Snapchat in talks to expand services

Snapchat in talks to expand services

Reuters

Snapchat Inc, developer of a mobile app that lets users send messages that disappear within seconds, might expand its service to videos, news articles and advertisements, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The California-based company is in talks with advertisers and media companies about a service called Snapchat Discovery, the Journal reported, citing sources.
Snapchat Discovery, rumored to debut in November, will show content and ads to Snapchat users, the Journal quoted the sources as saying.
At least a dozen media companies have shown interest in providing content for Snapchat Discovery, the Journal said.
Snapchat Discovery will allow users to read publications and watch video clips by holding down a finger on the screen, as they do with photos and other messages on the app, the report said.
Snapchat, popular among teenage users, was not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours. 

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Sharp's AQUOS Crystal is all screen

Sharp's AQUOS Crystal is all screen

Terrence O'Brien

Engadget

It's sure been a long time since Sharp shipped a smartphone to American consumers. And, let's be honest with ourselves, the FX Plus wasn't exactly taking the market by storm. The Sidekick-esque slider was dated even by 2011 standards. But the company is hoping its AQUOS Crystal will have better fortunes. The (almost) bezel-less device offers high-end looks with decidedly mid-range internals. The 1.2GHz chip inside isn't going to set land-speed records, but it should be enough for most folks. The most important feature, though, is the edge-to-edge 5-inch display. While Sharp's description of it as a "groundbreaking" device might be a little over the top, we must admit it's quite a stunning panel -- especially for being five inches and only 720p.

While we've seen plenty of devices before that claim to be free of bezel, the AQUOS Crystal comes the closest to actually fulfilling that claim. There's only the tiniest sliver of silver around the edges. In fact, it felt much smaller in the hand than many 4.7-inch phones. Even my tiny hands were easily able to reach across the display (a feat that's a bit of a stretch on my aging Galaxy Nexus). Sharp's expertise in building LCDs is obvious when you look at the phone. The screen is bright; the blacks are deep; colors are vibrant; and the viewing angles are solid (though just short of what we'd call impressive). Really the only complaint is that the high-gloss coating produced a ton of reflection and glare in even moderately lit environments.

Fans of the OG Nexus 7 will love the dimpled plastic back. It's not a soft-touch plastic, but the little indents look nice and offer a good amount of grip. You'll appreciate every little bit of traction since this thing is so light you could forget you're holding it. Thankfully, even though it's primarily plastic and weighs about as much as a small bundle of feathers, it still manages to avoid feeling cheap. We wouldn't quite call it "premium," but it certainly doesn't feel like Sharp cut too many corners on the construction. And that's important since this is the company's big reintroduction to American smartphone consumers.

Sharp and Sprint also go easy on the customization, which is nice. There's minimal bloatware and only minor UI tweaks. Otherwise this is the KitKat you've come to know and love. What few changes there are here are actually welcome additions to the Android UI. For instance, swiping diagonally from the top-left corner will take a screenshot and save it to a clipboard along with a related URL for quick and easy sharing. You'll also find Harman's Clari-Fi inside, which is designed to improve the audio quality of compressed audio tracks, like those you'd stream from Spotify. Perhaps most importantly though, it works on Sprint's speedy Spark network.

The AQUOS Crystal will hit Sprint and its prepaid sub-brands soon, though we don't have an exact date just yet. If you pick it up on Sprint, it'll cost you $10 a month with a service plan, or you can get it for $150 from Boost or Virgin

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What can you do with a satellite the size of a small box of tissues?

What can you do with a satellite the size of a small box of tissues?

