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  • Sony’s SmartAR demoed live, raises the bar for augmented reality (video)




    Remember Sony’s SmartAR? The markerless AR technology that promises reality augmentation without the need for unsightly tattoos? It’s back again, showing itself once more after an all-too-brief 48 hour layoff. A new live-demo shows Sony’s markerless object recognition system focusing on posters, tables, books, and coffee cups in lieu of the traditional AR card — allowing it recognize multiple objects at once. Focusing on objects rather than markers allow augmented entities to interact more naturally with their environment. For instance, bouncing AR balls plummet off the edge of a table, and realistically ricochet off of a book placed in their path. Objects don’t even need to remain on screen, as demonstrated by an AR pop-up menu that remained viewable even after the object-marker that spawned it left the viewer’s field of vision. Sony seems to have built the groundwork of an augmented reality system that might actually be useful — pair this up with a set of swank AR glasses (or better yet, holographic AR glasses), and we’ll have a vision of the future we can really look forward to.

    Sony’s SmartAR demoed live, raises the bar for augmented reality (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 22 May 2011 17:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink Engadget Japan  |  sourceSony (YouTube)  | Email this | Comments

    May 22, 2011
  • Science Explains Why Your Memory Gets Worse As You Get Older [Memory]


    Click here to read Science Explains Why Your Memory Gets Worse As You Get Older

    The fact that our memories degrade over time is nothing new. Everyone knows that as we get older it’s harder to remember where you put your keys or parked your car. Now, one neuroscientist thinks he understands how it happens. More »







    May 22, 2011
  • Talks continue as Canada Post strike looms

    The union representing urban-based workers at Canada Post was to present a new offer Sunday that it hoped would address the remaining outstanding issues as a strike deadline loomed.

    May 21, 2011
  • QuickPic is a Fast, Free Gallery Replacement for Android [Downloads]


    Click here to read QuickPic is a Fast, Free Gallery Replacement for Android

    Android: If you’re looking for a fast and feature-rich alternative to the default Android gallery, QuickPic can get the job done. The app allows you to browse and edit images quickly, and even perform batch operations against multiple photos on your SD card. More »







    May 21, 2011
  • Android Market’s new movie rental service blocked from rooted devices

    Biggest GoogleFail ever

    We can't make this up people.  According to Google, who gets to make the rules since it's their service, rooted devices are not supported by the Android Markets new movie rental service "due to requirements related to copyright protection".  You'll even see a specific error message when you attempt to try — "Failed to fetch license for [movie title] (error 49)". 

    So now people who root their phones, whether to get rid of the crap "open" that's forced down their throats, or to have a current version of Android, are punished and lumped in with folks who steal movies.  Nice move, Google.  That makes me want to buy more of your products and use more of your services, so I can be treated like a criminal just because I'm smart enough to get rid of CityID, or want a safe version of Android on my phone.  And of course, I'd much rather steal movies streamed with a poor bitrate at a low resolution to my phone than use Google to search out any of the thousands of places where I could steal them using my computer. Facepalm.

    Of course, the Android community will find a way around this.  I already have some ideas, and I'm sure others will, too.  But we shouldn't have to.  And once we do, I'll download one (and only one) movie from the Market for the satisfaction of defeating this stupid move by Google, then be sure to never use the service again.  Redbox doesn't care if I want to run a custom ROM on my phone, so they'll get my $4.00.

    Source: Android Market support.  Thanks, Joshua!

    May 21, 2011
  • The ChromiumPC from Xi3 Is the First Desktop Ready to Run ChromeOS [Hardware]


    Click here to read The ChromiumPC from Xi3 Is the First Desktop Ready to Run ChromeOS

    The ChromiumPC modular computer, first unveiled by Xi3 last year, is ready to ship this summer, with an architecture designed specifically for Chrome. More »







    May 21, 2011
  • Can humans survive in a completely self-sufficient closed environment? [Biodomes]


    Click here to read Can humans survive in a completely self-sufficient closed environment?

    Not yet, though we’ve been trying to do so since at least the 1970s. Fabricating an environment that needs no power other than the sun and is a closed system (where waste gets broken down and reused) is extremely difficult. More »

    May 21, 2011
  • Jenga officially available in the Android Market

    Probably one of the best games ever created has found a place in the Android Market. J-J-J-Jenga is now available on your Android device. For us Canadians it’ll cost $2.89 but the good news is that when you get a game like this you want it as close to the real experience as possible. Natural […]

    Related posts:

    1. Android Market officially has 100,000 apps
    2. Gartner: Android captured 36% market share in Q1 2011
    3. Google to introduce Android Market for Android 1.6 soon
    May 21, 2011
  • Future Computers May Be DNA-Based

    Researchers manipulate DNA strands to solve computational problems.

    May 21, 2011
  • Product portal, tweets suggest ‘Thrive’ moniker for Toshiba’s Honeycomb tablet

    “What’s in a name?” We’d ask Toshiba, but the company hasn’t been able to give its upcoming 10.1-inch Honeycomb tablet one in five months — or has it? If you’ll recall, Toshiba registered the name Thrive for trademark and related domain names last month, and now evidence is mounting that all of that work wasn’t in vain. TabletCommunity learned days ago that a commercial for the device was in production via some chatty actors on Twitter; soon after, the site also uncovered a parking page for the slate on Toshiba’s website, albeit with little more than the aforesaid name categorized under “Tablets.” It’s a welcome update in light of the vapid titles “Antares” and “ANT300” that had also seemed possible, and once word spills of US pricing and availability, perhaps we can focus on more pressing matters… you know, like benchmarks.

