AT&T's Digital Life home automation system launches in 15 markets

It’s been a long time in the making but AT&T’s home security and automation system is finally launching. Customers in 15 different markets (Atlanta, Austin, Texas, Boulder, Colo., Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Philadelphia, Riverside, Calif., San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis and select areas of the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area) can place their orders for Digital Life starting today according to a press release on the matter.

AT&T is peddling two different packages here: Simple Security and Smart Security. The first option is essentially a basic alarm system with sensors, HSPA base station and 24-hour battery backup for $30 per month with an installation fee of $150.

For an extra $10 per month and a $250 installation fee, you can get the basic version of Smart Security which includes your choice of three additional features. Customers can choose between a motion sensor, carbon monoxide sensor, glass break sensor, smoke sensor or what’s described as a takeover kit. Additional features like a camera system, water detection package or energy management can be added for between $5 and $10 each per month plus the cost of installation.

The security aspect of Digital Life consists of 24/7 professional monitoring with the ability to alert police and fire authorities. Customers can choose which alerts they wish to receive as well as how they receive them. With remote access, customers can monitor and control a number of aspects in their home remotely from a smartphone, tablet or PC. Options here include locking or unlocking doors, checking in on the kids or pets or adjusting the thermostat.

It certainly sounds like a neat system but there are a few restrictions. AT&T can only install the system in a single-family, detached home in the markets listed above. What's more, the installation fees can quickly add up if you plan to purchase a number of services.

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By: Unknown On 11:27 PM

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Facebook considered building an operating system for Facebook Home, but wanted greater reach

"The [story behind the history of Home] was about making an experience that flows through friends and people. We saw three ways that we could do this. One, we could go and build an operating system. Second, we could dig into Android deeply in order to see how we could we fundamentally change / fork Android to make it different. Or, we could build an app to make it different." Those were the words just spoken by Cory Ondrejka -- the director of mobile engineering at Facebook -- here at D: Dive Into Mobile in NYC. This, in fact, confirms that Facebook not only gave thought to actually crafting its own operating system in order to usher Facebook Home into the world, but moved forward with prototypes.

Host Kara Swisher asked the duo how far along things actually got, to which Ondrejka replied: "The OS path was the least fleshed-out of the paths. Mark [Zuckerberg] talked on launch day that he wanted to build something for everyone. It's hard to get to the type of scale that's necessary for us [when building an OS]. We wanted Home in front of hundreds of millions of people -- even a successful OS would only give that experience to a few of them."

The two continued to talk about Facebook's internal shift into mobile. At this point, the company has broken down most every wall between desktop and mobile, and Home is the first major product to ship under this new scenario. "You can see the engines throttling up," Schroepfer said, speaking of how fast updates will soon be coming to iOS, Android and beyond. In fact, he confirmed that the first major update to Home was coming "during the second week of May," while international users will start to get Home access on select Android phones today. And, while Facebookers have been testing Home on tablets, it wants to truly nail the experience on phones first before pushing it elsewhere.

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By: Unknown On 11:19 AM

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Mailbox 1.2 drops the reservation system, opens up to all iOS users

Mailbox for iOS launched with much fanfare in the winter, but it also drew more than a little flak for its reservation-based access system: it's hard to get jazzed for an alternative Gmail app when you're 297,045th in line to use it. The developer now believes that it has the capacity to handle new users as they come in, so it's pulling back the velvet ropes with its app's 1.2 update. Mailbox isn't just shedding notions of pseudo-exclusivity with the new revision, however. It's also improving swipe speed, introducing more time-sensitive message snoozes and slipping in a handful of minor UI tricks. Although some may lament the sudden rush of commoners into a once-elite club, we'd say 1.2 is an auspicious start to Mailbox's life in the Dropbox era.

