Hasta La Gadget!

We hope you aren’t depending on your Chromecast for local media playback. If you are, the device has just become a paperweight — temporarily, at least. Google’s most recent Chromecast update disables playback from external video sources, breaking third-party apps like AllCast and Fling that use the code for local-only streaming. Developer Leon Nicholls is hopeful that functionality will return when the official Cast SDK is ready for public apps, although we wouldn’t count on it. As Android Central notes, Google isn’t promising local media support on the Chromecast; for now, it’s focused on the cloud.

Update: In a statement mentioned by dnengel84 in the comments and posted by The Verge, Google says that it’s willing to support local content; these are “early days” for the SDK, and the feature set is likely to change. Read the full statement after the break.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Google

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Via: GigaOM

Source: Koushik Dutta (Google+), Leon Nicholls (Google+)

Ever since Oculus Rift hired Doom co-creator and legendary game designer John Carmack as Chief Technology Officer a few weeks back, he’s been hard at work on the Rift’s SDK. “John likes to do what he likes to do,” VP of product Nate Michell told attendees of an Oculus panel at GDC Europe this evening. “He’s got a ridiculous amount of good ideas that he’s working into the SDK. Especially around mobile, frankly,” he added, coyly teasing an update to the Oculus SDK that’s apparently coming sooner than later.

Mitchell’s speaking to the SDK’s promised Android support, which company CEO Brendan Iribe revealed as a forthcoming goal in an interview earlier this year. When asked by a panel attendee when iOS support is coming, headset creator Palmer Luckey smilingly admitted, “It’s Apple’s fault!” Mitchell quickly jumped in, explaining that the Android platform is simply more open to peripherals like the Rift. We’ll have more from Oculus as the week goes on, so keep an eye out for even more.

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, Software, HD, Mobile

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Now that Google has let its $35 Chromecast HDMI dongle out of the bag at its breakfast press event, it’s gonna need developers to chip in some apps for it. To help boost that effort, the company is releasing the Google Cast SDK to help those folks bring content from mobile and the web to TVs. By using the kit, developers won’t need to build new applications for the big screen from scratch; they’ll just need to make a few tweaks to their existing mobile apps. Mountain View expects Google Cast tech to be embedded in future hardware from its partners, with Chromecast being “the first instantiation” of such an ecosystem. You can now grab a preview (at the source) for iOS, Android and Chrome — which is good news, since the wee dongle already appears to be sold out on Play.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Google

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Source: Google Cast

As a part of Microsoft’s HomeOS project, the company will expand with what’s called “Lab of Things”, making the case for researchers giving big boosts to devices in your living space. Microsoft’s “LOT” will work with the public as well, sending out an SDK (Software Development Kit) to creators of software for the expansion of home-based systems in the wild. This system has been deployed during and in conjunction with the first day’s events at this year’s Microsoft Research Faculty Summit event.

As an extension of HomeOS, Microsoft’s Lab of Things will also work to bring “teaching and research on connected homes and drives”. As an extension of Microsoft Research, software is licensed to academic institutions as well as developers aiming to push the environment to homes. Lab of Things (LOT) is aimed at running entire institutions – or homes, of course – from a single dedicated machine.

This single machine runs Microsofts HomeOS and goes by the name of HomeHub. While the system can be utilized to work with systems of many different types, its in home automation, energy management, and healthcare that Microsoft aims for at this time.

HomeOS currently works with devices such as televisions, cameras, routers, printers and PCs. Developers have also connected gaming consoles, surveillance equipment, mobile phones, and medical equipment. The whole system is licensed to developers and prospective institutions for free – for non-commercial use, at this time.

Lab of Things (LOT) is currently available for download as an SDK for users of all types. You can access this SDK at Microsoft Research and hit the ground running – and make sure you let SlashGear know what you’re working on while you’re at it!

VIA: ZDNet

Microsoft “Lab of Things” will connect your devices at home is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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Nokia’s Lumia 1020 has finally gone official today and, no surprise here, it’s all about imaging. To complement the handset’s 41-megapixel BSI sensor and accompanying ProCamera software, Nokia’s released an imaging SDK to devs that want to impose their own camera customizations. As of now, the Finnish company’s seeded the SDK out to the likes of CNN, Vyclone, Panagraph, Snapcam, Foursquare, Hipstamatic’s Oggl Pro, Yelp, Flipboard and Path — all of which have already been working on custom applications for the 1020. So what does that mean for the end user? Most likely, these third-party tweaks will entail high-res photo sharing and custom filters, as in the case of Path’s Lumia app. Nokia’s posted the SDK on its site for all developers today, so if you’re interested in seeing what the Lumia 1020’s beastly sensor can do for your app or what its SDK can do for WP8 apps in general, you know where to look.

Check out all the news from today’s Nokia event at our hub!

Filed under: Cellphones, Wireless, Software, Mobile, Microsoft, Nokia

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Source: Nokia Developer