Apple Push on AR Headset iPhone Replacement; Harry Potter AR Game; Facebook Working on Anti-Revenge Porn System

Posted: November 8, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We commented recently that AR- augmented reality and AI-artificial intelligence, will be the next really big thing. Now, word is from bloomberg.com that Apple is working on a breakthrough product to replace the iPhone. It’s an AR headset that could be in customer hands (or more to the point, on their faces) by 2020. That’s only 3 years away, kids! The device will have its own display and run on its own chip and operating system. The whole project is spread over several Apple facilities and code named T288. It builds on the ‘system-on-a-package’ concept of the also small Apple Watch. Not mentioned is how Apple will deal with powering the device…the Apple Watch can easily run all day, but only for an hour when talking on LTE. Streaming video overlays along with live visuals through the glasses won’t exactly be thrifty when it comes to battery use!

Staying with AR, Niantic’s follow up game to the wildly successful Pokemon Go will be a Harry Potter AR game. According to techcrunch.com, it will be out next year. No precise time frame, but the game is expected to let users roam their real surroundings in search of Potter items, casting spells, and fighting villains.

Facebook is working on a system to combat revenge porn. That’s a great idea, but with a catch…9to5google.com says you have to upload your nudes to Facebook…what could possibly go wrong? The idea is that FB would create an encrypted version of the raw data in the image file…if an EX tries to upload a file with that data, it’s blocked. You still have to send the nude to yourself in Messenger…which means people with stupid, simple passwords (lots of them) and people who can be Phished would be vulnerable. No word on how the system would work on altered photos…like the EX pulling the nude of you out of the pic and Photoshopping it into another background or just grabbing (the naughty) parts and posting them, which might show up as different data. Let’s hope Facebook thinks this all through…it’s being trialled in Australia and 3 other countries right now.

Nearby Tracker for Pokemon Go; Apple Killer Health Device; Amazon Video Pilots to Air on Twitch

Posted: August 9, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

After some stumbles with the Nearby feature, Niantic is testing out a variation of ‘nearby Pokemon’ with a subset of users now. There are a couple of tabs…Nearby and Sightings. The Nearby feature allows you to pan around a PokeStop for the little critter, while the Sightings tab doesn’t even give you the distance to the Pokemon…at least in the beta that’s out to the subset of users. Bgr.com reports that they have also restored the battery saving mode that had vanished from the last version of the iOS app.

In a big, but vague, rumor, Apple could be looking to launch a killer new product in the health area in 2017. According to appleinsider.com, who picked it up form Taiwan’s Economic Daily News, the product will ”accurately collect users’ personal daily life including heart rate, pulse, blood sugar changes and other information.” It’s apparently been in development for 2 years.

Amazon is going to stream a few of its original pilot programs on Twitch, which has been trying to expand beyond content for gamers. Twitch had dipped its toes into other content with old Julia Child and Bob Ross shows, but Techcrunch.com says Amazon will air 3 new pilots on the platform for 24 hours. They will still break on Amazon Prime Video first…on August 19th, but then will stream on Twitch for 24 hours on August 31st. Two of the pilots are ‘The Tick,’ and ‘I Love Dick.’ The third show wasn’t named.

Disney Releases Kid-Focused Messaging App; Company Gets Pokemons (and players) Off Businesses Lawns

Posted: August 5, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Disney has rolled out Disney Mix, a new messaging app for kids as young as 4. 9to5google.com says the tag line is ‘chat, share, play.’ The free app has stickers from virtually every Disney movie you can think of, custom cartoon avatars, built-in games, and safety features to keep it all family friendly. A whistle icon at the top of the app will cause an adult moderator to jump in in the event of bullying or the like. It’s available at the Google Play Store and on iOS, too.

We’ve all heard and read stories about people basically yelling at Pokemon Go players to ‘get off their lawn,’ but now a cybersecurity company is actually working to have the Pokemon removed from maps in certain places. Thenextweb.com reports that LookingGlass is working with at least 8 companies to get Niantic Labs to pull them out of certain areas to help players to avoid dangerous situations. Apparently, most of the locations were pulled from the game company’s earlier AR game Ingress, that they released in 2013. LookingGlass and others are also trying to get Niantic to build in a way to notify them to remove Pokemon from dangerous areas.

Galaxy Note 7 Debuts; Instagram Rolls Out Stories; Poke-Phenom Continues

Posted: August 2, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Samsung has showed off the Galaxy Note 7 at their unpacked event in New York. It looks like a mix of the Note 5 and the S6 edge+…a sleek, attractive phablet. Bgr.com says the 5.7 inch screened handset has the usual improved innards, including 4 gigs of RAM, a 3500 mAh battery, is water and dust resistant, and carries a 12 megapixel Dual Pixel rear cam and 5 mp front selfie cam. (Why aren’t phone makers giving us selfie cams that are as good as back cams?) It has a fingerprint scanner, iris scanner, and improved S Pen stylus. Price will vary by carrier, but the Note 7 will be available August 19th.

Instagram has added Stories to the app on both Android and iOS. According to tech crunch.com it’s pretty much a direct ripoff of Snapchat Stories. letting you to post 24-hour ephemeral photo and video slideshows that disappear. They appear at the top of your feed, so followers won’t miss them…even if they wanted to. In a rare moment of candor, Instagram’s CEO admitted it’s basically a clone of the snapchat feature.

Pokemon Go has hit 100 million downloads now. 9to5mac.com says App Annie is reporting that the still hot game is hauling in $10 million a day for maker Niantic after 3 weeks! Interestingly, it doesn’t seem to be stealing players from other games. This may be a huge break in getting people into augmented reality.