Elizabeth Lopatto

Quartz 

Russian cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev throws Chasqui-1 away from the ISS, launching it into space.Video from space.com; gif by Elizabeth Lopatto

The Chasqui-1, a Peruvian satellite released into space on Aug 18 by a Russian cosmonaut on a spacewalk, measures 4 inches by 4 inches by 4 inches—not very much larger than a standard Rubik’s Cube—and weighs just 2.2 pounds. It’s mission: to take photos of Earth in both visible light and infrared.
The satellite (Chasqui means “messenger” in the Quechua language spoken by the Inca) is designed to give the National University of Engineering in Peru experience with emerging satellite technology, according to NASA. It will also broadcast on the amateur radio frequency, letting anyone with a ham radio tune in to learn about the mission. Watch the video of the launch here.
Chasqui-1 was built using CubeSat technology, developed by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and Stanford University’s Space Systems Development Lab. CubeSats minimize the cost of creating satellites by using commercially-available technology, and have been used by high schools and universities as educational tools; they allow engineering students to design, develop and test a real satellite and its ground components.
They’re classed as nanosatellites, and are often tacked on to other missions because they are so tiny. A fleet of CubeSats was launched from the ISS earlier this year.
Other nanosatellites in orbit mostly exist to test new technology in navigation, propulsion, and energy. Some satellites, like Quakefinder’s Quakesat, carry out their own missions; Quakesat is meant to monitor earthquakes. And NASA launched GeneSat to study how the bacteria E. coli grows in space. The capabilities vary based on what experiments the satellites are meant to perform, but they are all small and cheap to build and launch—costing as little as $150,000.

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Happy Bandiversary See Little Mix's 3-Year Style Evolution

It seems like just yesterday Little Mix was formed on X Factor, but today actually marks the 3 year anniversary since Perrie Edwards, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jesy Nelson, and Jade Thirlwall came together as a fabulous girl group! Since then, the girls have gone through countless hair colors, fashion trends, and epic tours.

In honor of the girls' big day and Transformation Tuesday, we decided to take a look back at the group's fiercest style moments. We were shocked to see how much they each refined their colorful styles and have turned totally glam lately!

Little Mix in October 2011

Credit: FlimMagic

Little Mix in October 2011

Credit: WireImage

Little Mix in May 2012

Credit: UK Press

Little Mix in September 2013

Credit: WireImage

Little Mix in August 2014

Credit: GC Images

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See Your Fave Celebs' Most Over-the-Top Rainbow Hair Makeovers

Miley Cyrus and Rita Ora
Credit: Instagram

Talk about a groovy hair makeover! Celebs like Miley Cyrus and Rita Ora both tried out new colorful hairstyles in cute Instagram pics. Their over-the-top hair pieces totally captured their fearless fashion spirits, and made us do a double-take. Stars like Demi Lovato and Kylie Jenner have actually even gone all out and completely dyed their stands every shade of the rainbow!

Demi Lovato

Credit: Twitter

Ke$ha

Credit: Getty

Katy Perry

Credit: Tumblr

Selena Gomez

Credit: Tumblr

Jade Thirlwall of Little Mix

Credit: Twitter

Perrie Edwards of Little Mix
Credit: Tumblr

Kylie Jenner
Credit: Instagram

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Did Justin Bieber Go Back to His Iconic Hairstyle

It's been quite some time since Justin Bieber has worn his hair in his signature swooped hairstyle, but that doesn't mean we've forgotten about it! We totally miss the time when everyguy out there was channeling the Biebs' swooshy cut, and it looks like Justin himself was feeling nostalgic for his iconic style too! In his latest selfie, he wore his hair in the throwback style.

It's only a matter of time before Justin's hair is long enough to do this again:

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You Won't Believe Who Reportedly Called Miley Cyrus a Bad Actress

Miley Cyrus has been focused on her  tour recently, but rumor has it that Miley thinks she's found the right role for her acting comeback — playing  country music legend Dolly Parton, in a new biopic. The only problem? According to Star magazine, Dolly thinks Miley isn't that great of an actress!

Even though Dolly has appeared with Miley on a few episodes of Hannah Montana, she isn't confident that Miley could give a great acting performance.

"Miley is bugging Dolly for the role. This movie is her legacy, and she told Miley she doesn't have the acting chops to pull it off,” their source said.

We're not even sure that Miley wants this role. She's so close to Dolly, it might be weird trying to play her on film!

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Fuhu Unveils The World’s Biggest Android Tablet Made For Family Collaboration, Socialization

Fuhu Unveils The World’s Biggest Android Tablet Made For Family Collaboration, Socialization

Julian Chokkattu

TechCrunch

The Big Tab wants to be the center of attention in your home.
Fuhu, the company that created the nabi tablet for kids, unveiled the 20 and 24 inch nabi Big Tab today to increase collaboration and sharing in the average household.

