FUNKY GREEN: 08/14/13

Wednesday, 14 August 2013

eBay My Gadgets now open to all, shows you how much your tech items are worth

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Michigan State University's Tailbot is a diminutive daredevil (video)

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A Camping Lantern That Keeps Your Gadgets Glowing Too

Evernote starts rate-limiting third-party apps, hopes for minimal impact

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Your Busted Apple MagSafe Cords Power These Clever Lamps

Hyetis promises smartwatch with 41-megapixel camera for $1,200

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This Could Be the Colorful iPhone 5c Next to an iPhone 5

Japan Wants to Build an Ice Wall to Contain Fukushima's Radioactive Water

YC-Backed SoundFocus Launches With An App For '20/20 Hearing', With Mysterious Hardware On The Way

Alex Selig grew up with hearing loss, using hearing aids for most of his life. After studying engineering at Stanford University, he teamed up with Varun Srinivasan, a CMU computer science to build SoundFocus. Right now, SoundFocus is simply an app that tests your hearing capacity and tunes your music accordingly. But there are bigger dreams in the pipeline.

“This really started because, in doing some research, I found out that 600 million people in the world have hearing loss, yet only one in five people who need a hearing aid actually own one,” said Selig. “But getting a hearing aid isn’t like when you have bad vision and can stop into a drug store and pick up a pair of reader glasses. It’s much more difficult.”

That said, SoundFocus’ main goal is to one day sell a piece of hardware (they’re keeping mum on what exactly that will look like) that can be sold at general retail stores that automatically works to help correct your hearing.

For now, however, SoundFocus is working on building awareness of hearing loss through use of the app. After a one-minute test to determine the volume you can hear, and at which frequencies, SoundFocus then tunes your music accordingly to give you the clearest, most enjoyable audio experience you can enjoy.

The SoundFocus app lets you pull in music from your iTunes library on your phone, as well as your Spotify collection, as long as you have the premium mobile account on Spotify.

Though Selig and Srinivasan aren’t opening up about the hardware they’re working on, which should make an appearance sometime “in the next few months,” they did give a vague description.

“We’re working on something that will tune the audio coming out of your PC, tablet, or smartphone,” said Selig. “Eventually, we want to be able to tune anything you’re listening to today, but we’re starting out with things that come out of audio jacks.”

According to the founders, the business model revolves around the forthcoming hardware, as the app and usage of the app are free.

From the description, it sounds a lot like the SoundFocus guys are building a special set of headphones, but that could eventually morph into a cordless, wearable device like traditional hearing aids.

For now, however, the team is highly focused on the launch of the app. If you’re interested to find out whether or not you’re one of the 600 million people globally suffering from hearing loss, head on over and check out the SoundFocus app in the Apple App Store.

via TechCrunch » Startups http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/techcrunch/startups/~3/N-c1EgUW_2Q/

For Bike Lanes, Design Makes All The Difference

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Nokia Lumia 625 reaches the UK on August 28th with LTE on three networks

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Samsung ATIV S Neo bringing its Windows Phone ways to Sprint August 16th

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Find Your Fortune With Thor's Metal-Detecting Mjölnir Hammer

Future finally arrives as Martin Jetpack approved for manned test-flights

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'Disney Infinity: Toy Box' Comes to iPad

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Microsoft confirms Windows 8.1 launching October 17th

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Star in Your Own Disney Video With 'Disney Infinity: Action'

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7 Ethereal Weather Installations That Recreate Fog, Snow, and Storms

CrowdFlik's Auto-Synced, Crowdsourced Footage Lets Anyone Become A Documentary Filmmaker

Have you ever tried to film your favorite song at a concert, only to have someone block your view with their massive head? Or discovered that the only footage of an interesting panel discussion on YouTube was shot by someone with shaky hands? CrowdFlik is a new app that lets you assemble clips shot by different users at the same event, making sure that everyone has video of exactly what they want to see. What makes CrowdFlik unique–and fun to use–is its unique technology, which syncs all uploaded footage to a master clock and geo-location data.

