Fove’s eye-tracking VR headset is up for pre-order
Last year, we took a look at Fove, a unique take on virtual reality that tracks your eyes in addition to your head for increased accuracy and realism. This doesn’t just reduce head movement — it also reduces the likelihood of VR sickness and introduces a whole new style of gameplay where you can simply look at certain objects to trigger an action. Back then, Fove was just a Kickstarter project, but now it’s ready for the masses. Units will finally start shipping to Kickstarter backers next month, and it’s also now available for pre-order on Fove’s website. It’ll retail for $599 but those who pre-order between now and November 9th can get it for $549.
Fove gets its name from “foveated rendering,” which is a technique used to render scenes in only the area where the eye can see. This, Fove says, is vastly more efficient than having to render the scene over a large area. It improves performance significantly and reduces strain on the system, according to the company. It also means that unlike other headsets such as the HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, you could use the Fove with lower-end PCs. The Rift’s recently announced Spacewarp technology allows for this as well, but Fove CTO and co-founder Lochlainn Wilson says the company still has the Rift beat when it comes to sharpness and quality. The Fove’s display has a resolution of 2,560 x 1,440, while the Rift’s is 2,160 x 1,200.
I had a chance to try on the latest iteration of the Fove headset and it looks a little different from the concept art used in the company’s Kickstarter pitch. Instead of a white plastic enclosure, there are velcro straps holding your head in place. “It was just too hard to make sure it fit on different-sized heads,” Wilson said. The current iteration doesn’t allow for thick-rimmed glasses like mine so I had to take them off, but Wilson says the company hopes to have a more spectacle-friendly version next year.
Like my co-worker Roberto Baldwin described when he tried on an early version of the Fove, you first have to go through a calibration process where your eyes follow a floating green dot for a few minutes. After doing that, I found myself facing an army of tiny triangle-shaped spaceships. Just looking at them was enough to trigger gunfire, though I had to make sure the crosshairs lined up correctly with my targets. Next, I saw a demo where the depth of field changes depending on where I look at an image — focusing on the foreground will blur out the background, for example, while staring at an object in the background will fuzz its surroundings, creating a bokeh effect.
I also played a demo of Project Falcon, an on-the-rails first-person-shooter that was a collaboration between Fove and RewindVR. I used an Xbox controller to blast away enemy robots, using only my eyes to aim. I still occasionally had to turn my head to pinpoint those that were slightly out of view, but otherwise I kept relatively still, letting my gaze wander. Which was a good thing, because once eye-tracking was turned off, I found that moving my head around gave me a bit of motion sickness. Wilson also showed me another game where you’re a bound captive, unable to move your arms. As you confront your interrogative captor, you can look around the room at different items in order to prompt him to take certain actions, like, say assassinating an informant.
But even though Fove is a full-fledged VR headset that works with a variety of Steam VR games, Wilson made it clear that the device is still very much for developers. “We’re coming at VR from a slightly different angle,” he said, adding that he’s not trying to compete with Oculus or HTC. Instead, he really just wants to develop the eye-tracking tech as much as possible.
Yuka Kojima, Fove’s CEO and co-founder, added that while eye-tracking has an obvious use case in games, it could also be used in other applications too, like in avatars for social VR. Indeed, Fove is even working on mouth tracking so that you could interact with your friends’ in VR in a much more realistic way.
“I believe eye-tracking is going to be in every headset by 2018,” Wilson said. “But we can get it to you today.”
Source: Fove
Microsoft’s Teams is its Slack competitor for Office 365
Because Yammer isn’t quite enough to take on Slack, Microsoft is launching yet another business chat app: Teams. It’ll be part of the Office 365 suite, and from the video below, it looks like it’ll differentiate itself from Slack and Hipchat with threaded chats, Office document collaboration and multi-person video chat. Basically, the company is trying to bring all of productivity strengths together in a single app.
“How to assemble a high performance team and setting them up for success is one of the central pursuits for any organization,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on stage. “No two teams are the same, no two projects are the same. There’s no universal tool for teams, but rather a universal toolkit we call office 365. Empowering teams is more than just solving any logistical challenge of bringing people to the same place.”
