Source: http://gizmodo.com/how-the-super-bowl-turned-the-nyc-macys-building-into-1512709552
There's endless Super Bowl hoopla happening in New York right now, what with the big game just days away. But you might miss one of the coolest if you don't look up: The projection-mapping specialists Moment Factory have turned the grand Herald Square facade of Macy's into an orgy of light. It's incredible. Here's how they did it.
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/31/sony-qx10-qx100-firmware-update/
Shutterbugs who shunned traditional point-and-shoots in favor of Sony's QX10 and QX100 lens cameras can now take even better images and videos. Thanks to a firmware upgrade, both smartphone lens attachments are now capable of recording clips with a higher resolution (1,920 x 1,080) than before (1,440 x 1,080). It also cranks up the clip-ons' max ISO settings from 1,600 to 3,200 on the QX10 and from 3,200 to 12,800 on the QX100, which is bound to please those especially fond of nighttime photography. Other than these two feature boosts, folks with the more expensive QX100 get an extra shutter speed mode for their devices. Unfortunately, users can't upgrade over their phones and will have to download the firmware on a Windows (XP/Vista/7/8) or a Mac computer.
Via: SonyAlphaRumors, Softpedia
Source: Sony (for Mac), Sony (for Win XP/Vista/7/8)
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/30/ntt-docomo-toray-smart-cloth/
Japanese mobile carrier NTT Docomo and materials developer Toray have been working on joint projects for a while and now they're publicly announcing one. Welcome Hitoe (Japanese for "one layer"), cloth that contains Toray's nanofibers that are coated in a transmittable layer. It's not the orange cloth (that's just standard material), but the nicotine-patch sized square you attach to it that does the sensing.
Place two of these on you and they'll act as electrodes, measuring your heartbeat and even offering metrics resembling a cardiogram. The plan is to connect this cleanly non-invasive health monitor to NTT Docomo's health app platform that's already on its smartphones, developing practical... soft... hardware for sale alongside it. The pitch didn't just include sports clothing, however, with pajamas and other sleepwear planned for launch. Look! There's even a little hat! The sensors will apparently survive tumbles in the washing machine and, having seen an earlier prototype late last year, we can confirm that the patches are suitably lightweight and flexible -- now the work is down to reducing that lumpy hub sensor that we also spotted. Wearable gadgets might finally be going subtle. There's a quick video from our allies at Engadget Japanese after the break.
Filed under: Wearables
Source: Engadget Japanese
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/30/facebook-paper-news-app/
Facebook is making its own play in the news app category, going up against incumbents like Flipboard and Google's own Currents service. It's called Paper and it promises a "full-screen" distraction-free layout, with the app separating out your own Facebook News feed to begin with. You can then add to that, picking from Facebook's curated themes that'll include photography, sports, food, science and design. If you feared this would be populated exclusively by giant media corps, Facebook is promising that articles will come from from well-known sites as well as "emerging voices," although it says it'll also ensure that trusted publications will be easy to spot within the mix.
Navigation from article to article is done through swipes. and you'll be able to tilt the phone and arch across bigger panoramic pictures. From the early screens that Facebook's been sharing, the social network is going heavy on the visual appeal: pictures dominate the navigation, with soft white icons laid on top of pictures for navigation -- there's certainly flashes of iOS 7 in places. Videos, full-screen, will also auto-play (we're hoping there will be a toggle for that). The app launches February 3rd and marks the premier release for the social network's Creative Labs department: more apps are promised from the team going forward.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablets, Internet, Software, Mobile, Facebook
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/29/dell-wyse-cloud-connect-android-hdmi-dongle/
Dell's betting that a bunch of businesspeople want to be able to carry their work computer around in their pocket. Not literally, of course, but with the release of the company's $130 dollar Wyse Cloud Connect dongle (formerly known as Project Ophelia), you can do just that. It connects to any TV or display with an HDMI or MHL port, and hooks up to mice and keyboards via Bluetooth or mini-USB. There's also a microSD slot to give you up to 32GB of local storage, should you want it. Plus, you can access your desktop using yours or your company's choice of virtualization technologies: Citrix, Microsoft or VMWare. Once plugged in, users can access a full Jelly Bean Android experience or their Windows and Mac machines via the aforementioned remote clients, and see them in 1080p resolution (on compatible displays, of course). Dell's pitching the dongle as primarily an enterprise solution, but the company also thinks it's well-suited as an educational tool, too.
We got to see the Cloud Connect in action today at a launch event in Silicon Valley, and in our limited time with the device, it worked just as Dell said it would. The dongle itself is a bit bigger than your standard flash drive... it's roughly the size of an Apple TV remote. Installing the thing really is as simple as plugging it into a monitor, which turns said monitor into a fully fledged Android device. That means you have access to any compatible app from Google Play (or at least whatever apps your company's IT department allows). Speaking of, the Cloud Connect management dashboard allows IT administrators to easily set permissions and access for the dongles with a straightforward and simple interface.
As for consumer applications, Dell's VP and GM of cloud client computing, Steve Lalla, told us that his focus is on b2b for now, but regular folks are certainly on his radar. "It'll bleed into the consumer space," he said. "It's just that businesses already understand the value proposition of the technology." When we inquired about the possibility of building the Cloud Connect directly into monitors (essentially creating Android desktop computers), Lalla said that he has nothing to announce, but we get the feeling we'll see one from Dell before too long.
Filed under: Networking, Internet, Dell
Source: Dell
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