Lifelogging isn’t new – Microsoft Research’s Gordon Bell, for instance, has been sporting a wearable camera and tracking his life digitally since the early-2000s – but its component parts are finally coalescing into something the mainstream could handle. Cheap camera technology – sufficiently power-frugal to run all day, but still with sufficiently high resolution and bracketed with sensor data like location – has met plentiful cloud storage to handle the masses of photos and video.

More importantly, the public interest in recording and sharing memorable moments has flourished over the past few years, with Facebook over-sharing going from an embarrassment to commonplace, and Twitter and Tumblr evolving into stream-of-consciousness. For better or for worse, an event or occasion isn’t quite real enough for us unless we’re telling somebody else about it, preferably with the photos to prove it.

Into that arrives Glass. It’s not the only wearable project, and in fact it’s not even trying to immediately document your every movement, conversation, and activity. Out of the box, Glass doesn’t actually work as a lifelogger, at least not automatically. However, it hasn’t taken long before Explorer Edition users have tweaked the wearable to grant it those perpetual-memory skills, though we need to wait for Google’s part of the puzzle before we see the true shift take place.

Kickstarter project Memoto, which raised over half a million dollars for its wearable lifelogging camera that fires off two frames a minute all day, every day, isn’t really a hardware challenge – though the startup might disagree with that somewhat, given the slight delays caused by squeezing power-efficient camera tech into a tiny little geek-pendant – but a software one. The issue isn’t one of taking photos, or of storing them: it’s of then organizing them in a way that’s anywhere near manageable for the wearer.

Think about your last set of holiday photos. You probably took many more than you did in the days of traditional film cameras. Maybe you synchronized them with iPhoto, or uploaded them to a Dropbox or Picasa gallery. Perhaps they went on Facebook, either sorted through or – more likely, maybe – simply dumped en-masse. How many times have you looked through them, or shown them to somebody else?

Now, imagine having a whole day’s worth of photos to deal with. We’ll be conservative and assume you’re sleeping for eight hours – lucky you – and maybe have a couple of hours “privacy” time during which you’re showering, getting changed, or otherwise not camera-ready. Fourteen hours when you could be wearing your Memoto, then, or some other camera: 840 minutes, or 1,680 individual photos. In the course of a week, you’ve snapped 11,760 shots.

By the end of the year, you’ve got over four million of them. Sure, plenty of them will be of the same thing, or blurry because you were running across the road at the time, or too dark to make out details. Many, many of them will just be plain dull. But they’ll all be there, sitting in the cloud waiting to be looked at.

Nobody is going to sift through four million photos. And so the really clever thing the Memoto team is working on is the relevance processing all of those images are fed through. The exact details of the algorithm haven’t been confirmed – in fact it’s still something of a work-in-progress, and likely will be even when the first units start shipping out to Kickstarter backers – but it takes into account the location each image was taken at (there’s geotagging for each shot), the direction you’re facing, what interesting things are in the frame, and more.

That way, you get the best of both worlds, or at least in theory. “All photos are stored and organized for you,” Memoto promises. “None are deleted, but the best ones are more visible.”

As Memoto sees it, that all amounts to about thirty frames per day. Thirty potentially review-worthy shots out of more than sixteen-hundred. Now, there’s no way of knowing quite how well the system will actually operate, and we’re bound to miss out some gems and have out attention drawn to some duffers, but make no mistake: we need this layer of abstraction if lifelogging is to be more than just a boon for those selling hard-drives.

For a while, Google didn’t seem to have given managing the extra photos from wearables like Glass much consideration. In fact, the first evidence of photo sharing – automatically uploading to Google+, and being posted out with the generic #throughglass tag – was one of the more half-baked of the company’s implementations. That all changed, though, at I/O this week.

Google+ is the glue for Google’s ecosystem – what I call the “context ecosystem” – not least Glass; you may not want to use it as a social network, replacing or augmenting Facebook and Twitter, but if you want Google services or hardware you’re going to end up a Google+ user on some level. The new Highlights feature in Google+ is the key to unlocking Glass’ usefulness as a lifelogger.

“The Highlights tab helps you find photos you’ll want to share by automatically curating the images you upload to Google+ photos” Google explained. “Highlights works by de-emphasizing duplicates, blurry images, and poor exposures while focusing on pictures with the people you care about, landmarks, and other positive attributes.”

For the moment, for most users, Highlights is a way of quickly cutting out duplicated shots. Take three or four pictures of your kids in the park, just to make sure they were all looking at the camera at the right time? Google+ Highlights will make sure you only see one, not all of the nearly-identical frames. No need to delete the others, just – as Gmail taught us with achive-not-delete email, a privilege of copious space and effective search – hide them from regular sight.

As the flow of photos into Google+ turns into a torrent, fueled not least by wearables, those vague “other positive attributes” Google mentions will become most important, however. Highlights is going to become not only a curator of your galleries, but of how you reminisce; how you look back on what you did, where you did it, and who you did it with.

Google can already identify buildings, and locations, and people. It knows who your friends are. Factor in Events, and the communal photo sharing feature, and that will help Google+ fill in even more of the gaps. If it knows you were with your best friend, and your best friend was in Paris at the time, and what a number of famous Parisian landmarks look like, it’ll be able to do a pretty good job at piecing together a curated “holiday memories” album that’s probably more detailed than your own recollection of the trip.

If you’re clenching various parts of your anatomy over fears about privacy, you’re probably right to. Even with only about 2,000 Glass Explorer Edition headsets made, the degree of controversy over what the rights and responsibilities around having photos taken in public and in private are is already exponentially greater. Those at Google I/O this past week are undoubtedly a tech-savvy, open-minded bunch, but the range of comfort levels reported about being in the Glass gaze is a telling sign that there’s more to this than just old-school versus new-school.

The discussion is going to be broader than Google, of course – a Memoto camera is arguably more discrete, clipped to your coat or shirt, and it’s almost certainly not going to be the last wearable camera – but how the companies involved process the data created is likely to be the biggest factor, and Google has a track-record of giving privacy advocates sleepless nights.

If Glass – and wearables along with lifelogging in general – is to succeed, however, this is a discussion that will have to be settled. We’re not talking about “how okay” it is for your email account to talk to your calendar account. If the EU decides there should be a clear division between those in the name of user privacy, then you might have to manually create appointments based on email conversations; if the huge and inevitable rush of photos and video that wearables will facilitate aren’t addressed, then Glass and its ilk will stumble and fail. Our new digital brain needs permission to work its magic, but we’re still in the early days of seeing just how magical that might be.

Unfortunately there are no test photos, so we don’t know what the Google H840 looks like. The report suggests it was tested with a USB-connected Dell monitor, though that’s presumably to access either the LCD’s USB hub or its memory card slot, since that particular model doesn’t support video input over USB.

Anything else is, at this stage, speculative, though given the launch of Google Play Music All Access this past week at I/O, some sort of Sonos-style streaming box would seem an obvious guess. That could be hooked up to a set of external speakers or alternatively have onboard speakers and amplification.

Google isn’t the only company tipped to be working on a streaming media device. Earlier this month, it was rumored that Amazon’s hardware lab is developing a wireless audio adapter which could be used with its own cloud music locker service.

The Google H840 would presumably be a more focused device than the Nexus Q, which was unveiled at I/O in 2012 and then swiftly killed off as market feedback proved uncertain. The orb-shaped streamer was intended to funnel YouTube videos, music, and other content direct to a TV, with communal playlist control from multiple Android-powered phones and tablets.

However, a combination of high price – partly because Google intended it to be manufactured in the US – and confusing purpose meant the Nexus Q project was axed. Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Google would not be officially supporting the streamer with the All Access subscription music jukebox service.

The H840 (its H2G2-42 product code a combination of the fan abbreviation for Hitchhiker’s Guide and the “meaning of life”: the number 42) looks to be the second attempt at the market, though when Google will actually unveil it officially remains to be seen.

