Hasta La Gadget!

What was once a private beta meant only for developers is now trickling out into the public. For those who signed up to be invited to the public beta of iWork for iCloud should be getting them now. Apple originally unveiled the new cloud-based office suite at WWDC last month, and now the software is ready for a public chewing as the company looks to get feedback before an official launch.

As expected, iWork for iCloud is Apple’s version of Google Drive and Microsoft Office 365. The software offers users cloud-based versions of Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, which provide a word processor, spreadsheets, and PowerPoint-like presentations, respectively. Users will be able to access the software via the web browser of their choice (as long as it’s either Safari, Chrome, or IE).

If you received an invite, all you have to do is sign in to iCloud on any computer and then click on either Pages, Numbers, or Keynote to get started drafting up your first iWork for iCloud document. From there you can save a document and it’ll automatically be saved to the cloud where you can access it on another computer. iWork for iCloud can be accessed on either a Mac or Windows PC (no word on Linux, specifically, but we’re guessing that works too). Mobile devices will have support as well.

Essentially, it works just like the traditional version of iWork, where you have access to Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, only this time it’s available in cloud. However, it comes with a bit of caveats. For starters, collaboration is pretty much out of the question. Unlike Google Drive, users won’t be able to share documents with other iCloud users.

Apple still has a lot of work to do to make iWork for iCloud a true competitor, but the company knows that. They’re working on adding several more features in the future, including the ability to print documents. As for collaborative editing, Apple hasn’t mentioned such a thing yet, but it’s certainly a feature that iWork for iCloud will need if it wants to compete with Google Drive and Office 365.

iWork iCloud public beta rolling out today: here’s what you’ll get is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

For a lot of us the original Nintendo Game Boy was the best travel companion we could have ever hoped for as a kid. Now, our phones provide suitable distractions during boring flights or car rides. But we’ve still got a soft spot for Nintendo’s old handheld, and feel honored at the chance to sprawl out on ThinkGeek’s $20 Beach Boy the next time we’re relaxing at the beach.

Read more…

The technical magicians at Disney Research are at it once more. This time, they’re working on a technology which allows users to feel sensations without actually having to touch a surface.

AIREAL is a combination of hardware and software which can create tiny air vortexes in 3D space. It was developed by researchers Rajinder Sodhi, Ivan Poupyrev, Matthew Glisson, and Ali Israr. A set of these small haptic-feedback devices can be used in combination with gesture-based control devices to let users feel sensations and virtual textures while interacting with their computers and video game systems. This is truly some science fiction stuff made real.

Check out some examples of AIREAL in action in the clip below:

Pretty amazing concept, no? Wouldn’t it be cool to combine this with a head-mounted display like the Oculus Rift? The wind could blow in your hair as you run through a virtual world, or you could feel bullets whizzing by when you’re being shot at. Crazy stuff. Or it might just turn up in a next generation of Disney’s Haunted Mansion – where you can actually feel the ghosts surrounding you. Hopefully the Disney Research guys talk to the Imagineers.

You can read the entire research paper on AIREAL here. [PDF]

I’ve seen many different kinds of clunky TV boxes, and many are forgettable. There are quite a few that are basically eyesores in your living room, and it’s not always easy to find a way to make them appealing, except if you completely hide them away.

Fan TV was developed by Yves Behar’s Fuseproject studio. The design was created for the company Fanhattan. The remote and set-top box are quite unique.  They are supposed to mimic nested stones. The pebble-shaped remote is supposed to respond to the slightest touch, and you can tap as well as swipe it to navigate through your movies and shows.

The system itself is designed to integrate live TV, DVR and streaming media in a single interface. Though it’s not clear what other devices will be required in order to use the live TV and DVR features. There will also be companion apps for iOS devices so you can watch and control your content on the go.

Here’s a brief demo of the Fan TV in action:

There’s no word yet on pricing or a release date for the system.

[via designboom]

It was just a few months ago that the folks working with Jeff Bezos and Bezos Expeditions headed to the depths of the sea to bring up a new collection of NASA history. This week it’s made clear – and confirmed – what they actually found: these F-1 engines belonged to none other than NASA’s mission Apollo 11. If there’s one tribute to the greatness of that moon exploration mission that we’re guessing Neil Armstrong wouldn’t have expected, this would be it.

The 20th of July will be the 44th anniversary of the original moon landing, and here in a mission that brought us down in the other direction to the ocean’s floor, the recovery of a big batch of hardware components brings the whole missing into clear view once more. The parts recovered here have become a whole heck of a lot more important than they were without identification here in the summer of 2013.

What’s been found – amongst other identifying markings, of course – is a simple 2044 stenciled in black paint on the side of one of the thrust chambers of these F-1 engines. This discovery was part of an in-depth exploration of the hardware’s markings and identifying bits and pieces, leading to the understanding that these units are connected to history as follows:

Rocketdyne serial number 2044 discovered stenciled in black paint
2044 correlates with NASA serial number 6044
Serial number 6044 F-1 Engine #5 belongs to Apollo 11

The connections are unmistakable – but wouldn’t just be left to a simple paint marking to hold solid. Upon deeper digging, corrosion removal delivered another clear “Unit No 2044″ stamped into the surface of the metal.

This post-sea in-depth exploration was and is continuing to be done by the conservation team at Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kansas. The announcement on this confirmation – stamps and all – was made here on the 19th of July, 2013.

Thanks for the tip, Jack!

SOURCE: Bezos Expeditions

Bezos Apollo 11 F-1 engine recovery confirmed: the real number 2044 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.