Monday, June 24, 2013

Burj Kahlifa on Street View: The World's Tallest Building, Inside Out

Source: http://gizmodo.com/burj-kahlifa-on-street-view-the-worlds-tallest-buildi-556896674

The beauty of Google Street View is it can take you to places you might never otherwise see, and now it includes the crazy panoramic view from the top of Dubai's Burj Khalifa.

Of course the first skyscraper to be mapped on Google Street View would be the tallest in the world. Even from your computer screen, the view is breathtakingly awesome. You can check things out the view from Burj Khalifa's highest occupied floor (the 163rd).

Burj Kahlifa on Street View: The World's Tallest Building, Inside Out

You can also look down on Dubai from the 124th floor observation deck, or peer off an 80th floor window washing unit.

Burj Kahlifa on Street View: The World's Tallest Building, Inside Out

Burj Kahlifa on Street View: The World's Tallest Building, Inside Out

Google even shows you what it's like to ride in one of Burj's 22 mph elevators—the fastest-moving elevators in the world. So while most of us might never get a chance to see the mega-tall building in the flesh, seeing it from Google Street View is the next best thing. [Google]

Burj Kahlifa on Street View: The World's Tallest Building, Inside Out

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Leap Motion Controller Hands-On: The Future Is Magic (Now With Apps!)

Source: http://gizmodo.com/leap-motion-controller-hands-on-the-future-is-magic-530869578

Leap Motion Controller Hands-On: The Future Is Magic (Now With Apps!)

Greasy fingers are the bane of touchscreens, obscuring the display behind snail trails of oil and streaks of grime. Forget that mess. Leap Motion has promised hands-free PC navigation for months now, and after some hands-on time we can confirm that the future is here, and it's amazing.

As a brief refresher, the Leap Motion Controller tracks your hand and finger movements in three-dimensional space, allowing users to recreate multitouch input without actually touching anything. You just wave your hands and wiggle your fingers in the air over it and boom, your computer responds.

Leap Motion Controller Hands-On: The Future Is Magic (Now With Apps!)

It will be available for Windows 7 and 8, as well as Mac OS X 10.6 and above, when the $80 device hits store shelves on July 29th (though if you pre-ordered, it's out on the 22nd). It won't be available for mobile to start but the company is looking into potentially integrating the technology with a number of OEMs.

With a few waves of your hands, both native applications—from web browsers to Google Earth—and system navigations respond instantly to your commands. The company is also developing Airspace, an online hub for LeapMotion-enabled applications.

Leap Motion Controller Hands-On: The Future Is Magic (Now With Apps!)

"Everything you can do with a touch-based system, like Windows 8, can now be accomplished with LeapMotion technology. We want our users to have a magical experience, with easy and natural movements in the air leading to amazing interactions. This is the foundation for our approach to existing systems," David Holz, co-founder and CTO of LeapMotion, said in a press statement. "But this is only the beginning. The potential for our 3D interaction technology is really unleashed by applications built specifically for LeapMotion, helping drive the future of computing."

Leap Motion Controller Hands-On: The Future Is Magic (Now With Apps!)

I had the opportunity to try out the Leap Motion last week, and great googly moogly this thing is amazeballs. It tracks both hands—their position, angle, rotation, orientation, everything—in real time, as well as the positions and movements of all three joints in all ten fingers. The controller registers everything within a roughly foot-tall, 18-inch-wide dome-shaped area surrounding the controller and is wildly accurate, picking up even miniscule finger twitches. During the demo, used Google Earth to fly around Lower Manhattan like I was the kid from Flight of the Navigator, I played a 3D variation of Brick Breaker using my index fingers as paddles to punch, poke, and prod the ball around the arena, and I navigated around both OS X and Windows 8 systems by swiping my hands through the air.

It was strange, initially, getting used to moving the cursor without grabbing a mouse or tapping the screen but it only takes a second to get the hang of the process. The controller can also be set to use either basic controls (taps, swipes, and other common input commands) or more advanced gestures, which helps ease you into it as well.

