Nike+ Running app soundtracks your morning jog with Spotify tunes
Sure, Adidas already offers ways to outfit your run with tunes from Spotify, and now Nike is looking to do the same. The latter footwear company updated its Nike+ Running app to pipe in the streaming service’s songs from within. In addition to spinning the Nike+ Run Club playlists Spotify announced a while back, the update also creates playlists based on a pace goal and music preference — a feature that’s called Pace Stations. Once that info is entered, the software then calculates the target beats per minute (BPM) before compiling a 100-song playlist to serve as a guide. Match your stride to the pace of the music and you’ll reach your goal. Nike says it’s “the first-of-its-kind instructive experience then guides runners to their goals when they step in-beat to the prescribed songs.” Unfortunately, the Pace Stations are an iOS-only feature.
Of course, Adidas also has an app that serves up songs from Spotify based on stride rate, so if you’re a runner that prefers Spotify, you can let your shoe allegiances decide which run-tracking app you use. If you opt for Nike+, though, you can try Spotify Premium for a week without entering any payment info. Hand over your a credit card number and that free trial gets bumped to 60 days. Not too shabby.
Instagram’s handy search tool arrives on the web
Last month, Instagram redesigned the discovery section of its photo-sharing app to make it easier to spot what’s trending and leverage search abilities. Now, that revamped search function is arriving on the web. If you’ll recall, the option for browsing filter-draped photos in a browser received an update last month too, and now you’ll be able to do more than peruse images. Using the search tool, you can hunt for user profiles, hashtags and locations in order to see what’s happening at a particular event or in a specific place. There are also landing pages for hashtags and locations — similar to the mobile app — allowing you to scroll through a collection of images before clicking to nab the details for each. This is the latest in a number of steps the photo app has taken to embrace browsing on the web, following embeddable posts, timelines and more over the years. This doesn’t mean Instagram is taking its eye off mobile by any means, but adding the web-based tools as a complimentary piece is certainly a nice touch.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Facebook
Source: TechCrunch
Cortana in Windows 10 is coming to 6 more countries
If you’re bummed that you won’t get Microsoft’s Cortana voice assistant when Windows 10 launches next week, don’t fret: there’s a good chance that you’re next in line. The folks in Redmond have revealed that Cortana will be available to Windows Insider members in Australia, Canada (English only), India (also English) and Japan in the “coming months.” It’ll also spread to Brazil, Mexico and French-speaking Canadians later in the year.
Why the delay, you ask? Microsoft says it’s a matter of tailoring Cortana to local tastes. It’ll be a big fan of hockey in Canada, for instance, while Indian users will hear jokes about naan bread. The wait won’t be so hot if you’re only interested in asking about the weather, but you’ll at least get a properly customized experience.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft
Source: Blogging Windows
Microsoft’s first Windows 10 ad is all about smiling babies
With Windows 10’s launch little more than a week away, Microsoft kicked off its marketing storm last night with the first commercial for the new OS. It’s a bit more direct and human than the company’s infamous Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates ads, with a focus on children and how they’re growing up with touchscreens and a wealth of new tech. As with any major product launch, Microsoft is planning a huge multi-million dollar media blitz for Windows 10. The big theme this time around is “people who make a difference,” reports ZDNet. The software giant will likely have a much easier time pushing Windows 10 on consumers since it steps back from some of Windows 8 more dramatic (and controversial) interface changes. And of course, making Windows 10 a free upgrade for Win 7 and 8.1 users will also be a big help. The new OS will land on July 29 for Windows Insiders and will roll out to others afterwards.
Spotify’s Discover Weekly uses your habits to recommend new music
Spotify just added a load of new features with a recent update and now it’s looking to help you find new music. To do just that, a new tool called Discover Weekly builds a two-hour playlist of suggestions based on your listening habits and those of folks with similar preferences. What’s more, the collection of tunes — basically a mixtape — is refreshed every Monday so that you’re greeted with new material on the regular. In fact, my collection was updated early this morning. Spotify says the more you use it, the better it’ll get, adapting as your musical taste evolves. Soon, Discover Weekly with appear at the top of your saved playlists for easy access. And yes, you can save individual songs you like or share the whole lot with your pals.
I’ve had access to the tool for a few days, and based on the first set of tracks Spotify selected, I’m cautiously optimistic. Meek Mill, Run the Jewels, Of Monsters and Men and Miguel are getting the bulk of my attention these days, so the tool built my first playlist of songs from Caribou, Modest Mouse, Action Bronson, Flying Lotus and more. Understandably, this group of initial picks is a bit of a mixed bag — similar to my tastes — but I’m looking forward to seeing how the feature changes during weeks when I lean more towards one genre. In this morning’s update, for example, I received mostly hip-hop picks as my listening last week centered around that genre during workouts. You’ll be able to try it for yourself soon enough, as the curated playlist should appear across all of Spotify’s apps shortly.