VIA: TabletGuide

Apple joined the Fair Labor Association in 2012 after being slammed with criticism over the working conditions at Foxconn. This prompted Apple and the Chinese company to set forth 360 items to take action on, such as things like correcting issues with a working environment that is too hot, the installation of an adequate number of fire escapes, and more. Thus far, according to a report released yesterday, Foxconn has met 98.3-percent of them.

One of the issues that is still causing grief, however, are working hours, with the report showing that employees are still being forced to work longer than allowed by Chinese labor laws. Per Apple, its suppliers are to have employees work no more than 60 hours every week. Chinese law says that 40 hours weekly is the cap, however, and that overtime can’t amount to more than 36 hours monthly. After being met with criticism, Apple and Foxconn agreed that its workers would be capped at 40 hours per week.

This hasn’t been the case, however. All three facilities had their workers clocking in up to 60 hours a week, with the spat late last year during which the iPhone was released hitting 70 hours a week. According to the Foxconn agreement, the new hour changes wouldn’t be completely implemented until July of this year, giving it a little over a month to correct the issue.

Another area of concern is unions, which have been positively impacted, showing a 20-percent increase in worker representatives over the last report. Said the Fair Labor Association’s President and CEO Auret van Heerden, “When FLA first visited Foxconn last year, the union committees – like those at most other factories in China – were dominated by management. By this time next year, we expect worker participation to be even higher.”

SOURCE: Wall Street Journal

The automated highway system was undertaken by a group formed in 1994 called the National Automated Highway System Consortium, which was composed of nine primary organizations including General Motors and the California Department of Transportation. The consortium was required by Congress to demonstrate the feasibility of driverless vehicles by 1997, something it did down to the wire in an on-vehicle demonstration showing a driver behind the wheel of a self-driving car, arms sticking out the window and sunroof. You can see it for yourself in the video below.

The technology involved was quite primitive by today’s standards, with – as the Smithsonian pointed out – such seemingly requisite technologies like consumer GPS not even existing at the time the project was undertaken. And yet, with toggle switch boxes and thick laptops offering less power than the smartphone in your pocket, a system was devised that could take a car through a series of obstacles that it successfully avoided, such as traffic barrels placed in a lane.

As with today, the idea of driverless cars and automated highways drew quite a bit of criticism at the time, with, for example, Marcia Lowe of the Worldwatch Institute saying in 1993, “Smart cars and highways have quietly emerged as the latest and most-expensive proposal to solve the nation’s traffic problems. Government spending on the little known Intelligent Vehicle and Highway Systems program is expected to exceed $40 billion over the next 20 years … despite evidence that smart cars and highways may well exacerbate the very problems they are supposed to solve.”

Why did the progress stall (again, pun intended)? According to the Smithsonian, it was due to the very legislation that provided funding to develop such technologies. The lack of direction was one issue, as well as no solid definition having ever been provided over what the Congressional legislation meant by “automated highways.” As such, while the consortium had an idea and the motivation to take it as far as it did, it lacked a solid singular goal to pursue and dissolved as funding ran out.

Still, one must admire the future mindset of those who undertook the project, and wonder where we would be today had efforts to develop such vehicles continued rather than falling back into the “idea box” – we could very well have had driverless cars in place today, or be much farther along in the process than is reality. If nothing else, this shows that automated cars are more than a novelty idea, and that it is only a matter of time before we’re all kicking back while the car does the work for us.

SOURCE: Smithsonian

The Lenovo K900 was launched at a gala event at the M-Space located in Haidian, and will go on sale this week. The phone is being hocked by Kobe Bryant of the NBA, who is featured in advertisements from Lenovo throughout Southeast Asia and China. Lenovo calls him and his fame “a magnet of attention.” As for the phone, you can check it out in action in our hands on video below.

The Lenovo K900 features a 6.9mm thick unibody chassis, which makes it the most thin phone in its class. To help maintain its thinness, the rear camera is flush with the back panel, and the IPS display lies under Gorilla Glass 2 to help protect it from cracks. Inside, users will find an Intel Atom Z2580 dual-core 2GHz processor with hyper-threading.

Graphics are provided via an Intel GMA PowerVR SGX 544MP2 GPU. The camera is one of the phone’s more distinguishing points – and it certainly has a lot of them – with a 13-megapixel Sony Exmor BSI sensor and an F1.8 focal length lens with an 88-degree viewing angle for the front camera. Lenovo says the handset is capable of taking clear photos in a low-light setting without using the flash, something that is difficult to achieve with smartphone cameras.

Lenovo’s Senior Vice President Lio Jun said: “Smartphones are a critical component of Lenovo’s PC+ strategy and the Lenovo K900 is an example of this strategy in action. With its cutting-edge design and intuitive, optimized user experience, K900 offers China’s smartphone users a fresh, new option. At the same time, Lenovo’s smartphone business is growing fast in global markets. In 2013, we will add several new countries to our smartphone footprint, and by year-end we will cover most of the world’s emerging markets.”

Price starts at RMB 3,299 in China.

SOURCE: Lenovo

The information comes from the folks over at CNET, who report that “people familiar with the negotiations” say Apple and Sony Music are in contention over how much Apple will pay when a user listens to part of a song, then skips to the next one. Such an issue is reportedly causing frustration amongst the other labels slated to have their music offered through the service, which they anticipate bolstering the music industry.

Sources also have said that iRadio will offer features not found on what will be the service’s biggest competitor, Pandora, such as rewinding a song they want to hear a second time around. The service will reportedly allow an easy way for listeners to buy a song while using iRadio, and will also give labels a cut of the advertisement revenues generated. Apple is considering using audio advertisements.

Unlike Pandora, Apple has chosen to form individual deals with each music label rather than going by federal stipulations, which could potentially give the service more abilities than Pandora, but comes at the cost of running into negotiation problems. One such difference that could be in iRadio’s benefit from direct deals, for example, is having no limit on the number of songs skipped, or a higher skipping allowance than Pandora, which limits skips on an hourly basis with a daily cap.

While the sources provided some information on the matter, they didn’t specify any particular numbers, such as what Sony is wanting per skipped song and what Apple wants on its part. Reportedly, Apple is seeking to have the same terms across its deals with each music label, and as such could have problems if Sony ended up getting a deal that crunches out with more favorable numbers than the other labels.

SOURCE: CNET

According to the Federal Reserve, the new bill will go into circulation on October 8, will all new bills in that denomination ordered after that date being issued with the new technology. This follows the current design, which was issued back in March 1996, and is aimed at making it more difficult for counterfeiters to replicate the notes. As such, the new design implements a variety of technologies.

As part of the changes, Benjamin Franklin is now larger and slightly raised, with more detailed eyes and with a microprinted “United States of America” in the collar. The combination of these two things will make it harder for counterfeiters to print the bills and easier for those receiving fake bills to notice if something is off, such as missing details or incorrectly rendered aspects of the portrait.

In addition, changes have been made to the watermark so that it duplicates slightly when held up to the light. The gold inkwell visible in the image above has a slightly darker image of the Liberty Bell inside of it, which turns green when the bill is shifted. This is achieved using color-shifting ink, and is designed to be easier to spot due to the contrast between the green and gold colors.

One of the biggest changes is found on the back, with the new note featuring a giant golden “100″ numeral vertically aligned on the left side, with the outside of the numbers being lined with blue ink, and the inside being filled with a striated golden gradient, something that makes it especially hard for counterfeiters to replicate, partly because of the color difficulties and partly because of the large size, which require more attention to detail and makes it easier for someone to notice a mistake. There’s the added bonus of being easier on the eyes for those with visual impairments.

Independence Hall is now pictured from the rear, and the clock on the building has had its time changed from 4:10 to 10:30. And finally, there is a blue woven ribbon near the center of the note composed of 650,000 microlenses that generate $100 signs and 3D Liberty Bells. All commonly used counterfeiting methods are incapable of generating this.