Via: Mailbox, SlashGear

Source: App Store

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By: Unknown On 10:50 AM

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Titan supercomputer to be loaded with 'world's fastest' storage system

If you figured Titan's title of the world's most powerful supercomputer would give the folks at Oakridge National Laboratory reason to rest on their laurels, you'd be mistaken. The computer is set to have its fleet of 18,688 NVIDIA K20 GPUs and equal number of AMD Opteron processors paired with what's said to be the planet's speediest storage system, making its file setup six times faster and giving it three times more capacity. Dubbed Spider II, the new hardware will endow the number cruncher with a peak performance of 1.4 terabytes a second and 40 petabytes of storage spread across 20,000 disk drives. Behind the refresh are 36 of Datadirect Networks' SFA12K-40 systems, which each pack 1.12PB of capacity. For more on the herculean rig's upgrade, hit the jump for the press release.

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DATADIRECT NETWORKS TO BUILD WORLD'S FASTEST STORAGE SYSTEM FOR TITAN, WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL SUPERCOMPUTER

-- New Oak Ridge National Laboratory Storage System Will Deliver Over One Terabyte Per Second in Throughput to Drive Radical Advances in Science and Big Data Analysis, Essential to DOE and Office of Science Missions --

Lustre User Group Conference 2013, SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – April 16, 2013

News Facts
In support of its new Titan supercomputer, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has selected DataDirect Networks (DDN) to build the world's fastest storage system to power the fastest supercomputer in the world.

ORNL is a national multi-program research and development facility managed by UT-Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy. The Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) was established at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2004 with the mission of providing leadership computing for scientists working on some of the world's most pressing problems.

Titan is designed to deliver a peak capability of over 27,000 trillion calculations per second, or 27 petaflops, a system that is over ten times more powerful than previous generations of ORNL computers.

For the growing number of problems where experiments are impossible, dangerous, or inordinately costly, advances of this compute magnitude offer the benefit of immediate and transformative insights in energy, national security, the environment and the economy, as well as to answer fundamental scientific questions.

Using DDN's SFA12K-40 storage systems as the backbone for Spider II, this new file storage system is designed with 40 petabytes of raw capacity and is capable of ingesting, storing, processing and distributing research data at unprecedented speed. This amount of storage capacity is equivalent to more than 227,000 miles of stacked books – or the distance from ORNL's facility in Oak Ridge, TN to the moon – and enables ORNL to dramatically increase Titan's computational efficiency and deliver vastly more accurate predictive models than ever before.

As the de facto standard in storage for the world's leading supercomputers, DDN continues to push the frontiers of science and technology from laptop to petaflop, building on its $100M investment in extreme scale computing and commitment to the DOE's FastForward program to pave the road to exascale.

DDN Sets Standard for High Performance Computing

After a competitive review of scale out storage alternatives, ORNL selected the DDN SFA12K-40 as the high-throughput building block for its Lustre® parallel file system. Once installed, the platform will deliver performance in excess of 10x what is achievable with contemporary scale-out NAS systems. Building on a decade of ORNL and DDN optimizations for the Lustre file system, the DDN system will be configured with Lustre performance of over one terabyte per second to meet the demands of Titan's 299,008 CPU cores. The ORNL Spider II configuration from DDN includes: 36 DDN SFA12K-40 systems, each with 1.12PB of raw storage capacity; Over 40PB of raw capacity in only 36 data center racks; A combined 20,000 disk drives in a single system. The combination of DDN's and ORNL's expertise in scaling Lustre in production environments will enable Titan to perform approximately six times faster with three times the capacity of its predecessor, Spider. Architecturally unique in many ways, Titan's power, scalability and efficiency serve as a showcase for the requirements of tomorrow as high performance computing (HPC) technologies continue to be adopted across the enterprise for Big Data computing. Both DDN and ORNL will be presenting at the Lustre User Group (LUG) in San Diego, April 16-18. For more on DDN events or to request a consultation at LUG, please visit here.

Supporting Quote

Jean-Luc Chatelain, chief technology officer at DDN:
"The world's toughest questions demand the toughest storage and the fastest technology to drive new levels of scientific insight. DDN has spent the better part of a decade engineering a platform that is built precisely and efficiently for today's Big Data challenges. As applications everywhere – from energy exploration to climate modeling to energy efficient car manufacturing – continue to drive extreme levels of computational simulation and data analytics, we're proud to provide the data storage technology that makes such innovation and economic competitiveness possible. We're honored to continue our long-standing partnership with ORNL today and to be part of the future of Big Data and exascale computing tomorrow."