Both tablets come with a carrying frame that acts as a kickstand, as well as a 15-point capacitive touch screen, Quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 4 processors, and 16 GB of memory. The tablets run Android 4.4.4, but have Fuhu’s Blue MorphoTM operating system over it. The full specs can be seen below.
The folks at Fuhu want these tablets to be a product you can carry around your house that can switch from being an educational toy for kids, to a tablet parents can use for just about anything. The tablet is meant to be plugged in at all times, as the battery only lasts 30 minutes unplugged.

“We really wanted to go after the family category of tablets, and we believe that 20 to 25 percent of tablet sales actually come from the family,” said Robb Fujioka, founder and president of Fuhu.
The tablet’s dual mode feature allows families to switch between nabi mode and parent mode. Parent mode runs stock android and performs like your average Android tablet. If you swipe to the right, you reach the parental controls and access to the nabi mode. Nabi mode is a launcher that holds all the apps kids would use.

The tablets come with parental and content controls, where parents can set time controls that monitor screen time and limit app usage.
Some of the main features aimed at children are games, movies and books. The nabi mode houses classics such as chess and checkers as well as a game room with traditional board games and multiplayer games such as air hockey. Fuhu also added a collection of videos and shows from Disney, Cartoon Network and Cookie Jar Entertainment. Story Time is another app that provides 35 interactive e-books from Fuhu partners iStoryTime and Speakaboos.

Even with several 10-inch Android tablets on the market running resolutions higher than these Big Tabs, there are still a high number of Android apps that are not optimized for the bigger screen size, so expect to see pixels for some apps.
Some notable features include:

• The Big Canvas app uses Dream Pro Studio, which lets kids draw, create animations and edit videos.
• The Wings Learning SystemTM is a learning app that features more than 17,000 lessons and 300,000 questions in Math, Reading and Writing for Pre-K to sixth.
• The nabigatorTM is an app parents can download on their Android or iOS devices to manage the Big Tab.
• The Chore List is a tool parents can use to create tasks for their children to do.

The nabi system also uses nabi coins, a form of currency that is used with apps such as Chore List and the Wings Learning System to reward good behavior. Children can use the coins they earn from completing a chore to buy music, movies, books and apps with these coins. These choices are curated by parents in the Parent Mode.

Fuhu has a nabi SDK available for developers to integrate nabi coins into games directly.
There is a messaging app for children to use with their friends and with that app comes an app for parents called “NSA”. The NSA app mirrors what’s happening on the tablet so that parents can see what their children are saying to their friends or how they are using the tablet.

The most interesting feature to me was running stock Android on a 24-inch screen, which seems like a good tool for parents to use for work or their own entertainment when their children aren’t using the tablet.
The nabi Big Tab HD 20” and nabi Big Tab HD 24” will launch this fall at $449 and $549 respectively

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Competition coaxes computers into seeing our world more clearly

Competition coaxes computers into seeing our world more clearly

Chris Velazco

Engadget

As surely as the seasons turn and the sun races across the sky, the Large Scale Visual Recognition Competition (or ILSVRC2014, for those in the know) came to a close this week. That might not mean much to you, but it does mean some potentially big things for those trying to teach computers to "see". You see, the competition -- which has been running annually since 2010 -- fields teams from Oxford, the National University of Singapore, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Google who cook up awfully smart software meant to coax high-end machines into recognizing what's happening in pictures as well as we can.
Surprise, surprise: they haven't bridged that gap just yet, but they're making steady progress. Conference organizers told the New York Times

that accuracy nearly doubled this year, while error rates were cut nearly in half. That's a pretty hefty step forward when you consider just what these algorithms were up against -- they had to classify discrete objects in scads of images from ImageNet's huge store of human-categorized photos. To hear Stanford AI Lab's Fei-Fei Li put it, though, we're still a ways off from the "holy grail": teaching a machine to grok what's happening in an image in complete sentiments, not just disconnected words

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Things You Didn't Know About Victoria Justice

