Hasta La Gadget!

Windows Phone 8 users partial to Telenav Scout can now leave the long line of people twiddling their thumbs waiting for their favorite apps to arrive on the OS. Previously available on iOS, Android and older Windows Phone versions, the newest Scout on the Marketplace works on all WP8 devices. It comes with all of the bells and whistles one would expect from a personalized navigation platform, including a user’s current location, nearby establishments, real-time traffic flow, possible routes to take and the commute duration for each. Voice guidance (and voice command), as well as traffic and red light alerts are also available — assuming you’re willing to pay $25 per year for the privilege. If, however, you’re immune to Scout’s navigational charms, there’s always alternative options like Drive+, MapQuest and CoPilot to help your not-so-aimless wanderings.

Filed under: Cellphones

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Source: Windows Phone Marketplace, Scout

When it comes to rolling out smartphones, very little differentiates between one and the other, especially when we are talking about high end models. Sure, there will always be one particular model that spearheads the list of breaking features for the first time such as a Full HD display, but wait for a while and see how the other rivals will roll out devices of a similar nature. Motorola, however, intends to be different by offering smartphones which support touchless controls, and those will include support for always-on voice controls.

Imaging training your handset just like you would a pooch – and it will only respond to your requests when you start off with the magic abracadabra phrase of “OK, Google Now.” Pretty cool, except that you aren’t controlling a mammoth starship, but rather, a smartphone. Having said that, the Touchless Control app can now be downloaded from the Google Play Store, although you will still need one of the following handsets from Motorola – Moto X, Droid Ultra, Droid Mini, and Droid Maxx, to run this Touchless Control app.

For those of you who do not own any of the Motorola handsets listed above, fret not, there is always an alternative hanging around, even if it is not the best – you could give a third-party app like Open Mic+ a go that ensures the microphone on your device remains active at all times, at your beck and call while you kick off Google Now with a key phrase.

Touchless Control App Now On Google Play Store original content from Ubergizmo.

Liver surgery is more than a little dangerous — with so many blood vessels, one wrong cut can lead to disaster. Fraunhofer MEVIS has just tested a new generation of augmented reality iPad app that could minimize those risks. The tool puts a 3D vessel map on top of live video of a patient, telling the surgeon where it’s safe to make incisions. Doctors who do need to cut vessels can predict the level of blood loss and remove affected vessels from the map. The trial was successful enough that Fraunhofer MEVIS sees the new technology applying to surgery elsewhere in the body. If all goes well, there should be fewer accidents during tricky operations of many kinds — a big relief for those of us going under the knife.

[Thanks, Urban]

Filed under: Tablets, Alt

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Source: Fraunhofer MEVIS

Perhaps you’ve been enjoying the fruits of Niantic Labs’ endeavors on your handset since Field Trip’s introduction on Android, and more recently, iOS. However, wouldn’t it be nice to have those nifty tidbits of location-based info provided in a less obtrusive manner? Good news Explorers, because Field Trip has arrived on Glass today. That means that all those restaurant and activity suggestions upon which you depend to keep yourself entertained and fed are now delivered directly to your eyeball instead of your pocket.

If you’re thinking that such a Glass app makes perfect sense, well you’re not alone. It turns out that John Hanke, Niantic’s chief actually made Field Trip for Glass, and the mobile versions were built simply as a way to get the app out to as many people as possible. That way, the database of info for the app could be built up and more feedback could be gathered and used to refine the Field Trip UX by the time it came to Glass. For folks wanting to see the results of all that hard work (and don’t have the $1,500 wearable needed to see it firsthand), a video of the app in action awaits after the break.

Filed under: Wearables, Software, Mobile, Google

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For Facebook users, when a comment or a status is made in a language other than the one set in the user’s preferences, a translation option is made available that will provide an alternative in the user’s language. Such is now also a feature available on Google Plus, with the translation service being powered by […]