SOURCE: Business Week

The app is available now from the Windows Store, and can be used by both Windows 8 and Windows RT users, meaning it can be used on both a Windows 8 PC and a tablet. For those who don’t require the full expanse of Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Express is a free alternative that offers a variety of photo-editing tools, such as the basics like cropping and red-eye correction, as well as color-adjustment tools and “Looks” photo filters.

Back on January 25, the company rolled out an update to its Express app for iPad, adding support for Retina displays, as well as some other needed features, such as multi-tasking and using the on-board camera. That last feature is now available across the latest version of the software for all devices, including PCs with an attached or integrated webcam.

In case you missed it, earlier this month Adobe rolled out Photoshop CC with integrated collaboration, Behance instant sharing, and more. Such is part of their Creative Cloud online storage, which is a subscription-based service for Adobe users available at a monthly fee. Tools, syncing, and more are offered.

It was also revealed earlier this month that Adobe is working on a Lightroom app for iOS users, an offering that will provide support for editing RAW images. This app will appeal more to the professional market, as well as those who currently use Lightroom. While not exactly the same, the app will be similar to the desktop version of the software, and will allow users to transfer their work to a computer for finalization.

SOURCE: Windows

The Syrian Electronic Army has attacked a variety of media companies, including CBS, The Guardian, E! Online, and even The Onion. Often times, the hackers take control of the company’s Twitter account(s) and use it/them to post messages, some of them coming across as nonsense, others as fake news (such as Justin Bieber coming out of the closet), and sometimes things of a more serious nature, such as the link to a video execution on YouTube posted on one of the Financial Times’ Twitter accounts.

The Financial Times confirmed the hacks to The New York Times in an email, according to the latter company. While the company didn’t specify how the hackers gained access to their system, there’s a good chance it was accomplished the same way its other breaches have been achieved, which was detailed by The Onion earlier this month.

According to a blog post published on May 10, The Onion’s attack was the result of a rather conventional phishing scheme that involved sending links to a few of the company’s employees. The links purported to be of an interesting story, but instead took the recipient to a page requesting Google Apps login information. When someone falls for the ruse, their email is then used to try to message other workers for additional login information.

When someone in possession of the company’s social media accounts takes the bait, the hackers can then log into the account, change the password, and begin wrecking havoc. A similar attack was performed on The Associated Press, with one of the hackers revealing that 50 of the company’s employees had revealed their login information. Such attacks reaffirm that companies should train their employees on how to recognize phishing attempts, as well as taking measures to reduce the amount of damage that can result if someone does provide their credentials.

SOURCE: The New York Times

Google’s developer conference is home to more than just developers, of course: press, analysts, students, and Google lovers from all angles are invited, but this year the company had a more focused approach in mind. While the conference retained its three-day allotment of breakout sessions and fireside chats with Google’s own for developers of all types, the company’s initial keynote was limited to one day instead of two.

This single keynote was also toned down – significantly – especially compared to last year’s explosion of content: new devices, a new version of Android, and a skydive drop live with what was then called Project Glass. Larry Page stepped on stage to make an address to the developers and the public, taking part in an extended question-and-answer session as well, showing some extreme boldness answering whatever random queries attendees might have.

Because of these elements in the keynote – the most public and direct bit of the convention from Google, to be sure, the entire set of events was given what we suggested to Hugo Barra had given it all a more “human” vibe to I/O. This, he said was “exactly what we were aiming for.”

Google’s top guns stepped into the fray as well, with Googlers like Barra and Sergey Brin appearing for drinks and a chat with the press late on Day 1. There it was abundantly clear that this event was not simply made for developer training, but for person-to-person connectivity: another pillar the event was originally built on.

Our own Chris Davies lent some insight on this subject, his column “Google I/O and the year of the Context Ecosystem” speaking volumes about Google’s aim here in 2013.

“All of Google’s services are gradually interweaving. Google I/O 2013 is an ecosystem play, and it’s one of the biggest – and arguably ambitious – we’ve ever seen. It’ll drag Google+ with it along the way, and it might even kickstart the “internet of things” when we start to see some legitimate advantages of having every device a web-connected node.

Google didn’t give us a new phone for our pocket or a new tablet for our coffee table; instead, it gave us so much more.” – Chris Davies

What did you think of Google I/O 2013 from a consumer perspective? If you don’t consider yourself a consumer in this case – how did you take it all from whatever position you’re in?

A couple of Googlers were spotted roaming around the floor at Moscone over the week, but from the photos at hand, it looks like Google only has one type of prescription frame that’s out and about, which looks to be the same frame seen in the image above. It’s not said if Google will make multiple frames available, but we wouldn’t be surprised if they offered several different generic options.

UPDATE: We’ve got a few photos of our own – have a peek at the bits and pieces, courtesy of the lead Industrial Designer for Glass, Isabelle Olsson.

As for how the prescription version works, it seems that the Google Glass hardware itself can’t be removed from the frames, which means they probably won’t be your main pair of glasses, unless you plan on wearing Google Glass all the time, but that will sooner or later be impossible, as there are already many places that you won’t be able to wear Glass.

Secondly, just like the regular frames of Google Glass, prescription frames won’t be able to fold up like a traditional pair of glasses, making it difficult to store them somewhere conveniently if you need to take them off in certain situations. However, this information is slightly different from what the company said back in March, where the Glass design would be “modular,” meaning that you could attach glass to any (or most) pair of glasses or sunglasses. The “modular” word was also thrown around during a Google I/O session this week.

Then again, you’ll obviously still be able to get custom lenses to fit into prescription Google Glass, so if you don’t happen to like any of the frames that Google will release, you’ll at least be able to get the right lenses fitted into them. Now, if only we could get better-looking detachable sunglasses for Google Glass, it’d be perfect.

According to a tweet by CNBC, the event will be held in New York City and will be “product-related”, which hints to the possibility that the company simply isn’t planning a shindig at their headquarters, but rather are setting up a venue to announce something fairly big. The company also plans to live stream the event to those not able to be in attendance.

Details are still scarce at this point, and we’re not 100% sure as to what the company has up its sleeve, but we wouldn’t be too surprised if it involved Tumblr in some capacity. It’s rumored that Yahoo wants to acquire Tumblr for around $1 billion in order to cater towards the younger, hip crowd. It would certainly be Yahoo’s biggest buy yet, and the company has been all about acquiring younger startups as of late.

Just recently, the company acquired several smaller firms, including popular to-do list Astrid, but have ended up shutting most of them down and acquiring the employees, suggesting that Yahoo wants to expand and improve on its various services and offerings. Whatever the case may be come Monday, let’s hope that Yahoo has something worthwhile planned to unveil.

VIA: CNET

To put the explosion into perspective here on Earth, the explosion was said to have the same amount of force as five tons of TNT. Of course, that’s not even close to what an atomic bomb can pull off, nor a typical large explosion like what’ve seen recently in Texas at the fertilizer planet. However, with the vacuum of space and no gravity to slow anything down, the explosions can be much larger on the moon.

This specific explosion, which happened around two months ago, was ten times brighter than anything that NASA has ever seen before. Meteor impacts on the Moon are nothing new, and they happen all the time, but this explosion was unique and it’s said to have made a crater over 20 meters (65 feet) across.

So how does an explosion happen on the Moon if there’s no oxygen to activate it? NASA says that lunar meteors don’t require oxygen or combustion to explode. Meteors hit the Moon surface with so much kinetic energy that NASA says even a small pebble can make a crater that’s a few feet wide. As for the flash of light from the meteor explosion, that’s from the “thermal glow of molten rock and hot vapors” during impact.

