Microsoft's Skype launches video messaging app

Microsoft's Skype launches video messaging app

AFP

Microsoft-owned Skype on Tuesday unveiled a new app enabling users to send short video messages to stay "connected between calls."

The smartphone app, called Skype Qik, allows users to create and send videos up to 42 seconds long.
The new service seeks to help Microsoft catch up to rivals in the fast-growing mobile messaging space.

It takes some features from Twitter's Vine -- which allows six-second videos -- and the ephemeral messaging service Snapchat. With Qik, the messages disappear in two weeks, while Snapchats are gone after being viewed.

"Skype Qik makes video conversations more spontaneous and fun so you don't have to wait until your next call to connect with your favorite people," said a blog post from Microsoft's Dan Chastney and Piero Sierra.

The Qik app is available for phones using Apple's iOS, the Google Android platform and Microsoft's own Windows Phone.

Qik brings Microsoft into the red-hot segment of mobile messaging, following Facebook's multibillion-dollar acquisition of WhatsApp. Other popular messaging services include Asia-based Line and Viber -- which was bought this year by Japan's Rakuten for $900 million.

Read More

Taylor Swift Drops "Out of the Woods"

Everything about Taylor Swift's upcoming album 1989 has been cloaked in secret announcementsand special listening sessions. Her new track "Out of the Woods" was no different. The "Shake It Off" singer teased the song yesterday, counting down the hours until its release on Instagram. At midnight, it finally dropped!

"Out of the Woods" is full-on pop, but you can tell it's classic Taylor. Seriously, we can only imagine how epic this will sound performed live on stage. It gets progressively more intense and passionate.

OUT OF THE WOODS

Looking at it now
It all seems so simple
We were lying on your couch
I remember
You took a Polaroid of us
Then discovered
The rest of the world was black and white
But we were in screaming color
And I remember thinking…

Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods?
Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
In the clear yet, good.
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods?
Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
In the clear yet, good.

Are we out of the woods?

Looking at it now
Last December, we were built to fall apart
Then fall back together
Your necklace hanging from my neck
The night we couldn’t quite forget
When we decided
To move the furniture so we could dance
Baby, like we stood a chance
Two paper airplanes flying, flying…
And I remember thinking

Chorus

Remember when you hit the brakes too soon
Twenty stitches in a hospital room
When you started crying
Baby, I did too
But when the sun came up
I was looking at you
Remember when we couldn’t take the heat
I walked out, I said “I’m setting you free”
But the monsters turned out to be just trees
When the sun came up
You were looking at me.

You were looking at me… Oh
You were looking at me.
I remember.
Oh, I remember..

Chorus

Read More

SWAT app wants to help you keep a close eye on cops

SWAT app wants to help you keep a close eye on cops

Billy Steele

Engadget

After visiting Ferguson, Missouri recently, a pair of Georgetown students realized the need to access cellphone videos of police misconduct in the event a device is destroyed. With that in mind, Brandon Anderson and Joseph Gruenbaum set out to develop the SWAT app. The software that sends your footage to the cloud in the event the phone itself is confiscated or smashed. In addition to safely beaming videos to a sever for later use, the app also allows you to file complaints without having to visit a police station and will serve up rights info based on your GPS coordinates for easy reference. This allows you to quickly read up on all of the local, state and federal laws should the need arise. The project is in its infancy, but there's no questioning its utility once if becomes a full-on mobile app. For now, Anderson and Gruenbaum are looking for tech and legal partners to get the endeavor off the ground.
Source: SWAT App

Read More

Resident Evil is getting its own TV series

Resident Evil is getting its own TV series

Sean Buckley

Engadget

If you love Zombies, but find The Walking Dead's narrative a little too serious, pay attention: a campier option is coming soon. Constantin Film, the production group behind the Resident Evil movies has announced that the franchise is being adapted for television. It's part of a larger movement to put the company's properties on the small screen: Mortal Instruments and Perfume are also being re-worked for television. It's not clear if the Resident Evil series will be based on the movies or a new storyline derived from the video game source material, but you'll get at least one more adventure in the current film's universe before it debuts -- Constantin Film says the TV show won't launch until after it completes the 6th Resident Evil feature film.
[Image credit: Pictorial Press Ltd / Alamy]
Source: Variety

