Currently being developed by a team at Duke University in Durham, and funded by Google, InSight is an app for Google Glass, which works to detect friends in a crowd. Now, we have been seeing face recognition stuff earlier as well, but here is the catch - this app does not identify the person from his/her face. Instead , it does something, which ACTUALLY can be termed super Smart.
It works by creating what is called as a 'fashion fingerprint' of a person's outfit, noting the clothes, accessories, all through a smartphone app (linked with Google Glass) , which then makes a detailed assay of the patterns , textures and colors . And this fingerprint changes with each change in outfit . Some early tests have shown it to be actually pretty handy, with a detection rate of 93% , that too if the subject has its back turned towards the viewer.
More uses of this app when it releases could be, as suggested by the team, in showing public messages hovering over your head in augmentative reality, along with as an aid for patients suffering from face blindness.
Google's iOS development has been on a roll. Within the last few weeks, the company released a revamped Gmail app, YouTube for iPad, and the much-anticipated Google Maps. The hits keep on coming, as Google's new YouTube Capture app just hit the App Store.
Integrated, simple
YouTube Capture doesn't do anything extraordinary. It's more about how seamlessly it performs existing tasks. Open the app, and it's ready to record a video. Finish recording, and it will instantly upload it to YouTube, or a selection of social networks (Facebook, Twitter, and Google+). It continues uploading after exiting the app. The entire process is quick, smooth, and only requires you to press three buttons.
The app has some nice details. "Landscape lock" will prevent you from recording ugly portrait mode videos (it prompts you to rotate your iPhone). It can also auto-enhance your videos, with color correction, stabilization, and trimming.
Playing both sides
Google is taking a novel approach to mobile app development. Rather than prioritizing Android, it's been pushing out major new apps for iOS first. In addition to this new app, the redesigned Gmail is still iOS only.
Playing both sides fits with Google's advertising-based approach. While Apple focuses exclusively on its own walled garden, Google mines valuable customer data from both platforms. No matter which OS wins the smartphone wars (Android's market share is much higher), Google still profits.
YouTube Capture is free, and can be downloaded from the App Store (link below).
The IR-Blue is a thermal imaging module for iOS and Android devices
Wondering if that electrical wall outlet is properly insulated? Want to see if there’s a person standing in that dark alley? Well, perhaps what you need is a thermal imaging system for your smartphone. Soon, you may be able to buy one, in the form of the IR-Blue.
Illinois-based hardware developer Andy Rawson created the predecessor of the device for himself, when he wanted to check for heat leaks in his 100 year-old house. He has since refined it into an unobtrusive gadget that’s slightly thicker but shorter than an iPhone.
The IR-Blue incorporates a 64-zone infrared temperature sensor, calibrated for temperatures ranging from -20 to 300ºC (-4 to 572ºF). Plans call for one version to connect with the iPhone 4S and 5, the new iPads, and the 5th-gen iPod touch via Bluetooth 4.0. The other version, using Bluetooth 2.1, will connect with devices running Android 2.3 and higher.
To operate it, users simply activate the free paired app, then point their phone/IR-Blue at the area that they wish to examine. An overlay on the phone’s display uses gradated colors to show which objects are warmest, and which are coolest. Additionally, when an object is centered on screen, the display provides a numerical value of that object’s temperature.
An IR-Blue image of a warm car engine
Should users wish, they can grab snapshots of the display for later reference.
The IR-Blue requires four AAA batteries, and is expected to retail for US$195. A pledge of $175 will get you one, when and if they go into production – given that the funding goal has already been exceeded, that looks likely.
More information is available in Andy’s pitch video below.
One of the most embarrassing chapters in Apple's history has been covered with a Band-Aid. In what can only be a bittersweet milestone for iOS, the Google Maps app is now available in the App Store as a standalone app.
Anatomy of a split
CEOs Tim Cook and Larry Page are only continuing the feud that began with Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt
From the release of the first iPhone through 2011's iOS 5, Google Maps served as the backend to the stock iOS Maps app. In the midst of the ugly rivalry between Apple and Google, Apple opted to drop Google from the app in iOS 6. Apple's replacement wasn't ready for primetime, and has been a tarnish on the company's image.
The split reportedly occurred because Apple wanted Google's voice turn-by-turn navigation, but Google wanted extra perks like Google branding and Google Latitude integration. So Apple, fresh off of buying maps company C3, went ahead with its own mapping solution.
Ugly fallout
Apple Maps had the town of Mildura about 70 km (44 miles) south of its actual location
The result was a disaster. Early reports of melted bridges and misplaced towns threatened to overshadow the iPhone 5's otherwise stellar launch. Just this week, police in Victoria, Australia, warned motorists about thedangers of using Apple Maps. The Maps fallout included a public apology from CEO Tim Cook, and the firing of iOS architect Scott Forstall and iOS Maps product manager Rich Williamson.