NASA created a specific program to identify how often lunar meteor strikes occur in 2005, and this was the largest explosion that the program has ever seen in its roughly nine years of being active. During that time, scientists have identified over 300 explosions, most which happened during meteor showers on Earth and were rather dim. The program is essentially studying the where, when, and how often of meteor strikes on the Moon to determine the best time and location for future spacewalks on the Moon, if NASA ever decides to go back.

VIA: Wired

SOURCE: NASA

Google hasn’t said when additional brands would begin appearing, however they have said ZAGAT, Hello Kitty, Art.com, NOOK and Adafruit Industries are in the initial group. Basically, once you begin following any of these users on Google+ you should begin seeing offers in your stream. As with Google Offers, the actual offer will vary from brand to brand. Once something attracts your attention, you can then get to sharing and saving.

You will be able to save the offers directly from the Google+ post and once they are saved, they can be redeemed from your email confirmation or from the Google Offers app. At present, there is a Google Offers app available for Android and iOS users. Ultimately though, this appears to be another way for Google to not only attract, but keep users within the Google+ world.

Aside from this Google Offers integration, Google I/O also brought talk of additional features for Google+ Photos. Moving forward Google+ Photos users have additional space for storing images. Or alternatively, as opposed to simply saving more images, you can save those images at a higher resolution.

The storage is increasing to 15GB, however it is important to know that will be shared across Gmail, Google+ Photos and Drive. Otherwise, Photos also picked up a feature called Auto Awesome, which is a mashup of Collage, HDR, Smile, Motion and Panorama. Bottom line here, Google Offers is just one on many Google+ additions that we are expecting to see rolling out.

VIA: TNW

SOURCE: Google+

However, 130,000 units is a far cry from March and February, when Microsoft sold 261,000 and 302,000 consoles, respectively. Total revenue brought in for the Xbox 360, including hardware, games, and accessories, adds up to $208 million, which is also more than any other gaming console for the month of April. However, its more than half of what Xbox 360 sales were a month previous, when March brought in $402 million.

During April, the Xbox 360 also held six out of the top 10 console games, which include NBA 2K13, Dead Island: Riptide, BioShock Infinite, Defiance, Injustice: Gods Among Us, and Call of Duty: Black Ops II. NBA 2K13, BioShock Infinite, and Call of Duty: Black Ops II were also on the list during March.

The steep drop in sales could be a result of the impending announcement of the so-called Xbox 720, which Microsoft will unveil on May 21. However, the console most likely won’t actually release to the public until later this year in the fall, meaning that if sales are slipping already, it’s going to be a long summer for Microsoft and its Xbox 360.

As for the latest gaming console that has hit the public pipeline (the Wii U), sales aren’t doing so well either. The console has missed Nintendo’s expectations, and it seems many developers and publishers are beginning to rethink their strategy to makes games for the new console, including EA, who has said that they don’t have anything in the making for the Wii U, which could potentially hurt the console even more.

SOURCE: Official Microsoft Blog

This system was developed by Instrument to track user input and motion tracking with a custom C++ app built with openNI as well as an ASUS Xtion Pro 3D motion tracking sensor camera. As the motion tracker sees and understands the angle of the human playing the game’s torso and location of each arm, so too will their avatar on the display array move as they fall.

The 3D game content is rendered with WebGL using THREE.js, the WebGL layer being rendered with a totally transparent background. This setup allows the map layer underneath to show through, this map layer being generated by Google Maps.

What the user sees below – the earth they’re plummeting toward – is a completely live HTML Google Map instance. It’s accurate – meaning you could potentially be diving toward your house, a national landmark, or perhaps somewhere that’d be useful for real-world training.

In addition to this setup being live and ready to roll here at Google I/O 2013 as a playable demo, Instrument has created a Dive editor. With this Dive editor, an editor is able to build directly into the control node administrative console, each of these changes reflected instantly – live in the scene.

The editor user interface exists as a Google Map, the person editing it able to use draggable markers that act as game objects. With this interface, developers and savvy users will be able to utilize geocoding to center the map view on locations of their choice – anywhere Google Maps can see. Think of the possibilities!

These plans were originally announced back on February 1st and at that time they came with options for either 500MB or 2GB of data. In the data-centric world that we currently live in, 2GB may be low for some and 500MB may even cause you to limit your smartphone usage. With that in mind, Verizon has bumped the allowances to 2GB and 4GB.

Specifically, the $60 plan has 2GB and the $70 plan has 4GB. Each of these plans also offer unlimited talk and text messaging. And for those keeping track, while the data has increased, the price of the plans has remained the same. Customers who are already signed up will see the new data allowance immediately.

Otherwise, new customers choosing these plans will have to wait until June 6th to see the 2GB ($60) and 4GB ($70) limits go in effect. Seems the better option here may be the 4GB plan, after all that is only a $10 per month increase and it offers double the data. Of course, for some 2GB may be enough to feel comfortable and not have to worry about going over.

Aside from Verizon upping the data, AT&T has also recently announced Aio Wireless. While the AT&T offering isn’t available in all markets just yet, it does seem to be one worth watching. For now Aio Wireless is available in Orlando, Tampa and Houston. The Aio smartphone plans begin at $55 per month and offer unlimited calling and messaging as well as 2GB of data. In other words, they seem to be fairly close in price to the Verizon prepaid options.

SOURCE: Verizon Wireless

However, it’s important to note that this is a NASA record. The world record for the longest driving distance on another planet goes to the Soviet Union, who piloted a Lunokhod 2 rover in 1973, which traveled 23 miles on the Moon. Opportunity has been traveling Mars for over nine years now, and its still collecting rock samples and conducting experiences, even if Curiosity’s fame is overshadowing it all.

Opportunity broke the NASA record on its 3,309th Martian day by traveling 263 feet along the western rim of the Endeavour Crater. The rover first landed on Mars in January 2004 and has so far traveled 22.22 miles, meaning that the rover averaged a speed of 0.00028 miles per hour (roughly). Of course, 22 miles isn’t long at all for us humans, but it’s quite the trek for a robot.

Based on these numbers, Curiosity hasn’t even left the driveway yet. The new rover is just over a year old, but if NASA really puts it to work, Curiosity could break Opportunity’s record at a quicker pace, as well as the possibility of breaking the world record and taking the honor away from the Soviet Lunokhod 2.

Of course, Curiosity has already been the victim of a couple mishaps. One of its onboard computers ended up failing, resulting in a pause of operations that would delay experiments for a couple of weeks. While the rover eventually got back on its feet, it lost precious time that could’ve been used for collecting samples and taking images of the red planet.

VIA: CNET

SOURCE: NASA

Jepsen was joined by serial entrepreneurs Julia Hartz, co-founder and president of Eventbrite, Slava Rubin, CEO and co-founder of Indegogo, and Caterina Fake, founder and CEO of Findery and co-founder of Flickr. It was on this panel that Jepsen made the case for not just a broken device hardware startup model, but for new entrants into this startup world to be aiming for the moon. It was from within Google X, after all, that Google Glass originated.

“Assuming that you start big and swing for the fences – don’t do something small, first off. But assuming you do, and you get to that point where you’re taking on one of the largest companies in the world – even though you didn’t mean to – I’ve never started to mean to – be prepared to give away most of your stocks so you can win that gain, because otherwise you’re crushed.

Plan that early on, for what you’re going to do – at One Laptop Per Child, there’s this 60-minute expose on some of the larger forces that we came up against – and there’s a lot of stories I’ve not yet told about Pixel Qi. When you get in that seat, you have to be able to figure out a way where it’s more attractive for companies not to crush you.

And that’s very difficult.” – Mary Lou Jepsen

She added assurance that joining a big company is not for everyone – startups are great, she said, especially if you don’t want to get involved in the politics of working with a big company. You’ll be in a lifeboat, she explained, but though you’ll be dealing with holes in your boat here and there, you’ll be working with people that want to help you and are ready and willing to go that extra mile for you.

