Sick of overloaded public WiFi? So is the FCC. Back at CES FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said we were heading for a WiFi “traffic jam,” and promised to work with Government agencies to score public networks a little extra spectrum. In an effort to make good on the pledge, the FCC has now proposed a 195 megahertz expansion of the 5GHz band, giving unlicensed wireless devices (that would be your tablets, laptops, phones etc) a little bandwidth to share. The move would give devices a wider channel, which should translate to faster connection speeds. It isn’t all just for the sake of your local coffee shop’s network congestion, however — the proposal also fulfills requirements laid out by the Middle Class Tax Relief and Jobs Creation Act of 2012, which called for expanding spectrum for unlicensed use. Sounds like a winning move to us. Check out the FCC’s official press announcement after the break.
Nikon has introduced its latest and greatest HD-SLR (single-lens reflex) camera due to be ready for sale in March. Compact and lightweight magnesium alloy body with a specially designed 24.1 megapixel image sensor, superior low-light performance, ultra-precise autofocus and metering and advanced video recording. It employs Nikon’s unique DX-format CMOS image sensor, which can be paired with NIKKOR DX- and FX-format lenses. The specs on this camera are nice:
Celebrating its 16th year, the Japan Media Arts festival is taking place from February 13th to 24th 2013 at the National Art Center and other venues in Roppongi, Tokyo. Over 3000 works of art were submitted for the festival and jury members selected the best entries to be exhibited in each of the four categories; art, entertainment, animation and manga.
Works came from around the world including a fair number from Japan and ranged from multimedia displays to new video games.
In particular we wanted to share some of the exhibits we thought were interesting.
Desire of Codes by Seiko Mikami is an interactive installation which combines the live footage taken by 90 small fixed cameras and 6 moving cameras on mechanical arms hanging and slide across the ceiling projected onto a large circularscreen. This display is supposed to express the blurring of the boundaries between our physical bodies and how they are depicted by data.
Winner of the Grand Prize for the Entertainment category, Perfume Global Site Project celebrates the worlwide debut of the techno-pop group Perfume. An open-sourced project in which fans, artists and group members collaborated to create and organize promotional content, live performances and this multimedia exhibit which featured cutting edge motion sensor based animations. Crowd-sourced multimedia events focussed on a particular idol seem to have taken off in Japan ever since the Hatsune Miku phenomenon.
Kuratas from Sudiobashi Heavy Industries is the closest thing to a real life Gundam; a giant four meter tall and four-ton robot that you can actually sit inside and operate. Since being unveiled last year at Wonder Festival 2012, Kuratas has already received mass amounts of media coverage but it was cool to see it part of the Japan Media Arts festival as a showcase of Japanese entertainment technology.
Staff hand you a piece of card with a blue print of a robot and several dots printed on top. You place the card underneath the projector and the infra-red tracker detects the dots from your picture, recognises the code and projects a real colour image onto the blue print of your robot. Several images can also be projected at the same time as long as the dots don’t over lap.
Presented on an ipad, Rrrrrrrrol is an interactive photo project using animated GIF images where a young woman or an object close to her is constantly rotating. You can to alter the speed of the rotations and flip through the photo album where the woman spins in various locations. Some of these images are often uploaded to tumblr.
The Japan Media Arts festival delivers unique and exciting exhibits every year and this one was no exception. If you are in Tokyo and have the time we recommend you check it out before it ends.
Rumor and speculation has swirled for a bit now that Sony might block gamers from playing PS3 games on the newly-announced PlayStation 4. This was boosted by a Sony patent that was found discussing a disc and device ID that many feared indicated a method of blocking the use of used games. As it turns out, this isn’t the case, with Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida stating after the PS4 event earlier today that it won’t block used games.
Unfortunately, Sony failed to address the concerns during the event, leaving people to further wonder about the future of used games. To solve this, the folks over at Eurogamer sat down with Shuhei Yoshida after the event and asked the question that so many people have been wondering: will used games be blocked? The initial response was a rather coy question back. “Do you want us to do that?”
The answer, of course, was no. Said the Eurogamer interviewer, buying a used game implies the ability to pass it on and the retention of a cetain degree of value. When asked if he agreed with that, Yoshida responded in the affirmative. “That’s the general expectation by consumers,” he said. “They purchase physical form, they want to use it everywhere, right? So that’s my expectation.”
