ICYMI: Hyper directional sound guides runners

Today on In Case You Missed It: Malaysian sportswear company Ash Be Nimble has expanded their product line to include the Handbag Dyetonator, a fob-style accessory that will expel ink and smoke onto anyone who walks (or runs, or scoots) away with your bag. The Dyetonator attaches to a purse similar to a keychain and can be deployed via SMS message (so hopefully your phone wasn’t in that bag…) to mark a thief for easy identification. It also contains a GPS tracker, should the culprit succeed in getting away with your pocketbook. It’s still in early testing phases, and certainly isn’t foolproof, but the idea of a dye pack exploding on a thief is a satisfying thought, so hopefully this will eventually make it to market.

Meanwhile, a Swedish sound design company has come up with an inventive way to assist sight-impaired runners: Sound, or rather, “hyper directional sound.”. The company, Lexter, spent two years creating what is essentially an auditory flashlight which projects a narrow-band beam of sound to guide runners along a path. Should runners stray from their lane, the tones can guide them back into place. The system uses a pair of speakers to emit the tones, and given that some special olympic athletes have expressed interest, might be available on indoor tracks sooner rather than later.

As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @Dameright.

TBS, TNT launch new streaming apps and redesign old ones

Just a few years ago, Turner was newly entering live streaming game, promising TBS and TNT apps that would allow subscribers to watch across multiple platforms and screens. Now in 2017, it’s ready to “reimagine” the streaming experience with redesigned websites as well as apps for iOS, Apple TV, Android and Amazon Fire. New apps are extending to other platforms including Chromecast, Roku and Vizio’s Smartcast.

Of course, you’ll still need to be a subscriber to some TV package in order to get full access, but the apps will stream immediately to let viewers get a taste before they log in. Once viewers are all set, they’ll be able to easily pause and resume across different devices, and the networks say apps are on the way for game consoles and other connected TVs later this year. Finally, there’s also integration for something called Vizbee that is said to allow casting from a mobile device to connected screens without a special app or plug-in, although it’s not clear which platforms that will work on.

Source: Turner

Univision Now brings live and on-demand streaming to Roku

Hispanic US TV broadcaster Univision just got easier to find thanks to a hookup with Roku. The Univision Now streaming app is available on Roku boxes, Roku TVs from TCL and Roku apps on PCs or mobile devices. For $6 a month or $50 per year, users can stream live programming including telenovelas like Pasión y Poder, reality shows, awards shows and UniMás sports content including Liga MX and MLS fútbol.

Univision Now includes 2,000 hours of VOD content and 72-hour DVR functionality. If you’ve already got Univision via your cable TV subscription, you can also get all Univision Now content on a Roku device (or a smartphone, tablet or PC). Univision says its the “first among TV broadcast networks to promote the value of pay TV subscriptions by granting those subscribers easy access … in the same app.”

The company notes that it also offers the service through existing apps on iOS, Apple TV, Android and web browsers. You can also find some Univision content, including Liga MX mexican soccer, free on Facebook, of all places — as part of a trend that has social networks streaming live sports.

Source: Roku

Watch Microsoft’s Build 2017 day two keynote right here!

If you were bored during yesterday’s Microsoft Build livestream (here’s a catch-up of what happened), that’s entirely understandable. Aside from news that HP and Intel are building Cortana-powered devices and real-time translation for PowerPoint, there wasn’t much to latch onto. That should change today’s consumer focused keynote. And guess what? You can watch it all right here! We’re going to be live-blogging the event, so if you’re at work and video isn’t permitted, we’ve got you covered. It all kicks off very soon!

Click here to catch up on the latest news from Microsoft’s Build 2017.

Win a Huawei P10

Pocket-lint has teamed up with Huawei to bring you the chance to win a Huawei P10, a phone that brings beautiful hardware and the latest advances in software in one slim, cutting-edge design.

Featuring new Leica rear and front cameras, the P10 offers an unmatched photography experience with enhanced portrait features to produce artistic photographs in Leica image style.

Combined with the latest Kirin 960 high-performance processor, the Huawei P10 has the power to match its looks and photography excellence. In addition, to ensure that it is always topped up, the Huawei P10 comes complete with Huawei’s own SuperCharge technology and a large 3,200 mAh battery, meaning there is always plenty of power on tap.

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So for keen photographers who are on-the-go and need power and battery life to get them through their day, the Huawei P10 has it all.

All you’ve got to do to be in with a chance of winning, is answer one simple question. Entries for the competition must be in by the Midnight (GMT) on the 31 May 2017. Usual Pocket-lint terms and conditions apply.  

