We’re here in Austin for SXSW Interactive, but it’s impossible to avoid a little bleed over from the film and music portions of the event — particularly when you get invited to cover the latest webstreaming news from AMC Networks. The company set up camp in the IFC Theater on 6th Avenue to unveil its new online offering, Yeah, a rental service that provides the viewer contextual information on movies mined from interviews with the filmmakers and cast, along with two months of research for each of the titles. According to the company, each curated movie features some 400 to 500 new pieces of content.
Of course, what we were really looking forward to at the event was the chance to speak with a couple of filmmakers tied to the service, beginning with the great Wes Craven, who provided new interviews for his early films A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Last House on the Left. Craven, it turns out, is one of the new service’s biggest cheerleaders, with a genuine enthusiasm about the opportunity to offer some new insight into works that have, admittedly, been fairly well-tread by both film historians and fans.
Starbucks baristas will write your name on the side of your coffee cup, but that’s no where near the level of personalization the Barista Bot is capable of. After snapping your portrait with a webcam, it uses a robotic arm to then draw your face in the milk foam atop your latte. That’s overkill in the best way possible. More »
As the first edition so foretold, so too is there a second piece of this puzzle: Google’s Project Glass appears to have been shown at South by Southwest this past week in at least one well-attended keynote. While we’d seen some relatively blurry looks at this particular showing late last week, this week we’re seeing not one, but two relatively close-up versions of the presentation. While we’ve seen some still shots of the Glass device’s basic UI before, here we get more in-depth with how Email, Skitch, and Evernote will work.
In the video shown earlier today, we saw a basic showing of how the camera will work, what we’ll see when we want information on the weather around us, and how it’ll feel to share content. Also shown was a nearly instant translation of English into Japanese spoken aloud as well as a glimpse at how Pinterest will be included in the first released build. It was there that we were also reminded that the touch interface on the side of the first Project Glass build will be touch-sensitive.
What you’re seeing above is the second of two filmings of this Google Glass UI demo at SXSW. This demonstration begins with a look at how Gmail will be integrated into the set right out of the box. A new email will, if you want it, be shown in brief complete with a user icon where possible.
You’ll see that the instant dictation feature present in many Google apps today will be a rather important tool in Glass. To reply to an email, you’ll have only to tap the side of your Glass unit once, see the reply button, tap again, and begin speaking. Here you’ll see the presenter saying “Are you kidding I can’t wait :-)” There’s a bit of a hiccup with the word “remind” at the beginning of the sentence, but other than that, dictation appears to be perfect.
Next there’s another sharing bit of action shown, with the presenter showing that once you’ve got a photo taken, you can tap, see that you’re able to share, tap again, and slide back and forth through your options for sharing. Here he shares to Skitch the same as he would to Evernote – in this case he’s shared to an Android device and Skitch brings up the image as soon as his Android device receives the file. This same sort of situation happens with Evernote, but with the big E, you’re saving to a massive archive rather than just sending a file via Bluetooth to your phone.
Have a peek at the timeline below to see additional demonstrations with Glass and see how and when you’ll be getting your own – in general – rather soon!
In this post-DVD world, it can be tough to really enjoy a film without having a director talk on top of it. AMC’s looking to fill in the void of contextual information left as many of us have moved from physical to streaming media, with the launch of Yeah! today at SXSW, an online streaming movie service featuring curated supplementary features for classic movies like Superman, Reservoir Dogs, Clerks and A Nightmare on Elm Street. The offering includes interviews with folks like Wes Craven and Richard Donner, facts about the films and quizzes — there’s 400 to 500 new pieces of content per film, according to AMC, which you can access “without obscuring the movie.” Yeah! is available now in the source link below — movies will run you $5 for a 48-hour rental. An iPad version of the service is hitting this summer.
This past week it would appear that Google has been letting their Project Glass initiative off the leash a bit more freely as several user interface demonstration videos have appeared via South by Southwest. The videos you’re about to see show some early third-party developer apps being previewed and a selection of native apps that will be appearing on the first edition of the hardware. This first edition is known as the Explorer Edition and will be arriving in developer hands soon.
What this first edition works with is a selection of Google-made apps as well as third-party apps that include Gmail, Google search, Google Translate, Evernote, and an app for the New York Times. In the first demonstration video you’ll see the user interface we’ve had our own miniature preview with before being used to translate some English into Japanese on-the-fly.