Buddy Bland, project director for the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility at Oak Ridge National Laboratory:
"When building the world's fastest system for data intensive computing, we carefully considered all aspects of high-throughput I/O infrastructure and how efficient storage platforms can complement our supercomputer's efficiency. The ORNL and DDN teams have worked together to architect a file system designed to enhance the performance of our Titan supercomputer and enable our users to achieve unprecedented simulations and big data insights through massively scalable computing."

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By: Unknown On 9:43 PM

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Beamz teams up with Virtual DJ on interactive music system, we go lasers-on (video)

Beamz has been firing lasers in the name of limb-flailing performance for a few years. Today, it's announced it's working with popular music-mixing software Virtual DJ to provide the aural filling in its laser sandwich. The controller is the same four-beamed multi-button affair we've seen before, but now with a custom version of the aforementioned DJ application to call its own, and make the set-up a cinch. On screen you'll see two representations of the Beamz controller (instead of decks) with instant visual feedback to let you know which beam is mapped to what. You can configure four different triggers at one time, controlling cue points, looping and so on. To add functionality, you can then use the large buttons at the base of the device to rotate through different mappings. The emphasis, of course, is on performance here with nary a rotary nor fader in sight (we imagine you'd be using your other controller for that, right?). The software and hardware combo are being bundled together as a deal, and if you want in, you can do so right away for $200. Not sure if it'll fit in your workflow? Perhaps head past the break, and see if that video doesn't change your mind.

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By: Unknown On 10:13 AM

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Nokia accuses Google of 'forcing' VP8 video codec on the world, uses patent system to resist it

Just when Google thought everything was going swell with its open source VP8 video standard for the web, up pops one last hurdle. And it's a big one: Nokia has suddenly decided to use the patent system to try to prevent VP8 from being adopted as a free (or at least free-er) alternative to the license-laden H.264. Why would it do such a thing? Because, according to a statement given to FOSS Patents, the Finnish manufacturer believes VP8 isn't truly open. It describes the codec as a "proprietary technology" that offers "no advantages" over H.264 and that Google is "attempting to force" on others as part of its WebM project. What's more, Nokia claims VP8 infringes on its own intellectual property and says it isn't prepared to license any patents that may be required to let VP8 flourish. Oh dear. This problem may now need even more money thrown at it.

Via: The Register

Source: FOSS Patents

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By: Unknown On 6:48 PM

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Yandex introduces Twym online payment system for Twitter-based transfers

Russia's Yandex has been in the online payment business for more than a decade now with its Yandex.Money service, but it's branching out into some slightly more uncharted territory with its latest addition. Dubbed Twym, the company's new service will let folks send actual rubles to other Twitter users with nothing more than a tweet like the one above. Before that transfer takes place, though, both the sender and receiver of the money will need to link their Twitter and Yandex.Money accounts, and there are expectedly some limits on the amounts that can be transfered. 100,000 rubles (or roughly $3,300) is the maximum limit allowed by Yandex, but that can be changed by each user. You can also thankfully keep things private via direct message if you'd rather not broadcast your money transfers to all your followers.

Via: The Next Web

Source: Yandex, Twym

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By: Unknown On 1:42 PM

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EA preps 'single identity' system to bridge gaming experiences across platforms

Now that EA has gotten Origin for both Windows and Mac under its belt, it's clued GamesBeat into its plans for a cross-platform account system that's taken 1,500 engineers 18 months to build. With the "single identity" solution, gamers can play games tied to their accounts, find friends currently online and join up for multiplayer, message fellow users and access save states across platforms ranging from consoles and smartphones to tablets and social networks. Of course, the business side comes into play too: by keeping tabs on users, Electronic Arts could make better game recommendations and boost its marketing's effectiveness. As of now, there's no word on when the system will find its way into your gaming.