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Watch the highlights of NVIDIA’s GPU Technology Conference keynote

Under NVIDIA founder Jensen Huang’s iconic leather jacket is one of the tech industry’s sharpest CEOs — a man who can not only talk eloquently about GPU architecture, machine learning and the limits of Moore’s Law, but do so for hours without a strict script. It’s an impressive feat, but if you’re not well versed in the technology of server GPUs, his talks can be a little hard to digest. That’s why we cut Huang’s two hour GTC keynote into an easily digestible clipshow.

NVIDIA’s GPU Technology Conference may be mostly aimed at developers and businesses, but the company still had a few exciting things to show off, including Project Holodeck (no, not that project holodeck), NVIDIA’s take on high-end virtual reality teleconferencing. Still, most of the presentation was focused on how the company’s latest supercomputer GPU facilitates deep learning artificial intelligence — the kind of algorithmic wizardry that lets computers teach themselves how to identify and touch up photos, play golf and autonomously drive cars.

Interested in the details? You get the bulk of them in just under 13 minutes by watching the embedded video above.

Trump’s website wanted to collect your location data

A redesigned version of Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign website debuted on Tuesday morning, and with it came a new and problematic set of Terms & Conditions. According to CBS News, part of the new terms stated that the website “may… collect other information based on your location and your Device’s proximity to ‘beacons’ and other similar proximity systems.” That means the people who visited the website upon launch unknowingly agreed to have their info collected. Thankfully, its developer killed that part of the T&C after CBS News questioned its purpose.

Beacons are any Bluetooth-enabled devices like phones, and collecting your info based on how close you are to one is a tactic used by advertisers that send people targeted messages. The President’s website even said that if you want to opt out, you’ll have to switch your Bluetooth off when you visit. The term could’ve been put in place so the Trump team could send you messages when he starts campaigning for the 2020 elections, though it could have another purpose altogether.

Unfortunately, the website developer wouldn’t answer CBS News’ questions, but it’s a problematic term to agree to whatever the reason is. While a beacon only shows your general location, nefarious players could take advantage of the technology to track individuals. The publication says the website already pulled the language that pertains to beacons and location data. We just can’t confirm it because the Terms & Conditions link is currently deactivated. The good news is that the section was only up for half a day — hopefully, the website didn’t collect location data earlier than that.

Via: CNET

Source: CBS News

We’re giving away $500,000 to foster art and technology

Last summer something happened. Seemingly out of nowhere, a 21-year-old Japanese video game franchise became a 21st-century runaway hit with the help of the smartphone. After years of hype around the return of virtual reality, Pokemon Go leap-frogged VR and turned augmented reality into a household name. It was clear that we were ready for new ways of looking at the world.

With technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality and artificial intelligence finally reaching the mainstream, we’re on the cusp of a creative revolution. New mediums have given birth to a new class of artists, entertainers, filmmakers and musicians, limited only by their access to and understanding of technology. Despite this explosion in creative possibilities, however, artists, entertainers and technologists often exist in distinct, isolated worlds. Today, Engadget is doing its part to bring those worlds together.

On November 16th, 2017, we’ll bring together some of the brightest minds in art, entertainment and technology to explore the unique challenges facing today’s creative pioneers. With The Engadget Experience, a one-day event in the historic United Artists Theatre at the Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, California, we’ll attempt to bridge the gap between these often-disparate worlds, through a series of talks, interviews, screenings and installations.

But we’re not just paying lip service — we’re paying artists. To be specific, we’ve gathered a small committee of technology and art tastemakers to award five grants of up to $100,000 a piece toward the production of ongoing or original works addressing the theme of alternate realities.

We’ll select, fund and showcase works that demonstrate the potential of new, immersive mediums and give our audience the chance to engage, not only with the art but also with the people making it. A short documentary series, which will debut alongside those five projects at The Engadget Experience, will follow our committee as they bring the show together and the selected artists as they create their projects.

For more information on The Engadget Experience and the Alternate Realities grant program, visit our events page.

NASA’s mission to Mars includes a year-long stay on the moon

Some astronauts may spend a year orbiting cislunar space before NASA finally makes its way to Mars. At the Human to Mars Summit in Washington DC, Greg Williams from the agency’s human exploration division revealed the details of NASA’s two-phased plan to send humans to the red planet. According to Space, he said the first phase includes four manned flights to cislunar space in order to deliver a crew habitat, a science research module, a power source and an airlock for visiting vehicles. The whole installation could also have a robotic arm like the Canadarm2 with some autonomous functions. All those trips will take place between 2018 and 2026.

If everything goes well, phase 2 will begin in 2027. NASA will start by sending a Deep Space Transport vehicle to cislunar space, followed by the crew who’ll live in the habitat for a year. If you’ll recall, the agency asked six private corporations to design space vehicles for it as part of the NextSTEP program. Boeing conjured up designs for a transport vehicle and a habitat. We’re guessing they’re some of the candidates for what the agency plans to accomplish.

