Taylor Swift Complimented Lorde's Hair in the Cutest Way Possible

If there's anything more amazing than both Taylor Swift and Lorde's curly hairstyles, it's their incredible friendship. We couldn't stop gushing when we saw Taylor's latest tweet, where she complimented her BFF's spiral curls! Tay actually used Lorde's real name – Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor – to make a fun joke out of the lines of her new song, Shake It Off.

The tweet leads to Lorde's latest Instagram pic, which is a glam Polaroid taken at Taylor's show!

Her hair does look pretty amazing, and it's a perfect line from Taylor's catchy new hit!

Read More

Taylor Swift and Pharrell Williams planning collaboration

Taylor Swift and Pharrell Williams planning collaboration

In an interview with Access Hollywood, the "Shake It Off" singer spilled that she's been in talks with Pharrell to make music together! They met up for Taylor's guest stint on The Voice, and really hit it off.

"Pharrell and I were talking, in the breaks yesterday, and we just kept saying, 'We have to do something together!' He's like, 'You just call me. Call me when you figure it out'," she said.

"I'm like, 'You call me if you figure it out first!'"

We hope they figure it out soon, because it will probably be awesome! Of course, we're still anxiously awaiting her upcoming album 1989, so we'll probably have to hold tight until after it drops.

Read More

The secret to this interactive hologram tech is water vapor

The secret to this interactive hologram tech is water vapor

Timothy J. Seppala

Engadget

It's 2014 and while we don't have flying cars just yet it looks like interactive holographic displays could be a reality rather soon. The not-so-cleverly-named Leia Display System (LDS) uses a combination of light, water-vapor and air to provide a transparent canvas for projected images while sensors track movement and touch inputs from users. The videos we've embedded below show all manner of poking and prodding by users, a bit of Minority Report-style pinching and zooming things in mid-air and even using gestures to rotate and flick stuff out of the way. There's even a sample with a Mercedes sedan driving through the curtain and it "shattering" around the vehicle as it passes through.
As of now, the screens come in 95cm x 65cm (roughly 37 inches by 25 inches) and 3m x 2.5m (around 10 foot by 8 foot) versions, with the latter able to be linked with other displays for an even bigger installation. The tech's Polish creator says that the LDS mostly has been requested for use in digital signage and advertising so far, but that it gets "non-standard" use requests pretty regularly. Here's to hoping that we see it used for more than just shilling products in the near future -- let's save that for Michael Jackson, okay?

Source: Leia Display

Read More

Microsoft's Project Spark game creator comes to Xbox One and PC

Microsoft's Project Spark game creator comes to Xbox One and PC

Steve Dent
Engadget 

If you enjoy the creative part of building games but not so much the coding, Microsoft's Project Spark is now available for Xbox One and PC (Windows 8.1 only). That marks the end of a six month beta period that saw over a million testers create 70,000 game levels, according to Microsoft. As a reminder, Spark lets you build games with relative ease by using onscreen tools to add monsters, geography, game dynamics and logic. You can also use a Kinect HD on either platform to capture your own movements and facial expressions for game characters. Download it now for Windows 8.1 and Xbox One for free, or as Microsoft helpfully suggested, buy a starter disk with content for $39.99. Otherwise, fresh content has to be earned during gameplay or by purchasing tokens. %Slideshow-230873%
Source: Xbox

Read More

Gmail for iOS now takes full advantage of your iPhone 6

Gmail for iOS now takes full advantage of your iPhone 6

Jon Fingas

Engadget

You haven't had many options for checking Gmail on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus so far. Unless you're happy with Apple's stock email client, you've typically had to use blown-up versions of earlier apps. You won't have to face that dilemma any more, though; Google has released an update to its Gmail app for iOS that does justice to the higher display resolutions on new iPhones. It's a simple change, but it means that you can see more messages at once (and more of those messages) without sacrificing native Gmail features like labels and stars. Swing by the App Store if you've been jonesing for this upgrade over the past few weeks.
Source: App Store

