Xbox One retail consoles double as debug units, Microsoft to allow indie self-publishing (update)

Xbox One retail consoles double as debug units, Microsoft to allow indie selfpublishing

Microsoft’s Xbox One is getting decidedly more indie-friendly with today’s confirmation from Microsoft that its forthcoming game console will double as a developer debug unit. In so many words, each $500 unit purchased at retail this holiday will also run in-progress game code, enabling developers to get in on the action all the more affordably (debug versions of game consoles cost far more than retail game consoles, and tend to look slightly different from their retail counterparts). “Our vision is that every person can be a creator. That every Xbox One can be used for development,” Xbox corporate VP Marc Whitten said in a statement.

Of course, such a move wouldn’t make much sense without eased publishing regulations — the Xbox 360 allows for self-publishing only in its ghettoized “indies” section, and all other games require a Microsoft-certified publisher to distribute physically or digitally. Going forward with the Xbox One, developers can publish their own games; Microsoft’s looking at a quick turnaround on that code certification as well, according to reports, though we’re told there’ll be more info at Gamescom come late August. The full statement from Whitten can be found just below the break.

Update: We’ve also added responses from indies to today’s news below.

Filed under: , , ,

Comments

Google providing free WiFi in San Francisco parks

If there’s anything better than WiFi, it’s free WiFi, but that’s usually hard to come by in public places, but that’s quickly changing. San Francisco has been desperately trying to get with the times for a few years now, and thanks to a large chunk of money donated from Google, the city will be implementing WiFi into its public parks.

5637667104_571ae77158_z

At least 31 parks in the city will get free WiFi, and Google’s $600,000 donation will cover the costs of the equipment, installation, and maintenance for the WiFi for two years. After, we’re not sure what will happen, but it’s nice to know that residents in the city can go out and get free WiFi where available, thanks to Google and the government.

Of course, this won’t cover the entire city with WiFi, but many of the popular locations around San Francisco will have free WiFi available, and the network will be added on to the city’s current WiFi offerings at San Francisco International Airport and City Hall, with hopefully even more places to come in the future.

City-wide WiFi was first proposed back in 2007, but that was eventually shot down when the city couldn’t come up with the necessary resources to make it happen. However, this may be the first step into making that plan possible afterall. However, it’s anyone’s guess as to how San Francisco will continue to fund the project after Google’s donation runs dry, but we’re guessing they’ll work something out.

VIA: SFGate

IMAGE CREDIT: Idleformat


Google providing free WiFi in San Francisco parks is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Goodbye, Darkness: Light Pollution Is Making Us Forget the Night Sky

Goodbye, Darkness: Light Pollution Is Making Us Forget the Night Sky

Did you know that eight of every ten kids born today won’t experience a night sky dark enough to see the Milky Way? We’re living in an age when light pollution is making stars a rarity—and not just in cities. Paul Bogard, the author of a new book on darkness, even goes so far as to describe it as a natural resource.

Read more…

    

Canon previews a handheld version of its MREAL Mixed Reality tech at SIGGRAPH, we go hands-on (video)

Canon previews a handheld version of its MREAL mixed reality tech at SIGGRAPH, we go handson video

As a complement to its MREAL Mixed Reality headset, Canon is showing off a handheld version of the technology this week at SIGGRAPH. The new version functions much like the head-mounted one, enabling the use of markers or (as was the case here) sensors to render images in real space. Something you’ll want to keep in mind: this is still an enterprised-focused device. That said, it doesn’t make the tech demo and usage scenarios any less cool to gawk at. The demonstration we saw here in Anaheim involved a Kabuki dancer out in the center of the demo area. Details like shadows and wrinkles in the performer’s clothes were rendered in real time — just as if a real person were performing. A collection of sensors mounted around the top of the demo stage allowed us to look around the space while the projected image reacted to our position. Not once did we lose sight of the action.

