Hasta La Gadget!

Here’s your classic case of “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.” Microsoft’s Innovation Labs have just demonstrated a OneVision Video Recognizer algorithm that’s powerful enough to perform face detection duties on a running video feed. It can recognize and track humanoid visages even while they’re moving, accept tags that allow auto-identification of people as they enter the frame, and can ultimately lead to some highly sophisticated video editing and indexing via its automated information gathering. Of course, it’s that very ease with which it can keep a watchful eye on everyone that has us feeling uneasy right now, but what are you gonna do? Watch the video after the break, that’s what.

Continue reading Microsoft’s OneVision Video Recognizer can detect, identify, and track your face on video… so smile!

Microsoft’s OneVision Video Recognizer can detect, identify, and track your face on video… so smile! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Next Web  |  Microsoft Innovation Labs  | Email this | Comments

The Gemini FirstMix USB DJ Controller, at $80, would be an option for the DJ on a budget

Gemini’s FirstMix USB DJ Controller Won’t Break the Bank
Amateur and would-be DJs can get started spinning tunes without doling out a lot of dough with the Gemini FirstMix USB DJ controller. For $80, you get many of the same features as high-end controllers, like dual touch-sensitive jog wheels with volume, effects, 2-band EQ, and a cross-fader. FirstMix includes MixVibes’ CROSS LE software, which supports MP3, MP4A, WAV, AIFF, FLAC, and OGG audio file types and is compatible with other popular DJ programs. You can start scratching on your own Gemini FirstMix in May.

Gemini FirstMix [Slashgear]

Microsoft Kinect Is Now The World’s Fastest-Selling Gadget
With an average of 133,333 units sold each day over its first 60 days, the Kinect is now the Guinness World Record holder for fastest selling consumer electronics device. Over 10 million Kinects have been purchased since its debut in November. In the past, the iPhone and iPad have been titleholders. Let’s see how long the Kinect can hold this record with the iPad 2’s rapidly approaching launch.

Kinect Confirmed as Fastest Selling Consumer Electronics Device [Guinness World Records via Wired UK]

Angry Birds Seasons Gets in the St. Patrick’s Day Mood
Rovio just released 15 new levels for Angry Birds Seasons, filled with pots o’ gold, shamrocks, and leprechaun hats in celebration of St. Paddy’s Day. iPhone and iPad versions are available now, and an Android update will be released tomorrow. And just like with their Valentine’s Day themed update, when you like Angry Birds on Facebook you can unlock three more bonus levels. If that’s not enough for your insatiable bird-flinging appetite, Angry Birds Rio is also expected to come out this month.

Angry Birds Celebrate St. Patrick [CNET]

Teradek Cube Turns Your Camcorder Into a Livestreaming Machine
The deck of cards-sized Teradek Cube is the first wireless HD video encoder that can sit atop your camera and stream 1080p over Ethernet or WiFi. It’s designed to be easily mounted on a baseplate, hotshoe, cage, or rail system. The Cube is available in six different models, including two with support for 4G, with pricing ranging from $1490 to $2190.

Cube [Teradek via Geeky Gadgets]

Spire Clock Combines Japanese Folding Fan And A Saw Blade
The minute hand and hour hand are represented by each end of the fan, which folds and unfolds “in the rhythm of a Japanese fan.” That’s nice, but what about those sharp looking spikes on the end of each of the blades? Those look like they could do some damage.

Spire Clock [Moco Loco]

Wireless Luggage Finder Makes It Easier To Locate Your Luggage At The Airport
easy2pick, a little gizmo with attachments for a keychain and your luggage, was created to make sure you don’t miss your bag as it goes by on the luggage carousel after an arduous day of travel. It sounds an alarm, flashes, and vibrates when the two tags come within 66 feet of one another. Each keychain has a unique ID code, so if someone else also has one, your signals won’t get crossed, and included sensors that measure sound, light, and altitude deactivate the device when it’s in the cargo bay or in the air.

Wireless Luggage Finder [X-treme Geek via Oh Gizmo]

Apple and Microsoft are butting heads again, the latest in a long line of disputes against the tech giants. This time out, the companies are doing battle over Apple’s trademark claims on the admittedly broad term “App Store.” Apple, essentially, is claiming that it can own the term, seeing as how when people think “App Store,” they think “Apple.”

As the company put it in a recent filing,

The vastly predominant usage of the expression ‘app store’ in trade press is as a reference to Apple’s extraordinarily well-known APP STORE mark and the services rendered by Apple thereunder.

