Mereja

Author: Zach Walton

  • Kinect Code Samples Go Open Source To Encourage Development

    Kinect for Windows has inspired developers to create some really impressive applications. That’s apparently not good enough, though, as Microsoft is now making Kinect for Windows partially open source to encourage more development on the platform.

    The Kinect for Windows team that its sample code is now open source under an Apache 2.0 license. The 22 samples are available in C#, C++ and Visual Basic.

    So, why go open source? The team says that there are four reasons for the move:

  • Easy Access -> we will continue to release our sample applications as part of our Developer Toolkit. However, that’s a large download & install that can be cumbersome if you just want to quickly view or access code on the web
  • Reuse The Code -> we’re releasing all the samples under an Apache 2.0 license so that you can take the code and reuse, remix, etc. Also, we’re using a Git repository so it’s easy clone & fork if you want
  • Get Feedback -> we will use CodePlex’s built-in feedback & discussion tools to get community input on the samples. We want to hear from you to understand what we can do better with the samples
  • Faster Updates -> we will be able to update samples more quickly on CodePlex (compared to Toolkit releases). CodePlex also has a “Subscribe” feature that enables you to follow the project and get notified when something changes, a bug gets fixed, someone says something smart in the discussions, etc.

    • The majority of the code will still remain proprietary, but the release of code samples should at least help push Kinect for Windows development into new areas. The sensor has already provided a number of unique applications, and developers being able to muck around with the code might yield even more interesting results.

    All of this news was posted on Microsoft’s new Kinect development blog. It will be kept separate from the regular Kinect for Windows blog, and will focus entirely on “going behind the scenes with the K4W engineering team and will go deeper on the technology and APIs, share tips & tricks, and provide other tidbits of information relevant to those building K4W applications.”

    [h/t: CNET]

  • These Are Some Of The First Apps You’ll See On Google Glass

    Google Glass is going to change our lives, or so says Google. It’s latest marketing campaign seems to indicate as much, but what about everyday use of Glass that doesn’t involve flying in jets or skydiving? What about the normal apps we use on our smartphones? How will those translate to Glass?

    The Google Glass team hosted a developer panel at SXSW Interactive where they showed off a variety of third party apps for the platform. This is the first time that Google has shown anything beyond in-house software for the device, and the results are promising.

    To prevent any unwanted notifications or annoying interruptions that would seem inherent to wearable computing, Google is putting strict guidelines into place for app developers. The four main rules are “design for glass,” “don’t get in the way,” “keep it timely,” and “avoid the unexpected.” These four rules will hopefully ensure that Glass never becomes a nuisance.

    Sticking to these design principles, The New York Times app really seems to embrace what Glass can bring to consumers. First and foremost, the app can deliver hourly breaking news updates to your peripheral vision, but only if you want it to. To view news manually, you just have to use the “look up” head gesture to have a stream of images and headlines delivered to Glass.

    Other third party app developers include Path and Evernote. Both of which allow you to share images with people right from Glass while also receiving notifications when friends upload photos to each respective service.

    As for Google’s own services, the company showed off how Gmail will work on Glass. For starters, users can reply to emails using Glass’ built in microphone. The app can also be configured to only deliver emails marked as important to Glass so that your peripheral vision is not always bombarded with each and every email sent your way.

    Here’s a video taken at the talk showcasing how Gmail works on Glass:

    Other developers will be able to start developing for Glass later this year when the Mirror API is released. Google will probably be holding more hackathons for Glass as well in the near future, and maybe the next one won’t be exclusive to those who preordered the hardware at least year’s Google I/O.

    [h/t: The Verge]

  • LinkedIn Reportedly Buys Pulse For More Than $50 Million

    The popular newsreader Pulse brings in 20 million users a day so it stands to reason that somebody would want to acquire such an audience. The only question that remained is who would come out on top in acquisition negotiations. We now may have our answer.

    All Things D reports that LinkedIn will purchase Alphonso Labs, the team behind the Pulse newsreader, for anywhere between $50 to $100 million. The business-minded social network reportedly beat out Microsoft and Yahoo, both of which were also interested in buying it.

    None of this is confirmed as LinkedIn and Alphonso Labs are both remaining silent. We should be hearing something later this week, however, if the deal went ahead smoothly.