Source: GamesBeat

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By: Unknown On 5:57 PM

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Copyright Alert System gets started, ISPs ready to lay the smack down on P2P piracy

The fight against online piracy just gained a new weapon in the form of the Copyright Alert System (CAS) aka the "six strikes" policy. Starting today, participating ISPs like Verizon, Time Warner Cable, AT&T and Comcast will begin issuing warnings to customers suspected of using illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing services that violate copyright laws. Initial notifications will be used to educate and direct customers to legal alternative content sources. If the first set of notifications go avoided, the ISP may take further action, which includes: throttling internet connection speeds and redirecting users to websites requiring acknowledgment of CAS alerts.

If a person wishes to contest their ISP's findings, they will have 14 calendar days to request an independent review by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) for a fee of $35. If the investigation finds that no copyright violations have taken place, the alerts will be removed from the customer's account and they will receive a refund for the filing fee. However, should the organization's research rule otherwise, the internet service provider may proceed with taking action against its account holder. To get a closer look at the CAS and its inner workings, "redirect" your browser to the source links below.

Source: Center for Copyright Information (1), (2)

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By: Unknown On 5:03 PM

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Swiss bionic hand offers true sensations through the nervous system

The Quest for a Better Bionic Hand

New implantable interfaces connect a hand prosthesis to the nerves, making for smarter prosthetics that feel and function more like the real thing.

For an amputee, replacing a missing limb with a functional prosthetic can alleviate physical or emotional distress and mean a return of vocational ability or cosmetics. Studies show, however, that up to 50 percent of hand amputees still do not use their prosthesis regularly due to less than ideal functionality, appearance, and controllability.

But Silvestro Micera, of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, is paving the way for new, smart prosthetics that connect directly to the nervous system. The benefits are more versatile prosthetics with intuitive motor control and realistic sensory feedback - in essence, they could one day return dexterity and the sensation of touch to an amputee.

At the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston, Micera reports the results of previous work conducting a four-week clinical trial that improved sensory feedback in amputees by using intraneural electrodes implanted into the median and ulnar nerves. This interface holds great promise because of its ability to create an intimate and natural connection with the nerves, and because it is less invasive than other methods. It also provides fast, intuitive, bidirectional flow of information between the nervous system and the prosthetic, resulting in a more realistic experience and ultimately improved function.

"We could be on the cusp of providing new and more effective clinical solutions to amputees in the next years," says Micera, who is Head of the Translational Neural Engineering Laboratory at EPFL and Professor at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Italy.

Micera and colleagues tested their system by implanting intraneural electrodes into the nerves of an amputee. The electrodes stimulated the sensory peripheral system, delivering different types of touch feelings. Then the researchers analyzed the motor neural signals recorded from the nerves and showed that information related to grasping could indeed be extracted. That information was then used to control a hand prosthesis placed near the subject but not physically attached to the arm of the amputee.

At AAAS in Boston, Micera also describes his recent activities to improve the efficacy of this approach and announces a new clinical trial starting soon as part of the Italian Ministry of Health's NEMESIS project, under the clinical supervision of Prof. Paolo M. Rossini. This new trial carries this research a step further by connecting the prosthetic hand directly to the patient for the first real-time, bidirectional control using peripheral neural signals. Though results are not yet available, the researchers hope to find still further improvement in the sensory feedback and overall control of the prosthetics with this new method.

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By: Unknown On 7:04 PM

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Researchers testing frugal autonomous car system, aim for $150 price tag (video)

Google certainly has pockets deep enough to trick out self-driving cars with any kind of pricey gear, but researchers at the University of Oxford have begun testing a solution that aims to keep things affordable. Currently, the system leverages an array of low-profile stereo cameras and lasers that rings up at about £5,000 (approximately $7,750), but the next goal is to knock the price down to £500, and eventually to a cool £100 (roughly $150). "Really, we do need to solve the engineering challenges of not relying on expensive sensors, but relying on cheap sensors," Professor Paul Newman told the Telegraph. "But doing some really smart things with those cheap sensor feeds."