Meanwhile she warned that hardware funding, again, isn’t in a place where it should be. Groups that push cash to software startups are far easier to find at this time in history than those looking to build up a group for a hardware device.

“VCs (Venture Capital companies) don’t have the core competence anymore. Silicon Valley, pretty much, too – and I’m sure there’s exceptions, but by-and-large, to fund or even to due diligence on hardware.

But there are places that do fund hardware, and you can find them depending upon your bend – you have to be creative. There are Angels, certainly, and Super Angels to fund it.

But there’s not this sort of – path – but there’s not much competition, so you have an advantage.” – Mary Lou Jepsen

Have a peek at the video below for additional insight from Jepsen and let us know how well you’re taking the news – or the advice, as it were. Are you encouraged by the idea that Jepsen, one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world and a ranking member of the top 50 female computer scientists of all time is suggesting that jumping in on a startup is a situation you should want to be a part of? Let us know!

Right off the bat you can tell that Meta 1 is a bit different than Google Glass, but that’s also because Meta 1 serves a particularly different function than what Google Glass offers. While Glass merely consists of a small display that shows you alerts and other information, Meta 1 shows you virtual 3D objects that are mixed in with the real world in front of you.

The device itself is still in the development stages, hence the fact that the Kickstarter campaign is for a dev kit of the Meta 1. And as such, the pair of glasses aren’t quite as compact as Google Glass. The Meta 1 features rather squared-off frames that look uncomfortable, with a 3D webcam mounted on the top. Granted, it’s only meant for developers, so the final version should be much more catered towards consumers.

Essentially, the goal for the Meta 1 is to create HUDs similar to those seen in Iron Man and Minority Report, but once more developers join in and begin to make apps for the headset, the possibilities will most likely be endless. The video above gives some decent examples of what’s possible the Meta 1.

The hardware specs of the Meta 1 are quite impressive at this point. You get a 960×540 resolution with each eye that comes with a 23-degree field of view for each eye as well. The webcam that sits on top includes two cameras (one for each eye), and the glasses have HDMI and USB input. And despite looking a bit cumbersome to wear, they only weigh a little over 10 ounces.

The company plans to have these development kits shipped out starting in September of this year. As for price, the full development kit will cost $750, which is a bit steep compared to other headsets, like the Oculus Rift, but the Meta 1 does seem a bit more complex. Granted, it’s still half the price you’d pay for Google Glass Explorer Edition, so if you’re bank account is only allowing so much cash to be spent, the Meta 1 is the cheaper grab.

Bloomberg reports that Apple devices running iOS 6 or higher can be used, including the iPhone and iPad. Previously, the US Department of Defense approved Samsung devices earlier this month, as well as BlackBerry devices running BlackBerry 10. This makes Apple the third company to get security clearance at the Pentagon.

The recent approvals are expected to give BlackBerry a fight for government market share, a sector that BlackBerry has controlled for a long time now. With Apple and Samsung devices making their way into the Pentagon, it could spell even more trouble for the Canadian company, who has already been struggling in a world dominated by iOS and Android.

With the adoption of iPads alone, the US Air Force says they expect to save $50 million over 10 years, mostly due to the dropped weight of flight bags in planes in favor of lightweight iPads that would contain all of the flight manuals needed. American Airlines recently gaine approval for this same thing, so it makes sense that it would expand to the Air Force as well.

The Samsung Galaxy S 4 was approved earlier this month, and thanks to its new Knox security features, the US Department of Defense thinks that the new device is ready for Pentagon prime time, beating the iPhone and iPad to the punch, although that probably won’t stop iOS devices from being handed out as much as Samsung handsets. Either way, prepare for BlackBerry to lose a little grip in the government sector as Apple and Samsung are making their way inside.

SOURCE: Bloomberg

A lot of people were disappointed by the absence of hardware. Google’s largely a software and services company, of course, but we’re still trained to expect shiny new gadgets first and foremost. What I/O proved to be was a reminder that the industry has moved on, and that it’s high time we recognized that.

“Specs are dead” is an opinion growing in prevalence among those following the cutting-edge of phones and tablets. There’s a limit to the usable resolution of a smartphone display, for instance – once your eyes can’t make out individual pixels, do you really need to step up to Ultra HD? – and to the speed of a tablet processor. The areas that still need real advancement, like high-performance batteries, are evolving too slowly to make a difference with each new generation.

Hardware used to make a big difference to the usability of a device. Now, it’s just a question of badge-loyalty and aesthetics. What really makes the difference is the range of applications and services that are on offer; not solely the raw count of available apps that gets trotted out at every big press event, but whether the specific titles the user needs are on offer to them.

Software is at a tipping point, too, though. Android used to be clunky and ugly; now it looks great, and the gap between the instant usability of it, iOS, and Windows Phone is arguably nonexistent. The software race has moved on, away from silo’d applications and slick UIs to where our phones – and the companies that make them – are finally considering context alongside capability.

Context is a tricky thing to explain, certainly compared to the instant crowd-pleaser of a big OLED screen or a blisteringly-fast, multicore processor. Put simply, it’s a more intelligent way of your phone or tablet integrating itself into your life, whether that be more time-appropriate notifications, an awareness of the people around you, or of the other devices you might use. It’s about predicting rather than just reacting.

Google’s arguably doing the best at that of all the platform companies, and I/O was its opportunity to demonstrate that. Google Now is the most obvious expression of a system that offers up suggestions instead of waiting for you to go hunting for answers, but through the I/O keynote we saw signs of the disparate strands of Google’s products coming together in intelligent, time-saving ways.

Google Maps, for instance, won’t just autocomplete your recently-used addresses, but learn from your preferences in restaurants and other venues and make suggestions it thinks you’ll enjoy. Google Play Music All Access has a ridiculous name, but its ability to build dynamic playlists based on your favorite tracks will help cut down on one of the most common complaints about cloud-jukebox services: that they overwhelm with choice, and subscribers simply end up listing to the same playlists over and over again.

The new Highlights feature in Google+ is another example of the cloud being clever, not just capacious. As many have discovered, thousands of photos quickly become unwieldy when it comes to sifting through them for the best shots, no matter whether you’re storing them locally or from somewhere in the cloud.

Google’s ability to pick out the cream (and give them a little auto-enhancing along the way, just to make sure you’re looking tip-top) could mean you actually end up looking at them more, rather than feeling guilty because you’re not manually sorting them.

Google+ remains the big social network people love to slam, but it’s also the glue that looks set to hold all of these personalized services together. Just as Google hinted back in 2012, when it controversially changed its privacy policy to explicitly allow services to share information on the same registered user between themselves, the key here is the flow of data. That might not actually require people to actively embrace Google+ – indeed, they may well not even know they’re using it – but it will cement its relevance in a way that Facebook can’t compete with.

Make no mistake, context is the next big battleground in mobile. As our smartphones have become more capable, they’ve also become more voracious in their appetites for our time and attention. A prettier notifications drop-down is no longer a legitimate solution to information overload: pulling every possible alert into one place doesn’t make it any easier to cope with the scale of the data our phones and tablets can offer us.

The device which understands us better, and which handles our information in a way that’s bespoke, not one huge gush, will control the market. Google knows that; it also knows that hardware is basically just a way of getting a screen in front of users’ eyes, whether that be on a Chromebook like the Pixel, a phone or tablet from the Nexus series, or suspended in the corner of your eye like Glass.

In the same way, speech control – which also demonstrated marked improvements at I/O – is just another way to make sure people can engage with your products, on top of what touching, tapping, and clicking they’ve already been doing. More flexibility means more usage; more usage means more data to collate and customers that are further wedded to Google rather than any other company.

All of Google’s services are gradually interweaving. Google I/O 2013 is an ecosystem play, and it’s one of the biggest – and arguably ambitious – we’ve ever seen. It’ll drag Google+ with it along the way, and it might even kickstart the “internet of things” when we start to see some legitimate advantages of having every device a web-connected node. Google didn’t give us a new phone for our pocket or a new tablet for our coffee table; instead, it gave us so much more.