    Unlike some acquisitions, I can’t see LinkedIn killing the Pulse newsreader. Instead, it’s more likely that LinkedIn will use the Pulse team’s design skills to redesign its own personalized news feed.

    We’ll continue to watch this story and bring you the official details of the deal when more is known. Until then, just imagine a LinkedIn newsfeed that looks less like this:

    Pulse LinkedIn buy

    and more like this:

    Pulse LinkedIn Buy

  • Sen. Patrick Leahy’s Cellphone Unlocking Bill Is A Temporary Fix For A Broken DMCA

    Cellphone unlocking has become a top priority in Washington since the White House threw its support behind the movement. Now it’s up to senators to pass the legislation required to permanently add an exemption to the DMCA. The latest bill from Sen. Patrick Leahy unfortunately doesn’t do that.

    On Monday, Leahy introduced the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act to restore the exemption in the DMCA that allows consumers to unlock their cellphone after a contract is up. The Hill predicts that Leahy’s bill will be the one to move forward as his committee – the Senate Judiciary Committee – has authority over copyright issues.

    “This straightforward restoring bill is about promoting consumer rights,” Leahy said. “When consumers finish the terms of their contract, they should be able to keep their phones and make their own decision about which wireless provider to use.”

    The big difference between Leahy’s bill and the previous bill introduced last week by Sen. Amy Klobuchar is that Leahy doesn’t give any authority to the FCC on the issue of cellphone unlocking. In that sense, Leahy’s bill is better as it targets the real issue behind the cellphone unlocking – DMCA hardware circumvention exemptions.

    Unfortunately, Leahy’s bill would not reform the DMCA to permanently add cellphone unlocking as an exemption. Instead, his bill would add cellphone unlocking back to the exemption list, and order the Librarian of Congress to consider adding tablets to the exemption list as well. In essence, Leahy’s bill is a temporary fix for a larger problem, and we would be stuck discussing this same issue three years from now when the Librarian of Congress decides DMCA exemptions.

    Fortunately, there’s still time to amend Leahy’s legislation to make sure cellphone unlocking is afforded a permanent exemption. Even if he isn’t calling on the FCC in his legislation, he should at least listen to its recommendation:

    “The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), as it pertains to this issue, unnecessarily restricts consumer choice and is a case of the government going too far,” FCC commissioner Ajit Pai said. “Fortunately, there’s a simple solution: a permanent exemption from the DMCA for consumers who unlock their mobile devices.”

  • Samsung Chromebook Gets HTML5 Netflix Streaming

    For the longest time, Chromebooks were denied the simple pleasure of streaming content from Netflix. This is because Netflix’ streaming service is powered by Microsoft’s Silverlight software, which is not available on Chrome OS. To get around this, Google worked with Netflix and Microsoft to get a version of Netflix running on at least one Chromebook.

    Google announced today that Netflix is now available via HTML5 streaming on Samsung’s latest Chromebook. It’s a pretty big deal as this is the first time Netflix has moved off of Sliverlight. It’s also one of the first major video providers to use HTML5. YouTube has been beta testing HTML5 support for a year now, but Netflix may really push it to its limits.

    Netflix users who also happen to own a Chromebook will be pleased to know that there are no hoops to jump through to start watching video content. In fact, it’s just as simple as watching Netflix on any Windows PC or Mac. All you have to do is head over to the Netflix Web site and start watching whatever content currently pleases your eye muscles.

    Looking at the bigger picture, it doesn’t appear that Netflix will be free of Silverlight on other operating systems anytime soon. What this really means is that we start seeing Netflix appear on more operating systems that don’t support Silverlight – namely Linux. Native support for Netflix via HTML5 would be a huge win for the open source community. Let’s just hope Netflix can find a way to make it happen.

    [h/t: Engadget]

  • Defense Distributed Plans To Launch A Censorship-Free Thingiverse Rival

    Defense Distributed is best known as the team behind the 3D printed gun parts that have inspired controversy around the country. Now the team is ready to offer something to the entire 3D printing community – not just those interested in gun parts.

    Forbes reports that Defense Distributed announced over the weekend at SXSW that it has a new startup in the works that will offer 3D printable models. The team says the current Defcad Web site, where it hosts its gun parts, will serve as the backbone.