Read More

Scientists want you to find cosmic rays using your phone's camera

Scientists want you to find cosmic rays using your phone's camera

Jon Fingas

Engadget

Cosmic ray particles hit Earth's atmosphere all the time, but finding them is tough; even the most sophisticated detectors can only cover so much ground. Scientists at University of California might just have discovered an easy way to pinpoint these exotic elements, however: the camera on your smartphone.
The team's upcoming CRAYFIS (Cosmic Rays Found in Smartphones) app looks for high energy particles hitting the camera sensor on your device as soon it's both asleep and charging. While one phone wouldn't collect much data by itself, a gaggle of them would be extremely powerful; 1,000 phones in a square kilometer (0.4 square miles) would capture virtually every particle zooming overhead.
They could actually be more effective than existing detection arrays, which tend to oversaturate quickly.
The tricky bit is getting enough people to enlist. The CRAYFIS group is taking sign-ups to beta test its app on Android and iOS, but the odds of getting that many volunteers in a concentrated area could be rather slim for a long time.
A comprehensive, worldwide network of detectors would also require a million phones. With that said, it's not hard to imagine a future where people in densely-packed cities are spotting gamma ray showers simply by leaving their handsets plugged in overnight.

[Image credit: AP Photo/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center]
Source: CRAYFIS

Read More

Smart everything: Behind Hive's plans to automate your entire home

Smart everything: Behind Hive's plans to automate your entire home

Matt Brian

Engadget

When British Gas' Hive entered the connected home space a year ago, smart thermostats were still an emergent technology. The energy provider joined a small number of manufacturers, promising to change the way you heated your home with a mix of complex automation algorithms and slick mobile apps. Fast forward to today: while Brits have embraced smart thermostats from Nest, Tado, Climote, Netatmo and Honeywell, it's Hive that has enjoyed more of a significant uptake than most. Today, the subsidiary is claiming that its controller is now the most popular smart heating solution in the UK, having been installed in over 100,000 homes.

To celebrate the first Hive Active Heating installation exactly twelve months ago, the company feels now is the time to reveal what is has planned for the future. Kassir Hussain, Director of Connected Homes at British Gas, tells me that while work has already begun on the second-generation of Active Heating, Hive is looking beyond the thermostat, and will soon branch out to bring smart features to the rest of your home.

"Infrared presence sensors and little keyfobs you put on your bag that tell you when people in and out are on our radar," says Hussain. "We're also looking at geolocation but we're being very careful with that due to privacy issues. Knowing that you've stepped through the front door is a good first step, but whether we'll go beyond that remains to be seen."

Hive is already testing smart sensors that alert homeowners when a family member returns home or when someone tries to gain unauthorised entry to a home. However, the company is aware of where its strengths lie and is very open to partnering with established brands to provide additional hardware. While we'll see products that it will curate and own, that come directly through Hive (like Active Heating), the company admits it doesn't have the necessary experience with door locks and other home security products. Hive intends to join up with other major players that not only have years of expertise in these areas, but meet strict European security standards too.

"We don't believe in closed ecosystems. Customers are going to want to choose a variety of different products, which could be from other manufacturers or they could be from us. The key for us is to create an open ecosystem and platform that allows people to collect the products they choose, not the ones we curate. We're excited about Apple HomeKit and Google's recent home automation announcements, and are actively looking into Bluetooth LE, ZigBee and Z-Wave standards to ensure we remain open."

With all this talk of new hardware, it's easy to think that Hive will dedicate fewer resources to Active Heating. Luckily, that's not the case. While some of the very first smart thermostat owners had to get used to scheduling only two events on their Hive, before expanding to four, an update coming later this month will increase that limit to six events. Other smart features will come to existing boxes, but Hive remains quiet on when we'll get them. Developers will also be invited to incorporate Hive controls into their apps, which could usher in a new wave of innovative product features in the process.

So when can you expect to see Hive's new products? "You'll see a new Active Heating product arrive in the summer next year," teases Hussain. "We'll start talking about the new family of Hive products in the first quarter of next year, and they'll be available in the second."

Read More

Next Big Trend: Robots That Follow You Around

Next Big Trend: Robots That Follow You Around

Tim Moynihan

Wired

Dozens of robots will descend upon the Back Bay for the RoboBusiness conference in Boston this week. A few of them may even try following you home.
Within the world of robots and drones, there is a growing trend toward tailing you—with your permission in this case. It’s great for recreational use, where unmanned aerial vehicles, equipped with GoPro cameras, create mesmerizing video selfies for far less than the cost of renting a helicopter and hiring a film crew.
3D Robotics’ Iris+ drone and its DroidPlanner 2.0 software have a “Follow Me” mode for just these kinds of shots, as do models from Hexo+ and AirDog . And this being the mobile era, the Iris+ and Hexo+ work their magic by connecting to your smartphone and using its GPS data as a flight plan. The AirDog system requires wearing or carrying a little wireless module called an AirLeash.