The good news is, these newer TecTile tags are backward-compatible with older Samsung devices that are NFC-enabled, allowing you to use them with your new Galaxy S 4, as well as any other Samsung devices you have lying around, including the Galaxy S III. These tags will allow you to automate a variety of tasks for certain situations, like adjustments to settings and opening up an app with a wave of your phone.

If you’re not all that familiar with TecTiles, they are Samsung-specific NFC stickers that you can program to activate certain phone tasks when the tag and the phone are touched together. You can place these tags all around your house and in your car, which allow you automate tasks, like setting alarms, switching a phone to silent mode, starting up media players, etc.

The downside is that if you’ve invested in the original TecTiles and have upgraded to the Galaxy S 4, you’ll need to grab the newer TecTile 2 tags, which sell for $15 for a pack of five, and are available now online, with availability in stores coming next month.

Currently, the only device that comes with native support for TecTile 2 is the Galaxy S 4, but we’re guessing that future Samsung devices will be utilizing the updated technology as well. As for the advantages of TecTile 2, it seems it’s a bit faster than the previous-generation, with the possibility of extended NFC capabilities, but if you can’t rush out and get new tags now, it won’t hurt you to wait around in order to grab some.

Whereas previous E3 appearances have seen Nintendo show off new hardware, Fils-Aime said, the show this time around will be focused solely on new titles. Alongside the official announcements, Best Buy locations in the US and Canada will have demo stations set up in multiple stores so as to give gamers a chance to try well in advance of when they’ll be able to buy.

Exact details on which locations and which games will be participating are unknown at this stage. However, Nintendo’s focus on new titles hardly comes as a surprise, given the company has previously blamed a shortage of games for 3DS and Wii U for underwhelming sales.

What there won’t be is a big E3 press conference. It’s not the first time Nintendo has tried to whet appetites with some sneaky pre-release access. Back in November, ahead of sales of the Wii U, various US retailers offered experience kiosks where the new console could be tried out.

Still, developer confidence in the Wii U particularly is looking patchy. EA, for instance, confirmed this week that it has nothing in the pipeline for the console.

The Nintendo Direct also revealed some release dates for upcoming titles, including Donkey Kong and the Legend of Zelda. SEGA, meanwhile, has inked an exclusive deal with Nintendo for the next Sonic the Hedgehog title – Sonic Lost World – which will only be available on 3DS and Wii U.

The new phone would even beat out the Galaxy S III, which sold 10 million units in a matter of 54 days, so the Galaxy S 4 would reach that milestone roughly a few weeks ahead of the Galaxy S III. Shin says that the Galaxy S 4 is expected to hit the 10 million mark in less than a month, so be prepared for Samsung to pop open the Champagne bottles once again.

The Galaxy S 4 first became available on April 26, and has since spread like wildfire all over the world. The phone is so hot, in fact, that Google decided to partner up with Samsung on the Galaxy S 4 to release a “Google edition” of the new handset, allowing users to bypass the TouchWiz interface in favor of a stock Android Jelly Bean experience. It’s not a Nexus device, but it could very well be.

Of course, we knew this day would come eventually, so we shouldn’t be extremely surprised that the Galaxy S 4 is hitting 10 million in sales, but we are a little impressed to see it hit that number in such a short amount of time. As for an exact date on when the 10 million mark will hit, Samsung expects to make an announcement on May 24.

In slightly related news, Shin also talked about the upcoming Galaxy Note III, and while he didn’t give away a lot of details on the new device, he says that the phablet-style smartphone will sport a 5.9-inch display, which is right on track with several rumors that we’ve heard in the past that suggested somewhere in the 6-inch range. As for the type of display, it’s rumored that it will come with OLED technology.

VIA: Android Community

SOURCE: Korea Times

According to Focus Taiwan, president of HTC North Asia Jack Tong, said that manufacturing volume will double this month compared to April and will continue to grow into next month in order to meet “strong demand” for the company’s flagship handset, which was officially released late last month, but ended up getting on shelves before the Samsung Galaxy S 4 in some markets.

The company had a fairly negative first quarter, with revenue down to $1.45 billion, but HTC is hoping that a boost in production along with sales of the HTC One will see the company turn itself around in time to report its Q2 earnings. After all, the company saw almost a 50% drop in sales compared to the same quarter last year.

Then again, HTC can’t completely rely on the One to keep the company afloat. They have other recently-released devices out on the market, including the HTC First “Facebook phone,” which actually isn’t doing so hot on the selling floor. It’s exclusive carrier, AT&T, recently dropped the subsidy down to just $0.99 from $99 after just a month of being on the market, which is something we don’t see very often and it usually means that things are going south for the device.

The HTC One is available on AT&T and T-Mobile starting at $199, with AT&T having exclusivity for the 64GB version at $299. The phone has a 4.7-inch display with a resolution of 1920×1080, which offers you a full HD display with a super-high pixel density. Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 clocked at 1,7GHz with 2GB of RAM to keep things humming along. Check out our full review to learn more about the device.

VIA: ZDNet

Recently Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that Apple would be assembling a Mac computer in the United States once again. Cook didn’t offer a lot of detail on that comment, despite the fact that a flurry of questions were tossed his way when he made the announcement. People want to know where exactly the machine will be constructed, but Cook declined any further details.

All we know at this point is that a Mac computer will be built in the United States and according to Cook, it will be a new iteration of an existing product. That could mean anything from a refreshed MacBook to a new version of the Mac Pro or Mac mini.

Reports indicate that whatever Mac computer is built in the United States won’t just be a collection of parts shipped from overseas. Many of the components used in the assembly of the new Mac will themselves be made in the United States. Some of the components sourced from the US will come from Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, and Texas.

Some of the processors Apple uses in products such as the iPhone are already built in the US. Apple made a significant investment into a Samsung chip manufacturing plant in Texas where processors for the iPhone are produced. It’s nice to see Apple bringing even more of its construction back to the US, though you have to wonder if this will mean any increase in prices.

SOURCE: Engadget

The device formerly known as Project SHIELD will be coming from the same set of retail partners as it was when its first availability was announced before Google I/O. This change of heart affects each of the set: NVIDIA’s home page, Newegg, and Gamestop in the USA and Canada Computer in the Great White North. It’s just Micro Center that’s not got a pre-order page prepared at the moment – they’ll be going live inside the next few days.

SHIELD retains its specifications outlined in detail earlier this week, it being an NVIDIA Tegra 4 quad-core processor-powered gaming Android clamshell-style gaming handheld device made for both local and streaming game content. Utilizing the Tegra 4′s 72 GPU cores for graphics prowess, this machine is being marketed as both the highest-powered Android gaming device on the market while it brings streaming PC gaming at the same time.

It’s important to note, mind you, that the PC gaming streaming abilities SHIELD employs will not be launched in their full, finalized form when the device ships. Instead, NVIDIA suggests that this part of the equation will remain in Beta for an unspecified amount of time – but not so long that we imagine users will be freaking out.

Have a peek at the PC streaming abilities of this device as well as some Android gaming above in a couple of SlashGear’s several hands-on demos with this device as it inches closer to a final release. Expect shipping to take place sooner than later.

Fans of darker shows that follow vampires also flock to this network to watch The Vampire Diaries. In the realm of secondary TV networks, The CW is quite popular. CW has announced that it has started a new deal to bring its content to Apple TV. The content will come to Apple TV via the CW TV now application.

That application has previously been available only on the Xbox 360 and Windows 8 devices. CW says that it’s trying to reach more viewers on more platforms and the deal with Apple TV is one of the methods it’s using. The interesting thing about this app is that while The CW network is only available on cable, you don’t have to have a cable subscription to watch streaming content via its app.