Granted, I played with this device for all of 15 minutes in a controlled environment (LeapMotion's SF office) but that was a glorious quarter hour; I felt like Tony Stark using the Jarvis UI. July 29th can't come soon enough.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 series to hit US on July 7th, prices start at $199

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/24/samsung-galaxy-tab-3-7-0-8-0-and-10-1-release-date-pricing/

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 series to hit US on July 7th, prices start at $199

Not to be forgotten amid other new Samsung products, the company has announced that its complete Galaxy Tab 3 lineup will arrive in the US next month. The tablet family launches in the states on July 7th, with all three screen sizes (7, 8 and 10.1 inches) going on sale at Samsung.com, Amazon, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Office Depot and other brick-and-mortar retailers. As a refresher, the entry-level Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 is priced at $199 and sports a dual-core 1.2GHz processor, 8GB of storage (plus microSD expansion), and a 7-inch 1,024 x 600 TFT display. There's Android Jelly Bean (4.1) from the outset, as well as Samsung's various apps and built-in hubs.

In addition to having a larger screen, the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 ($299) bumps up other specifications, with a more potent Exynos 1.5GHz dual-core processor and higher-resolution (1,280 x 800) TFT display. It's got the very latest Android build (4.2), as well as a rear-facing 5-megapixel camera capable of 720p video capture. Storage is also doubled to 16GB, with extra space available through microSD, and 1.5GB of RAM to keep apps running smoothly.

Finally, there's the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 ($399), which packs an Intel Z2560 processor (1.6GHz dual-core) and the same resolution as the Tab 3 8.0, albeit stretched a little further. It also matches the smaller model on storage and camera specs, although RAM has inexplicably dropped to just a single gig. The larger model does include a built-in IR blaster, however, as well as Samsung's WatchON TV recommendation service. All three WiFi-only models will arrive in white and a previously leaked gold brown hue. Pre-orders start tomorrow.

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Huawei unveils mid-range MediaPad 7 Vogue tablet that can place calls

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/24/huawei-unveils-mediapad-7-vogue/

Huawei unveils midrange MediaPad 7 Vogue tablet that can place calls

You can't toss a stone without hitting a 7-inch tablet nowadays, so Huawei's just announced the MediaPad 7 Vogue with a not-too-common feature: voice calling. If you don't mind a large object plastered to your head, the 3G version of the slate (there's also a WiFi-only model) will let you place network calls just like the ASUS FonePad or Samsung's Galaxy Note 8.0. Otherwise, it's packing decidedly middling specs, like a 1,024 x 600 IPS screen, quad-core Huawei 1.2GHz Cortex-A9 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, 3-megapixel rear camera and a microSD expansion slot. It'll launch in China this month, though there's no word yet on pricing or whether fans will be able to score it elsewhere. Check after the break for PR and another image of the tab.

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Via: TNW

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Peloton's Android-powered static bike lets you spin from home (video)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/24/peloton-bike-kickstarter/

Pelotons Androidpowered static bike lets you spin from home video

Here's some gear that'll ensure you'll never again have to fight for space in that hyper-competitive spin class. The Peloton Bike is two grand's worth of static bike that's designed to bring the gym experience to your home with a number of innovative touches. First up, the Android 4.1-running unit is controlled by a 1.5GHz TI OMAP 4470 with 1GB of RAM and 16GB storage with 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, ANT+, Bluetooth 4.0 and Ethernet. It's connected to a 21.5-inch 1080p multitouch display, which'll let you stream classes from Peloton's NYC studio live and on-demand. The display also holds a webcam and microphone, so you can still swear at your friends / the instructor as if you were there in real life.

Secondly, the New York design house has abandoned the bike chain -- replacing it with a belt drive that'll prevent your training getting too noisy, and a magnetic resistance system to reduce wear and tear on the flywheel. The company has taken to Kickstarter to raise funds for the initial production run, requesting $250,000 before it can release the hardware. Pre-ordering now means that you can get the bike for $1,700 with a year's worth of subscription to the spin classes, after which point will cost you $40 a month. Interested in learning more? There's a video after the break.

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Source: Kickstarter

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