The new Google Maps app features voiced turn-by-turn navigation, as well as Street View and transit directions. It isn't a universal app, so iPad owners can only use the upscaled iPhone version.
Although the arrival of Google Maps in the App Store doesn't solve Apple's mapping problems, it should at least stop the bleeding.
Google Maps can be downloaded for free from the App Store.
Microsoft's freshly-launched Windows 8 now offers 20,000 apps with almost 90 per cent of them coming with a price tag of zero.
Win App Update reports that there are currently 20,610 apps globally in the Windows Store, reckoning that the big 20,000 mark was hit on Tuesday November 20.
The same source added that 17,958 of those apps are free – but notes that not all apps are available in all countries.
Plenty of apps
Canada has the lion's share, it seems, with the lucky Canucks able to access 14,000 of the Windows 8 apps available.
The US comes in second, with 12,675 apps in their store and the UK is only slightly behind with around 11,000.
It's worth remembering that these figures haven't come from Microsoft so they might be slightly out – either way, it looks like Windows 8 is well on its way to being nicely stocked in the app arena.
The Mac App Store reportedly hit 10,000 apps back in April this year which is a slower rise given that Apple launched its desktop app hub in January 2011. However, the company did report that it hit 100 million Mac App Store downloads in December of that year which is not too shabby.
Windows 8, meanwhile, launched in October 2012 and looks to have added over 7000 apps in the last 17 days alone.
Quantity doesn't seem to be much of an issue for the fledgling OS – quality, however, is another story.
The launch of Microsoft's new Windows 8 operating system was an unprecedented moment for the industry giant.
It
is, after all, the first major version of Windows to be built from the
ground up with smartphones and tablets in mind rather than being
PC-centric.
What's more, it was accompanied by the launch of Microsoft's new Surface tablet, marking a historic new appetite within Redmond to take the fight to Apple on the hardware front.
It also coincided with the quiet release of Microsoft's SmartGlass app.
Inevitably the bulk of the media attention has been focused on Windows 8
and its flagship hardware, but SmartGlass is equally as important to
the company's plans. This is Microsoft's killer app, and it could be
pivotal.
Back in 1980, Bill Gates stated that Microsoft's ultimate
goal was "a computer on every desk and in every home". At the time this
was considered rather farfetched, but three decades on it almost seems
conservative.
Having long since achieved this original ambition, Microsoft started looking for ways to expand its presence in our lives.
Enter, Xbox
There's
little doubt that the launch of the original Xbox console back in 2001
was part of a long term strategy to gain a foothold in the living room
and help Microsoft become an arbiter of our digital leisure time in the
same way it had become an ubiquitous part of our working lives.
Of
course, Microsoft denied this at the time as it sought to gain
credibility with the gaming press and establish itself in the market as a
pure games company. However, once it launched the Xbox 360 and began to
overturn the dominance of the PlayStation brand, the façade started to
slip and more and more media services were added to Xbox Live.
Today
Microsoft earns more revenue from TV, movies and music on the Xbox 360
than it does from games and there is no longer any ambiguity about the
company's intentions. Microsoft wants to own the living room.
However,
as this strategy has been unfolding, the ground has been shifting
beneath Microsoft's feet. A resurgent Apple charted a different course
for digital entertainment with the iPod, iPhone and iPad and in the
process opened up a whole new world of computing on the go to ensure we
are connected to our media everywhere and always.
Microsoft knows
it is lagging behind in the new world of smartphones and tablets, and
it's banking on SmartGlass to help it catch up, and ultimately, to lead
in the battle for the living room.
The Xbox advantage
The Xbox brand is a key advantage in Microsoft's arsenal. There are 70 million Xbox 360s sitting under televisions across the world,
most of which are connected to Xbox Live and able to stream on-demand
television, movies, music and of course games to their owners TV
screens.
With SmartGlass that same content can now be seamlessly
served out to existing tablets and smartphones, including iOS devices.
SmartGlass also augments television media with second-screen functionality
such as displaying information about the cast in a movie you are
watching or allowing you to bet on live sports, but only if you are
watching them through your Xbox.
Shortly before the launch of
Windows 8 and Surface, Microsoft highlighted the evolution of Xbox from a
device to an entertainment service, with Yusuf Mehdi, chief marketing
officer for Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Division confidently
stating that "Xbox will be a gateway to the best in movies, TV shows,
music, sports, your favourite games and instant access to your friends,
wherever you are".