Rather than a vehicle that acts as a chauffeur at all times, Newman's vision for the modified Nissan Leaf, dubbed RobotCar, is for it to take control on select occasions. While drivers go about their commute, the system composes a 3D map of the car's environs and commits it to memory. When the auto identifies a familiar setting and feels confident about its ability to take the reigns, it could let the driver know it's ready to assume control. Right now, the automobile's been tested on private roads, but the team behind it is working with the UK's Department of Transportation to roll it onto public streets. Head past the jump for a glimpse of RobotCar in action.

Source: Telegraph, RobotCar UK

More Coverage: PhysOrg

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By: Unknown On 9:59 PM

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Scout security system monitors your pad without compromising your feng shui (video)

While home security systems are definitely making strides towards modernization, we haven't seen many that look the part. However, Sandbox Industries' Scout might be the first home protection option that manages to gel with even the most swanky digs. Available in three stylish trims (black, white and wood), this wireless setup uses a base receiver that communicates with its security sensor panels by way of your home's network. Like most home protection systems, Scout offers remote control and monitoring via computer or mobile device, but the big draw here is its aesthetically pleasing equipment and simplified installation process.

Set to ship in August, packages start at $120 with additional à la carte purchase options depending on your household's needs. For those of you looking to further secure your bunker, Scout's hardware packs backup batteries in the event of a power outage as well as an optional 3G-powered monitoring service with plans starting at $10 per month. Of course, if you're not feeling such a high-tech setup, you could always place toy cars and Christmas ornaments beneath your doorways and window seals. Hey, it worked for Kevin McCallister.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: Scout

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By: Unknown On 8:51 PM

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Under Armour launches Armour39 performance tracking system, we go hands-on

Under Armour has always touted the scientific underpinnings of its sports apparel. From moisture wicking to heat trapping and everything in between, the company is quick to assert that it isn't just another athletic clothing company. But, performance enhancing shirts and pants have their limitations and, arguably, performance monitoring is a far more interesting and burgeoning field. In 2011 it dabbled with E39, a compression shirt with a space to insert a "bug" that included and accelerometer and heart rate monitor. Today, at an event in beautiful, chilly New York City, it officially unveiled the next evolution of that toe-dipping, Armour39. While there may be a shirt in the future, for now the system consists of a traditional chest strap, an iPhone app and an optional watch for those that don't like to carry their expensive smartphone with them on runs.

Armour39 hands-onSee all photoswhen.eng("eng.galleries.init")

The only essential piece of equipment is the module itself and the strap. The new bug is quite a bit smaller than the original, which means you won't be able to pop it into an E39 shirt if you happen to have one. Inside the tiny, light monitor is a dedicated CPU, an accelerometer, storage and a Bluetooth 4.0 radio. Along one edge are a pair of metal probes that connect to receptacles in the strap that feed it data from the heart rate sensors. It clips in with a satisfying click and requires a decent amount of force to remove. Not so much that it's annoying, but enough that you feel confident it won't fall out while you're sprinting around the track. The strap itself feels stunningly soft and comfortable. Having worn a few different fitness monitoring solutions in my day, this seemingly small detail lent the whole package a seriously premium feel. Plus, who wants to deal with chaffing or lost chest hair while trying work their guns? The bug operates on a standard watch-style battery, which the company claims should last for up to a year.

The Armour39 app, which is iOS only for the moment, gives you a quick way to monitor information like heart rate, calories burned and intensity. The latter, which sounds pretty abstract, is determined by things like your maximum heart rate and other metrics that you can enter into the app, making it a performance measurement specific to you. Lastly, there's WILLpower, an holistic score of how hard you're pushing yourself on a scale of 1-10. The app uses a proprietary algorithm that takes into account not only your heart rate and position, but also past performances to determine your level of effort.

The last piece of the puzzle is the watch, which we were a little disappointed to find out didn't include GPS for proper run tracking. Instead it just gives athletes a way to keep tabs on all the data generated by the bug without having to take their delicate iPhone with them to the gym. While runners would probably enjoy the addition of location monitoring, its absence does mean you can expect up to a year of use on a standard watch battery. The Armour39 system will hit shelves on March 20th, with the module and strap bundle costing $150 and the watch $199.