    So, what’s the main advantage of Defcad over more established sites like Thingiverse? The team says that files uploaded to its site won’t be deleted or censored. The team knows a little something about that as Thingiverse started deleting gun parts from its Web site citing a ToS violation. Defcad would play host to the kinds of objects that Thingiverse won’t touch and then some.

    Defcad won’t just be home to legally ambiguous items like gun parts though. The site will be home to a variety of objects, including 3D printed prosthetics and medicine. The only difference is that the Defense Distributed team will fight for the creator’s right to have their files hosted on the service. Team leader Cody Wilson says that he’ll even fight takedown requests from rights holders.

    Creating a repository of 3D printable CAD files free from censorship is only part of the plan though. The other is to make a business out of Defcad as the team intends to sell advertisements. The current Defcad has already proven this to be a viable business model as a single banner ad has reportedly generated over $4,000 a month. When they start adding more than just gun parts to the site, the ad revenue will surely increase alongside a spike in visitors to the site.

    It’s going to be interesting going forward. People will be scrutinizing Defcad, and Defense Distributed, as they grow. They aren’t doing anything technically illegal yet, but you can be sure that people will be watching to see if they do.

  • Bing Desktop Updated With More Customization Options

    If you are a regular Bing user, chances are you use the Bing Desktop. At first, the application only brought a simplified version of the Bing search bar to desktops. After an update late last year that added a number of new features, Microsoft is at it again with another update that adds more options, including Facebook integration.

    Microsoft says that Bing Desktop users now have three new customization options for Bing Desktop:

  • The first option allows you to minimize to Windows Taskbar as a toolbar.
  • The second option allows you to set a keyboard shortcut so you can launch the search box with a few simple keystrokes.
  • The third option lets you minimize the search bar to your systems tray.

    • Bing Desktop is also finally getting Facebook integration after its Web-based brother integrated with the social network last year. The application now serves as a notification hub of sorts:

    Now you can connect Bing Desktop to Facebook and enjoy updates without having to open your browser. In a few simple clicks, you can get friends’ latest updates including posts, comments and posts directly to your desktop.

    Finally, Bing Desktop is getting a number of new personalization features:

    We are also introducing new settings that allow you to choose which recent homepage image you would like displayed as your desktop wallpaper, control of your search history, the choice of whether Bing Desktop loads when Windows starts and more.

    This latest update to Bing Desktop is available across all versions in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, France, Germany, India, China and Japan.

    If you find yourself wanting to experience Bing Desktop, you can grab it here. You can also find it sitting at the bottom of the optional updates in Windows Update.

  • SimCity Debacle Gets The NMA Treatment

    In case you haven’t heard, EA launched the latest entry in the venerated SimCity franchise last week. The story would end there if it was a success. Instead, the game’s always-online DRM ensured the launch was plagued by anything and everything that could go wrong.

    While EA works on getting the game running at full capacity, enjoy NMA’s take on everything that went wrong with SimCity:

  • VPN Interest Spikes After “Six Strikes” Goes Live

    It was pretty much a given that the Copyright Alert System, better known as “Six Strikes,” would increase the use of VPNs or proxies in the U.S. Still, it’s nice to confirm our assumptions, and a report released today does just that.

    TorrentFreak reports that interest in VPNs and proxies have increased dramatically over the last month as more people are now searching for ways to protect their BitTorrent transfers from the ever watchful, and quick to judge, eyes of the Internet police.

    The interest was judged on a selection of Google Search trends that reveal searches for terms like “BitTorrent Proxy,” “BitTorrent VPN,” and “VPN torrent” have all increased over the last few months. The biggest spike came at the end of February/beginning of March when the CAS went live, and mainstream media started reporting on it.

    Of coure, these trends are only indicative of people looking for information. Are the actual VPN providers seeing an increased interest in their products? Speaking to TorrentFreak, BeeVPN says that they have seen an increase in interest and are even starting to incorporate “six strikes” into their marketing campaigns.

    Like I said at the start, it was a given that VPNs would see a surge in popularity when the Copyright Alert System went live. What’s going to prove interesting is how the CCI responds to people trying to circumvent the system.