Read More

Livestream's new iPhone app lets you broadcast GoPro adventures without a PC

Livestream's new iPhone app lets you broadcast GoPro adventures without a PC

Jon Fingas

Engadget

Typically, streaming live footage from an action camera requires a PC to provide the internet connection. That's not exactly an option when you're flying off a cliff in a wingsuit. Livestream just made it a lot easier to share your adventures with the world, however. Its newest iOS app now lets you broadcast video from GoPro Hero cameras anywhere you have a good data connection; so long as you can fit an iPhone in your pocket, your friends can see that thrilling BASE jump or bike ride in real-time. There's no word of GoPro support on Android, but it won't be surprising if there's a corresponding update before long.
Source: Livestream Producer Blog, App Store

Read More

Life after Sony: Vaio shows off hybrid laptop prototype

Life after Sony: Vaio shows off hybrid laptop prototype

Steve Dent

Engadget

Lenovo proved that its possible to buy an unwanted business (PCs) from a giant company (IBM) and turn it a massive success. After buying Sony's portable PC business, Vaio is hoping for the same and just revealed its first prototype: a 12.3-inch hybrid tablet that would cost at least 200,000 yen ($1,800). This is its first prototype created without any Sony influence (though it still sells Sony's current models) and the Japanese company has shown it's taking a completely different tack than Lenovo.

Rather than compete in a crowded market -- which sunk Sony -- Vaio is courting illustrators, photographers and other pros. That would explain the price and specs: a 12.3-inch 2,560 x 1,704 (3:2) pen-enabled display, stylus and Intel Haswell quad-core CPU with Iris graphics. Vaio told the WSJ that it's following Panasonic's lead in Japan by offering high-end, durable models that the right users are willing to pay for. It's going to test that theory soon, but in Japan only for now -- the first all-new products are set to arrive in May of next year.
Source: Vaio

Read More

Microsoft’s FlexSense Project Is A Thin Sensor Layer To Make Your Tablet Awesome

Microsoft’s FlexSense Project Is A Thin Sensor Layer To Make Your Tablet Awesome

Alex Wilhelm

TechCrunch

The merry band of scientists over at Microsoft Research — who apparently get paid to have fun and speak with fixed tones over videos — have put together something called FlexSense, a flat piece of bendable material loaded with sensors. You torque it, and it accepts the “deformation” input. That means it can tell how you are bending it and translates that information for the application you’re using.

On paper, ahem, that might sound dull, but FlexSense can be paired with tablets to provide users with what Microsoft calls 2.5D input. Imagine doodling a picture with multiple layers, and lifting up the corner of your FlexSense to reveal the layer below that you’re working on. Or turning pages of a digital book by bending a part of your FlexSense. Any place you can imagine flexing or bending material, FlexSense could fit.

Even playing a video game where you become a bird and you have to flap the damn thing. Pro tip: Don’t do that at the coffee spot, but at the bar I’m sure it would be welcome.

More exciting, I think, is the potential for this sort of technology to eventually be built into flexible screens themselves. Obviously, what Microsoft has built is far more research project than manufacturable good, but at the same time, it’s neat technology and a fun look into the future.

Here’s a guess: In about 10 years, our screens will bend and accept every sort of input you can imagine — voice, touch, typing, shaking and even deformation. FlexSense is a step in that direction.
H/T Tom Warren/Verge.

Read More

Health T-shirts and a mind-reading bar unveiled in Japan

Health T-shirts and a mind-reading bar unveiled in Japan

Harumi Ozawa

AFP

Glasses that tell you how to get home, adverts that know where you are looking and a T-shirt that knows how fast your heart is beating were on display at a huge tech gathering in Japan Tuesday.
The gadgets were all part of this year's Cutting-Edge IT & Electronics Comprehensive Exhibition (CEATEC), Asia's largest electronics fair, just outside Tokyo.

Leading the pack was a tiny projection device that can be attached to a pair of glasses to give the wearer an ever-visible screen.

The prototype -- dubbed Toshiba Glass and weighing 42 grammes (less than 1.5 oz) -- might offer directions or a simultaneous translation, or could assist factory workers who need both hands free while working, a Toshiba researcher said.
"We still don't know what wearable formats will be the most accepted in the future," said Toshiba senior research scientist Yoshiyuki Kokojima.

"Constantly seeing a small screen may get tiring to the eyes, but you could get information without even lifting a finger. It's less effort than consulting a wrist watch."
Leading mobile carrier NTT Docomo was showcasing a T-shirt that uses a special textile to keep track of the wearer's pulse.