Edgar Alvarez contributed to this report.

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By: Unknown On 1:19 PM

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Cadillac to update CUE infotainment system for improved responsiveness

If unresponsiveness in Cadillac's CUE infotainment system has been a personal point of frustration, relief is on the way: an update to smooth things over is being worked on. CUE Design Manager Jeff Massimilla told Wired that the firm's received feedback regarding responsiveness, and they're working on "a modification that will be released sometime later this year." With the upgrade, the infotainment system will be more responsive and the touchscreen and capacitive buttons will provide haptic feedback more quickly. The Cadillac XTS and ATS are set to score the update, but there's still no exact date penciled in for the patch's arrival. Though vehicles could suck down the update with a built-in data connection, the software will need to be installed by a Cadillac dealership instead. Not a fan of having lost knobs and dials to a touchscreen in the first place? According to Cadillac VP of Marketing Don Butler, we'll see the likes of such analog controls complement the screen interface in the future.

Via: Autoblog

Source: Wired

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By: Unknown On 9:45 PM

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Gizmo Board is an AMD-powered embedded system for developers and tinkerers

GizmoSphere and AMD are targeting independent developers, embedded system makers and tinkerers with the Gizmo Board -- a four-inch square powered by a dual-core 1GHz G-T40E. The x86 CPU and Radeon 6250 GPU put a lot of power and flexibility in your hands, though, the 1GB of soldered on RAM does limit it somewhat. In addition to being able to run Android, Linux or Windows, there's also a host of connectivity options packed in. There's a VGA connector and two USB 2.0 ports, along with an Ethernet jack and a pair of custom I/O connectors -- one of which can be hooked up to GizmoSphere's Explorer board, which has a keypad, LCD and an area for prototyping. You can pick up the Gizmo Board direct from the company's site (at the source) for $199 which certainly makes it more expensive than options like the Raspberry Pi, but there's also a lot more horsepower under its passively cooled hood. Check out the PR after the break for more.

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GizmoSphere Launches an AMD APU-based Gizmo Board for Embedded Systems Inventors and Hobbyists
AMD is a Founding Member of GizmoSphere Embedded Developer Community

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -1/24/2013
AMD (NYSE: AMD) today announced that the newly launched Gizmo board, a low-cost board geared toward x86-based embedded system development available from GizmoSphere, is powered by an AMD Embedded G-Series Accelerated Processing Unit (APU). Gizmo is a 4-inch by 4-inch x86 development board that can run a variety of operating systems including Android, Linux®, RTOSes and Windows®. AMD is a founding member of GizmoSphere, a not-for-profit organization whose collective goal is to drive and enable technology projects of interest to independent developers, with a focus on stimulating and encouraging innovation around multicore heterogeneous computing using APUs.

The Gizmo board includes the G-T40E dual-core processor running at 1.0 GHz, combined on a single die with AMD Radeon™ HD 6250 discrete-class graphics. The board provides a performance capacity of 52 gigaFLOPS (GFLOPS) at less than 10 watts. Custom high- and low-speed edge connectors enable a full range of functions. This unprecedented level of integration between serial and parallel processing offers a power-efficient foundation for high-performance multimedia content delivery across a broad range of embedded designs such as digital signage, x86 set-top box (xSTB), IP-TV, thin client, information kiosk, point-of-sale, casino gaming, media servers and industrial control systems.

"Gizmo is an excellent board for the next generation of embedded systems development," said Kamal Khouri, director of Embedded Products, AMD. "The new board will serve the diverse and growing embedded development community and is especially useful for those wanting to incorporate the advanced capabilities possible by harnessing a heterogeneous architecture. Developers ready to take advantage of a high-performance, full I/O-featured x86 development board will find tremendous value in Gizmo."

Packaged as part of a development kit, the Gizmo board is available now through GizmoSphere.org for $199. GizmoSphere's founding members include AMD, Sage Electronic Engineering, Texas Multicore Technologies and Viosoft.