Nadella described Yammer as a “bulletin board for the entire company,” and noted that plenty of teams are already collaborating using Skype for Business chats, as well. But there’s still a need for a single, cohesive app to bring all of that together. Teams is a “chat-based workspace” designed around real-time collaboration, Nadella said. It won’t be replacing Yammer immediately, though it’s easy to see how it could eventually do so. On the mobile front, there will be Teams apps for Windows Phone, iOS and Android.
Teams is akin to an “open office-space environment,” according to Office 365 corporate vice president Kirk Koenigsbauer. It brings in all of the features you’d expect, like group messaging, and Skype integration for video and voice calls, along with things Slack doesn’t yet offer, like the aforementioned threaded chats. And yes, there will be plenty of emoji integration to spice up your boring work chats. You can also move between different teams pretty easily, something that’s much more difficult with Slack.
It’s hard not to view Teams as yet another entry in a crowded collaboration market. But it packs in some thoughtful features that might tempt over users of other apps. The main screen for each team has a tabbed interface that lets you quickly locate other files, tasks that need to be completed and even third-party apps. In an on-stage demo, a Microsoft rep showed off how a Zendesk tab could let you quickly access tickets associated with the Team. The helper bot for Teams, “T-Bot,” can also help you figure out the app with simple conversational language.
Teams wasn’t exactly a secret. It’s been rumored for months, and Slack went so far as to take out a full page ad in the New York Times to welcome Microsoft as a direct competitor (with a health amount of posturing, naturally).
If you’re eager to try out Teams, you can access it today as part of a customer preview in Office 365. It’ll be available in 18 languages across 181 countries. Moving forward, Microsoft plans to include it with all Office 365 Enterprise and Small Business Suite subscriptions starting in the first quarter of next year.
Olympus’ high-end OM-D E-M1 Mark II camera arrives in December
If you’ve been jonesing for Olympus’ ultimate take on a mirrorless camera, the OM-D E-M1 Mark II, you now know when to expect it… although it’s going to cost you. The flagship cam will arrive in stores by late December for $2,000 body-only in the US, or £1,850/£2,400 in the UK for respective body-only and 12-40mm f/2.8 kit lens versions. That’s a lot to shell out for a 20.4-megapixel Micro Four Thirds shooter, but Olympus is betting that the E-M1 Mark II’s tricks are worth the money.
As before, it’s mostly about speed. The sensor, TruePic VIII processor and 121-point autofocusing system contribute to some extremely fast shooting. You can fire away at up to 18 frames per second with continuous autofocusing and autoexposure, or 60FPS with focus and exposure locked. There’s also a 120FPS electronic viewfinder, and a Pro Capture mode that eliminates delay by buffering photos the moment you half-press the shutter button. Not that Olympus isn’t concerned about quality: on top of a higher dynamic range and lower noise at high ISO levels, you can shoot stills in an effective 50-megapixel mode and record 4K video in the wider-aspect Digital Cinema Standard (4,096 x 2,160). You’re paying a premium, but you should be getting a lot.
Source: Olympus (US), (UK)
Wileyfox returns to form with the £159 Swift 2
Wileyfox’s Swift made quite the first impression when it arrived around this time last year. At launch, it was easily one of the best affordable smartphones you could buy in the UK, and from an altogether new British brand, no less. This summer, Wileyfox muddied its own name somewhat, following up on the Swift with a trio of unexciting devices. Today, however, the company has announced what could be a worthy successor to one of last year’s best budget devices. Or two successors, we should say: The Swift 2 and Swift 2 Plus.
The Swift 2 features a 5-inch, 720p display, 1.4GHz octa-core Snapdragon 430, 2GB of RAM and 16 gigs of internal storage (expandable, of course). A new 13-megapixel camera (Samsung sensor) with phase detection autofocus is your main shooter, with an 8MP front-facer for selfies and the like. Move up to the Swift 2 Plus and you’ll find 3 gigs of RAM, double the storage and a beefier 16MP primary camera (Samsung sensor, 1 micron pixel size). Otherwise, the devices are identical and by the numbers, not serious upgrades over the Swift.
