Hasta La Gadget!

The second screen has largely asked that you take your eyes away from the action, even if that is to play along in real-time. Visual SyncAR, however, brings that tablet or mobile right back into the thick of things. Developed by Japan’s NTT, the platform uses digital watermarksg that presents a timecode to the app running on the second device, allowing it to display content in sync with whatever is on the primary display. In the video after the break you can see the concept being illustrated with playful examples that interact with the program, but more useful applications include the ability for users to pull up subtitles for public information videos, or overlay sign language. Naturally, there’s also a massive potential for advertisers, who we’re sure would be more than keen to embrace the technology, and ably guide you from their commercial to an online outlet or additional promo material. Especially if they’re selling a cure for all that inevitable arm ache…

Filed under: Science, HD, Alt

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Via: DigInfo

Source: NTT

This week the folks at HTC have revealed Sense TV for the HTC One, including no less than an IR Blaster integrated in the power button of the smartphone. With an integrated IR Blaster and controls for your television inside the smartphone, you’ll be able to control your television with great ease. The app itself is powered by no less than Peel, a name you may have heard more than once in the past with IR Blaster-toting smartphones and tablets galore.

Inside this app you’ll be working with a live guide, and depending on what kind of television and services you’re working with, you’ll have full connectivity from your HTC One. DirecTV, cable, free-to-air, and more will instantly be set up with HTC connection with Peel. Your guide for television programs is then shown in a “Blinkfeed” showing – this is another element prevalent in the HTC One’s integration of Sense 5.

With the HTC One you’ve got the ability to change channels at a tap, and when you’ve got the TV app running, there’s no need to re-unlock the device each time you pick it back up. With Blinkfeed you’ll be working with a collection of interests and instant updates will be yours at a tap. If you decide you like a show you’re watching on your television, you’ve only to favorite it in your Sense TV app and it’ll send a notification to Blinkfeed which, in turn, will send you a notification each time a new episode is coming up.

This is all going to be shown in further detail in our hands-on with the HTC One and Sense 5 coming up later today right here on SlashGear. Stay tuned for the whole show and be prepared for the full review of the HTC One coming up soon after that. See you then!

HTC One Sense TV detailed: smartphone TV control made real is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

One thing that Apple has going for them is their massive collection of hundreds of thousands of apps specifically catered toward the iPad, and to show off some of the more notable ones, as well as boast about the variety of apps available, the company has released two new TV ads that quickly go through a selection of cool apps.

Each of the ads, titled “Alive” and “Together”, go through various adjectives and show off an app that describes that specific adjective. Each of the adjectives are “randomly” selected from a fast randomizer of different words, similar to how you hit a question mark block in Mario Kart and it quickly cycles through items before it eventually lands on one.

It’s a slightly different vibe than what Apple has normally done in the past. We’re mostly used to cartoony piano music playing in the background while Jeff Daniels walks us through some of the cool features of a new iOS device, but this time around it’s a little more fast-paced, with a handful of neat apps being displayed.

We see quite a few apps actually, including GarageBand, iBooks, TED Talks, iMovie, Vimeo, iPhoto, and FaceTime. We’re also seeing both the iPad and iPad mini make appearances, letting users know that all of the 300,000 apps available for iPad, are compatible with both the full-size iPad and the smaller 7.9-inch iPad.

Apple releases new iPad TV ads focusing on app catalog is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The CBBC’s Blue Peter program is the world’s longest running television program made specifically for children, run after 54 years as a magazine / entertainment show for learning and engaging with kids. This show has this week prepared an award for none other than Apple‘s Sir Johnathan Ive, here sending the designer off with the show’s “highest accolade.” Though those of you outside the UK may never have heard of this show (thumbs down to you), this award has stricken Ive (born in Chingford, London) as “absolutely incredible.”

The gold Blue Peter badge, as it’s called, is a rarity in the history of the show – so to speak – having only been given out to the most honorable of guests over the program’s many years on the air. Right around 1,000 badges have been given out, according to the BBC, others having been handed to the likes of JK Rowling, Damian Hirst, and The Queen (of England, of course).

Acting Editor of Blue Peter Ewan Vinnicombe spoke up on the event, saying that Ive “is an inspiration to children around the world.” The award was given on an episode of the show that will be broadcast on CBBC Saturday the 16th of February at 10AM GMT. In the episode, Ive conducts miniature reviews of product designs sent in to the show by Blue Peter audience members. He gives advice to the children who designed said products, and lets them know what they can do to make great products in the future as well.

Also during the show you’ll see Ive being interviewed by presenter Barney Harwood, who has Ive recalling the influence the program had on him when he was as child. Speaking about how “vividly” he remembers watching the show in his early years, Ive speaks about how he enjoyed the way the creators of the show “reused products that you though were no longer useful.” Fun stuff!

BONUS: Having been given a tip that he’d be getting a gold Blue Peter badge before going on the show, Ive came prepared. Having been handed an official badge, Ive gave Barney a giant aluminum (aka aluminium) badge in return – one that took 10 hours to craft!

Be sure to catch the program as you eat your cereal in your footie pajamas in the fabulous England morning and let us know how it goes! For those of you in the USA that’ll be asleep at that point, just bust out your typing fingers and have a search for it – the CBBC will certainly post it up sooner than later. Can’t wait!

Apple’s Jony Ive nabs legendary gold Blue Peter badge is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

TiVo is about to get a whole lot better thanks to a partnership with Flingo, who just so happens to be “the world’s largest publisher of Smart TV apps.” TiVo users will now have access to even more content, including shows from A&E, History, and Showtime. Plus, Flingo’s social sharing features will also be making their way to TiVo users.

Since Flingo has mostly focused on the smart TV market, not a lot of users are exposed to the company’s products. However, set top boxes are more widely owned than smart TVs, and with the partnership with TiVo, Flingo has a better chance of getting its content out to more viewers. Plus, the company already has another partnership with Roku, bringing its apps to even more set top box users.

TiVo users now have over 200 channels and 70 apps to choose from, which is quite a huge boost, and now more than ever, we can’t find a reason to not get a TiVo set top box at this point. Plus, on top of the over 70 apps that Flingo offers, there will also be exclusive apps created specifically for the TiVo box. Details on those app are yet to be disclosed.

TiVo will use Flingo’s LaunchPad service to replace its own TivoCast platform. The new platform will be available to the roughly three million customers already using TiVo’s new Premiere box, which means that customers who get TiVo through their regular cable company won’t be getting the new features.

TiVo teams up with Flingo to expand content and social features is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.