Hasta La Gadget!

The E3 and WWDC news surges have finally calmed, so now we’re back into the normal weekly groove. This week, Ben details his time using an Oculus Rift to watch recorded video and Richard attempts to ride out E3 as long as possible with our roundup. All that and more is ready to stream straight to your ears below.

Hosts: Ben Drawbaugh (@bjdraw), Richard Lawler (@rjcc)

Producer: Joe Pollicino (@akaTRENT)

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Filed under: Podcasts, HD

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GEAK may be focusing its attention on wearable tech like the Ring and Watch, but it still has a pair of new offerings for those who like old-fashioned smartphones: meet the 5-inch Eye and 5.8-inch Mars. Both are tailored to photo junkies with 13MP, backside-illuminated rear cameras as well as strong front cameras that shoot at 8MP (Eye) and 2MP (Mars). Differences between the handsets revolve mostly around performance and screen size. The Eye keeps things modest with a 720p IPS display, a quad-core MediaTek MT6589, HSPA+ data, 1GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. Spring for the extra-large Mars and you’ll upgrade to a 1080p IPS LCD, a Snapdragon 600 and 2GB of RAM. Either way, you won’t be paying a lot for the imaging prowess — when pre-orders start on June 25th, GEAK will ask ¥1,999 ($326) off-contract for the Eye and ¥2,999 ($490) for the Mars. Just don’t expect either to leave China when there’s no word of international plans.

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile

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Via: Engadget Chinese (translated)

Source: GEAK (1), (2)

While we’ve seen the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 officially draped in white and leaked in a golden brown variation, Samsung may have also given it the two-tone treatment. Techtastic recently got some photos from Mr. Blurrycam showing the tablet with a black face that’s complimented by a white bezel and home button. Spec-wise it’s reported to sport the same 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 1,200 x 800 pixel touchscreen we’ve handled before, but there’s no denying its penguin tuxedo looks are in a class of their own. We have our doubts as to whether this color combination will actually hit retail (is it merely a developmental prototype?), but don’t let that stop you from grabbing a better look at the source link.

Filed under: Tablets, Samsung

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Source: Techtastic

Plenty of people out there have a serious phobia of public speaking and there are tons of other disorders, such as Asperger’s, that severely limit a person’s ability to handle even simple social interactions. M. Ehsan Hoque, a student at the MIT Media Lab, has made these subjects the focus of her latest project: MACH (My Automated Conversation coacH). At the heart of MACH is a complex system of facial and speech recognition algorithms that can detect subtle nuances in intonation while tracking smiles, head nods and eye movement. The latter is especially important since the front end of MACH is a computer generated avatar that can tell when you break eye contact and shift your attention elsewhere.

The software then provides feedback about your performance, helping to prep you for that big presentation or just guide you out of your shell. Experimental data suggests that coaching from MACH could even help you perform better in a job interview. What’s particularly exciting is that the program requires no special hardware; it’s designed to be used with a standard webcam and microphone on a laptop. So it might not be too long before we start seeing apps designed to help users through social awkwardness. Before you go, make sure to check out the video after the break.

Filed under: Science, Alt

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Via: Far East Gizmos

Source: MIT

AT&T hinted that it was shaking up its GoPhone plans later this month, and it’s making good on its word. As of June 21st, customers using the prepaid service will have access to the same LTE service as their subscription peers; AT&T will mark the occasion by selling the Samsung Galaxy Express to GoPhone users at $250 off-contract. The simplified smartphone plans are here as well, although they’re better than previously expected. The carrier is dropping all data add-ons except for the $5 / 50MB pack, which is only available for a $25 monthly tier with 250 voice minutes and unlimited messaging. However, it will only cost $40 a month for a plan with 200MB of data and 500 minutes, and a $60 plan will offer 2GB of data with unlimited voice. AT&T’s new strategy won’t appease some data lovers, but those trying to avoid long contracts and harsh upgrade policies should be happy.

Update: To be clear, this is the official launch of LTE — some customers have had the faster service in advance. The plans should be new.

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Mobile, Samsung, AT&T

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Source: AT&T