Twitch vs. YouTube Gaming: A ‘Destiny 2’ snapshot

YouTube Gaming hit the ‘net in August 2015, promising to compete with the live-streaming world’s dominant force, Twitch. Two years later, both sites have evolved. Twitch offers a raft of non-gaming streams — including anime and ’90s-TV marathons, cooking shows, and creative corners — plus it instituted an in-chat tipping system and enabled game sales directly on individual channels. Twitch has its own bustling economy.

Meanwhile, YouTube Gaming produced live shows, reorganized its UI a few times and rolled out “sponsorships,” allowing viewers to send cash to streamers each month.

Today, YouTube Gaming is dragging behind Twitch when it comes to actual viewer numbers, as demonstrated by the hottest new release: the open beta for Destiny 2. The beta went live on July 18th and it’s been a hot topic across the video game community, with dedicated fans clamoring to consume every shiny new weapon, map and mode. Destiny 2 represents big-budget, AAA games with massive audiences — the gaming industry’s bread and butter. So, how is it faring on the two largest live-streaming sites?

Just before 2PM ET today, the most popular Destiny 2 live stream on Twitch had 6,986 viewers, followed by one with 3,641. At the same time on YouTube Gaming, the top stream had 390 viewers, followed by a stream with 263.

Viewers are crucial to the live-streaming giants, but they aren’t everything. YouTube Live, the hub that houses YouTube Gaming, is actually growing faster than Twitch when it comes to the number of streamers on each site — much faster.

As reported by Streamlabs, the number of monthly active broadcasters on YouTube Live grew by 330 percent between November 2016 and March 2017, while that figure was just 19 percent for Twitch. In March, YouTube Live had a total of 76,179 monthly streamers, while Twitch hosted 259,861. But, notably, YouTube Live added 8,331 new broadcasters in that same time frame, while Twitch snagged only 3,363.

Twitch has been around in its current form, more or less, since 2011, meaning slower growth is expected. However, being the OG video-game-streaming site has definite advantages, especially when that’s paired with financial and structural support from Amazon. Twitch has taken control of its in-stream economy, responding to third-party tipping services like Revlo with built-in options for paying streamers, and expanded support systems for the site’s middle class of broadcasters. All of this means Twitch streamers are raking in far more money than folks on YouTube Gaming, at least when it comes to live content.

Twitch was responsible for 96 percent of all the tips generated on both sites in Q1 2017, with $22.55 million. YouTube Live, meanwhile, generated $940,000. Of course, Twitch had hundreds of thousands more streamers than YouTube Live — and this figure was calculated before Twitch rolled out out its Bits economy in June 2016.

Both sites have a history of learning (and stealing ideas) from each other, though YouTube’s main focus is still recorded video — and it is the undisputed champion in this space — while Twitch is miles ahead in the live-video market. Much like election polls, the Destiny 2 beta offers a snapshot of live-streaming life on Twitch and YouTube Gaming. It does not suggest either endeavor is failing or succeeding on its own, but in conjunction with historical data points, it offers a glimpse into these competing communities as they attempt to cash in on the most popular new title around.

‘Terminator 2’ UHD Blu-ray comes with a life-size robot arm

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is one of the best action movies of all time. It’s also consistently been a great piece of reference material for home theater geeks who like showing off just what their fancy audio and video gear is capable of. Well, this fall writer-director James Cameron’s classic will be released on UHD Blu-ray. With it comes HDR video, a new 4K restoration and, if you feel like dropping $175, a life-size T-800 endoskeleton arm replete with Cameron’s signature. Yep, like the one John and Sarah Connor tossed into a vat of molten steel at the movie’s end.

If you can’t justify picking up one of the 6,000 that’ll be produced (which is entirely understandable), there will be $23 combo pack with the UHD Blu-ray, HD Blu-ray and a download code. Both versions come with a new documentary featuring Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger (“Uncle Bob”), Edward Furlong {“John Connor”) and other cast members.

Sure, $180 is a high price to pay for a tchotchke, but if you slept on the last time there was a T-800-styled special edition, it’s actually a bit less expensive. The six-disc Blu-ray edition with a chrome skull is currently going for $330 on Amazon from third-party sellers. Practice telling that to your significant other now, and by October 3rd you might actually have a shot at convincing him or her the UHD set is a worthy investment.

Via: IGN

Source: Blu-ray.com

Elon Musk implies SpaceX won’t land Dragon capsules on Mars

In February, SpaceX admitted its plan to shoot its Dragon capsule (without people) to Mars by 2018 was a little too ambitious, and bumped up the launch date to 2020. But it seems that approach was too uncertain for NASA’s — and Elon Musk’s — strict safety standards for a Martian landing. Today, the SpaceX founder suggested that the “Red Dragon” project is done and the current capsule won’t be used for propulsive landings on the red planet. But don’t worry — the he’s got a better plan that the company’s cooking up for its next interplanetary hardware proposal.

