks a lot faster when viewed through its built-in miniature camera.

“The biggest challenge with tiny drones, especially tiny racing drones, is balancing power and flight time due to the weight of the batteries required to power the drones,” Robert Morrison, founder, CEO and head designer of Aerix Drones, told Digital Trends. “The 17,500kv motors we built the Nano FPV Drone with provide a perfect balance of power, speed and flight duration.”

By asking players to fly through 12-inch glowing racing hoops, the setup not only replicates the look and feel of larger-size drone racing courses, but also lets users customize their own tracks — including adding in friendship-destroying obstacles.

Right now, the only real limitation is a 3- to 4-minute flight time per battery, although Morrison said the team is working to improve on that time.

You only get one drone with the kit, meaning you’ll either be taking in turns to complete the course in time trial-type racing, or else you’ll have to buy multiple kits to get a maximum of eight drones racing against one another.

Shipping is set for May or June. The kit will set you back $250, although Aerix is currently offering a special pre-order price of $195.