  • Microsoft Gives Students Three Free Months Of Office 365

    Microsoft really wants students to use Office 365, it’s “new” subscription cloud-based suite of Office software. To do that, Microsoft is enlisting the help of someone lazy college students can really relate to.

    Alongside its new ad campaign, Microsoft is giving away three free months of Office 365 to college students. To make the deal even sweeter, students will also get an extra 20GB of SkyDrive storage for those media heavy group projects. Microsoft will also students an extra three months for sharing the offer on Facebook. That’s a total of six free months of Office 365 for a few minutes of your time.

    Of course, Office 365 is already ridiculously cheap for students. Microsoft introduced special pricing last year that reduces the price of Office 365 to $1.67 a month. The reduced cost is available to students for four years, and can be renewed at the same price for another four years if the student in question is still in school after the initial period.

    You can sign up for the free three months of Office 365 here.

    [h/t: Engadget]

  • BlackBerry Z10 Hits AT&T March 22, Costs $199

    After rumors pointing to a March 22 release date, AT&T has finally come forward to confirm the U.S. launch of the BlackBerry Z10.

    AT&T announced today that the BlackBerry Z10 will indeed be available on March 22. The device will cost $199 under a two-year contract. There’s no mention of how much the device would cost off contract, but another U.S. seller was selling the Z10 for $999.

    “AT&T customers were the first to experience BlackBerry smartphones and services in the U.S. and we are thrilled to bring the next evolution, the BlackBerry Z10, to the nation’s fastest 4G LTE network,” said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president, Devices and Developer Services, AT&T Mobility. “Customers who have grown to love the tried and true BlackBerry experience will continue to enjoy the easy typing and the secure platform they expect with a fresh platform that lets them get more out of their smartphone with easy access to all their messages in BlackBerry Hub.”

    Enterprise customers will be happy to know that AT&T will also be offering BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 alongside the Z10′s launch. It will be added as one of the many Enterprise Management options offered by AT&T.

    There’s still no word on when the Z10 will be available on other carriers. The official story for all carriers is that a March release is still in the cards so we’ll probably see some announcements from Verizon and T-Mobile later this week.

    If you find yourself craving a BlackBerry Z10, AT&T says that preorders for the device will open tomorrow.

  • Not Many Developers Are Working On Wii U Games

    The Wii U has a few obstacles it needs to overcome, but the biggest is definitely its lack of software. A recent poll of developers shows that the Wii U’s software drought may not be ending anytime soon.

    A new survey out of the Game Developers Conference polled a number of developers asking which platforms they’re developing for. Surprisingly, the Wii U came in dead last with only 4.6 percent of developers saying they were working on a title for Nintendo’s console. Other consoles didn’t fare too well either as only 13.2 percent of developers are making a game for the Xbox 360, whereas 13 percent are working on the PlayStation 3.

    Drops in console development leave plenty of room for PC and mobile development to pick up the slack. An astonishing 55 percent of developers said that they’re making their next game for smartphones or tablets. Another 48 percent said that their next game would be on the PC and/or Mac.

    Now, before everybody starts freaking out, these numbers need a little context. For starters, GDC is no longer attended exclusively by people working at a major publisher. In fact, most of the attendees at GDC these past few years have been indie developers. The latest numbers only reinforce that fact as over 53 percent of respondents to the GDC survey identified themselves as an indie developer.

    So, how does tie into the low console numbers, and high mobile numbers? It shows that indie developers are flocking to the PC and mobile markets because they’re easier and cheaper to develop for. It doesn’t hurt that PC and mobile platforms are far more open than consoles, despite Sony’s and Nintendo’s best efforts to fix that.

    In short, the high number of indie developers attending GDC ensures that the numbers for indie platforms, like mobile and PC, are going to be higher. Now this doesn’t mean that Nintendo gets away without any criticism. It needs to do a better job of courting third-party developers and indies. The Wii U launched with a great selection of indie titles, and the hardware maker needs to continue that trend going into the future.

    As big AAA games start to cost more and take more time to develop, the smaller indie titles will become increasingly more important to the livelihood of any platform. Sony seems to embracing the indie developer with the PS4 saying the console will support any kind of game. Nintendo is reportedly doing much the same with the Wii U. Now these hardware makers just have to prove it by securing quality indie content while supporting these developers with the help they need to realize their vision.