Follow the leader

Such tech makes sense in a drone, but more and more terrestrial machines are adopting “follow the leader” functions. For example, the CaddyTrek schleps your clubs around the golf course by tracking a belt-mounted module that doubles as a remote control. Yes, it’s been out for a few years, but a new wave of loyal ‘bots that shadow you is right around the corner.
The use cases extend beyond entertainment. Five Elements Robotics’ Budgee , a “friendly robot assistant” designed for the elderly and handicapped, is a lightweight pack mule with a top speed of 2.4 mph. If you’re walking too fast for it to keep up, it’ll say so, with an app that lets you tailor the message. You can also program the color of its eyes, which have different sizes “inspired by my daughter’s sock puppets,” says Five Elements CEO Wendy Roberts.
Budgee is easily folded and weighs just 20 pounds, yet it lugs up to 50 pounds of stuff. The robot runs up to 10 hours on a charge, and although it’s rain-resistant, don’t take it swimming. Not that it would follow you into the pool anyway. Sensors help keep it from falling down stairs, running into obstacles or going off a cliff.
The follow function works through sonar sensors embedded in Budgee’s “ears.” To make it work, owners clip a small module onto the back of his their belt and use the app to set the distance at which their little friend follows. Roberts says the company is working on a joystick interface that will make the robot more easily controlled for those who use wheelchairs.
The robotic assistant should be available in January of next year for $1,400.

Follow the seeder

There’s a more complex tracking system within Harvest Automation’s industrial robots, which are designed for agricultural and manufacturing environments. The plant-shuttling HV-100 , nicknamed Harvey, is already in use. Harvest Automation co-founder and COO Charles Grinnell says there are 100 zipping around in plant nurseries nationwide. LED sensors housed in orange cases allow it to follow patterns taped out on the floor; a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensor allows it to to detect obstacles to avoid and humans to follow.
LIDAR is what makes these robots very precise and—at $30,000 apiece—much more expensive.
“We use a LIDAR for Follow Me, [because] we already have it onboard for more complex object detection tasks the robot must perform,” says Grinnell. “Our robot needs to very accurately position plants in the fields at our customers, and that requires very accurate and long-distance sensing. LIDARs that meet our requirements—accuracy, all weather, full sun—are $2,000 to $3,000 at this point.”
The sensor technology uses sweeping lasers to sense and calculate 3-D objects in front of it, and it is incredibly hard to shake once it’s following you. Despite being 20 inches tall, it’d be a nightmare playing hoops against the HV-100. It sticks to your every move like gum on hair. If you get freaked out or, more appropriately, there’s an emergency, there’s a big orange pull-stop on top. Yank it and the robot shuts down immediately.
According to Grinnell, the HV-100’s follow mode has a very practical use-case behind it. Plant nurseries use it to lead their teams of plant bots on and off the work area; it’s much easier to have a group of them follow a person rather than having to remote-control the robots individually. The LIDAR technology is also essential for the robots to detect the plants in front of them.
The company’s new robot, currently a prototype, is designed for warehouses and manufacturing plants. It’s expected to be cheaper: Harvest Automation has ditched the line-following LED sensors in favor of LIDAR alone. Grinnell says factory-friendly bots don’t need the same taped-off guide lines.

Follow the robots

Budgee and Harvey will be on display alongside robots and related tech from 80 other companies at the 10th annual RoboBusiness 2014 conference. As robotic development has evolved and become more affordable, that show has grown quickly. According to Rich Erb, general manager of show-organizer Robotics Trends Media Group, attendance has grown more than threefold in the past three years. In 2011, there were 300 attendees of the show. This year, more than 1,000 people from 22 countries are registered.
The conference takes place in Boston’s Hynes Convention Center from Wednesday, October 15 through Friday, October 17. It’s not open to the public, but if you hang around outside the convention center, you may be able to catch one of the robots following someone out.

Read More

Snapsaved Takes Responsibility For Latest Snapchat Leak

Snapsaved Takes Responsibility For Latest Snapchat Leak

Jordan Crook

TechCrunch

Last week, news spread that some 200,000 Snapchat photos had leaked after a third-party app (used to save people’s snaps) was hacked. It was referred to as the Snappening.
Snapchat was quick to respond to the situation by saying that the photos had been stolen from a third-party application, but that Snapchat’s servers were never compromised. Turns out, Snapsaved.com is stepping forward and taking responsibility for the leak.

In an update posted to the company’s Facebook page, Snapsaved claims full responsibility and also gives a bit more clarity about what was hacked and what information was made available.
According to the statement, the hackers never had access to any personal information such as usernames, though they did access 500MB of images, “as far as [Snapsaved] can tell.”
The company also responded to accusations that it might have purposefully provided hackers with access to the image database, saying that it immediately shut down the entire Snapsaved website and database as soon as they detected the breach.