SpaceX aspired to land its Dragon capsule on, well, land, using thrusters to descend instead of parachuting into water. On a rocky, sea-less planet like Mars, this was a crucial approach. At today’s International Space Station Research and Development Conference, Musk admitted that the Dragon won’t be used in this capacity: It would take far too much effort for the capsule to meet safety standards.

But Musk noted that the company has come up with a better plan for landing on Mars. It will fold it into SpaceX’s next generation of Mars landing systems, which should be announced soon. Until then, all we know is it will be “more affordable” and slightly smaller, according to Ars Technica.

Source: Ars Technica

Hulu Gains 3,000 New TV Episodes Through 20th Century Fox Deal

Hulu today announced a new distribution deal with 20th Century Fox, which will see almost 3,000 new episodes of popular Fox dramas and comedies added to Hulu’s streaming service.

Hulu has obtained streaming rights to every episode of long-running hits like How I Met Your Mother, Burn Notice, Bones, and Glee, along with all 11 seasons of M*A*S*H and the complete NYPD Blue library. A list of some of the shows coming is below:

Hit Comedies: How I Met Your Mother, Raising Hope, The Bernie Mac Show, Better Off Ted, Reba, Life in Pieces

Long-Running Dramas: NYPD Blue, Bones, Glee, Burn Notice, White Collar, The Practice

Iconic Series: M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues, The Bob Newhart Show

Fan Favorites: Don’t Trust the B–in Apartment 23, The Grinder, Blue Collar, Saving Grace, Lie To Me, Graceland

Cult Hits: Dollhouse, Wilfred, The Glades

The deal between Hulu and 20th Century Fox is an expansion of an agreement that has seen Hulu gain shows like Bob’s Burgers, American Dad, Futurama, The Cleveland Show, This Is Us, Emptire, Homeland, and more.

According to Hulu, the new titles will be added to the service ofer the course of the coming weeks.

Tag: Hulu
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Nest’s overpriced IQ camera highlights the faults of facial recognition

Nest burst onto the scene with a thermostat that was easy to use, had a slick interface, came with actual smart features and didn’t look like someone just taped an off-white box to your wall. It followed that up with a less exciting, but possibly more important smoke and carbon monoxide detector. Then instead of building its own camera, it bought Dropcam, changed the name added some cloud features and tada, the Nest Cam.

That last one is important because it gets most of Nest’s update love. There’s the “original” Nest Cam (basically the DropCam with a new name), an outdoor version and now the new Nest Cam IQ. It’s supposed to be the smarter camera in the line up. It houses an HDR 8-megapixel 4K sensor that outputs 1080p images. The speaker and microphone are better with noise reduction and louder output. The $300 camera even has a six-core processor to round out the impressive hardware inside. But it’s the software and face/human detection system that Nest wants to impress you with.

The IQ’s ability to see people and recognize faces is the camera’s big feature. Previous versions of the Nest Cam could (mostly) recognize when a person entered the field of view. The IQ expands upon that with facial recognition. After your initial setup, the companion app will start pinging you about faces it sees and asking if it’s someone you know. This is where it gets… interesting.

Nest warned that false positives would occur if the camera was facing a TV or a mirror. But if that was unavoidable, just turn it off while you’re in your house using the feature that notes when you’re at home or away. And that, right there, is the problem with facial recognition. If it can be fooled by an episode of Game of Thrones or in my case portraits drawn by my wife, friends and Andy Warhol it’s not really a feature worthy of a security product.

Plus, if I introduced a new face to the mix, I wouldn’t always get a notification. I would have to open the app and go into the Familiar Faces section and decide if it was a friend or potential foe.

The camera also has something called Supersight where it’ll zoom in and track activity in the frame. That’s where the power of that 4K sensor comes into play. The enhanced area looks outstanding and you can see the face better than when you would if you zoomed in with the other Nest cameras. That’s when it works. It was a bit hit or miss for me. Once it zoomed in on my cat sleeping during a heavy sigh then later ignored a person walking through a room.

Plus the Familiar Faces features require a Nest Aware subscription. In fact, you’re going to need to pony up at least $10 a month (for 10 days of cloud recording, $30 for 30 days of recording) if you want more than three hours of recordings and want to be able to record clips. So if someone breaks into your house and four hours have passed, you’re hosed unless you’ve been paying for Nest Aware.

Add that on top of the $300 price tag that’s $100 more than the regular Nest Cam, the technology that’s hit or miss and facial recognition that seems more like a gimmick than an actual feature and the argument for upgrading to the IQ falls apart rather quickly.