The real difference between the generations is down to build materials and extra features. There’s no textured plastic here. Instead, we’re looking at aircraft-grade aluminium instead. Then there’s the fingerprint reader and NFC chip — hello, Android Pay — as well as dual loudspeaker grilles and the USB-C port with fast-charging support. These are where the Swift 2 really one-ups its predecessor, and it’s reflected in the price. While the Swift launched at £129 last year, the Swift 2 comes in at a more expensive but still very competitive £159.
The Swift 2 Plus, with its better camera and higher RAM/storage capacities, is obviously a tad pricier at £189. Both are available to buy direct from Wileyfox today, with Amazon releasing its stock this time next week.
The tools you need to perform surgery are in this suitcase
In the US, laparoscopic surgeries are a piece of cake, since there are plenty of well-appointed hospitals packed to the ceilings with high-tech gear. In the developing world, things aren’t so easy, and often surgeons are expected to buy and maintain their own equipment, which can cost up to $150,000. Cambridge Consultants thinks it can help, and has developed a portable laparoscopic surgery kit called Ekano.
A routine laparoscopy requires four things: a sterile environment, an illuminated imaging camera, electronic medical records and a CO2 pump. It’s the last one on that list that probably raises a few eyebrows, but CO2 is pumped inside the patient’s body in order to give the surgeon room to maneuver. Ekano, which fits inside a suitcase, can offer the latter three needs in a single, relatively small package.
The idea was cooked up by Cambridge Consultants’ Rahul Sathe after extensive research into the Indian medial market. Surgeons over there travel between hospitals to reach patients and often struggle to access the right equipment. In addition, doctors on the subcontinent often share medical records over services like WhatsApp since there is no centralized electronic medical records database. That’s why Ekano comes with portable WiFi and cellular hotspots so teams can highlight information from their smartphones.
In order to reduce the costs down further, the company has done away with the expensive three-chip camera sensor you’d find inside most high-end surgical cameras. Instead, Ekano utilizes a single chip sensor, but with much more image processing algorithms on the back end. Sathe’s team has also worked on a new series of surgical tools that are much easier to clean and therefore are better-suited to re-use rather than constant disposal.
No medical technology company has yet to express an interest in the kit, but Sathe believes that Ekano would cost between $30,000 and $40,000. That’s a significant drop compared to the $150,000 it would cost for roughly similar hardware in the US and Europe. Sure, it’s not necessarily going to be a piece of kit that everyone will be wanting this holidays, but it could help some of the world’s poorest people access better healthcare.
Uber’s redesigned app makes it faster to hail a ride
The Uber app is a mess. As the company has expanded its business, it’s been ham-fisting new features into an already bursting-at-the-seams UI. Fortunately, the company is aware of the bloat and revealed today a redesigned app that will be rolling out to customers over the coming weeks.
The new and improved Uber app doesn’t just make it easier to see how much a ride will cost or how long it will take (both are in there and are welcome additions). It’s also meant to keep Uber customers in the app long after they’ve hailed a car.
At the outset, the app launches noticeably faster. Actually, way faster. It then drops you right into the new, cleaner map design and asks, “Where to?” Gone are the plethora of on-screen ride-type options and tiny text. Instead, the app has a destination input field and three shortcut buttons for quick access to your home, work and next calendar appointment address.
Instead of all the ride types cluttering up the bottom of the app, they appear in pairs once you set a destination. Users can swipe left or right to find the kind of Uber experience you’d like, complete with a cost estimate and an ETA to your destination. The company believes that this will increase use of UberPool since riders will know up front approximately how long the shared ride will take.
The company notes the new design is meant to save you time. CEO Travis Kalanick says that unlike social media apps that are in the business of taking time away from you and selling it, the ride-hailing company wants to return what it sees as a user’s most valuable resource. “Uber has a maybe more unique business model. Our job is to give time back,” he said.
To give its riders more time (even though it’s a few seconds), the company has streamlined the entire process of catching a ride. But it even if you get the app today, it’ll be a few weeks before all the new features — like integration with the default calendar on your smartphone and using machine learning to determine where you might want to go based on your usual trips — are added.