    [h/t: Gamasutra]

  • Google Might Be Willing To Let You Use That .Fun Domain You Always Wanted

    Early last year, ICANN opened up applications for generic top-level domains. At the end of it all, it was revealed that Google applied for 101 gTLDs. Now more details are starting to emerge on what Google plans to do with them.

    CNET reports that Google sent a letter to ICANN last week about its intentions for the gTLDs it had applied for. Most of the letter is spent dispelling the fear that new gTLDs will stifle competition on the Internet by giving Internet giants like Google a distinct advantage on the Web over smaller startups and competitors. The most interesting part of the letter, however, is this one paragraph:

    After careful analysis, Google has identified four of our current single registrant applications that we will revise: .app, .blog, .cloud and .search. These terms have been identified by governments (via Early Warning) and others within the community as being potentially valuable and useful to industry as a whole. We also believe that for each of these terms we can create a strong set of user experiences and expectations without restricting the string to use with Google products.

    What this means is that Google recognizes some of the gTLDs it applied for would better serve the company if others could use them. In a report from last year, it was presumed that Google would be saving the above gTLDs for its own products, or perhaps leasing them out only to certain partners. This new revelation from Google seems to indicate that the company is willing to open these domains to the public.

    Of course, it should be noted that Google does not own these domains yet. Other companies, like Amazon, has also applied for many of these same gTLDs. That being said, Google is planning to do something with these domains if it can obtain them. The question now is what that something is.

    Most seem to think that Google will use these domains to enter the lucrative domain registrar business. Such a move would put Google in direct competition with Go Daddy and others offering similar services. With domains like .soy and .fun potentially on offer, who wouldn’t want to register through Google?

  • Don’t Expect To See Firefox On iOS Anytime Soon

    Firefox for Android is a great mobile browser, but it’s not exactly popular. Mozilla could make it more popular if it were to release a version of its browser on iOS, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon.

    Mozilla’s vice president of products, Jay Sullivan, was on a panel at SXSW talking about the mobile browser wars. On the topic of iOS, he said that Mozilla has no plans to bring Firefox to the platform. He also said that you won’t see Firefox on iOS as long as Apple continues to restrict third-party browsers.

    The main issue here is that Mozilla can’t use its Gecko rendering engine on iOS. Apple requires all browsers to use the WebKit rendering engine that’s employed by Safari, Google Chrome and many others. It doesn’t help that Safari is the default Web browser in iOS, and users can’t change that unless they jailbreak their phone.

    Mozilla could easily get on iOS if it switched to WebKit, but the company doesn’t appear to be doing that anytime soon. Instead, it will push for Apple, and others, to allow more browser choice on platforms. It’s this choice that makes the Web great according to Sullivan.

    Besides, Mozilla can’t focus on iOS right now as it’s currently busy with getting Firefox OS out to market. The new mobile OS poses no threat to Apple, but it’s definitely doing things the Mozilla way – fiercely independent and maybe even a little reckless.

    [h/t: CNET]

  • Gigabot Makes Large-Format 3D Printing Cheap

    3D printers are becoming increasingly cheaper, but these cheap printers have a limited build volume There’s no inexpensive option for large-format 3D printers just yet. Well, there might just be one option if a recent Kickstarter project becomes successful.

    Meet Gigabot, a large-format 3D printer from re:3D that went live on Kickstarter over the weekend. The Gigabot has a build volume of 600mm x 600mm x 600mm which is unheard of among desktop 3D printers. It’s no Objet1000, but a 600mm build volume is more than enough for most projects.

    It’s cheap for its size, but the Gigabot will still cost you a pretty penny if you decide to buy the full thing. For $2,500, you can get everything you need to build the Gigabot, including the frame, motors and extruder. If you already have the electronic components lying around, you can get just the frame for $2,000. If you don’t want to deal with building the machine, you can have it pre-assembled for $4,000.

    Like most other 3D printer projects on Kickstarter, it looks like the Gigabot will secure the funding necessary to launch. The team is only asking for $40,000 and has raised $33,876 of it in less than a day. It still has 59 days to go as well so there’s no imminent danger of it failing.