The majority of affected users are Swedish, Norwegian and American, says the statement.
You can read the full explanation below:

I would like to elaborate on the recent events regarding Snapsaved.com
Snapsaved.com Was a website used to save SnapChat’s, precisely as the app snapsave.
In response to recent media events and the statement made by http://pastebin.com/cJcTbNz8, I would like to inform the public that snapsaved.com was hacked, the dictionary index the poster is referring to, was never publicly available. We had a misconfiguration in our Apache server.
SnapChat has not been hacked, and these images do not originate from their database.
Snapsaved has always tried to fight child pornography, we have even gone as far, as to reporting some of our
Users to the Swedish and Norwegian authorities.
As soon as we discovered the breach in our systems, we immediately deleted the entire website and the database
Associated with it. As far as we can tell, the breach has effected 500MB of images, and 0 personal information
From the database.
The recent rumors about the snappening are a hoax. The hacker does not have sufficient information to live up to his claims
Of creating a searchable Database.
Our users had to consent to all the content they received via SnapSaved.com, as we mentioned, we tried to cleanse the database of inappropriate images as often as possible.
The majority of our users are Swedish, Norwegian and American.
I sincerely apologize on the behalf of snapsaved.com we never wished for this to happen. We did not wish to cause SnapChat or their users any harm, we only wished to provide a unique service.

We’ve reached out to Snapsaved for more information and will update if/when we hear back.
[via The Guardian]

Read More

Flickr wants to turn your photos into wall-worthy art

Flickr wants to turn your photos into wall-worthy art

Jon Fingas

Engadget

You've probably seen websites that turn your digital photos into posters and other real-world art, but they're typically separate from the photo sites you use. Wouldn't it be nice if you could order those large prints on a whim while you're browsing your albums? Flickr clearly thinks so, as it just launched a new Wall Art service that converts any of your photos into board-mounted decor that should be worthy of your living room. You can change the size to match the space you want to fill (up to 20 inches by 30 inches), and there's a wrap-around canvas option if you're aiming for a slightly more dramatic effect. Just choose those pics carefully -- your house guests might not see the artistic merit behind immortalizing your latest selfie.
Source: Flickr Blog, Flickr Wall Art

Read More

AT&T's new travel plans let you text as much as you want

AT&T's new travel plans let you text as much as you want

Jon Fingas

Engadget

AT&T's international cellphone plans have become more affordable over time, but they've still been wildly expensive in some cases -- besides the low data caps, even frequent texting can cost a lot of money. Things just got a little more reasonable with the carrier's new Passport plans, however. The smartphone add-ons still ask you to pay between $30 to $120 per month for a paltry 120MB to 800MB of data, but they now include unlimited SMS messaging and WiFi service (on Android and iOS) in the bargain. In short, you won't run into any nasty overage fees simply because you got into a deep text conversation or uploaded too many vacation photos through one of AT&T's hotspot partners. These new one-time tiers are available now, and regular Global plans have received a matching upgrade if you routinely venture abroad.
[Image credit: Shutterstock]
Source: AT&T

Read More

Dropbox account passwords posted online and millions more might follow

Dropbox account passwords posted online and millions more might follow

Mariella Moon

Engadget 

If you haven't activated two-factor authentication on Dropbox yet, you may want to do so now, just in case you end up finding your credentials posted on the internet. A document posted on pastebin earlier contains 400 Dropbox usernames and passwords, which the poster claims are just a tiny fraction of a massive hack that compromises up to 7 million accounts. The poster has been asking for Bitcoin donations in exchange for more accounts, and by the looks of it, he got enough money, at least, to post another batch of log-in credentials within the same day. At the moment, it's still unclear how the hacker(s) got a hold of the usernames and passwords, but the cloud service told Engadget that Dropbox itself has not been hacked.
"These usernames and passwords were unfortunately stolen from other services and used in attempts to log in to Dropbox accounts," a spokesperson told us. "We'd previously detected these attacks and the vast majority of the passwords posted have been expired for some time now. All other remaining passwords have been expired as well." Still want to ensure your account's safety anyway? Head over to the Dropbox's detailed explanation on how to turn on two-step authentication. Hopefully, when you log in to do so, the service has also restored any file a recent bug might have deleted from your folder.
Source: Pastebin

Read More

Brace yourselves: Facebook stickers are coming to comments

Brace yourselves: Facebook stickers are coming to comments

Billy Steele

Engadget 

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, but even when it's not, you can still use 'em. After popping up in chat and Messenger windows in the past, Facebook is employing stickers in comments for both mobile and the web. Use the small pictures to visualize your reaction to Timeline, Group and Event posts when you'd rather keep things succinct. Unfortunately, if you want to express your feelings with an image for a regular post, you'll still have to upload one the old fashioned way.

Read More