The first video also shows Glass taking a photo (a picture, as the speaker commands), and you’ll see how you’ll be sharing photos you’ve taken as well. Though you’re only seeing the user interface on a large screen and not the device itself, you’ll understand that the speaker is touching the side panel of the Glass hardware as it is fully touch-sensitive. When you want to share a photo, you’ve only to pull in from the left (or right) after you’ve taken a photo in the photo app, tap once, and there will be the option to Share.
At the moment, Glass is only being shown sharing to Google+, which makes sense since it is a Google-heavy device. We’re expecting the ability to share anywhere on the web in the future – and perhaps to and from your smartphone or other Glass units as well. Near the end of this first video you’ll also see the “P” logo from Pinterest appearing – we’re expecting Pinterest integration when the first Explorer Edition units arrive as well.
Next you’ll see the weather being displayed as well as a fold in the upper right-hand corner of the display, this showing you how you’ll be able to see more options with a bit of a slide on the touch interface on the side of your Glass unit. Pulling there will show you a full three-day forecast, for example, while page folds such as this can be used as a simple indicator for any number of “see more” actions in your own app development adventures.
We’ll be having a look at another video of Google’s User Interface soon – stick around SlashGear as the analysis continues! Hit up our Project Glass tag portal for more!
Earlier at SXSW, Google showed off Glass, giving a demonstration of the device in use and providing developers with their first glimpse of the Mirror API. The demonstration showed the device being used to perform searches, take a photo, view the weather, share with Google+, and more. You can check out a video of the demonstration after the jump.
Other apps that were demonstrated included ones from the New York Times, which offers an article and its relevant information, Evernote, Path, and Skitch. As you might imagine, Glass allows users to share with Skitch and Evernote, such as sharing a photo, while the Path app lets users post comments and view updates.
Gmail, meanwhile, supplies users with new message notifications and utilizes voice commands for tasks such as replying to messages. Demonstrations are given of voice command searches and image taking, and viewers get a glimpse of features, such as pulling up the weather. There’s also a quick run down of using gestures for controlling the device, including tapping and swiping.
As for development, data is supplied to Google Glass via what is referred to as timeline cards, which have video, images, text, and HTML, among other things. Reports TechCrunch, developers also have a “bundles” option, which is, as its name suggests, a bundle of cards that device owners can “shift” through via gestures or voice commands. The apps will have some Google-imposed limitations, however, such as avoiding a barrage of notifications and presenting useless data, as well as avoiding unexpected notifications.
Google showed off some new features of Google Glass at SXSW and they can be quite useful. For example, the New York Times will be integrated with Google Glass so you’ll see pop up notifications of breaking news by tiling your head a certain way. You can even peep pictures, headlines or have Google Glass read the news to you too. More »
We’ve already seen a number of folks roaming the halls of the Austin Convention Center this week, rocking Google’s much anticipated wearable — and now it’s finally Glass’ time to shine. We’ve got a front row seat for SXSW’s Building New Experiences with Glass session. Just us after the break, won’t you?
House parties are really the rule, not the exception here at SXSW — it’s an outgrowth of the show’s Austin roots. But Sonos has gone a ways toward providing a unique experience for visitors to its Studios space. For one thing, there’s a room with a custom-built light show that utilizes a Sonos soundbar, several projectors and a Kinect camera, generating a dynamic light show based on the music and user movement.
Even cooler is the speaker-building workshop created in partnership with Moog, which features boxes and Sonos Play:3 components. Also on-site is a neon living room designed for an add with rodent-headed DJ, DeadMau5 and a museum of cool analog instruments (as Mike Love will happily tell you, playing a theremin is a lot harder than it looks). And since this is SXSW, after all, there’s a beer fountain and a stage featuring the likes of Surfer Blood and Thurston Moore.
At a show where developers are rock stars, Leap Motion just might be this year’s Beatles. SXSW isn’t the first time the company has given demos of its motion-controlled input devices, but it really seems to be the moment the world is taking notice — and realizing the potential — of its offering. Over the weekend, co-founders Michael Buckwald and David Holz addressed a packed Austin Convention Center hall, ahead of keynote conversations with Al Gore and Elon Musk.
The company set aside some time this morning to speak with us and offer up some demos of the technology, expanding upon what we saw on stage the other day. At present Leap Motion’s primary offering is a small box that sits by a PC, just in front of your keyboard. The little sensor detects the motion of your hands with a precision that allows it to distinguish the movement of individual fingers.
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