This means you don’t have to hunt down footage from the same event or time-sync it, one of the most tedious parts of video editing. When footage is shot with CrowdFlik, the app automatically slices it into 10-second segments that are synced within 100 nanoseconds using the U.S. Naval Observatory Atomic Clock, allowing you to assemble videos with precise cuts even for fast-moving events like sport matches. All you need to do is open an event in the app, view the collection of clips by other users and drag favorites into your timeline, where CrowdFlik instantly places them in the right order.

CrowdFlik’s iOS app launched last month and an Android version will be released soon. The team plans to push out updates quickly, including one that will allow users to download their edited videos.

Before founding CrowdFlik, CEO Chris Hamer worked in executive marketing positions at companies including Clear Channel and Sony. He came up with the idea for the app after going to a Dave Matthews concert and seeing how many people were filming it on their smartphones.

“Almost everyone films songs at concerts. I just looked at that and thought there must be a way to bring all that great content from different angles together, put it on a platform that is super simple and allow any user to create his or her own edits from synchronized, gathered content,” says Hamer.

He describes CrowdFlik’s ten-second slices of footage as Legos that can be rearranged into videos up to 50 minutes in length. One of the ways the app’s team plans to gain user traction is by promoting CrowdFlik for private events (protected albums are an upcoming feature) such as weddings, children’s sports, conferences and even birdwatching expeditions.

“Our model to get people to use CrowdFlik is to put it in environments where it can solve a problem,” says Hamer. For example, he describes filming a dance troupe in New York City’s Washington Square Park when a bystander wandered into the frame and blocked the shot. Fortunately, Hamer discovered that someone else in the crowd had uploaded clear footage to CrowdFlik, allowing him to assemble a video.

CrowdFlik’s monetization strategy draws on Hamer’s marketing background and focuses on enabling companies to stay connected to a sponsored event after it ends.

“When the lights go down at the end of an event, that continuity of sponsorship ends,” says Hamer. With CrowdFlik, however, brands can pre-name an event tag in the app (for example, Absolut Presents Dave Matthews At The Hollywood Bowl). Eventually, users will be able to find out more information about a sponsor, performer or venue through events on CrowdFlik, allowing promoters to increase engagement with fans and consumers in a novel but unobstrusive way.

From a user’s perspective, the most intriguing (and fun) thing about CrowdFlik is that it allows any smartphone owner to turn into a documentarian. The challenge of creating videos that fit within Vine‘s six-second time limit unleashed the creativity of users who make videos ranging in tone from comically surreal to sublimely beautiful. Like Vine, CrowdFlik opens up new possibilities.

The app’s ease of use makes it attractive to people of many ages and levels of tech literacy. It can also draw in users who might not be particularly interested in shooting mobile videos, but discover that they love playing with other people’s footage. Hamer says CrowdFlik will eventually enable multiple replays in the same video, allowing you to create vignettes that tell the story of the same event from different perspectives (imagine creating a video of your kid’s soccer match that uses the same non-linear narrative technique as “Pulp Fiction” or “Inception”).

“The whole [mobile video] ecosystem is growing in leaps and bounds,” says Hamer. “CrowdFlik brings a multidimensional view and ability sync multiple cameras. There are infinite possibilities.”

The app’s early investors include James Huaslein, the former CEO of Sunglass Hut, CEO 13 Mobile founder Stephen Maloney, Source Marketing CEO Derek Correia, Source Marketing managing directors Mark Toner and Richard Feldman and social media expert Sarah McClutchy.