    [Thanks, Jakob]

    Product portal, tweets suggest ‘Thrive’ moniker for Toshiba’s Honeycomb tablet originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 21 May 2011 04:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

    Permalink TabletCommunity  |  sourceToshiba, @DavidLyddon, @actorlulumiller , @bigashb (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments

    May 21, 2011
  • Google’s WebP Image Format Takes On JPEGs With Sharper Pictures

    Google is on a mission to make the Web faster. One thing that slows down pageload times are fat image files. Even JPEG and PNG files can get pretty big. So Google is developing a new image format called WebP (which is a sister format to its WebM project for videos).

    The key to making image files on the Web smaller without losing sharpness is better compression of the original file. Today, Google announced via the Chromium blog that the compression algorithms for WebP just got better and that they can even handle different parts of an image separately so that parts of it can be displayed without waiting for the entire image to be compressed and decompressed.

    The images above, for instance, are from this gallery comparing JPEG to WebP. The WebP images are significantly smaller, but look just as sharp. Can you tell the difference? Unfortunately, WebP is only supported in Chrome and Opera browsers. Google products such as Gmail, Picassa Web albums, and Google Instant Previews also support WebP. But other than Opera, it’s pretty much an all-Google affair.

    Websites aren’t going to start using WebP images just for Google Chrome visitors. But if it does speed things up without reducing the quality of images, other browsers will start supporting it as well or else be left behind.

    CrunchBase Information
    Google Chrome
    Information provided by CrunchBase

    May 20, 2011
  • How to Auto-Hide the Address Bar in Google Chrome and Chromium

    One of the features that many people love in Chrome is the minimal UI at the top of the browser. Want to minimize it even more? Then you will definitely want to make use of the new feature added to the Experimental Features page.

    To get started enter “about:flags” into the Address Bar and hit Enter. Scroll down until you see the listing for Compact Navigation. Enable it and let the browser restart to gain access to the feature.

    Once the browser has restarted right click on one of the tabs and select Hide the toolbar from the Context Menu.

    Here is what the top of the browser looks like afterwards. As you can see the Back, Forward, and Tools Menu buttons have moved into the Tab Bar.

    To access the Address Bar simply click on the tab. Keep in mind that the Address Bar will auto-hide rather quickly if you do not make use of it soon enough.

    Hiding the Address Bar and Bookmarks Bar will really minimize the top UI section of the browser (see first screenshot above).

    Note: For the moment the feature is only available on Windows systems for Chrome Dev, Canary, and Chromium releases.

    [via Digitizor]

    HTG Explains: What is HDR Photography, And How Can I Use It? Improve Your Photography by Learning the Elements of Exposure Mac OS X Viruses: How to Remove and Prevent the Mac Protector Malware

    May 20, 2011
  • Rangers forward Boogaard’s death ruled accidental

    A medical examiner in Minnesota has ruled the death of New York Rangers enforcer Derek Boogaard was an accident, due to
    mixing alcohol and oxycodone.

    May 20, 2011
  • LessChrome HD Hides the Firefox URL Bar Until You Need It [Video]


    Click here to read LessChrome HD Hides the Firefox URL Bar Until You Need It

    Firefox: LessChrome HD is a Firefox extension made by the folks at Mozilla that hides Firefox’s address bar by default, decluttering your browsing experience. When you want to see the address bar, either hover your mous over a tab or hit your address bar shortcut of choice. More »







    May 20, 2011
  • Sask. minimum wage going up Sept. 1

    Saskatchewan’s minimum wage will be going up 25 cents this summer.

    May 20, 2011
  • Was Roswell ‘Flying Saucer’ Mystery a Soviet Plot?

    According to a new book, the Roswell incident of 1947 wasn’t a crashed flying saucer, it was an elaborate Soviet plot to cause mass panic in the U.S.

    May 20, 2011
  • Self-defence argued in killing of daughter’s boyfriend

    The lawyer for Kim Walker, the Yorkton, Sask., man on trial for killing his daughter’s boyfriend, is arguing the father acted in self-defence.

    May 20, 2011
  • Big News: IBM Now Officially Worth More than Microsoft [Blip]


    Click here to read Big News: IBM Now Officially Worth More than Microsoft

    For anyone who's well-versed in the history of the tech landscape—particularly the 1990s—this is stunning news: IBM is officially worth more than Microsoft. The House that Gates Built is now third in the list of highest market caps in the industry—right behind Big Blue, who's in second. [SAI] More »







    May 20, 2011
  • Thrashers’ Winnipeg move close, but not done yet

    The Atlanta Thrashers’ move to Winnipeg may be nearing completion, but it appears not be signed and sealed just yet.

    May 20, 2011
  • Sask. teachers on strike for 2 days next week

    Teachers across the province will be on strike for two days next week.

    May 20, 2011
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