Another feature that will take a little while to implement is the ability to sync your contacts to the app then set a person as a destination. The way it works is that if your friend also has the Uber app installed, you’ll be able to ask them to share their location within the app and if they agree to do so, it’ll be set as your destination.
But what it will have at launch is a new section that Uber hopes will keep your attention in the app after you get in a car instead of opening Facebook and and Twitter. In addition to using Pandora to figuring out what song a driver is playing and potentially taking over the car’s stereo, riders will be able to order food via UberEats and see how long after they arrive at their destination their meal will show up.
The app will also surface Yelp reviews of your destination, or if you’re headed to a public transit stop the app will show when your train is departing and give you Foursquare tips. “I like to think of this a little like in-flight entertainment,” said said Yuhki Yamashita, senior product manager at Uber. “Where the airplane or car is on the map is a secondary in importance, instead we focus on getting more out of the ride.”
Uber will be pursuing more partnerships for its in-car entertainment in the future. But for now (actually, over the course of a few weeks), Uber is hoping to make the experience of using its app not just easier but more delightful and engaging. Surely it’s be better than those displays blaring ads in taxis.
Source: Uber
Apple ‘Not Interested’ in Outbidding AT&T to Acquire Time Warner
Apple is “not interested” in buying media company Time Warner currently, according to “people familiar with the thinking at the company” who spoke today with CNBC. Two weeks ago, AT&T announced its interest to purchase Time Warner for $85.4 billion, but as noted today, the regulatory process taken in such acquisitions “could last for months,” and at any time another company could swoop in with a better offer. As of now, that won’t be Apple.
The news comes from David Faber on CNBC’s market coverage business show “Squawk on the Street:”
The question of course that has come back to focus on Apple. In fact Bewkes asked on the call were there any companies this year that showed interest in acquiring Time Warner. Mr. Bewkes’ answer was let’s focus on AT&T. What I can tell you about Apple guys, is right now, according to people familiar with its thinking, it’s not interested. Apple is not interested in buying Time Warner at present. Now, these things go on for months and months, this regulatory review’s going to take at least a year. The deal will not close. Certainly if you’re in Apple, things could change. You watch the stock price as you see how things progress.
But anybody expecting an overbid from Apple at this point, certainly, it is not coming. Again, they are sort of not interested at this time. And it doesn’t appear that there would be any other potential interest. Google certainly had been mentioned at one point or another. But right now, it’s AT&T’s, it will be AT&T’s, and the question is do they get it through, what conditions do they agree to in order to get it through the regulators.
On the same day of AT&T’s deal, it was reported that Apple was closely “monitoring” the workings between AT&T and Time Warner, especially due to its potential impact in regards to television deals that Apple could make with both companies. Back in January, an initial rumor suggested Apple was looking to buy Time Warner itself, most likely to bolster its rumored cord-cutting streaming TV service, but negotiations eventually stalled and the two companies ceased discussing a potential partnership.
Following the news coming out of AT&T’s offer, last week investment banking firm Goldman Sachs reportedly began pushing Apple to put in a rival bid to beat AT&T’s and acquire Time Warner for itself. Goldman Sachs was “left on the sidelines” as an advisor in AT&T’s bid, but it’s still unclear why the firm would heavily encourage Apple to enter an acquisition offer of its own.
Sources were reported as saying that Goldman Sachs was “freaking out trying to convince Apple to come in.” A connection between the banking firm and Apple lies in the latter company’s 2009 hiring of Goldman Sachs banker Adrian Perica, who now heads up Apple’s mergers and acquisitions practices.
Networks like CNN, HBO, TBS, TNT, NBA TV, Cartoon Network, and Warner Bros. are all under Time Warner’s umbrella, making it an enticing acquisition for multiple companies looking to bolster an existing, or upcoming, streaming package. Although AT&T appears to be the frontrunner, The Wall Street Journal originally reported that “a host of other contenders” were interested in Time Warner, including Google at one point.
