Whoever invented the alarm clock that was designed to jar a person from slumber had an evil streak running through them. But for better or worse, the method of using a ringing alarm clock stuck for quite some time, so much so that even when electronic sounds in midi and wav formats entered the scene, there was still a ringing bell option.
To call the Internet, by its old name almost seems inadequate. The term still infers the old websites and emails and static desktop environments. Data that points to an increasingly connected world is abundant. But what it doesn’t tell us is how we manage all that information. At the moment we do it rather clumsily. We keep checking our smartphones to see if we’ve been mentioned in a tweet or someone has commented on our Facebook wall, or whatever social media we are in tune with.
Nokia isn’t leaving adoption of the Lumia 1020‘s 41-megapixel PureView camera up to chance, pairing its new Imaging SDK with a hackathon to encourage innovative uses of the oversampling and lossless zoom system. The new Windows Phone, revealed yesterday after a cavalcade of leaks, will support more advanced photography than most any smartphone on the market today out of the box, but now Nokia is calling for suggestions as to how to make it even more flexible, as part of its Nokia Future Capture program.
“We want you to push the limits of imaging too, think outside the box, and create apps worthy of the phone’s unique capabilities” Nokia says of the scheme. Developers can submit up to three ideas each – either for hacks or imaging-based apps for the Lumia 1020 – and company will take the creators of the ten best ideas to Sweden in August, to work on actually producing their software.
The top two app developers will get a Lumia 1020 to keep, while the best app will get a “VIP treatment” trip to an upcoming event, and see their app promoted through Nokia’s store.
Nokia Lumia 1020 hands-on:
Ideas submitted can optionally make use of peripherals – such as Nokia’s own Camera Grip, though there doesn’t seem to be any restriction on developing your own accessory – and they’ll be judged by Nokia’s local and global developer teams, along with members of the company’s imaging division. Criteria for picking the best apps includes creativity, user experience, and quality, and Nokia says that “creations should be as polished and as close to final as possible at the end of the weekend.”
As that implies, you’ll need to be a developer with some actual skills in coding to take part. Nokia will be asking for “development credentials” such as existing apps in the Windows Phone Store – or in other app stores – along with files, designs, or other evidence that you know your way around an SDK.
Ideas need to be submitted before the end of July, and there’s more information on the SDK itself at Nokia’s Developer site. The toolkit includes access to the partial JPEG decoding, which Nokia uses to quickly apply effects and tweaks, over 50 filters and enhancements, the ability to perform basic edits, and more.
There’s more on the Nokia Lumia 1020 PureView in our full hands-on.
Nokia Imaging SDK overview:
Nokia Lumia 1020 “Future Capture” puts out call for PureView hacks is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Ever dance with a rabbit who shilled new StreetPass diversions in the bright sunlight? No? Well, the latest 3DS update will fix that. Within the system’s StreetPass Plaza dwells a white lagomorph with a penchant for salesmanship. After the anthropomorphic bunny describes each title and shows it off in the cutest and most Nintendo way possible, you can buy the quartet of new releases — Mii Force, Flower Town, Warrior’s Way and Monster Manor — individually or as a discounted bundle. Each is $5 a pop, or with the package deal you can get all four for $15. The patch also brings another Puzzle Swap picture, Mii accessories purchasable with tickets earned from playing the new StreetPass games and new unlockable Mii hats. Nintendo says you can change your Mii’s facial expression when StreetPassing with another user, too. Sure, Japanese and European owners got this a few weeks ago, but that shouldn’t spoil the fun if you’re in the US.
Filed under: Gaming
Source: Nintendo
The latest Chrome update—version 28!—is now ready and waiting for you. Newly powered by Blink, not Webkit, it also has a sweet new rich notification system.
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Woop, woop, that’s the sound of the… European Commission? EU officials (figuratively) kicked in the doors of Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom and Orange’s European headquarters this week. The trio are being investigated after ISP Cogent Communications alleged that they are deliberately blocking data-hungry services — much like Cogent’s earlier complaint about Comcast. The trio are pleading their innocence while the case continues, and hoping that investigators don’t mess with the office furniture too much.
Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile
Source: Bloomberg
The Oculus Rift team still intends to ignore the Xbox One and PS4 and focus on PC and Android, concerned that lengthening development cycles for consoles could see them left behind in virtual reality, even with the cloud’s help. “There’s no reason it can’t technically work,” Oculus Rift CEO Brendan Iribe conceded to OXM, but pointed out that “one of the concerns that we do generally have around consoles is that their life cycles are getting longer all the time.” While the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are considered powerful today, they could be seriously out-performed when it comes to VR in the next few years, Iribe argues.
“I think that you will see VR move fast – AR also, but especially VR” the chief exec suggested. “You’re going to see rapid innovation, and one of the concerns that we do generally have around consoles is that their life cycles are getting longer all the time – it’s a seven to eight year lifecycle, and in eight years, VR is going to be insane. Incredible.”
Instead, the headset – which uses a pair of head-mounted LCD displays to create a virtual gaming environment – will work initially with PCs and Android devices, as that “made more sense” according to Iribe. The fact that both platforms are liberal with hardware and software is key to that decision, the CEO explained.
Even Microsoft’s decision to harness the power of the cloud to bolster the Xbox One won’t be of much use to virtual reality, he says. Microsoft has said that each Xbox One will also have access to cloud-based processing equivalent to roughly three more consoles, which could be used for processing richer backgrounds in games, more realistic reflections and textures, and other detail.
The system has met with keen interest from game developers, but is unlikely to be of use to virtual reality systems like Oculus Rift, Iribe points out, because of the latency involved.
Virtual reality “wants a maximum latency of 20-30 milliseconds from your head moving to the headset updating your eye on screen – what we call motion-to-photon” he explains. “Right now it’s at 30-50 milliseconds in the current versions, but we do expect that to come down and reach that 15-20 millisecond ‘Holy Grail’ timing.”
However, while attention on Oculus Rift has been high since the start-up’s Kickstarter back in August 2012, the company doesn’t want to keep VR all to itself. In fact, Iribe is hopeful that Microsoft or Sony – preferably both – wade in themselves, seeing it as a net-benefit to Oculus Rift’s business overall.
“The more that they push into this space, even if it’s a different device, or their own device, a different experience, the more that they’re throwing into AR and VR, the better it is for everybody” he said.
VIA Trusted Reviews
Oculus Rift unconvinced by Xbox One and PS4 VR potential is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Back in 2012 during the 3rd generation iPad unveiling, Infinity Blade: Dungeons was revealed. The game was based on the same engine used by Infinity Blade, and would be more of an action-RPG like Diablo, rather than the more one-on-one […]
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Back in the day of feature phones, decisions were made to buy a phone either based on its built-in features, its design, and of course its price. Nowadays more factors are taken into consideration, such as hardware specs, cameras, design, […]
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