Yes, the 4K sensor does make for footage that’s crisper and closer to real life, but just barely. The microphone and speaker updates are nice, but it’s unlikely you’ll be able to use it to scare off intruders. I use mine to tell the cats to get off the counter and the Nest Cam’s speaker is fine for that. But the IQ also lacks some of the features that make the Nest Cam useful like a magnetic base and the ability to twist the camera lens to compensate for angled mounting.

The Nest Cam IQ doesn’t feel like it should be its own product and instead should be the updated version of the regular Nest Cam with a feature that’s definitely not ready for protecting your home. Facial recognition might be useful in the future, but today it’s a barely a feature on an overpriced nanny cam.

Source: Nest

Microsoft takes on Nest with a Cortana-based thermostat

Microsoft isn’t content to let Amazon or Alphabet dictate the future of the smart home. The software giant has unveiled a smart thermostat from Johnson Controls, GLAS, that promises to one-up what you see from the likes of Nest. The slick-looking control packs both a translucent touchscreen and, more importantly, Cortana voice controls — you don’t have to talk to a speaker or your phone to change the temperature. The promo video (below) doesn’t go deep into the feature set, but the Windows 10 IoT Core-based hardware is known to detect both your presence in the room as well as air quality indoors and out.

As for launch details? Neither Microsoft nor Johnson Controls has said anything at this point (we’re reaching out), but it’s safe to say this will cost more than your average home climate controller. Let’s just hope it arrives in a reasonable timeframe.

Smart home devices like this were expected following the launch of Microsoft’s Cortana Skills Kit back in May. The company wants Cortana and other Windows 10 technologies to be as ubiquitous in your appliances as they are in computers. However, the GLAS unveiling gives a better idea of what that vision looks like in practice beyond Harman Kardon’s smart speaker. At least some manufacturers of Cortana-capable device will try to beat out rivals like Nest with advanced features and exotic designs that you rarely (if ever) see elsewhere.

Source: Microsoft (YouTube)

Google’s safeguard against rogue Android apps is now available

Google is acting on its promise to further guard your Android phone against rogue apps. The company tells us that it’s rolling out its Play Protect home screen to every Android device running Google Mobile Services 11 or newer. If you see it (it’s in in the Google section of your settings, under Security), you’ll know that your device has scanned apps to make sure they’re clean. You probably won’t need to look at this page very often, but it’s there if you’re ever wondering whether a sketchy-sounding Play Store app poses a threat.

As for that Play Protect card in the Play Store app? For that, you’ll have to wait. It’s starting to roll out as we write this, but it’ll take it a while before you get this at-a-glance look at your app security. When it does hit, though, you’ll have frequent reminders that Google is keeping an eye on your apps. It’s not a surefire security method (especially if you tend to download apps from outside the Play Store), but it’s an improvement.

Source: Android.com

DreamWorks Founder Jeffrey Katzenberg Met With Apple About His Mobile-Focused TV Network

Former DreamWorks Animation CEO and founder Jeffrey Katzenberg is working on a new mobile-focused TV service, tentatively named New TV, and has met with Apple executives to discuss a possible investment, reports Variety and CNBC.

Katzenberg was in attendance at this year’s Allen & Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, along with dozens of other tech and media moguls, including Apple CEO Tim Cook. According to Variety, he was aiming to coax one of several tech companies into a $2B investment in his new project. Katzenberg was seen meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook and Eddy Cue at the event, and CNBC says he has previously held meetings with Apple, Google, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Snapchat, and Spotify.

Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Sun Valley event last week. Image via Rob Latour, Shutterstock
Given the sheer number of investors Katzenberg is courting, it’s not yet clear who he will partner with nor if Apple is interested, but New TV is a unique proposal. Katzenberg wants to create a short-form video series that’s produced with primetime TV budgets to target 18 to 34-year-olds.

For example, imagine a drama akin to “Empire” or “Scandal” but shrunk to 10-minute episodes made for mobile consumption. Or a five-minute talk show, or a two-minute newscast — all with high-profile talent attached.

In addition to seeking a distribution partner, Katzenberg is also pursuing potential content partners, with CBS and Disney CEO Bob Iger considering producing shows for the service. “The explosion of short-form video is obvious to all of us, but a lot of what we’ve seen is the production of amateurs — user-generated content,” Iger told Variety.

Katzenberg’s goal is not to shrink longer-form media into a shorter format, but to create “new and different” programming that’s native to mobile devices. No episode will last longer than 10 minutes, and there will be no ad breaks, with monetization coming via title sponsorships and brand integrations.