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Via: SemiAccurate

Source: GizmoSphere

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By: Dilusha On 12:00 PM

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Peugeot promises fuel-saving Hybrid Air system in cars by 2016

It's far from the first automaker to attempt a car that runs on compressed air, but Peugeot Citroen is now touting a new system that it says could be available in at least some of its small cars by 2016. As suggested by the "Hybrid Air" moniker, this system doesn't run solely on air -- it also incorporates a traditional gasoline engine that Peugeot promises will combine for a 90 percent increase in vehicle range in urban driving, or offer up to 50 minutes of driving without using any gas. The gas engine would kick in more often during highway driving, putting the overall fuel savings at around 35 percent. As Peugeot notes, this system is just one step towards its goal of a car that gets 2L/100KM (or 117 miles per gallon), which it hopes to achieve by 2020. You can get a quick overview of the Hybrid Air system in the video after the break.

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Via: The Huffington Post

Source: Peugeot Citroen

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By: Dilusha On 10:01 AM

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Movea gesture control coming to Orange's Livebox Play TV system, launches next month

Orange Selects Movea to Revolutionize Home Entertainment with Gesture-Control Set-Top Box

Leading telecom operator to deploy first-of-its-kind SmartMotion® powered set-top boxes

GRENOBLE, France - Jan. 3rd, 2013 - Movea (www.movea.com), the leading provider of data-fusion and motion-processing technologies for consumer electronics, today announced its collaboration with Orange, one of the world's largest telecommunications operators, on the first large scale commercial deployment of a gesture-control set-top box. The new Orange Livebox® set-top box will run Movea's SmartMotion Server, the motion processing engine for digital home entertainment, and will ship with a MEMS motion-sensing remote control to deliver a more fun and intuitive way for people to enjoy rich digital content on the TV.

"With the rapid evolution of SmartTVs and Smart Home systems, we see the demand for more intelligent home entertainment devices and natural user interfaces," said Jean-Bernard Willem, head of content marketing for Orange France. "Our partnership with Movea allows us to offer an innovative user experience for Orange subscribers that will be instrumental in defining the revolution of home theater entertainment. Livebox Play TV with Movea's SmartMotion begins to make the Smart Home a reality."

The integration of Movea's SmartMotion Server with Orange's Livebox Play® enables effortless point-and-click TV interactions and the ability to easily launch and control games and apps. There are simple gestures for features such as volume control, web browsing, gamepad or joystick control, as well as music, photo, video enjoyment and more.

SmartMotion Server's contextual awareness features allow 10 simple gestures to be used across a wide range of TV viewing activities, which allow for a more user-friendly experience for people of all ages and interests. For example, Livebox Play customers will be able to adjust volume with a gentle twist of the wrist, make a "check" gesture to select an item and an "x" gesture to close an application. In addition, MEMS motion sensors onboard the remote control let Orange subscribers easily point and click to navigate the user interface and play compelling motion-driven games with smooth, accurate 3D motion.

"Movea and Orange are leading the charge in responding to consumers' increasing appetite for a more powerful and intuitive home theater experience," said Sam Guilaumé, CEO of Movea. "Orange's breadth of experience in telecommunications and home entertainment, and Movea's expertise in motion control for SmartTVs are the perfect combination to bring fun and immersive motion-based technology that delivers a more natural way for consumers to interact with their TVs. We are excited to collaborate on the world's first-ever new generation set-top box."

Movea's SmartMotion Server is a platform-agnostic and flexible motion engine that makes it possible for systems integrators, OEMs, service providers and application developers to take advantage of Movea's state-of-the-art motion processing and data fusion technology.

The new motion-enabled Livebox Play TV® service is designed to enhance user interface navigation and deliver new revenue generating services. In addition, high speed fiber-optics offer a faster Internet connection and access interactive entertainment options, such as social media, a large library of Video-On-Demand programs, as well as games and apps for the TV, smartphone and tablet.

Orange's Livebox set-top box and remote control is now available for pre-order and will be available for purchase in February 2013.

