Latest Google Glass update has a secret feature: it can play music (update: $85 stereo earbuds incoming)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/11/google-glass-play-music/

If you thought the latest Glass update was designed solely to help with your schedule and commute, you'd be mistaken. The sneaky devs in Mountain View quietly added support for Google Play Music in the XE11 upgrade, laying the groundwork for a future feature announcement. After sideloading the app onto Glass, a new "listen to" voice command appears on the the hardware's home screen, a feature that Glass head of Marketing Ed Sanders tells USA Today it is "important to have" for the headset. Right on time, the Glass team has posted a new Explorer Story video featuring music producer Young Guru explaining how Glass can help him discover new sounds to sample, showing off playback and the existing Android Sound Search feature.

By uttering the new phrase and speaking the name of an album, artist, playlist or song, the company's guinea pigs can listen to tunes they've uploaded to Google Play Music or those available through All Access, provided they have a subscription. Once a user confirms their choice and the music starts, a card with album art and playback controls (Pause, Play, Previous, Next, Stop, Radio and Volume) is pinned to the wearable's timeline. As you might imagine, the audio quality through the bone conduction speaker isn't spectacular, and while the device's forthcoming earbud may offer some improvement, the foreseeable musical future of Glass Explorers is in mono.

Update: Google has informed USA Today and the New York Times that a set of earbud headphones will be available next month for $85, which you can spot in the video after the break. It also appears that the Google Play Music tricks discovered will be officially unveiled later today, and probably won't require any sideloading shenanigans.

Filed under: Wearables, Google

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Source: Phandroid

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Lenovo's Vibe Z unveiled with Snapdragon 800, dual-SIM tray and Samsung-inspired flip cover

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/12/lenovo-vibe-z-k910/

Lenovo's been using a lot of MediaTek chipsets for its phones of late, but don't worry, it hasn't forgotten to share some love with Qualcomm. What we have here is the Vibe Z aka K910, which is a Snapdragon 800 cousin of the MT6589T-powered Vibe X, but with the same anti-fingerprint finish on the back. By comparison, the former is bigger and 1mm thicker (at 7.9mm), but it does pack a 5.5-inch full HD IPS display, a dual-SIM tray, a 13-megapixel f/1.8 main camera (with dual-LED flash) and a 5-megapixel wide-angle front imager. For the Sony IMX135-powered main camera, Lenovo says it's capable of shooting up to 10 stills per half second, plus its proprietary low-light algorithm apparently produces notably brighter pictures with effective noise reduction. We'll believe it when we see it.

While no battery size is mentioned just yet, Lenovo claims a lab-tested standby time of 278.5 hours for the WCDMA + GSM model. There will also be a CDMA2000 + GSM model for China Telecom users, as well as an LTE + GSM flavor for the international market. Interestingly, the company is offering an S View Cover-like flip case for the Vibe Z, but it comes with the added trackpad that lets you receive or reject calls in the usual spot, instead of having to poke inside the window. We doubt Samsung is going to be happy about this, though LG, Pantech and some others have borrowed this idea before.

Lenovo China's website says it will soon be taking pre-orders for its latest Android device, but you'll have to stay tuned for the pricing and availability for the rest of the world. %Gallery-slideshow121380%

Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Lenovo

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Source: Lenovo (Chinese)

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Google Earth Tour Builder lets you tell stories through maps

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/11/google-earth-tour-builder/

Google has used Earth and Maps to tell tales of unfolding tragedies and soldiers fighting for our country. Now its opening up those tools to the public, allowing users to build what they're calling "Tours" through Google Earth. Tour Builder was released in honor of Veterans Day and it allows users to create narratives tied to points on a map. The process is pretty simple: you drop a marker, add some text, photos or videos and you're on your way. As you piece together your tale, dropping pins, you can pull the viewer down into Street View or fly to a particular angle on a 3D landmark.

While the release of Tour Builder was inspired by Google's work on projects like Map The Fallen and VetNet, it obviously has much broader application. Whether it's spicing up your typical vacation slideshow or building a presentation to teach students about the Civil War. Check out the video demo after the break.

Filed under: Internet, Google

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Source: Google Lat-Long Blog

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This Rapper From The Nineties Has A Sick New Startup

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/vowch-2013-11

Jesse Itzler, also sometimes referred to as Jesse Jaymes, left his relatively successful career as a rapper to become an entrepreneur.

During his rap career in the nineties, Itzler had two songs in the Top 100 billboards charts, one of which was called "Shake it Like A White Girl" (see video below). At the age of 22, he wrote and recorded "Go New York, Go" — a song that has since become the official theme song for the New York Knicks basketball team. Itzler also wrote an award-winning song called "I Love This Game" for the NBA.

"When I was 24 I realized I could never be one of the best rappers but I knew I had some of the best ideas," Jesse Itzler tells Business Insider.

After leaving the rap game, Itzler went on to help create Marquis Jet, one of the largest private jet card companies in the world, which eventually sold to Warren Buffett. Itzler was also an early aprtner in Zico Coconut water, which sold to Coca-Cola. He's now married to Sara Blakely, the founder of Spanx and the youngest female self-made billionaire.

“Jesse is a cool guy, he knows everybody," Vowch co-founder David Parker tells Business Insider. "Together we came up with the idea of this concept of Vowch.”

At its core, Vowch is a social recommendation platform. With Vowch, you can easily get a snapshot of who someone is based on what they vouch for. Users can vouch for things like movies, TV shows, musicians, hotels, conferences — you name it. 

The more you Vowch, the better your chances are for becoming a true "boss." "Bosses"on Vowch have the most street cred in the app. There are fashion bosses, reading bosses, music bosses, and so on. 

So how do you become a boss? Well, if I were to Vowch something, and someone revowches it, I'll get points. The more points you get, the closer to a boss you become. 

I've been testing out the app for the last week or so ! and I'm pretty into it. Just last week, Apple featured Vowch as one of the best new apps in the U.S.. 

Vowch is by no means the first startup to try to tackle the recommendation space. But given the team behind the app, Vowch may end up faring better than some of its predecessors. 

Be sure to check out Itzler laying raps on tracks: 

Now, check out some Vowch screenshots below: 

SEE ALSO: SA 100 2013: The Coolest People In New York Tech

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NYC Chief Digital Officer Rachel Haot on providing digital access to all

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/10/rachel-haot/

"The foundation of New York City's digital strategy is access," explains Rachel Haot, fresh off her Expand press day opening remarks. "We define that as access for all New Yorkers, regardless of income level, regardless of the resources you may have in your household. Libraries play a very vital role in this; schools do as well, [along with] recreation centers run by the city's parks department -- and we've even invested in senior centers, where we are connecting more seniors with the internet and providing training." Haot's served as New York's chief digital offers for three years or so, tasked with the seemingly overwhelming goal of making technology available to the citizens of the largest city in the country.

The question of income gaps plays a key role in the city's continued push to bring high-tech jobs to New York as the cost of living threatens to push out potential startups. Haot counters that the city continues to offer affordable spaces in the five boroughs. She also offers up a list of perks the Big Apple provides over those areas we've come to know as tech hubs. "New York City is a completely unique destination that presents completely unique opportunities for any entrepreneur," she adds. "One of the reasons we hear people come here is, first and foremost, diversity. You look at a lot of other tech hubs and it's a one-horse town. It ends up being an echo chamber, or a bit of a bubble. In New York City, you're always kept humble, because there are so many industries, and they're always intersecting. I think that provides and enables enormous creativity and collaboration."

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