Things You Didn't Know About Victoria Justice

• Victoria is 5’ 7”.
• Before Victorious she did commercials and advertisements for Ralph Lauren, Ovaltine, Guess and Gap.
• She may be the younger sister on Victorious, but in real life, she is the older sister.
• She looks up to Oprah Winfrey.
• One of her favorite bands is The Beatles
• One of her favorite TV shows is Spongebob Squarepants. She even got the chance to meet the voice of Spongebob.
• Her middle name is Dawn.
• She was born in Hollywood…Florida.
•  Her favorite color is turquoise.
• For Halloween one year, I dressed up like a bottle of Ketchup.
•  Her fave party-themed movies would be John Hughes films.
•  Her fave mascara is L’Oreal Telescopic in Blackest Black.
•  She can’t leave home without my iPhone.
• Her favorite meal is spaghetti!

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Government wants to make cars talk to each other

Government wants to make cars talk to each other

JOAN LOWY Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Monday it is taking a first step toward requiring that future cars and light trucks be equipped with technology that enables them to warn each other of potential danger in time to avoid collisions.
A research report released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that the technology could eventually prevent 592,000 left-turn and intersection crashes a year, saving 1,083 lives. The agency said it will begin drafting rules to require the technology in new vehicles.
The technology uses a radio signal to continually transmit a vehicle's position, heading, speed and other information. Similarly equipped cars and trucks would receive the same information, and their computers would alert drivers to an impending collision.
A car would "see" when another car or truck equipped with the same technology was about to run a red light, even if that vehicle were hidden around a corner. A car would also know when a car several vehicles ahead in a line of traffic had made a sudden stop and alert the driver even before the brake lights of the vehicle directly in front illuminate. The technology works up to about 300 yards away.
If communities choose to invest in the technology, roadways and traffic lights could start talking to cars, as well, sending warnings of traffic congestion or road hazards ahead in time for drivers to take a detour.
The technology is separate from automated safety features using sensors and radar that are already being built into some high-end vehicles today and which are seen as the basis for future self-driving cars. But government and industry officials see the two technologies as compatible. If continuous conversations between cars make driving safer, then self-driving cars would become safer as well.
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx called the vehicle-to-vehicle technology "the next great advance in saving lives."
"This technology could move us from helping people survive crashes to helping them avoid crashes altogether — saving lives, saving money and even saving fuel thanks to the widespread benefits it offers," Foxx said.

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The 10 most interesting new games at Gamescom 2014

The 10 most interesting new games at Gamescom 2014

Keith Stuart

The Guardian 

Life is Strange – an interesting new narrative adventure from the creators of sci-fi thriller, Remember Me.

Hundreds of games, 350,000 visitors and roughly a billion years’ worth of hyperbole, the gigantic GamesCom exhibition is over for another year. Although never as packed with announcements as the E3 event in Los Angeles, there’s always plenty of new stuff to discover at this European behemoth.
So, putting aside all the usual mega franchises (you don’t need us to tell you that there are new Call of Duty, Battlefield, Dragon Age and Fable titles), here are the revelations that got most people talking as they fought through the madding crowds.

Alienation (Housemarque, PS4)

Finnish shoot-’em-up specialist Housemarque produced one of the few must-have titles of the next-gen console launch period – the gorgeous Resogun. Now the team is working on another PS4 exclusive, Alienation, a frenetic twin-stick shooter, allowing teams of players to mow down swarming aliens. OK, so Robotron-style co-op experiences aren’t exactly rare, but this studio is a true artisan in the shooter genre and is bound to introduce new mechanics and flourishes. It’s due out in 2015.

Hellblade (Ninja Theory, PS4)

British studio Ninja Theory has produced some of the most visually arresting titles of the last decade in the form of Heavenly Sword, Enslaved and the underrated, Devil May Cry reboot, DmC. Now it’s back with another stylish stab-’em-up, which, judging by the title and the look of the lead character, has at least a passing relationship with Heavenly Sword. Although initially a PS4 exclusive, it will be coming to other platforms, but there are no release details just yet.