The data is transmitted to a smartphone, which must run a specific app, the company said.
While Docomo's offering might have concentrated on health, Fujitsu unveiled something to encourage a bit more relaxation, in the form of a device that could help a barman read his customers' minds.
Small sensors in a bar track where a drinker is looking and automatically offer information on screens about that bottle of expensive wine he keeps gazing at -- such as where it comes from and what year it is.

"This could be one way of marketing in the future," said Fujitsu spokesman Naoki Mishiro.
NTT Docomo's Yubi Navi might prove useful for customers struggling to find their way home after a night at such an accommodating bar.

Billed as "just like holding someone's hand", the small rubber cuboid fits snugly in the palm and buzzes or vibrates to guide the user through unfamiliar streets.
The kit offers freedom from the tyranny of having to keep your eyes glued to a smartphone for directions, the company said.

After a user types in the intended address on their connected phone, the device takes over, nudging left or right until the destination hoves into view.

Its inventors say the Yubi Navi also offers a way to communicate with someone who is far away, effectively "squeezing" their hand by activating your own device.

"Touch sensation can create a new type of gadget for the future," an NTT Docomo presenter said.
Nearly 550 companies are taking part in the trade show, which has gathered foreign exhibitors from 24 countries and territories.
The show runs until Saturday.

Read More

Apple's own stats show iOS 8 upgrades have slowed to a crawl

Apple's own stats show iOS 8 upgrades have slowed to a crawl

Aaron Souppouris
Engadget

Despite the introduction of custom keyboards, Notification Center widgets and lots more, Apple users aren't taking to iOS 8. According to stats displayed on the company's developer portal, the proportion of iPhone and iPad owners currently running the latest version on their devices stands at 47 percent, only an increase of 1 percentage point from two weeks ago. By this point last year, iOS 7 uptake was already hovering around 60 percent, according to analytics firm Fiksu. We can only speculate, but it seems likely a combination of very large install files, the bungled point updates, and the dropping of iPhone 4 support could be reason enough for many users to stick with what they know, for now. Or maybe they're just paranoid.
Source: Apple Developer

Read More

Facebook completes its $19 billion acquisition of Whatsapp

Facebook completes its $19 billion acquisition of Whatsapp

Chris Velazco

Engadget

Well, that was quick: it's only been three days since Facebook cleared the last, decidedly European hurdle to closing its $19 billion Whatsapp acquisition, and it's already made things official with the SEC. Regulators in the United States and Europe were concerned about the effects the deal would have on competition in the rough-and-tumble messaging realm (though Google is apparently gearing up to give the combine social giant a run for its money), but the other major concern was making sure user data stays private. Jessica Rich, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, put it bluntly back in April (PDF warning): to hear her tell it, "WhatsApp has made a number of promises about the limited nature of the data it collects, maintains, and shares with third parties – promises that exceed the protections currently promised to Facebook users." Facebook apparently managed to ease those fears, but with the deal now closed it's time to see what the folks at 1 Hacker Way actually do with Whatsapp. Our guess? Nothing too great.
Source: SEC

Read More

NYC now has hundreds of ad beacons in phone booths

NYC now has hundreds of ad beacons in phone booths

Steve Dent

Engadget

Buzzfeed has learned that New York City allowed hundreds of bluetooth beacons to be installed without public consultation, a decision that has roused the ire of privacy groups. Outdoor ad outfit Titan installed around 500 Gimbal beacons in phone booths around Manhattan, skirting normal red tape by saying they were deployed for maintenance purposes only. However, it admitted it's also using them to decide when to rotate ad panels and recently pushed smartphone ads to Tribeca Film Festival participants. The devices can also pick up location and time data, though Titan told the NY Daily News that it is "absolutely, categorically not" doing so unless users opt in and install a third-party app.
Titan employs such hardware elsewhere for its advertiser "Profile" service, and its own literature says it can predict information like age, gender, income and ethnicity about users. Those claims have alarmed privacy groups like the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), however. It's worried about the intrusive nature of the tech, and said "the lack of transparency about this data-mining operation is... of even greater concern." Meanwhile, both Titan and New York City's tech regulators emphasized that the devices are in use on a test basis only, and would require explicit city approval to be commercialized. With 500 already installed, however, it sounds like commercialization is a foregone conclusion.
[Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Source: Buzzfeed

Read More