What do you get when you combine motion capture, Microsoft Kinect cameras, a choreographed performance and Ableton Live? A pretty unique music experience, where the music is created by the actual movement of the performer on stage.
Google has launched a text message-based version of its email service targeted at users in Africa. So far, the service has been made available in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya.
Fanboys always claim that Apple is basically giving us technology from the future. And if these leaked images are anything to go by, they might not be too far off. The photos show that while the iPad was only officially released in 2010, the tablet was already knocking around Apple HQ as long ago as 2002!
Hipsters take note, there is a new smartphone personal assistant on its way: Google Now. It’s a search-centric, voice-powered digital assistant for the upcoming version of Android that launches mid-July.
‘Robot and Frank’ stars Frank Langella as an old man forging an unlikely bond with his Peter Sarsgaard-voiced robot butler, which starts off as an odd-couple comedy and then turns into a heist film, because Langella used to be a jewel thief. It looks pretty great, and they loved it at Sundance. Take a look.
The internet is obsessed with cats. Completely and utterly obsessed. In Google’s secretive X labratory, scientists have developed one of the largest neural networks for machine learning by connecting 16,000 computer processors. What did it do? Watched Youtube, and worked out what a cat is.
A few days ago Microsoft unveiled what many are calling its “iPad killer”, the brand new Surface tablet. Unfortunately for them however, things went horribly, horribly wrong at a live product demonstration. Click for for a laugh at their expense.
Finally mankind has used it technological prowess to create something that is actually useful and will change lives, a bed that will make itself! That’s right folks, a European manufacturer has designed a Smart Bed that can make itself in less than a minute, eureka!
Skype have just introduced a new ‘feature’ called Conversation Ads, which displays advertisements during audio calls. Which sucks. To nobody’s surprise they’re trying to spin the feature as somehow good for users – apparently the ads “could spark additional topics of conversation that are relevant to Skype users and highlight unique and local brand experiences.”
Deep space travel is creeping ever closer to becoming a reality and one of the biggest challenges faced, apart from actually getting astronauts to their destination, is providing a constant supply of fresh food, water and air. An ambitious project by students at the University of Colorado and Colorado State University looks take of all of these with one foul swoop.
As the American government continues its internal adoption of cloud computing services, Google and Microsoft have been scrambling for contracts – what with their being lucrative and influential and such. Sucks to be Google, then, because the FAA just awarded $91 million to Microsoft to have their platform transition to the Microsoft Office 360 cloud service.
In news that you want desperately to be surprised by, but just can’t, the creators of the Tupac-ogram have announced that they’re working on an Elvis Presley hologram, for making film and television appearances – and, depending on how unsettling they can get the reincarnated star to look, on tour.
More details are emerging about Buffy, apparently the codename for Facebook’s HTC smartphone which may run with Android, all the Facebook trimmings and an Opera browser. Or will it? We try sort the facts from the fiction as excitement mounts over the phone that might topple Apple.
So Google’s trying to change things, again. For those of you who decide that this is the last straw and that you’re going Bing, farewell and good luck finding anything. For those of you wanting to find out what exactly Knowledge Graph is and why it isn’t as terrible as G+, click on through.
Science! Technology! In a worldwide medical first, researchers have successfully implanted a computer-mind interface into the motor cortex of a 58-year-old, quadriplegic woman which allowed her to control a robotic limb using only the power of her mind. The future is now.
Pinterest, the hottest social photo sharing website right now, looks set to receive a nice $50 million injection from Japanese giant, Raukten. Plus another reported $70 million coming in from other international investors! This means that Pinterest’s valuation is now in the range of between $1 billion and $1,5 billion. Impressively, they’ve only been around for two years.
When Queen’s drummer, Roger Taylor, was asked if he’d want a hologram Freddie Mercury a la Tupac – he declined, saying “I don’t want to appear with a hologram of my dear friend.” Which is unfortunately ambiguous wording, because they’ve decided to conjure up a Mercury hologram at tonight’s 10th anniversary We Will Rock You musical.
People over at MIT have developed a piece of open-source software that lets you drag files from your phone to your computer or tablet or whatever with a swipe of a finger. It’s simple and clever and looks like the future – and it works. They’re calling it Swÿp. Take a look at the demo after the jump.
Oh awesome, this makes total sense. The UK’s Ministry of Defense is planning to install surface-to-air missiles on top of residential flats in east London for the duration of the Olympic Games. The bulk of the missile array is intended for the Lexington Building Water Tower, which has about 700 people living in and around it.
Last year, James Cameron called on filmmakers to start shooting film at 48 frames per second – twice the industry standard, and twice as smooth, visually. Peter Jackson was the first to respond, shooting The Hobbit at 48fps. And, according to people who saw a 10-minute preview at CinemaCon this year, it looks like a made-for-TV BBC movie.
Hey there, people who like free online storage. As expected, Google’s potential Dropbox-killer, Google Drive, has gone live – offering users 5GB of free online storage, with the potential to upgrade to 25GB for $2,50 per month. The service is available on PCs, Macs, Android phones – and is coming soon to iOS.
In another great instance of American judges believing that their jurisdiction has no limits, a U.S. judge has ruled that Motorola cannot enforce an injunction that would prevent Microsoft from selling Windows products in Germany, should a German court issue such an injunction next week.
Have you ever wondered what the universe would look like on a single photo? You did!? Well, what a coincidence, because NASA has just released this infrared map of the entire universe. This serves as a capstone for a bigger cosmic map – containing 18 000 images and 560 million different objects. It took NASA fourteen years of preparation and three years of data collection.
Mobile messaging platform WhatsApp poses “no threat” to phone carriers who rely on SMS revenue. Given the popularity of the service, that statement seems pretty hard to believe at first glance. Who chooses to send paid-for SMSes anymore when you can WhatsApp your buddies to your heart’s content (or until your thumbs malfunction) for free?
Last month we told you about Nevada legalising self-driving cars. But how do they work exactly? Check out this video of Google’s self-driving Toyota Prius being “driven” by a guy that is 95% blind.
Still don’t get why the iPad is the best tablet out there? Then check out this presentation by two Swedish magicians – their use of seven iPads, along with some old-fashioned trickery, should clear things up for you. Bucket loads of amazing are waiting for you – after the jump.
A series of violent photographs claiming to be leaked from a gangster’s mobile phone have become an online sensation. Attracting nearly 5million hits, the pics show a young (but portly) Chinese man showing off his love for stacks of cash, German sports cars, parading around topless and dishing out savage beatings. Full gallery inside.
Popular torrent hosting site, The Pirate Bay has released plans to host their server database in the clouds. Literally in the clouds, I mean; they want to fit flying micro-drones with super-small computers and connect them with long-range radio transmitters, maintaining a network of “Low-Orbit Server Stations.” Which would make police raids a little more tricky.
Well this is new, and sort of neat. For the new V40, Volvo is introducing the world’s first pedestrian airbag system, designed to reduce the severity of pedestrian injuries in a car-pedestrian collision. Alternatively it could double as a sweet new inflatable mattress on the hood of your car.
Advertising agency BBH has come under fire for their turning 13 homeless men walking Wi-Fi hotspots at the recent SXSW conference in Austin, Texas. The “Homeless Hotspots” sported shirts saying, “I’m a 4G hotspot,” with an access code for the network.