Life is Strange (Dontnod, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One)

Memorably described by IGN as “Gone Home meets The Walking Dead,” this episodic narrative adventure is the latest work from Parisian studio, Dontnod, the creator of last year’s cult sci-fi title, Remember Me. This time the action follows a student who returns to her small Oregon town to meet old friend Chloe and investigate the disappearance of local girl, Rachel Amber. The set up looks similar to all the current titles from episodic specialist Telltale Games, but here, the lead character has time-travelling abilities, adding a wrinkle to the formula.

P.T./Silent Hills (7780s Studio, PS4)

Sony uploaded an interactive teaser for this nerve-jangling horror romp just before Gamescom, and then revealed that the project was, in fact, a new Silent Hill title from Hideo Kojima and director, Guillermo Del Toro. So okay, this long-running psychological terror series is hardly “new” but it was the PT demo that had everyone talking with its creepy haunted house setting and unsettling looping corridors. Plus, Silent Hills, as its known, looks set to be a very singular take on the franchise when it releases in … oh who knows, this is a Kojima production.

ScreamRide (Frontier Developments, Xbox One)

Again, this is not exactly a newcomer – its a sort of offshoot from the ageing Rollercoaster Tycoon series. But developer Frontier Developments is doing something fresh with the ‘build your own theme park’ concept, setting it in the future and adding physics-defying rides and destructible environments. It was also one of the few new announcements at Microsoft’s Gamescom press conference. Expect it on Xbox platforms in spring 2015.

Shadow Realms (BioWare, PC)

Despite the fact that “Shadow Realms” may be the most generic name ever given to a fantasy-themed action adventure, this new project from BioWare Austin looks intriguing. Monsters from another dimension have invaded Earth and now it’s up to a small group of humans with currently unexplained super powers to fight them off. Like Evolve and Fable: Legends it features asymmetrical multiplayer, allowing four friends to co-op as humans, while a fifth perhaps less popular member of the social group controls the invading Shadowlord. It’s hitting the PC in late 2015.

Superhot (Superhot, PC, Xbox One)

Although you play an assassin in this hyper-stylised first-person project, it’s much more like a weird spatial puzzler than a shooter. Cleverly, time only moves when you do, so you must carefully navigate a series of armed encounters by ducking and strafing enemy bullets, then pausing to work out the next move. Imagine a maze game crossed with a “bullet time” action title – and for the ultimate first-person bullet dodging thrill, it supports Oculus Rift. The game is due out in June 2015. But there’s a prototype on the website of the game’s eponymous dev team.

The Tomorrow Children (Q-Games, PS4)

The latest title from Pixel-Junk creator Q-Games is set in a post-apocalyptic world devestated by a 1960s Russian experiement to meld all human minds into one super-consciousness. Somehow, somehow, it failed, plunging civilization into chaos and destruction. Now, you must enter the Void, a sort of sci-fi Marxist collective, and save the world from monsters, while abiding by the strict rules of this surreal Communist society. It’s okay, head of Q-Games Dylan Cuthbert does a better job of explaining it. There’s no release date just yet.

Until Dawn (Supermassive Games, PS4)

Originally intended as a PS3 title then seemingly lost in development hell, Suppermassive’s horror adventure has returned as a next-gen title, complete with a glittering voice cast (Hayden Panettiere, Rami Malek, Brett Dalton) and a graphical overhaul courtesy of the Killzone engine. It looks like a creepy haunted house yarn with eight friends holed up in a remote mountain shack – but when the gruesome deaths start, there are hundreds of plot-altering decisions available to the player, providing a true sense of involvement and , of course, nightmarishly escalating terror. Which is something we all enjoy.

Wild (Wild Sheep Studios, PS4)

Michel Ancel, the brilliantly talented creator of Rayman and Beyond Good and Evil, has a new studio named Wild Sheep, and a fresh project – the intriguing open-world simulation, Wild. Set ten thousand years ago in a huge rural environment, players can take part either as human tribespeople or as several species of animals, fighting to survive against the elements and predators. Little else is known just yet, but Ancel is promising a completely different experience every time you play. We’re thinking a sort of pre-historic Sims meets Tokyo Jungle. That would be amazing.

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