Hasta La Gadget!

Exercise-driven video tours are nothing new, but Active Theory may have a found a way to keep them interesting with its upcoming BitGym app for Android and iOS. The motion-tracking fitness title will now include Street View Hyperlapse videos that take athletes across whole regions, like New York City or a European country, in less than 40 minutes. Only six videos will be available to start, but the company won’t have trouble adding more tours when there’s plenty of places to go in Street View. Active Theory warns that Hyperlapse might disappear; Google’s terms of service for Street View reportedly leave such clips in a gray area, which could lead to a takedown. If you’re willing to take a chance on the concept, however, you can fund BitGym’s Kickstarter project today.

Filed under: Misc, Internet

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Source: Kickstarter

If you were wondering what happened to the Arduino Yun after it missed its original June release target, you can relax: it’s now on sale worldwide. As promised, the $69 (€52) design combines a garden variety Leonardo board with a WiFi system-on-chip running Limino, giving owners a customizable wireless access point with Ethernet, USB and a microSD slot. Tinkerers can also program the Arduino component over the air using a newly updated developer environment. Those already sold on the concept can buy an Arduino Yun at the source link, while newcomers can check out an introductory video after the break.

Filed under: Misc, Networking

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Via: Arduino Blog

Source: Arduino Store

DisplayLink’s been wringing all kinds of connectivity out of our computer’s USB ports for years, turning one connection into many. It should come as no surprise, then, that the company’s using its considerable compression expertise to send high-resolution 4K video through that very same pipe. Ideally, the system shoots video over USB 3.0, while still giving users the full connectivity options of any compatible DisplayLink device — but it can also function using USB 2.0, though the dynamically compensating data compression at work may cause some frames to drop.

We chatted with Displaylink’s Director of Marketing, Andy Davis, about the feature and he informed us that the new 4K capability comes courtesy of a chip design first revealed back at CES that, while upping the max resolution of transmitted video, has no trouble driving multiple displays. In theory,the number of 4K screens the chip can drive is only limited by the graphics drivers and video decoding capabilities of the computer it’s connected to. And, the new architecture also enables wireless streaming of 4K video using 802.11ad and can stream 1080p video over 802.11ac (4K over 802.11ac is in the works). We got to see a brief demo of the technology in action, and the video played back flawlessly over USB 3.0 for the few minutes we saw it work. Using 2.0, we noticed a slight flicker once or twice during playback, but the feed was still quite watchable. All in all, its a nice addition to the DisplayLink feature set. Now if they’d just let us know when we’ll actually see it implemented in something we can buy.

Filed under: Displays, Misc, HD

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Nowadays, it seems like everyone has a plan to help you part ways with a smartphone in return for some sort of store credit or, in a few cases, cash. Apple’s doing it. GameStop’s doing it. Amazon’s doing it. You get the point. Starting on September 21st in the US, we’ll be adding giant retailer Walmart to the list of companies currently offering a way to trade-in smartphones. The newfound program, powered by CExchange, is slated to be open in over 3,600 stores across the country (including Sam’s Club locations); Walmart says its program will offer customers instant credit which can then be applied towards a shiny new handset. Obviously, the value will depend on the device’s overall condition, so don’t expect to get too much for that shattered iPhone you’ve been rocking the past few months.

Filed under: Cellphones, Misc

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Source: Walmart

When we see a picture of the Notorious B.I.G., the hook from Hypnotize starts streaming in our heads. Imagine if you will, an app that analyzes your picture and creates a soundtrack suited to you. Mhoto does just that, and it can synthesize an appropriate tune for any digital photograph. Mhoto’s magic comes courtesy of some patent pending technology that analyzes a picture’s saturation, brightness and contrast levels and uses that information to create music tailored to fit the feel of the photo — and the company’s working on a way to integrate facial recognition into the mix to make mood based music, too. Users also can choose what musical genre they want the generated tunes to come from (Hip Hop, Rock, Pop, etc.). The best part is, the heavy lifting is done in Amazon’s cloud, so Mhoto can work on any device with a data connection, even a featurephone.

Filed under: Misc

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Source: Mhoto