View the original article here

By: Dilusha On 11:27 PM

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Facebook testing paid message delivery system

Facebook experimenting with messaging monetization

Facebook invited a limited group of users Thursday to test a new feature that lets members of the social network message folks they aren't connected to for a fee.

The feature is being tested in the U.S. only at the moment, and for now the fee is set at a mere $1 to make sure your message is delivered to the recipient's inbox rather than the Other folder.

During this experimental phase, Facebook will try a variety of different prices in an effort to gauge what its users are willing to pay to have an important message delivered to someone in a situation where "neither social nor algorithmic signals are sufficient."

Currently, such algorithms are used to determine whether or not the users are actual friends of the person they're messaging, or friends of friends.

The feature can only be used once per week, and both the sender and the recipient must be active Facebook users (brands and pages are excluded) in the U.S.

Facebook believes charging a minimal fee will help relevant and important messages get through, while keeping unwanted and inconsequential queries from filling up inboxes.

Of course, what it also means for Facebook is a source of revenue, something the company has struggled to tie down. Just how much people are willing to spend to send a message we may never know if FB decides not to move forward with ubiquitous use, but it's an interesting play for profits nonetheless.

LinkedIn has a similar service with InMail, though that service is offered with premium accounts that users pay a monthly fee to run.

In addition to testing out the new pay-to-send system, Facebook also implemented some new filtering upgrades to the existing Messenger for everyone to use.

There are now two new filtering options available to allow users to better determine which messages make it through to their inbox or are automatically pushed to the Other folder.

Basic filtering will let through messages from friends, as well as friends of friends, to the inbox without interruption.

Strict filtering will only let messages from people users are actually connected to in the first degree to appear in the inbox.

Both sets of filters now better manage messages sent from Messenger for Android, or from people with @Facebook email addresses.

More updates are expected to come to Facebook Messenger in the coming months, and we'll keep a special eye out for that fee-based messaging system.

Tech. is the essential new weekly iPad magazine from the makers of TechRadar.

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By: Dilusha On 9:34 AM

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Next Wii U system update due late December, will improve software loading times

The Wii U launch didn't go quite as smoothly as consumers would've liked, with a major update to sit through right after unboxing, and support for various video streaming services absent on day one. Well, head honcho at Nintendo Satoru Iwata has taken to YouTube and announced from his cream studio that the next system update is due late December. It's primarily being pushed out to improve the frustratingly slow software loading times on the new console -- an issue we highlighted in our review. Iwata only makes a fleeting appearance at the beginning of the video before it moves on to talking up the latest Dragon Quest iteration, but if you've got a decent knowledge of Japanese, the embed awaits you below.

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By: Dilusha On 11:02 PM

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Jolla offers first look at Sailfish mobile operating system

Nokia's N9 may not be the last we see of MeeGo

A group of former Nokia employees are working to revive the abandoned MeeGo operating system, now resurrected as Sailfish and teased it on the company's website this week.

In a YouTube video posted Wednesday, Finnish startup Jolla introduced the world to Sailfish, a new mobile operating system created from the ashes of MeeGo.

The minute-plus video offers the first peek into the company's slick new user interface, which attempts to blend the best elements of Windows Phone and Android, with a dash of BlackBerry 10 style thrown in for good measure.

The familiar Android icon also makes a brief appearance in the video - Sailfish includes a standalone app allowing it to run Google's open source platform on top of its own.

The brainchild of Intel, Nokia and Samsung, MeeGo was unceremoniously abandoned by Nokia following the release of its N9 handset, the only device ever launched with the mobile OS.

Jolla then picked up where Nokia left off, raising an impressive €200 million (US$258, AU$252.8, UK£160) last summer from a Hong Kong-based alliance to make its mobile ambitions a reality.

According to the video, Jolla plans to officially take the wraps off Sailfish in 2013, with the Sailfish Software Development Kit now available for interested developers.

Jolla faces the same uphill battle that MeeGo did against iOS and Android, now further complicated as Nokia gains traction with new Windows Phone 8 handsets and the forthcoming BlackBerry 10 attracts interest from carriers.

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By: Dilusha On 5:38 PM

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