OK… so I watched the video, saw all of the features (at least what they showed) and to be quite honest… I wasn’t impressed… I may have a biased opinion on the phone since I am an iPhone user, but, I remember the feeling when I first saw the iPhone, it truly looked like the future. After seeing the Google Phone, I don’t doubt that it will be a worthy competitor to Apples counterpart, but Google has always been known for innovation, and I think they fell a little short on this one. I guess, I’ll have to see the phone to really know what it is all about.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RuT0G5XEII
I saw these two technologies a while back and I was equally impressed by both of them.
Here’s a little about the Reactable:
“reacTIVision is an open source, cross-platform computer vision framework for the fast and robust tracking of fiducial markers attached onto physical objects, as well as for multi-touch finger tracking. It was mainly designed as a toolkit for the rapid development of table-based tangible user interfaces (TUI) and multi-touch interactive surfaces. This framework has been developed by Martin Kaltenbrunner and Ross Bencina at the Music Technology Group at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain as part of the the reacTable project, a novel electronic music instrument with a table-top multi-touch tangible user interface.”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h-RhyopUmc&feature=rec-fresh
Find out more here: http://reactable.iua.upf.edu/
And the Microsoft Surface:
“Microsoft Surface turns an ordinary tabletop into a vibrant, interactive surface. It’s the first commercially-available surface computing platform from Microsoft. The product provides effortless access to digital content through natural gestures, touch and physical objects. Today, it’s a 30-inch diagonal display in a table-like form factor that’s easy for individuals or multiple people to interact with in a way that feels familiar, just like in the real world. In essence, it’s a surface come to life for exploring, learning, sharing, creating, buying and much more. Today consumers can interact with Surface at select AT&T retail locations and at the iBar located in the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino. Other Surface deployments will continue in restaurant, retail, leisure and public entertainment venues in the coming weeks and months.”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxk_WywMTzc&feature=related
Find out more here: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/index.html
Both of these pieces of technology represent a change in the way we interact with machines. As computer technology evolves, it’s only a matter of time when the keyboard and mouse are a thing of the past. All that we see today, from the Web to your word processor will be surpassed by a new wave of software and hardware that will make us think, how did we ever live without it. I hear it now from people that get the iPhone and say “now that I have it, I will never go back”. Not to endorse Apple or its products, but it is a perfect example of how improved interactions with machines changes people’s lives.
Maybe this is a little too deep for a simple technology post, but my mind wondered…
Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem is the concept that enables users to be able to have their previously purchased content anywhere at any time. What does this mean? “No matter where you are in the world, if you previously purchased Spider-Man 3, you should be able to access Spider-Man and stream it”
I think this is great, I mean, it only makes sense that if you purchased (in the case of the example) Spider-Man 3, meaning you’ve already paid for this movie, why couldn’t you be able to access it in any format at any time. Now, I don’t know the technical implications of this (which there’s probably lots), but i’m sure with today’s fast evolving technology we’ll see this happening soon.
Read the whole article here: BusinessWeek
So, I was browsing on The FWA Website and I came across the website of the month. It’s the Nokia – Music Almighty site… there’s a few very awesome things that you can do in this site.
First, here’s the link: http://europe.nokia.com/musicalmighty
- The first thing you’ll notice is the real physics with the cables that you can plug into the phones.
- The next thing, the nice preloader following the cable going up.
- Then, the meat and bones of the site.
Basically, you can essetially upload your own photo, and it replaces the default 3D face with a photo map of your face. The whole system seems to be powered by Oddcast. Their technology “enables consumers to personalize online communications and self-expression and businesses to increase conversion and sales.” In short, they have this kick ass 3D engine, combined with face-recognition software and voice-to-speech as well as text-to-speech to which you can make 3D faces that talk, look around, and many other things.
If you’d like more information go to: http://www.oddcast.com/
Anyway, everything combined makes for a pretty impressive site, where theres several styles of characters, to which you can customize their apperance, map your own photo and even record a voice message to send to your friends. The site also has several ways to pass the site around. Everyting from embed codes, to creation of jpgs and video. In all, just a site that’s worth checking out.
If i missed anything, feel free to post your comment. Thanks!
One of the most exciting announcements out of this year’s E3 was the deal to bring near-instant streaming movies from Netflix to subscribers with an Xbox 360. The arrival of the long-rumored deal later this fall will add another plank to the Microsoft console’s media platform. The company has released a short preview of how exactly the service will work. Netflix subscribers will be able to access movies from their web accounts and — from this tech demo, at least — it seems to work almost as quickly as the PC client currently available. Check it out:
It has been rumored that XBOX will form a partnership with Netflix to stream you queued movies right into your XBOX machine and into your living rooms. Well, these are not rumors anymore, Netflix subscribers will have access to all of the movies in their web account, and with just a few button clicks, they’ll be able to watch the movies quickly and easily. It also seems to stream relatively fast… it looks like i’ll be renewing that Netflix account.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHOdW_AewIE