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Internet, Software
Microsoft has hit the ecosystem wall
Last week’s announcement that Microsoft would scale back its smartphone efforts was a clarifying moment. The resulting smartphone segments that the company will play in-which it calls business, value, and flagship-mirror those of its Surface tablets. In an email to employees explaining the change, Satya Nadella noted: “We are moving from a strategy to grow a stand-alone phone business to a strategy to grow and create a vibrant Windows ecosystem that includes our first-party device family.”
The word “ecosystem” is tossed about a lot in the tech industry, but it does not simply mean having a bunch of stuff out in the market. As in nature, having a tech ecosystem implies that one part of a business feeds another part. Unlike in nature, though, ecosystems are expected to not only continue in their cycle but keep growing. And growth is where Microsoft’s prospects still look iffy.
The company was once the grand master of ecosystem strategy. Beginning in the 1980s, it leveraged its position in DOS to create Windows, which let it move from client operating systems into server operating systems, applications, and development tools. Its strength in development tools helped it move into video games.
Even in retreat, Microsoft’s position is less dire than the fates of BlackBerry, Palm, and Symbian.
Before the iPhone, it even appeared as if Microsoft could extend its close relationships with developers and Windows’ familiar user interface elements into a dominant position in smartphones. Indeed, while Microsoft is often criticized for being late to the smartphones market, it actually entered it a half-decade before Apple did. Even in retreat, the company’s position is less dire than the fates of its once-powerful competitors BlackBerry, Palm, and Symbian.
As Microsoft’s smartphone journey became an uphill battle, Apple’s ecosystem started gaining steam. Unlike Microsoft’s efforts, the iPhone was driven principally by the Apple brand and the user experience the phone offered. Technical ties didn’t matter so much: The Mac had little direct influence on the iPod, which had little direct influence on the iPhone and iPad. Today, the Apple Watch leverages the installed base and developer support of the iPhone, but there are signs that the company’s nearly two decades of hit products may be finally slowing down.
Google, too, has seen its ecosystem limits. Despite Android’s dominance of smartphone market share, the company hasn’t been all that successful in bringing Android variants to new categories of devices even though vendor support for its Android Auto car software has picked up significantly since launch. Undaunted, Google is charging ahead with its own platform and language for linking together the Internet of Things.
Back to the PC
Apple and Google may face uncertainty, but their strength in smartphones still provide a prime position from which to attack whatever may be next. Microsoft, on the other hand, is receding into the shrinking PC market as the core of its ecosystem. If it could not extend that to mobile devices over the long haul, how can it make a bid for wearables or the Internet of Things that have close ties to smartphones? Indeed, its scaling back of Windows phones already throws a damper on developer outreach efforts to bring Android and iOS apps to the Lumia Windows smartphones that need them.
Microsoft’s Surface Hub is heading to the conference room, not the living room.
In a recent interview with ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella made the case for the company’s position as a viable third ecosystem both for businesses and consumers. He discussed the portfolio of products that the company is building. That includes buying its way to success by acquiring popular apps such as Sunrise, Wunderlist, and Minecraft, all of which must deal with the home-field advantage that Apple and Google have on their own devices. He also mentioned the HoloLens (whose price remains unannounced) and the Surface Hub conference-room computer, both of which are unabashedly corporate-focused.
In some areas, of course, Windows remains a formidable force. Neither Apple nor Google can touch it in terms of enterprise productivity, even as more tasks migrate to the Internet and mobile. Nadella is betting that Windows can power an ecosystem for those people who most focused on getting things done in an efficient and secure fashion. That’s an approach that has been successful for Lenovo, which continues to buck the PC sales shrinkage trend, but one that’s proven tough to exploit for Blackberry, which is struggling to protect what’s left of its core business. Stuck between the rock of a failed phone business and the hard place of having no easy way to extend into emerging product categories such as the Internet of Things, Microsoft cannot hope to win as a third broad consumer ecosystem.
[Photo: Flickr user Khánh Hmoong]
Bing makes it easier to scope out your future neighborhood
Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are constantly working to make the best possible search engine, and that’s great news for you. The more they challenge each other with new features, the better your experience on the web will be. Today is Bing’s turn to make an announcement, revealing a set of features that will be helpful for people who are moving to a new place. So not only can you search for a house or an apartment, but also learn about their neighborhood and the services located around them — such as schools and hospitals. Once you find an area you’re interested in, Bing will show you ratings, rankings and other detailed information regarding each place; the company says this is pulled from a variety of trusted sources, like Zillow.com and GeatSchools.org. Right now, it’s is limited to users in the US, but chances are it’ll be expanding to more countries later on.
[Image credit: Tom Ipri/Flickr]
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Source: Bing
Cortana for Android leaks out a bit early
Cortana is here for Android … sort of. Microsoft announced back in May that it would be bringing Cortana to Android, and it was expected to land this month to coincide with the release of Windows 10. But now it looks like an Android beta release of Microsoft’s digital assistant has hit the web early, reports the Finnish mobile site Suomimobiili. We’ve installed the app on an HTC One M9 and it works just like you’d expect. You can ask Cortana about the weather or basic facts; have her call someone on your contact list; or set reminders. Unfortunately, you can’t say “Hey Cortana” to get her attention yet — even when you’ve got the app open. We don’t expect this leaked Cortana copy to stick around for much longer, but it’s a good sign that Microsoft is indeed getting close to an official release.