SmartGlass is a key component in this
evolution, because it's through SmartGlass that the Xbox is able to
become the "gateway" to your media that Mehdi is describing. SmartGlass gives access to Xbox media on competitors' smartphones and tablets, including iOSMicrosoft
knows that most of us own iOS or Android powered tablets and phones,
but SmartGlass allows its Xbox entertainment ecosystem to bleed out onto
these devices.
Microsoft doesn't mind if you're watching movies
on your new iPad as long as they were purchased through Xbox. In
addition, it's betting that the more deeply you are drawn into Xbox
entertainment services presented through a Windows 8 interface on your
TV, the more likely you are to embrace Windows 8 powered tablets and
phones with your next upgrade.
However, there are still some
kinks to iron out. The aging Xbox 360 hardware isn't quite the ideal
central hub for all your entertainment needs. It's not practical (or
economical) to leave the device running, which creates an instant
barrier between you and your media, and it wasn't designed to multitask
in the way that modern users expect.
Conveniently, hardcore
gamers are also hungry for an upgrade, as the performance of games on
the system has now fallen far behind that available on a modern PC.
Xbox 720
So, in 2013 Microsoft will launch a next generation Xbox console which supports an always-on power state and carries a chipset designed to enable concurrent apps.
The
company knows that hardcore gamers will drive early adoption, but mass
market penetration must follow quickly if its strategy is to succeed. In
order to achieve this, Microsoft will begin to position itself more as a
service provider like Sky than as a traditional console manufacturer.
Indeed, Microsoft has already been trialing this model with Xbox 360,
which you can now purchase through selected retailers in the US for
just $99 if you also sign up to a two-year Xbox Live subscription. This
move is clearly in anticipation of a full transition to service provider
when the new Xbox launches.
Bill Gate's was serious about his
company's lofty goal back in 1980, and today Microsoft is serious about
its new ambition to own the living room and become the de facto provider
of our digital entertainment.
To achieve this objective, the
Redmond giant is attacking on all fronts. Surface and its successors
will answer the demand for sleek, innovative hardware that Apple has
created in the market place, Windows 8 is ready to run on the full array
of devices we now have in our lives, and Xbox will serve up all the
entertainment and content we need via a seamless, SmartGlass-powered
medium.
But is this strategy too convoluted? If one piece of the
puzzle fails to fall into place, will the whole house of cards come
tumbling down? This is the beginning of a fascinating new era in the
history of Microsoft.
If you've ever felt the need to take a photograph of yourself and
your friends from an elevated position then you may have tried the
"throw your camera in the air while it snaps away at you from above"
method. Now there's an app titled ThrowMeApp that's designed to make
this approach a little more hit and a bit less miss. Unfortunately the
app can't overcome the biggest risk of employing this method: if you
fail to catch your smartphone before gravity sneaks it past your
outreached hand, it could wind up being a pretty expensive photo.
ThrowMeApp is available for Android for free through Google Play. It
was developed by Anton Beitler, a student at the Swiss Federal Institute
of Technology, and a man who now has to live with what's likely to be
thousands of damaged smartphones and their heartbroken owners on his
conscience.
The app works by utilizing the smartphone's accelerometer to
determine when best to take the shot. The app can estimate the speed at
which the phone is traveling, and automatically click the shutter button
at the appropriate time. The app also adapts after repeated use,
calculating the average time it took for the camera to complete its
journey over its previous five throws. However it still requires some
skill on the part of the user.
The instructions for how to use ThrowMeApp are very simple. You hold
the camera flat in your hand, start the app, and touch the screen. You
then launch the phone straight up into the air in the hopes of a
positive outcome. The less spin and movement applied to the phone at the
time it takes the shot the better, as a poorly pitched throw results in
blurry images.
Even with that advice I can only imagine most of the images captured
using ThrowMeApp will be of people looking concerned that their
smartphone is, at that precise moment, flying through the air and about
to smash into the ground if not successfully caught. The developer has
seen fit to paste a disclaimer on Google Play about the risk of damage
which reads, "YOU alone are responsible for your phone and YOU have to
prevent the phone from breaking or hitting people. In short: thou shalt
not hurt thy neighbor or break thy phone."
As a profile pic for use on social networking sites, an aerial shot
is likely to stand out amongst the flood of outstretched arm selfies,
but with the risk of smartphone damage increasing with every shot, users
may want to limit their aerial photo output. Practical uses for
ThrowMeApp may be limited, but as a proof-of-concept for mobile
technology it's rather smart.
In the same way the developer of ThrowMeApp urges caution, so do we
here at Gizmag. If you choose to download, install, and use ThrowMeApp,
then you do so entirely at your own risk. At the very least try to use
an old smartphone or one with a hefty protective case, and only throw it
above a soft surface that won't damage the device should it slip
through your fingers.
Source: Google Play via PetaPixel, Gizmag