Two other demos for the head-mounted display (that can easily translate to the handheld unit as well) caught our attention, too. First, a boat motor was projected in real space using augmented reality markers, allowing the user to inspect a scale model of the engine for training or other purposes. The ability to deconstruct the engine and see how different portions of it worked was all available to the user. Next, we saw a set of markers wrapping a rectangle projected a model of a Canon DSLR housing. Both of these scenarios offer a more in-depth look at 3D models before the prototyping phase or any steps are taken towards production. A quick look at the Kabuki demo and our best in-dance commentary awaits on the other side of the break.

Filed under: , ,

Comments

Rokform RokDock Stand Review

When you’re talking about solid aircraft grade aluminum, there’s not a whole lot to be had out there in the world of smartphone accessories – unless you’re talking about Rokform, of course. This company makes a series of covers that lock into mounts, those mounts then sticking to essentially any surface so long as its flat – and they make bike mounts as well, so flatness doesn’t always impede. Here with the Rokform RokDock, you’ve got a place to rest your phone that cannot be busted.

thedockwtmk

This dock is not made to amplify your smartphone’s speakers. It does not have NFC embedded within. It’s not made to connect to your machine with a keyboard, nor does it make your smartphone smell better.

Instead, this is the dock you want if you want your dock to stay put. It’s the heaviest dock you’ll have ever picked up – and you probably won’t be picking it up often. Instead you’ll open it up once, and then only to insert and adjust the cord that connects to your smartphone. Your microUSB (or whatever other kind of cord you’ve got) sits at the base for docking, the other end going down and out the back where it can head out to a wall port or to your PC, whatever you may need.

WP_20130723_058wtmk

There’s a screw-tight adjustment inside to keep the cord tight, then a rubber bit that can be placed in any of a series of notches up above to keep your smartphone in place. The whole unit is made up of of two larger interlocking pieces of solid aluminum and a few bits of rubber all held together with several screws. WHere applicable, this unit is CNC machined and hand-assembled.

threepiecewtmk

While we’ve got the gray/orange model here, you can also pick up red/black, blue, or straight up all-black. There’s also an iPhone 5 iteration of this dock that’s essentially the same, that iteration coming with a series of machined holes to redirect your speaker sound. Here you’ll be relying on good ol’ sound bouncing off metal.

centeredupfirstwtmk

Every smartphone we’ve docked in this machine has fit like a charm, that including devices up to the LG Optimus G Pro in size. This dock is made specifically to hold “Galaxy” devices including the SII, SIII, and Galaxy S 4, but as you may have guessed, all you really need to be able to do is fit. This dock agrees with the full lot of RokForm v3 cases as well – it’s big enough to hold the big phones and formed in such a way that it’ll hold the small ones, too!

The dock itself is not cheap – ringing in at $99 USD right this minute, you’ll certainly want to think about how important it is for you to be working with precision-machined metal to hold your smartphone that you likely dropped just over twice the cash on to own in the first place (on contract, even). That said, you’ll never have to deal with people saying you bought a super-expensive smartphone only to put it in a shotty, low-grade dock – this the RokDock Stand certainly isn’t!

WP_20130723_060wtmk
WP_20130723_061wtmk
WP_20130723_065wtmk
WP_20130723_071wtmk
centeredupfirstwtmk
thedockwtmk
threepiecewtmk
tightenwtmk
WP_20130723_058wtmk


Rokform RokDock Stand Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google adds push notifications to Calendar API

Google adds push notifications to Calendar API

Google just made the lives of third-party calendar developers much easier. Rather than having to constantly poll Google Calendar servers for updates, the Calendar API now supports push notifications. This means, with just a few lines of code, developers can sync their app to Mountain View’s servers in near real time, rather than waiting on regularly scheduled updates. The only thing a developer will need to do is give a user the tools necessary to subscribe to a calendar. When something changes, Google sends a notification to the app, which performs an API call to pull down the updated data. Simple as pie! And probably a little healthier for your battery than checking in every 15 minutes, whether something has changed or not. If you’re looking for a few more details you can hit up the source link.