Filed under: Software, Mobile, Microsoft
Via: The Verge, Unofficial Microsoft News
Source: Suomimobiili
The human cost of global spyware sales
https://engadget.cartodb.com/viz/91db677c-2b42-11e5-b18b-0e5e07bb5d8a/embed_map
This year a number of major news stories released information on world governments buying, selling and using surveillance technologies on their citizens. These stories, reports — and in some cases, hacktivist breaches and data dumps — have served to verify the acquisition and use of spyware on citizens by dozens diverse governments around the globe.
We sought to answer one question: Why is this a problem, exactly?
To see how countries compare, we decided to focus on the client list of Italy’s infamous spyware dealers, Hacking Team — who were recently hacked and exposed for selling malware, intrusion services, and surveillance technologies to dozens of countries. That total is now around 50 countries.
Click each shaded country for a concise summary of its current surveillance practices and its human rights status — with the direct correlations between its use of these technologies and the day-to-day condition of its citizens.
So now, when you see a country’s name in a news story about malware, spyware, web filtering and monitoring, or other surveillance technologies, you can click on this map and see for yourself why this is a problem for the people who live there.
The information in this report was culled from published papers by international human rights organizations and verified documents, primarily: Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, Privacy International, Global Information Society Watch, Freedom House, Open Democracy, and UN Watch. If you’re interested in learning more you can browse our list of sources here.
[Image credit: Shutterstock]
Trippy exhibit uses Kinect to send kids to the wilderness
“Whoaaa,” said a child as he walked through the doors around noon. His eyes widened and he picked up his pace at the sight of Connected Worlds, a series of stunning landscapes projected on giant walls at the New York Hall of Science in Queens. The light from the 3,000-square-foot installation illuminated his face in hues of green and blue. At the center of the room, surrounded by screens, a couple dozen kids ran from one magical habitat to another, chasing fantastical creatures and digital streams in the interactive space.
The vibrant illustrations on the screens matched, and sometimes exceeded, the beauty of the worlds they simulated. The technology that powered them was hidden from the children on the floor, yet visible overhead in the high-ceiling room. Eight projectors created six different biomes and a 40-foot-high virtual waterfall on blank screens. A dozen Kinect cameras, suspended in midair, brought those visuals to life. The habitat has been carefully designed to respond to hand movements; even swift karate chops were promptly picked up.
There was a constant give and take between the children and the machines. Every time a child held his or her arm out in front of the screen, the body-tracking device picked up the movement and the system responded with a seed that twirled inside a translucent bubble. When the little hands dropped down, the simulated seed followed and fell to the ground. Within seconds, a plant sprouted in its place. With every successive seed, the ecosystem was programmed to introduce complex flora that started to thrive when watered by the digital streams.
The exhibition, which is now permanently installed in the museum, has been in the making for the last three years. To educate and entertain the science enthusiasts who squeal through the halls of the museum in delight, the creators adopted a systems-thinking approach to sustainability. “We’re providing a space that has a fixed amount of resource, which is water,” says Theo Watson, co-founder of Design I/O, the creative studio from Cambridge, Massachusetts, that created the interactive exhibition. “No water is ever created or destroyed; it’s just moved from one environment to the next or back to the waterfall.”
Most kids busied themselves with the “logs” that could be used to route the virtual streams on the floor. While some destructively blocked the waterfall, others created perfect little streams for their biomes. But with a fixed resource, one habitat was often left too dry while another was booming. As a last resort, the kids had the option to drain a reservoir to get more water, but not without feeling the intended repercussions of it. “We want it to feel like a sacrifice,” Watson says. “They’re having to destroy one environment in order to save others.”
The sustainability message wasn’t for every child, though. There were toddlers in the group who rolled on the floor, shooed fish on the walls or just lay on the logs. But for the kids who did engage with the environment, there seemed to be a takeaway that isn’t found in the real world. They could take charge of the biomes and see the impact of creating and destroying elements almost instantly. “With sustainability, we realized that you often don’t see the result of your actions,” says Watson. “You’re separated not only by time, but also by space.” The virtual ecosystem is ingeniously programmed to accelerate that feedback in time and the effects of every action become visible on the projection walls.
Technology is often denounced for disconnecting us from nature and from each other. But Connected Worlds attempts to redefine that equation. “We’re obsessed with nature,” says Watson. “We can’t help but see algorithms in natural systems. When we’re working on something like [this], we’re paying homage to nature and using technology to do that in a way that’s meaningful to us. We pingpong between being in love with technology and being sick of it at the same time.”
[Image credit: Design I/O]
Filed under: Science
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