Future manned missions to Mars, which could happen in the 2030s, will then take off from the moon using the Deep Space Transport vehicle. Before any of these could take place, though, the agency has to finish building the Space Launch System (SLS) first, since it aims to use the massive rocket to launch those payloads. If the rocket’s development gets delayed even further, it could impact the plan, too, unless NASA decides to use the heavy rockets private space corporations are also building.

So, how much will going to Mars ultimately cost the agency? In the same event, Pascal Lee, director of the NASA-funded non-profit Mars Institute, said it could cost $1 trillion over the course of 25 years. It’s a “matter of opinion” and a “ballpark figure,” he said, based on the $24 billion the agency spent on the Apollo program for over a decade. That’s $197 billion in today’s money when adjusted for inflation.

Since Mars missions are expected to be a lot more complex than missions to the moon, he said you’ll have to multiply that amount “by a factor of 2 or 3.” That’s why Buzz Aldrin believes that to be able to go forward with the plan, NASA should hand over its ISS activities to the private sector ASAP, since it “simply cannot afford $3.5 billion a year of that cost.”

Source: Space, Conde Nast Traveler

Chatbot-Like Siri Patent Includes Intelligent Image, Video, and Audio Recognition Within Messages

A patent application published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office today details a new Apple service where users could make inquiries and talk with the company’s AI assistant Siri through Messages (via AppleInsider). The new patent is similar to a filing the USPTO published late last year, but now includes deeper integration with audio, video, and image files.

Similar to chatbots in Facebook Messenger and other texting services, Apple’s patent describes a Siri that could perform her current duties without the user having to speak aloud, which could be helpful in certain public situations.

The “Intelligent Automated Assistant in a Messaging Environment” could respond to text, audio, images, and video when sent to it by the user, which Apple said would result in “a richer interactive experience between a user and a digital assistant.” The patent gives a few examples of a conversation held between Siri and a user in Messages, with the user asking questions regarding calorie content in food, upcoming meetings, and even asking Siri to text a friend.

Interesting applications include a thread where a user texts Siri a picture of a car or a bottle of wine, and Siri sees the images and can intelligently respond to the user’s inquiries about them. For the car, the user asks Siri for details on pricing for a specific model using only an image, and Siri searches the internet and returns the relevant MSRP information.

The bottle of wine image is used as an example to show Siri’s memory functions, where a user asks Siri to remember their favorite wine, which she can resurface at a later date. Siri sees the wine image, reads the label, and can then respond to a user’s question in text format about the brand and even year it was made.

Other image-related inquiries include “Where is this place?” and “What insect is this?”, to which Siri would respond “This is the country Algeria” and “This is an earwig,” respectively. Audio and video could also be recognized by Siri, including simple Shazam-like questions related to songs and the content of shared videos.

Apple points out in its patent that thanks to the chronological format of texting, users would be able to “review previous interactions” with Siri, unlike how current Siri conversations disappear immediately after they conclude. Subsequently, Siri would be able to use that history to become smarter and “define a wider range of tasks.”

The messaging platform can enable multiple modes of input (e.g., text, audio, images, video, etc.) to be sent and received. As described herein, this can increase the functionality and capabilities of the digital assistant, thereby providing a richer interactive experience between a user and a digital assistant.

A digital assistant in a message environment can thus enable greater accessibility to the digital assistant. In particular, the digital assistant can be accessible in noisy environments or in environments where audio output is not desired (e.g., the library). Moreover, the chronological format enables a user to conveniently review previous interactions with the digital assistant and utilize the contextual history associated with the previous interactions to define a wider range of tasks.

The patent includes a description where Siri would be “a participant in a multi-party conversation,” allowing group chats to use Apple’s AI simultaneously. Apple gives an example where one user asks Siri to list nearby Chinese restaurants to begin making the group’s dinner plans, and then another user responds by asking Siri to whittle down the list to only include the cheapest places. One user’s personal Siri can even be asked to remind other participants of the upcoming dinner.

Apple is believed to be working on an “enhanced Siri” that might launch in iOS 11 this fall, but the exact specifications as to what would make the new Siri “enhanced” have never been divulged. A questionable rumor in March stated that deep Siri integration is coming to Messages in iOS 11, but the source of the news — The Verifier — doesn’t have a previous track record of reporting accurate rumors.

Chatbots are certainly growing in popularity so it wouldn’t be too surprising if Apple introduced some kind of text-based Siri interface, particularly considering the multiple patents the company has published on the topic. Still, as with all patents it’s best to look at Apple’s new filing as an intriguing insight into what the company might be working on for the future, rather than proof of an impending launch.

Tags: Siri, patent
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