Spring cleaning or killing spree, you decide. Intel has been rather aggressively “retiring” some of its less profitable endeavors, most of them revolving around the Internet of Things and wearable devices. Although it hasn’t formally acknowledge letting go of its wearables division, Intel did put its low-power Curie chip to pasture. Naturally, that has meant that the Arduino 101 is … Continue reading
Nintendo is selling its new Switch console as fast as it can make them, with 1.97 million sold during the quarter ended in June, which the company just reported. The total Switch sales to date now stand at 4.7 million, which is very strong for under two quarters of market availability, and on track to eclipse total lifetime Wii U sales in perhaps under a year, especially if Nintendo has a… Read More
Next time you see a cute pair of shoes or a cool shirt you’d like to buy, snap a picture or take a screenshot. eBay has just announced two new features that adds image search capabilities, similar to Pinterest’s visual search tool, to its mobile app….
We’ve seen how successful Niantic was with using augmented reality (AR) for games like Pokemon GO. However apart from gaming, could augmented reality be used for other things? In a recently discovered patent filed by Amazon, it seems that the company could be thinking of using AR for shopping.
How does this work? Basically the patent talks about how AR could be used to help users “try” on certain items, like clothing. The patent describes a system that would generate a cloud of data points for real-life objects, so for example if you were to use your hand, the app would keep track of your hand’s position and orientation, and use AR to impose an image of the item you want to buy, like a fitness band, smartwatch, watch, bracelet, and so on.
Through the app users will then be able to get an idea of what it could look like on them, as opposed to merely looking at photos on the internet or photos of models, in which sometimes because it looks good on someone else doesn’t mean it will look good on us. Since various factors are calculated, this system will do more than just superimpose an image, and will help make it look as “real” as possible.
Part of the patent reads, “Users who wish to purchase these physical items may find that the experience of purchasing is enhanced by more realistic presentations of the physical items on devices.” That being said while it is a clever idea, there’s no telling if and when Amazon does plan on launching such a system, but we’re seeing how Apple is already trying to do something similar with ARKit and IKEA.
Amazon Patent Hints At Using Augmented Reality For Shopping , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Image credit – Ng Yi Shu/Mashable
Street lights are usually the preferred method when it comes to illuminating roads and pathways at night, but what if there was a more “green” solution that would not require any electricity? This is an idea that the Singapore government is testing out by implementing a pathway that glows in the dark.
This pathway is part of the government’s project to overhaul part of an old railway track, and the glow-in-the-dark pathway is one of the ideas that is being tested. The pathway glows thanks to the strontium aluminate compound embedded in it, in which it absorbs ultraviolet in the day from the sun in order to glow at night when it is dark.
Apart from being greener, the test was also to find a surface material that would be safer and more resilient to the daily wear and tear of people walking on it. The stretch of glow-in-the-dark path is pretty short at the moment at 100 m, but if successful it is possible that more of it will be implemented in the future.
Unfortunately as clever as the idea may be, the reality is that it isn’t quite as effective as you might think. Singaporeans have shared their thoughts on social media in which most are saying that the glow isn’t as bright as they had hoped. The photo above from Mashable was actually achieved through long exposure, but the reality is that it is still pretty dim.
Singapore Testing Out Glow-In-The-Dark Roads For Better Visibility , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Image credit – Deliveroo
Fans of HBO’s Game of Thrones might remember the character Hot Pie, who in the show is one of Arya Stark’s friends, and who in the latest episode (spoiler alert!) are reunited briefly. Now if you thought that Hot Pie’s pies and baked goods look pretty tasty in the show, the good news is that you’ll be able to buy them in real-life, sort of.
The actor who plays Hot Pie, Ben Hawkey, has launched his own bakery which he has dubbed, “You Know Nothing John Dough”, and he will be selling direwolf bread (presumably with other baked goods as well). The bread is said to be made from whole wheat cornbread and orange zest, and is best served warm with some soft butter.
The bakery was launched with online delivery service Deliveroo where the loaves are being sold at $1.30 each. According to Hawkey, “Hot Pie’s Direwolf loaves are a favorite for Game of Thrones fans, and people are always asking me for the secret of my recipe. I can’t share that, but Deliveroo customers will have the chance to try them themselves. You don’t even need to take a dangerous walk down the King’s Road to visit, it comes to you.”
This is actually not the first time that we’re seeing food from fiction being made a reality. Last year there was an official World of Warcraft cookbook, and earlier this year Final Fantasy XV fans put together a cookbook for the food (which was based on real-life dishes) found in the game.
You Can Now Buy Game Of Thrones’ Direwolf Bread In Real Life , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
If you’re trying to book a hotel for your vacation, there are plenty of booking websites that you can go through. However if you’re trying to get the best price possible and compare them, doing a hotel search on Google will be able to bring up these listings. However if you were in the market for a vacation home instead of a hotel, Google might have you covered as well.
In a report from Skift (via 9to5Google), it seems that Google is testing out the ability for users to search for vacation rentals alongside hotel searches. Google has yet to make any kind of official announcement, but we guess given that they are testing out the feature, maybe they’ll only announce it when it is available to all.
Basically as you can see in the screenshot above, users can select their accommodation type which includes vacation rentals. This might be ideal for some with bigger groups or families, where it would be more economical (and more fun) to rent an entire home as opposed to paying for a hotel which could be more expensive.
So far it seems that this feature is being tested out in Europe, but presumably if all goes well it should eventually find its way to other markets in the near future.
Google Testing Vacation Rentals Alongside Hotel Searches , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
If you’re looking to communicate digitally with companies, there are various ways to go about it, such as through emails, social media platforms, or instant messaging such as through WhatsApp. There isn’t an official WhatsApp feature/tool for businesses yet, but we have heard that this could be something they are working on.
Now in a report from WABetaInfo, additional details about this alleged app has surfaced. According to the report, this app will exist separate from the “main” WhatsApp app, and will be known as the “Small and Medium Business” (which isn’t particularly catchy). It is also expected to be released across multiple platforms such as iOS, Android, and even Windows Phone.
The app is rumored to feature verified accounts like you might expect to see on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, meaning that users will know for sure that the company they are talking to is who they say they are, which is important especially if you are talking to a bank about financial things and there is sensitive information in there.
WhatsApp has yet to officially launch the app, nor have they confirmed its existence. However a couple of years ago, Facebook (who owns WhatsApp) did mention that they were exploring the idea of allowing businesses to chat with users via WhatsApp, so perhaps it might not be a completely ludicrous idea.
More Details Revealed About Alleged WhatsApp For Business App , original content from Ubergizmo. Read our Copyrights and terms of use.
Deputy Constable Mark Diebold helped deliver baby Evelyn last year. Her parents now refer to him as “family.”
“The shards that cut me the deepest were the ones that intended to cut.”
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