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Google+ for Android update brings Drive access, improved location sharing and more, drops messenger

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3D Systems announces Sculpt, software that makes your 3D-printed dreams a reality (video)

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Sphero 2.0 rolls out at speeds 'slightly slower than a Lamborghini' (video)

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Samsung's flexible display contest offers cash for device ideas, business plans

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Nightvision, un espectacular recorrido nocturno por Europa en timelapse

36 ciudades en 21 países, una Canon EOS 5D Mark III con varios objetivos, y miles de fotogramas capturados en un periodo de tres meses han dado como resultado este precioso vídeo que recoge algunos de los edificios más conocidos de Europa.

Nightvision es un trabajo de Luke Shepard que ha contado con el apoyo de la Universidad Americana en París y la financiación de cerca de 175 personas que contribuyeron a reunir los 20.000 dólares necesarios vía Kickstarter.

(Vía Gadling).

# Enlace Permanente

via Microsiervos http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/fotografia/nightvision-espectacular-recorrido-nocturno-por-europa-timelapse.html

ASUS MeMo Pad FHD 10 LTE specs revealed in official video

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How Philips Hue Light Bulbs Are Highly Hackable

DigitalOptics enlists Lite-On for MEMS camera production

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Philips Hue susceptible to hack, vulnerable to blackouts (video)

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Honda intros Project Drive-In to save outdoor movies through digital projectors (video)

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Vídeo: ¿Qué sucedería si el universo fuera una simulación estilo Matrix?

El físico Phil Moriarty de la Universidad de Nottingham explica en este vídeo algunas de las cuestiones filosóficas tras el planteamiento de que nuestro universo fuera en realidad una gigantesca simulación, una especie de mundo tipo Matrix o alguna forma de autómata celular.

La hipótesis es lo que podríamos decir una cosmología extravagente, algo tal vez posible pero improbable, sin que haya pruebas directas – que tal vez nunca se pudieran conseguir en cualquier caso, o quizá sí. Se ha escrito mucho sobre el tema (véase este clásico: The Simulation Argument) aunque en general se considera que es una afirmación estilo paja mental, pero de lo más entretenida.

Para entretenerse: el juego de la vida [Java] de John Conway, mencionado en el vídeo y que es uno de los autómatas celulares más sencillos y espectaculares que existen.

# Enlace Permanente

via Microsiervos http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/ciencia/video-universo-simulacion-matrix.html

La nave tripulada Dream Chaser sigue tomando forma

De las naves tripuladas en desarrollo en la actualidad el Dream Chaser de Sierra Nevada es el que más pinta de nave espacial tiene, con mucho parecido, salvando el tamaño, con los transbordadores espaciales que usaba la NASA.

Igual que estas está diseñado para despegar en vertical, lanzado por un cohete Atlas V, y para aterrizar planeando, aunque en este caso en cualquier pista en la que pueda aterrizar un avión comercial.

Igual que los transbordadores de la NASA es reutilizable, aunque en lugar de tener que cambiar losetas de su escudo térmico según se vayan gastando en el Dream Chaser este es de una pieza y se cambiará cada cierto número de vuelos.

Está pensado para llevar hasta a siete tripulantes a una órbita baja terrestre, o lo que es lo mismo a estas alturas, a la Estación Espacial Internacional.

El modelo de prueba –algo así como el equivalente al Enterprise en los transbordadores de la NASA– acaba de terminar sus pruebas de rodaje en pista, para comprobar su manejo a distintas velocidades:

Antes ya había completado las pruebas de vuelo cautivo, con lo que el haber terminado las pruebas de rodadura deja el camino libre para pruebas de planeo en las que será soltado desde un helicóptero, probablemente antes de que acabe 2013.

Luego, una vez estudiadas estas pruebas e incorporadas las modificaciones que puedan ser necesarias, vendrá construir el primer Dream Chaser de verdad, que Sierra Nevada estime que podría entrar en servicio en 2016.

# Enlace Permanente

via Microsiervos http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/ciencia/nave-tripulada-dream-chaser-sigue-tomando-forma.html

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Wednesday, 14 August 2013

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