    [h/t: 3ders]

  • Slash Joins The Cast Of Angry Birds Space

    Slash of Guns N’ Roses fame is no stranger to video games. The prolific rocker was immortalized in Guitar Hero 3. Now he has officially joined the cast of Angry Birds in its latest interstellar outing.

    Rovio announced today that they commissioned Slash to perform a cover of the Angry Birds Space theme after the guitarist professed last year to being a huge fan of the franchise. The cover can be heard in the latest update for the game.

    In even better news, Rovio has also created a Slash inspired bird to join the cast of Angry Birds Space. The little guy just might be the coolest avian rocker since Rock-A-Doodle.

    Grab the latest update to Angry Birds Space from Google Play, or iOS.

  • 3 Teens Killed In Indiana Crash; 3 Others Injured

    Traffic accidents are the number one killer of teens in the U.S. One small town in Indiana has experienced this unfortunate statistic one too many times.

    The AP is reporting that three teenagers from the small town of Versailles, Indiana died this week after a collision involving two trucks at an intersection. The teenagers – 18-year-old Samantha Hanson, 17-year-old Timothy Bowman and 18-year-old Jacob Vogel – died at the scene. There were three other teens involved in the crash, and they’ve been taken to local hospitals.

    The teens were at a day-long FFA event, but decided to head out at 9:30 a.m. Shortly after, the trucks collided after both reportedly ran a four-way stop. The police say the Dodge truck in the accident hit the Ford F-250 broadside thus causing the deadly crash.

    Versailles has been no stranger to tragedy over the past few months as multiple teenagers have lost their lives on the roads. The report states that 18-year-old died while texting and driving, and a 15-year-old was killed in an ATV crash. The small town also lost a popular teacher in a plane crash.

  • Danica Patrick Hit By Rock At Dirt Track

    Danica Patrick was hit by a rock on Thursday, but it wasn’t because somebody had any ill will towards the NASCAR driver. She just simply happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

    The AP is reporting that Patrick, while racing on a dirt track, was hit in the head by a stray rock. She reported feeling like she had a concussion, but on site medical teams released her with a clean bill of health.

    The run in with a stray rock must have felt like nothing in comparison to her harrowing wreck last weekend in Phoenix. Patrick had about 100 laps to go in the race when she slammed into a wall. Fortunately, the wreck only left her with a stiff neck.

    Patrick will be participating in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

    [image: Commonist/Wikimedia Commons]

  • Miley Cyrus Split? Accusations Of Cheating Has Break Up Rumors Flying

    Miley Cyrus split with her fiance? The couple’s time together is at an end if you believe the latest celebrity gossip, but things are not what they seem.

    Reality TV Magazine is reporting that Cyrus’ fiance Liam Hemsworth was caught cheating on the former Disney child star with January Jones last month. Rumors started flying that Cyrus had called off the wedding with Hemsworth over it. Cyrus took to Twitter to dispel the rumors:

    She also says that her latest album is now her priority, and won’t be discussing anything else over social media. Oh, her new music will apparently shut everyone up as well.

    A source close to Cyrus confirmed what she said over Twitter saying that the couple still planned on getting married. Hemsworth’s cheating notwithstanding, the couple reportedly has a “passionate relationship” and a “very strong physical attraction.”

  • Irish QB To Transfer From Notre Dame

    Irish QB Gunner Kiel is planning to transfer from Notre Dame according to a source speaking to EPSN. It wasn’t made apparent which school Kiel was planning on transferring to, and Notre Dame wouldn’t comment on the rumored transfer.

    Kiel is considered an interesting case as people were highly critical of him during the recruitment process. He was originally going to play for LSU, but decided at the last minute to play for Notre Dame. This drew some ire from LSU coach Les Miles who said that Kiel “did not necessarily have the chest and the ability to lead a program.”

    Since then, Kiel has been questioned about his decision, and Miles’ statement, many times. In an interview, the young player admitted that he was “dumb during the recruitment process,” but stated that he was doing “what was best for [him] at the time.”

    Transferring may be what’s best for Kiel at this time as Notre Dame freshman Everett Golson played quarterback last year, and Notre Dame recently snagged a new Freshman quarterback in Malik Zaire. A transfer may be just what he needs to ensure that he actually gets some extensive playtime in.

    [image: Yahoo Sports]