New TV will be shaped by whichever partner joins the project, says Katzenberg. It could work as a subscription service offered by a single video provider for a monthly fee, or it could be entirely free and integrated into an existing brand.

Apple has been aggressively pursuing original content in recent months, but in a more traditional format with standard episode lengths. Planet of the Apps, the company’s first original show, launched in June, and its second show, Carpool Karaoke: The Series is set to be released on August 8.

Tags: Tim Cook, Eddy Cue, Jeffrey Katzenberg
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This self-cleaning house from the 1980s is still ahead of its time

Why it matters to you

We haven’t paid it much attention for three decades, but there is indeed a self-cleaning home, and it sounds like our dream come true.

Who needs to do housework when the house can do all the work itself? For Frances Gabe, the creator of the self-cleaning house (yes, you read that correctly), the answer really was, “No one.” Though posthumously heralded as “a true American original, equal parts quixotic dreamer and accomplished visionary” by the New York Times (she died in December 2016 at the age of 101), during her life, Gabe received little attention for the invention that most of us would do almost anything to have. But now, we’re finally learning more about a decades-old invention that seems light years ahead of its time.

While a bit less elegant than many smart home solutions we see today, Gabe’s idea of a self-cleaning home certainly got the work done. In essence, she lived inside a giant car wash. Every room of the 1,000 square foot home came with a button that would activate a sprinkler in the ceiling. The first push of this button would spew soapy water over walls and the floor. The second would send a rinsing spray. And finally, a giant blow-drier would get rid of all that moisture. The whole process took less than an hour, and the homeowner could be in the room the whole time, shielded by an umbrella.

All the excess water was sent away through drains located at the bottoms of very slightly sloping floors, and the recipient of this runoff was the dog in the doghouse, who got a bath every time his owner’s home did. There was also a laundry machine, which involved a tightly sealed cabinet in which dirty clothes were hung, then washed and dried with streams of water and air, and finally pulled by a chain system back into their original clothes closet.

Of course, such a system couldn’t be implemented in just any home, because obviously, all your furniture and upholstery would quickly be ruined by constant streams of water. But Gabe coated her own floors with layers of marine varnish, covered her furniture in clear acrylic resin, and protected her bed and clothes with an awning. And yes, electrical outlets were covered.

Ultimately completed in the 1980s, this self-cleaning house was priced at $15,000, a real steal by today’s standards. So take note, entrepreneurs, this could certainly be the next billion-dollar enterprise.

Adobe’s 3D beta Project Felix can now re-create lighting using neural networks

Why it matters to you

While still in beta, Adobe’s Project Felix is getting more tools for creating realistic 3D composites.

Adobe’s new 3D design program is still in beta testing — but that hasn’t stopped Project Felix from gaining the capability to re-create sunlight. In version 0.3, launched on July 19, Project Felix gained the ability to realistically re-create lighting inside a 3D drawing, thanks to a neural network.

Earlier versions already gave Project Felix the ability to add lighting effects such as reflections and directional light to make an added image look like it belonged in the original scene. With the latest update, however, the program can now automatically detect a scene’s lighting and re-create that look for the new object.

The program was built from a convolutional neural network, a form of artificial intelligence inspired by the way actual neurons in the body works. The artificially intelligent feature is able to create a more realistic image by replicating the original light, Adobe explains.

For example, even if the sun isn’t actually part of the image, the system can identify which direction the sun is coming from, then re-create that light on any objects added to the scene. The result is that when 3D objects are placed inside a 2D image, the object looks like it has always been there, since the light matches the rest of the objects in the scene.

“Historically, the lighting tool in Project Felix has been mostly an image-based technique to relay the light from an image,” J. Eisenmann, an Adobe computer scientist, said in a blog post. “In this update we’re looking at the image, and we’ve trained some convolutional neural networks to actually reproduce physical lighting for a scene.”

Along with the enhanced lighting algorithms, the update includes a user-friendly bookmark feature. As a 3D program, designers can view their creation from any number of angles — the bookmark tool simply serves as a way to save a favorite view or “camera” angle. With bookmarks, it’s easier to see how a change looks from specific angles, making it easier to compare the before and after result.

The update, Adobe says, is the result of user feedback from the program’s beta testing. Project Felix is a program that’s designed to allow users without previous 3D experience to design beyond the typical two-dimensional document.

“3D is like a playground,” Justin Patton, Project Felix’s art director, said. “You have this world of objects and materials that all interact together. You constantly come across new and interesting things that you didn’t even set out to create initially. With Project Felix 0.3, there are so many opportunities for experimentation and discovery. I think we’ll start to see new types of art being created, and that’s the reason we do what we do.”

The beta version of Project Felix is available with Adobe’s Creative Cloud subscriptions.