That makes this app one of the first true attempts at unbundling by a television network. What’s even more impressive about this application is that it’s not only past season episodes that you can check out. The company puts new episodes of every one of its series on the app the day after they air on the TV network.

The CW network promises that the application on the Apple TV will work and function similarly to how the app works on the Xbox 360. The TV shows available on the streaming application on all platforms are supported by ads. That means you will have to sit through commercials, but if you don’t have cable, or your cable company doesn’t offer The CW, I think watching a few commercials is probably a good trade-off. The one caveat to this announcement is that there is no specific timeframe offered for the application to hit the Apple TV.

SOURCE: MacRumors

Among the shows that Amazon will add as part of its agreement are shows from USA Network including Covert Affairs and Suits. The agreement will also see the new SyFy show Defiance and two NBC programs, including Grimm and Hannibal, are coming to the streaming service. The shows won’t all show up at the same time.

Grimm, which is based on the collection of Grimm Fairy Tales, is available as of today. Both of the USA Network shows, Suits and Covert Affairs, are available today as well. NBC’s new show Hannibal will be available later this year. Syfy channel’s Defiance won’t show up until early next year.

Amazon says shows that are exclusive to its streaming service will offer access to prior season episodes. That would seem to indicate new episodes won’t be coming straightway. Along with the programs already mentioned, the deal also brings access to several other popular series.

Syfy’s Alphas, Eureka, and Warehouse 13 are also coming to Prime Instant Video. The service will also gets a new children’s shows including Curious George and The Land Before. Both of the children’s programs will be available in the Kindle FreeTime Unlimited content service.

SOURCE: Amazon

The new version of COPPA comes into effect on July 1, and impacts apps and services which could be used by those under 13. If the app has some sort of “persistent identifier” which is used to recognize that user, it will likely need to modify its privacy and permissions policies. Notably, that identifier need not be a username or involve active registration: a cookie or device ID will count as well.

“Companies whose apps collect, store or transmit this information, as well as other personal information previously covered by the rule like a child’s name or address, must get parents’ consent before collecting the information. In addition, companies must also ensure that any third party receiving the information can keep it secure and confidential, as well as abiding by new rules affecting how the information is stored and retained” FTC

Four different versions of the notification letter have been prepared, depending on whether the recipient is a domestic US or foreign firm, and the nature of the data collection. For domestic companies, there’s an images/sounds version [pdf link] and a persistent identifiers version [pdf link]; the same counterparts for foreign apps collecting images/sounds [pdf link] of children in the US, or assigning them identifiers [pdf link].

Actually receiving a letter doesn’t mean that the FTC has actively evaluated a company and found it wanting in terms of COPPA compliance, the Commission is keen to point out. Instead, they’re intended to prompt a “COPPA check-up” ahead of the new rules coming into effect.

The changes to COPPA were announced back in December, as a way to bring the Act up to speed with the changing nature of applications and the user-data they collect. Among the tweaks are a new requirement that developers not only be responsible for a compliant privacy policy that covers their own data collection, but of any data that’s collected by third-party services – such as ad networks – that are incorporated into the software.

The list of companies which have received the letters has not been revealed, though ustwo – developer of randomized photo-sharing app Rando – took to Twitter to confirm that it had been couriered one. There’s more on COPPA compliance at the FTC; violating the rule can result in civil penalties of up to $16,000 per violation.

VIA ustwo

The controller is called the Razer Atrox Arcade Stick. Some manufacturers try and make their hardware as tamper-resistant as possible, but Razer has fully embraced the modding community. This arcade stick is built specifically for enthusiasts to be able to access the inside of the controller and modify the device to their preference.

Razer even offers a template for the top panel to make it easier for you to customize the controller to your liking. The controller opens at the top of the arcade stick revealing access to internal storage compartment where you can store the detachable cable, screwdriver, and space for two more buttons. The joystick itself comes with a ball top and an additional bat-shaped top.

The cable for the controller is 13 feet long and can be removed for portability. Razer uses Sanwa Denshi hardware components that promise to last for a long time including 10 high response buttons and a precision eight way joystick. The top of the controller is designed to allow you to add your own custom artwork.

The arcade stick also has a honeycomb structure on the inside making it easy to attach screws so you can add your own components and hardware. The controller has a 2.5 mm audio jack for use with the Xbox 360. The Atrox will be available for pre-order on May 21 with the launch in Japan set for this month and a global launch in June. The controller will cost $199.99.

SOURCE: Razer

One of the more interesting products out there that uses technology to help you track your fitness goals is the Fitbit bracelet that sends information about your activity and other details to a number of smartphones and other devices on the market today. The device had to be specifically compatible with certain Android devices to operate.

Fitbit has now announced that the list of compatible devices been updated to support Bluetooth 4.0 on the new incredibly popular Samsung Galaxy S 4. Fitbit says that it’s team has been working hard to bring support for the new high-end Samsung device after a number of users requested that the company get its device to work with the new Samsung smartphone.

Fitbit says that each new phone it adds with Bluetooth 4.0 sync support requires custom development. The problem according to the company is that many of the phones that support Bluetooth 4.0 hardware don’t have the software needed to support third-party apps like Fitbit and allow the apps to access the Bluetooth hardware.

Google has said that it will be standardizing support for Bluetooth 4.0 in a future version of the Android operating system. Fitbit says that that standardization will make it easier to support Bluetooth 4.0 devices in the future. If your smartphone still lacks support for Fitbit, the company says it is working on adding support for additional devices with phone manufacturers and Google. If you want to know more about Fitbit, be sure and check out our comprehensive review of the Fitbit Flex.

SOURCE: Fitbit

According to the numbers, iOS is now the leading platform for consumer spending on mobile games, overtaking “gaming-optimized handhelds” like the 3DS. Google Play is accelerating fast, however, and while still lags behind iOS, is predicted to exceed traditional gaming spend by the end of the current quarter.

App Annie blames seasonality for most of the slump that Sony and Nintendo are seeing, but warns that ad-revenue isn’t included in its numbers. That could mean even more of a gulf is opening, considering many Android titles follow the so-called freemium model where a free download is offset by in-game marketing.

For traditional platforms, the DS and DSi saw the biggest proportional slump, with App Annie suggesting that gamers are shifting over to 3DS instead. However, that’s not to say the 3DS gaming spend is much more reassuring, almost halving between Q4 2012 and Q1 2013.

Games represent around 40-percent of downloads in both the iOS App Store and Google Play store, the research company says, and are the number one motivator to store growth. In total, spending on games across iOS and Android amounted to nearly 3x that of gaming-optimized handhelds in the three month period.

The disparity is only likely to become more pronounced now that Google has waded fully into mobile gaming. At I/O this week, the company unveiled Google Play Games Services, a cross-platform rival to Apple’s Game Center which leverages Google+ for social leaderboard sharing, among other things.

Google is yet to fully address arguably one of the biggest issues facing Android game studios, however, that of software piracy. Some developers have complained of a 95-percent piracy rate for their Android titles, with users reluctant to pay even $0.99 for a game.

VIA: TUAW

Recently Tesla CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter dropping some teasing details about a future electric vehicle that he and Tesla are dreaming up. Musk said, “It has always been my dream to produce a low cost, compelling electric car. We are 3 to 4 years away. Wish it could be sooner.” That would put timeframe for Tesla’s next electric vehicle at approximately 2016 to 2017.

Musk then answered another question when people were curious what sort of pricing Tesla was considering for its future electric vehicle. Musk tweeted in response to that question, “$30k in 2013 $.” He also said that the new vehicle would have a 200+ mile range with some “really cool tech that we can’t talk about yet.”

I’d wager that really cool tech will be the hot-swappable battery packs that Tesla recently mentioned in an SEC filing or fast battery changing stations. Musk also tweeted that the vehicle would be about the size of the Audi A4 or BMW 3-series compared to the Model S being sized like the Audi A7 or BMW M5.

