Facebook has added a new feature to its mobile app as of Wednesday that uses a phone's microphone to identify ambient TV shows, music, or movies and include them in status updates. The feature is off by default, though the app offers to turn it on in an intro screen that it pops up for users.
Over the past three years, researchers in the Camera Culture group at the MIT Media Lab have steadily refined a design for a glasses-free, multiperspective, 3D video screen, which they hope could provide a cheaper, more practical alternative to holographic video in the short term.
Now they’ve designed a projector that exploits this technology, which they’ll unveil at this year’s Siggraph, the major conference in computer graphics.
Far from being marginalised by developments in wearables and personal data, IT departments that play it right could become key agents in generating new commercial models to exploit them.
Changes underway in business are offering the IT function a chance to extend its remit, according to Paul Roehrig, global managing director at services firm Cognizant's Center for the Future of Work. "We are in the very early days of a major shift in commerce beyond a simple technology or business cycle shift," he said.
What if there was a way for law enforcement to track suspects fleeing crime scenes in cars without the danger of a high speed pursuit that could put suspects, officers, and civilians at risk? One company claims to have just the solution. Is it legal?
Over the past few years, companies like Starchase have begun developing technologies like its “GPS bullet” pursuit management system, which the company describes as a “real-time tagging and tracking tool to reduce dangerous high-speed pursuits.”
IBM scientists have invented a tiny “chisel” with a nano-sized heatable silicon tip that creates patterns and structures on a microscopic scale.
The tip, similar to the kind used in atomic force microscopes, is attached to a bendable cantilever that scans the surface of the substrate material with the accuracy of one nanometer.
It's difficult to judge the camera capture capability of most high-end phones today because with the right lighting and setup you can capture great photos with nearly all of them. I took the latest and greatest phones out for a spin this weekend and tried to see if any device stood out from the rest.
I took photos using the Samsung Galaxy S5, Apple iPhone 5s, HTC One (M8), LG G2, Nokia Lumia Icon, and Nokia Lumia 1020.
In the Iron Man movies, Tony Stark uses a voice-controlled computer assistant called J.A.R.V.I.S. It manages the lights and security system in his home, helps him pilot his Iron Man suits, and even assists with his research. Some of this is still very much in the realm of science fiction, but not all of it. Inspired by the Iron Man movies, two Princeton students have built a J.A.R.V.I.S. for the real world.
Sixty years from now, we'll look back on today's 3D-printed tissue and organ technology and think it's as primitive as the iron lung seems to us now.
Six decades out, replacing a liver or a kidney will likely be a routine procedure that involves harvesting some patients cells, growing them and then printing them across artificial scaffolding.
Will your clothes and accessories change how you live your daily life? Wearable devices like smart watches, glasses and activity monitors were a big topic of conversation at South By Southwest Interactive this week - specifically their potential in the future.
Imagine if, when you woke up, the lights in your room turned on and the coffee maker started up, said Brian Friedman, CEO of Loopd, a wearable device company. Or a room that immediately customized to your presence - from its lighting to the music.
Texas Instruments is tapping into the growing trend among enthusiasts who want to make their own wearable devices and small electronics, announcing the Tiva C Series Connected LaunchPad mini-computer.
The $19.99 mini-computer has a microcontroller to which sensors, displays, connectivity and memory components can be independently attached via expansion cards. The expansion cards, called "Booster Packs" by TI, can help in prototyping devices and testing applications.