When pressed about whether an individual who purchases a PlayStation 4 disc will be able to turn around and sell that disc to another gamer, the Sony Worldwide Studio’s President balked a bit, seeking clarification from a PR rep. He eventually offered this response, only partially side-stepping the question: “So, used games can play on PlayStation 4. How is that?” That’s enough to assuage concerns.
Beyond its free price, users of Scout for the iPhone have an extra reason to smile today as the navigation app now supports location sharing. More specifically, users will be able to share their current location or future destination via either text message, email or Facebook. By leveraging Telenav’s HTML5 navigation system, recipients can take advantage of the company’s browser-based, turn-by-turn directions by merely clicking the sender’s enclosed link. As another nice touch, Scout also now supports automated notifications, which allows users to provide estimated arrival times via text message to chosen contacts whenever they depart for a specific destination such as home or the office. For a peek at the new features, in addition to a quick introduction of the new Things To Do menu and revised My Dashboard, be sure to check out the video after the break.
It was a dark day on “Southland” for several of the officers. Officer Mendoza was shot, leading Sherman and the rest of the force on a crusade to find the person responsible for it. Sadly, the only outcome of this was that an innocent child was shot. That it was the child of a gangbanger seemed to make it more acceptable for Sherman made his current outlook even more tragic.
But the futility of the whole escapade was the real tragedy. Mendoza had lied about the circumstances of his getting shot. His was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was hoping to reap the benefits of the insurance to take care of his debts and better his life. A gang member taking the rap for it seemed of little consequence to him. How about a child?
This season of “Supernatural” has been better than some at constructing engaging standalone episodes with only minor threads of mythology woven in, but “Man’s Best Friend With Benefits” fell a little short of the mark. Read More… More on TV Recaps
While one can be forgiving towards the looks of many personal devices, the same can’t be said for Google‘s Glass, a wearable device that is front and center on one’s face for all to see. To ensure Glass is something users will be okay putting on their face, Google has entered into talks with Warby Parker to develop stylish frames, two sources told The New York Times.
According to the sources, both of whom are unnamed but said to be aware of the situation, say that Google is in negotiations with the company. The Glass frames are without lenses, although the company is reportedly looking into a variety that have tinted lenses for outdoor use. Google is said to have made both the device’s style and its comfort one of its focuses.
Earlier today, Google released a video showing off how Glass will work in a first-person-perspective video, which you can check out here. The device promises to be an ever-present, mostly hands-off supplement to your smartphone, offering a tiny display for your eye only that provides such things as the weather and Google search, as well as the ability to perform functions using voice commands, such as recording video.
Likewise, Google is now running its #ifihadglass campaign, offering more individuals the chance to score a pair of Glass. 8,000 people will be selected to based on a variety of standards, such as the creativity of the idea they submit on how Glass can be used, as well as the social impact they’ll provide by owning one themselves. Each person can submit three applications by Feb. 27, which will be judged by Google.
There are certain things you’d expect to encounter on a visit to NASA’s Swamp Works research facility. Walking into the former Apollo testing facility, you’ll almost certainly catch glimpses of martian rovers, soil samples and an assortment of scientific testing devices. But in spite of Arduino’s near ubiquity these days, we’ll admit that we were a bit taken aback when the familiar blue microcontroller made an appearance on a lab desk during our conversation with NASA “lighting guy,” Dr. Eirik Holbert. It seems that NASA, like pretty much everyone else, is experimenting with the hacker-friendly component.
The board was hooked up to a lighting fixture Holbert is working on as part of NASA’s upcoming deep space habitat concept generator. It’s an attempt to bring some sunlit consistency to space exploration, simulating Earth-like lighting patterns to help keep the crew alert and get them ready for sleep in the evenings. So, where does NASA turn when it’s looking to conserve weight and save some taxpayer money in the process? Toward the Arduino Uno, naturally. Holbert assembled a number of off-the-shelf products, including the aforementioned microcontroller and shields from Sparkfun to make a fixture for under $500.
Asked whether we might be seeing an Arduino setup like this on an upcoming mission, Dr. Holbert told us, “I’m all about interchangeability. If they can make something space compatible, I’d be all for it.”
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An open-sourced project in which fans, artists and group members collaborated to create and organize promotional content, live performances and this multimedia exhibit which featured cutting edge motion sensor based animations. Crowd-sourced multimedia events focussed on a particular idol seem to have taken off in Japan ever since the Hatsune Miku phenomenon. 