Musk even said that he thinks when we consider the savings the vehicle will give you in gasoline, that you can actually cross-shop a $30,000 Tesla EV with $25,000 gasoline-powered vehicles. Tesla could be right to assuming this future technology Musk isn’t ready to talk about has something to do with making it quick and easy to recharge or swap battery packs at a low cost.

SOURCE: Forbes

One of the biggest game developers in the gaming universe is EA, which produces franchises such as Madden NFL, The Sims, and the Battlefield franchise. About two years ago, EA announced an “unprecedented partnership” with Nintendo hinting that a number of video games for the console would be coming. Fast forward a few years and EA is now saying that it has not one single game in development for the Nintendo Wii U now.

EA hasn’t ruled out the possibility of developing games for the console in the future, but the company currently has no games in development for Nintendo’s latest hardware. This is a rather surprising revelation by EA considering it and Nintendo were throwing in together to the point that in 2011 at E3 Nintendo’s CEO and EA’s CEO took to the stage together to talk about the Nintendo Wii U and the number of games coming for the console.

EA did develop and launch video games for the Nintendo console early on including versions of hit games such as Mass Effect 3, Need For Speed Most Wanted, Madden NFL, and FIFA. However, none of those games launched first on Nintendo’s new console or were exclusives. In fact, they had all been available previously on the other game consoles. EA spokesperson Jeff Brown told Kotaku this week that the earlier run of games for the Nintendo console was EA delivering on its E3 2011 content partnership.

If EA saw value in designing and developing games for the Wii U, you could bet that the company would be doing it. If you’re a big fan of the Wii U, EA’s lack of support for the console means you will have no NFL video game to play because EA holds the exclusive license. It ever a console needed a massive first party video game success, the Wii U is it. However, it looks like Nintendo will have to step up and develop any successful games to drive desire for the console itself, and it doesn’t exactly have a strong track record in recent years for developing hit video games.

SOURCE: Kotaku

The current developer device, the Meta 1, is admittedly somewhat less aesthetically-pleasing than Google’s Explorer Edition of Glass. Epson has brought its Moverio BT-100 to the party, a headset which projects information onto both lenses rather than just one eye. It also has integrated WiFi, runs Android, and lasts for an estimated six hours on a full charge (it’s worth noting that the battery and processing is housed in an external box, which connects to the headset via a cable).

Onto that, Meta bolts a low-latency 3D camera which is used to track hand movements. Resolution down to individual fingertips is supported, and so complex gestures – like a “thumbs up” movement to “Like” a post on Facebook – can be recognized.

Meta concept video:

Just as per Google’s intentions with the Explorer Edition, Meta is hoping to leverage developer interest in preparation for a far more aesthetically-pleasing consumer version of its headset. That could eventually look like a regular pair of sunglasses, with the twin-camera array neatly slotted into the bridge. Whether that sort of design could also accommodate sufficient battery capacity for any meaningful period of use remains to be seen, however.

Meta is also yet to confirm how much the Meta 1 dev-kit will cost. The unmodified Moverio headset has a list price of $700 (though its street price is down to just $400), though of course that doesn’t take into account the added camera hardware, plus Meta’s external processing box and SDK. The first fifty dev orders will get a $200 discount, however, Meta revealed to pre-interest signups in an email this morning.

Google left its Glass discussion out of the opening I/O keynote, saving it for day two developer sessions where it showed off warranty-voiding Ubuntu installs and native app support with the Mirror API. However, it isn’t the only wearable we’ve been playing with this week. Recon Instruments brought along its Recon Jet headset, a sports-centric take on the concept, which is expected to begin shipping later in 2013.

Tumblr has become the darling of the youth blog market, with its straightforward reblogging system and easy page customization making it both immediate and addictive. The site has found particular favor for those sharing photos and videos, with Tumblr claiming to have 107.8m blogs comprising 50.6bn posts.

However, the site has also struggled to manage the growing amount of adult content that is shared and re-shared, and has been criticized for relying on an opt-out policy for blogs with such themes to remove themselves from search results where underage users might see that content. Back in January, the official Tumblr app for iOS was updated with a 17+ age rating, in a move that was seen to be pre-emptively guarding against rejection from Apple over in-app content concerns.

Yahoo can apparently see beyond all that, the sources suggest, and the site’s fledgling use of advertising – predominantly inserting sponsored content into the main dashboard as users scroll through content from blogs they subscribe to – is also seen as promising. Last year, Tumblr suggested it expected to see advertising revenues in the order of $100m in 2013.

That could be the value Yahoo brings to the deal, wielding a much larger, established advertising team that could more thoroughly monetize Tumblr’s content. How that would sit with existing users is unclear at this stage; previous changes to the site have met with no small amount of resistance. Yahoo has a mixed track-record in how it handles acquisitions, too; its most recent three purchases were instantly shut down, something which could be a cause for concern for avid Tumblr users.

The Tumblr negotiations are described as “fluid” though at least one source suggested that a final agreement could be inked as soon as this weekend. That might not amount to a full acquisition, however; other possibilities include a close partnership between the two, as Yahoo attempts to duck under Tumblr’s “cool halo” and increase its userbase among the 18-24 demographic.

The request for responses to privacy concerns was sent in a formal letter on behalf of eight Congressmen via the Bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus. The letter poses eight questions, all of which are things – or variations of things – we’ve heard before, such as how Google plans to protect non users’ privacy, if it will be updating its privacy policy and what those updates could look like, and what data it will collect from users

One big question posed concerned the debacle that happened a couple years ago regarding Google’s mining of data from unprotected wireless networks, an action that ultimately got it slapped with a $7 million settlement across 38 states. The eight individuals behind the formal request are wanting Google to detail how it will prevent the unintentional collection of data about Glass users and non-users alike.

Another area the Congressmen are looking for answers concerns facial recognition. Says the letter that was delivered to Google CEO Larry Page, “Is it true that this product would be able to use Facial Recognition Technology to unveil personal information about whomever and even some inanimate objects that the user is viewing?” It follows up with additional questions related to that, such as whether someone who doesn’t use the device would be able to “opt-out” of this feature, and if not, why that is the case.

The letter goes on to detail additional concerns, and sums it up with a request for Google to respond “no later than” June 14. This follows an expansion to the list of places that have banned Glass on May 8, when it was announced the device can’t be used in Caesers Palace in Las Vegas due to concerns about cheating.

SOURCE: House.gov

Tesla sells its popular electric vehicle via its own website, as well as its expanding series of retail stores. Such is the nature of Tesla Motors, and it is working well for them, doing all the work – right down to delivering the vehicle – on its own. Consumers don’t seem to mind. That hasn’t stopped North Carolina from going after the company – and others offering direct vehicle sales – via a legislative proposal.

Under the bill, which is being pushed heavily by the North Carolina Automobile Dealers Association, no car maker would be allowed to directly sell its own vehicles within the state, thus eschewing traditional conventions of dealerships. Late yesterday, the NC Senate’s Commerce Committee approved the proposal – unanimously – to block such actions. Despite its unanimous approval, the resulting bill will be reduced in some ways, such as removing wording that designates any service providing a computer that is used to order a Tesla Model S as a dealership.

Not surprisingly, Tesla Motors isn’t happy about the approved proposal, nor the thought of being forced to offer its vehicles through state dealerships. The direct sales method of offering the buying public its vehicles is part of Tesla’s image – it gives the vehicle purchase that little something extra, a feel of being super special or getting something that transcends the normal.

In fact, Tesla Motor’s VP of Corporate and Business Development Diarmuid O’Connell compared being forced to sell through dealerships as being like selling a fine wine in a mall’s food court. “They’re trying to insulate the dealer franchise model from any competition. It’s a protectionist move to lock down the market so we have to go through the middleman – the dealer – to sell our cars.”

SOURCE: News Observer