Filed under: , ,

Comments

Source: Google Developers Blog

Shooting Challenge: Giant Plants!

Shooting Challenge: Giant Plants!

Last week, we looked at bugs. This week, I’m sending you back into the bush to catch more of nature’s nuance on the macro level. For this week’s Shooting Challenge, photograph the wonder of plants.

Read more…

    

Facebook reports $1.81 billion in revenue for Q2 2013, 1.15 billion monthly active users

Facebook's Q2 2013 earnings

Facebook saw its revenue grow year-over-year in its Q1 earnings reported in May, and that trend has continued for its second quarter. The company has just announced that it’s pulled in $1.81 billion in revenue for Q2, beating analysts’ expectations, while net income stood at $333 million. Of course, much of that money comes from ads: Facebook says that revenue from advertising now represents 88 percent of its total revenue, and that mobile advertising accounted for about 41 percent of its total advertising revenue for the quarter. Mark Zuckerberg highlighted that last bit in a statement, saying that “the work we’ve done to make mobile the best Facebook experience is showing good results and provides us with a solid foundation for the future.”

In other numbers, Facebook also reported that it has 1.15 billion monthly active users as of June 30th, while its daily active users stood at 669 million. Mobile users were again its biggest growth area, with 819 million users actively checking in on their mobile devices each month (up 51 percent compared to the same quarter in 2012), and 469 million active on a daily basis. We’ll keep you posted on any additional developments that may come out of the company’s earnings call in the next hour.

Update: Zuckerberg and co. didn’t have much additional news to offer during the earning’s call, although he did comment briefly on Facebook Home, which he described as a “seed we’re planting,” and something to look at over the long term.

Filed under:

Comments

Source: Facebook

Rumor Has It: Attack of the giant iPhones

Attack of the giant iPhones

Rumorland never fails to entertain.

This week, LG filed for a million trademarks, including ones for GPad, G Watch, and G Band. One could guess that it’s for a tablet, smartwatch, and activity monitor. Of course, why not? Now, trademark filings don’t necessarily mean that these products are being worked on, but nobody would surprised if LG were to throw its hat into the smartwatch ring. I mean, everyone else is.

In other rumor news, Sony might be working on a new camera lens accessory that could attach to your mobile device or be used on its own. If this pans out, this’ll be pretty awesome. Although I wonder why you’d carry this accessory with you, rather than your already awesome dSLR. But who am I to judge? The more accessories the better, I always say!

And finally, Apple is rumored to be working on bigger iPhone and iPad screens. Like, way bigger: 5.7 inches, perhaps, and almost 13 inches for the iPad. Would that be something… [Read more]

Related Links:
Great tech-spectations: What’s next in tech for 2013
iPad 5 rumor roundup
For Sony Mobile, it’s not enough to be smart
Apple and the fear of flopping
Apple plotting iPhone sales overhaul, report says

    

NFC Ring: Rings Open Doors

Near-field communication or NFC is a wonderful standard for mobile devices. It’s more secure than RFID and a lot easier to use compared to Bluetooth. I’m not sure why it hasn’t taken off yet, but that may soon change if devices such as John McLear’s invention take off.

nfc ring by john mc lear

McLear’s NFC Ring has two NFC inlays. The idea is to use one for public purposes while the other one is for private applications. So what can you do with it? For starters, you can install NFC-enabled door locks like Lockitron at home and forget about carrying keys. Just tap the ring to lock or unlock your door.

You can also do the same if you have an NFC-enabled mobile device.

Each inlay can store up to 144 bytes of data, enough to share links to websites or personal data.

Pledge at least £22 (~$34 USD) on Kickstarter to get an NFC Ring as a reward. If you have access to a 3D printer, you can print your own ring then pledge just £8 (~$12) for the NFC inlays alone. Or forget the ring, pledge for the inlays then embed them in your skin.

[via Gizmag]