Tag: Time Warner
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Bragi Unveils ‘MyTap’ Update to Control Headphones Through Gestures on the Cheek
Wireless headphone company Bragi today announced an incoming update to its flagship Bluetooth device, The Dash, which will bring with it an all-new way for users to interact with Bragi’s “Kinetic User Interface.” Coming November 21, Bragi OS 2.2 will introduce users to a beta of “MyTap,” which lets them control the headphones through tap-based gestures placed directly on their cheek and not on The Dash itself.
KUI will also bring about gestures like nodding to accept a phone call from a smartphone connected to The Dash, activating Siri with the tap of a cheek, and even various music playback controls. When it begins rolling out on November 21, KUI will only encompass voice assistant controls (for Siri and Google Now), and the other gestures will arrive in future firmware updates.
“The Dash was envisioned as a platform offering a lot of hardware capabilities, but not all of this hardware was used from the beginning. Over time, we can let the software grow and enable more features.” – David Dohmen, Sensorics & Data Science at Bragi
“You are way more accurate tapping your own cheek than an external device. That makes it easier to hit it during activities like cycling or running.” – David Dohmen, Sensorics & Data Science at Bragi
Other parts of the update include “Windshield,” which Bragi says will improve listening quality and audio transparency in gusty conditions, improved voice quality during phone calls and heart rate measurements, and upgraded Bluetooth capabilities. Previously, OS 2.1 introduced new languages support, “Touch Lock,” and integration with Apple HealthKit.
The Dash and The Headphone (Bragi’s entry-level Bluetooth headset) have been compared to Apple’s upcoming AirPods frequently, enough for Bragi to create a comparison chart between the three devices following Apple’s announcement of the AirPods in September. The Dash’s premium $299 price tag and high-end activity tracking features are more difficult to compare with the AirPods, which fall in line slightly more with The Headphone. However, only The Dash can receive Bragi’s OS updates.
Previous Coverage – Bragi Dash Impressions: Wireless Earphones Offer Enough Quality Features to Counter Small Battery
Tags: Bragi Dash, Bragi
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Twelve South Debuts ‘Fermata’ Headphone Charging Stand
Twelve South today unveiled its latest Apple accessory, a headphone charging stand designed to cut down on desktop clutter.
Available in black or silver, the Fermata is crafted from aluminum and is designed to house a set of on-ear or over-ear headphones such as Apple’s Beats Solo2 and Solo3 wireless models. The headphones rest on a leather-covered hook, which is designed to make sure the headphones don’t rub against anything.
The Fermata is more than just a simple stand — it can also charge headphones. There’s a reversible micro-USB connector built into the arm of the Fermata, which can be pulled out to connect to headphones that are charged via USB. When not in use, the charging cable tucks back into the back of the stand.
If you don’t have wireless headphones, the Fermata can still serve as a standard stand, as there’s an optional accessory that allows you to wind up a headphone cable to keep it out of the way when not in use.
An extra USB port is included at the base of the Fermata, which is able to charge an iPhone or iPad, so you’re getting two devices charged from a single outlet. Extra cable is wound into the base of the stand, so there’s no clutter of wires on your desk. The Fermata itself charges via a standard wall outlet with an included AC wall charger and a two-meter charging cable.
Twelve South’s Fermata headphone charging stand is available for purchase in the United States and Japan starting today from the Twelve South website. It’s priced at $79.99. An international version will be available in the future.
Tag: Twelve South
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Best laptop replacement tablets 2016: The best 2-in-1 devices available to buy now
Looking for a tablet that isn’t just great for watching movies and shopping from the sofa, but good for working on the go too? Well, you’re in the right place.
Tablets have changed significantly over the last few years. Most companies have taken productivity into consideration more so than when tablets first appeared, resulting in some great laptop replacement options.
There are still some improvements to be made, such as battery life and price points could certainly do with coming down a little, but these 2-in-1 devices have plenty of positives too.
Each device on our best laptop replacement tablets list has its own strengths and weaknesses, but all will allow you to work on the go with the flexibility to use them as a standard tablet too.
Some are excellent for their typing experience, like the Microsoft Surface Pro 4, while others are great for battery life, like Samsung’s TabPro S. We’ve rounded up the best laptop replacement tablets from the devices we have reviewed in full to help you work out which might suit you best.
Click here to see the best laptop replacement tablets for 2016.
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