Microsoft’s point, thus far, is that the term was generic long before Apple laid claim to it,

Any secondary meaning or fame Apple has in ‘App Store’ is de facto secondary meaning that cannot convert the generic term ‘app store’ into a protectable trademark. Apple cannot block competitors from using a generic name. ‘App store’ is generic and therefore in the public domain and free for all competitors to use.

As of late, however, the arguments have become far more nuanced, and now Microsoft is calling out Apple over the length of a legal filing, and the font size used in said filing. According to a newly discovered motion filed by Microsoft with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, “Apple’s response brief is 31 pages, including the table of contents and table of authorities, and on information and belief, is printed in less than 11 point font.”

Full text of this exciting motion can be found here.

At this week’s Microsoft promotional bonanza, otherwise known as TechFest 2011, a team of researchers debuted a rather shabby looking capacitive stylus that switches between functions based on your grip — an interesting addition to a rather stagnant market, sure, but there are still a few kinks to be worked out. The multi-purpose tool enlists capacitive multi-touch and orientation sensors to respond to how you hold the thing, allowing you to perform a number of different tasks with a simple repositioning. A demo video of the stylus at work shows a disembodied hand switching between a pen, an airbrush, a compass, and even a virtual flute with ease, but while the project stresses the “naturalness” of the experience, we’re pretty sure nobody sketches quite like that. Check out the video after the break to see what we mean.

Continue reading Microsoft researchers show off intuitive stylus, don’t know how to hold a pencil (video)

Microsoft researchers show off intuitive stylus, don’t know how to hold a pencil (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 10 Mar 2011 09:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Being Manan  |  Microsoft Research  | Email this | Comments

This article was written on May 05, 2008 by CyberNet.

How low can Yahoo stock go now that Microsoft has formally withdrawn their bid to acquire Yahoo? Thus far, Yahoo stock is down to $23.90, a drop of about 16% and the day has just started. Here Jerry Yang, Yahoo’s CEO was adamant that they were worth $37 per share! He’ll certainly be in the hot seat today when he comes strolling in the door to work and has to answer to all of his employees who are still in shock that Yahoo didn’t accept Microsoft’s upped offer.

Wait a second, I guess we should back-up and go-over what happened between Friday and today. On Friday, Microsoft at the very last minute decided to up their bid to offer Yahoo $33 per share, or another $5 billion dollars. On Saturday, Yang flew to Seattle with Yahoo’s other co-founder David Filo to talk to Ballmer. They were going there to tell him in person that they wouldn’t accept anything less than $37 dollars per share. You would have thought that at a face-to-face meeting like that, they would have been able to negotiate something but they didn’t. Shortly thereafter, Microsoft withdrew their bid.

Lots of Yahoo employees have stock-options, so they were clearly invested into the happenings between the two companies. Kara Swisher interviewed about a dozen Yahoo execs over the weekend to try and get an idea of where they stand and how they feel, and her article titled “I Need Some Prozac” explains it all. One exec who chose not to be identified said, “Having to face my staff tomorrow will not be so much fun and I need some Prozac, since I don’t know what I can say to them about how our leadership is going to get our company going again.”

So now what happens from here? Well, Yahoo stock will likely continue to tumble unless they act quick and try to make some last-ditch efforts to save their stock like partnering with Google or merging with AOL. If it continues to tumble and Yang isn’t able to prove that Yahoo is worth at least $37 per share, we could see Microsoft come marching back to Yahoo with a much lower offer. Yahoo would almost be forced to accept it with the backlash they received from rejecting a Microsoft offer previously, fresh in their minds.

Did Jerry Yang just make the biggest mistake of his career and will this ultimately lead to his replacement as Yahoo CEO? He’s doing his best to smooth things over right now and posted a blog titled “Ok, so now what?” In it he says, “We’ve emerged a stronger, more focused company with an even greater sense of purpose.” Unfortunately, at this point they haven’t emerged stronger and some are predicting it’s all downhill from here.

Any thoughts?

Note: If you’d like a great re-cap of what happened over the last several months, take a look at Paul Thurrott’s article titled “What might have been: A look back at Microsoft/Yahoo! coverage in WinInfo.” It’s really interesting to go back and see how all of this unraveled.

Thanks to all who sent in tips!

Sources: Here, Here, and Here

Copyright © 2011 CyberNetNews.com

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