R.I.P. Microsoft Zune, 2006-2011
Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft has finally decided to put an official end to its Zune media player line. “A person familiar with the decision” has informed them that Microsoft will not be putting out any new hardware in the line, and will be henceforward focusing on integrating Zune functionality with the Windows Phone 7 platform.
Not exactly unexpected; the Zune hardware hasn’t changed since mid-2009′s release of the Zune HD, although it has received several significant software upgrades. The writing has been on the wall for a long time, but whether Microsoft would double down (again) or cut their losses was far from clear.
Read the full story, including a walk down Zune memory lane, here.
Lunchbox-based communication support system |
[Philip Lelyveld comment: I'm not sure this would work outside of a culture that is respectful of elders. Put another way, the US kid whose mom videos an 'enjoy your lunch and do well in school today' message for him will get laughed out of the lunch hall.]
Excerpt: In this system, each lunchbox has a small touchscreen PC, camera, microphone,and speaker built in. The content starts up automatically when the lunchbox isopened.
"I think people who make packed lunches feel all sorts of emotions which may not always be communicated to the people who eat the lunches. And conversely, someone eating a packed lunch might want to say, "This is delicious," or "Thank you for making it." But it's not easy to give that kind of feedback to the person who made the lunch. So we're suggesting this system, to support communication between people who eat packed lunches and people who make them."
Read the full story http://www.diginfo.tv/2011/03/14/11-0066-r-en.php#mce_temp_url#
New Games Link Tech and Reality
Last month, children's media giant PBS Kids, part of the Public Broadcasting Service, began testing games that use "augmented reality," or computer-generated content that is combined with images from the real world. Using augmented reality, a computer or smartphone can detect objects and provide information about them. Children can also move the real objects to make something happen in a computer game.
Read the full story here.
Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703300904576178421595916308.html#ixzz1Fn0Qvkx3
Quake rescue robot rocks Kinect to find victims
It seems you can do almost anything with robots and Kinect--perhaps even save lives. Students at the U.K.'s University of Warwick are using the motion controller on a robot that's designed to help find victims in quake-hit buildings.
Read the full story here.
Wearable Sensor Reveals what Overwhelms You
(Philip Lelyveld comment: I need one of these, stat! And it would be great for entertainment market research.)
What do you think most stresses you out during the day? A new type of wearable stress sensor, which constantly checks for signs of anxiety, could give you a precise answer.
That's what I found when I tested the Q Sensor, a device made by Affectiva, a company based in Waltham, Massachusetts. A button on its surface lights up in different colors to convey the level of battery charge. Two small silver electrodes on the underside of the device continually send out a low electric current to measure skin conductance. Skin conductance rises along with physiological levels of stress, including both excitement and fear.
Read the full story here
The First Full-Color Display with Quantum Dots
Researchers at Samsung Electronics have made the first full-color display that uses quantum dots. Quantum-dot displays promise to be brighter, cheaper, and more energy-efficient than those found in today's cell phones and MP3 players.
Samsung's four-inch diagonal display is controlled using an active matrix, which means each of its color quantum-dot pixels is turned on and off with a thin-film transistor.
This potential has caught the attention of big display manufacturers other than Samsung. LG Display is partnering with MIT spinoff QD Vision to develop quantum-dot displays.
See the original post here
4 out of the top 10 games last month had gamers getting their groove on
According to statistics from research group NPD, 4 of the 10 top-selling titles across platforms in January were dance games. Just Dance 2, Zumba Fitness: Join the Party, Dance Central, and Michael Jackson: The Experience all had strong sales showings in the first month of the year. Among them, Dance Central employs the technology of Microsoft's Kinect motion-based gaming system, using a 3D camera to judge your speed and style as you bust a move.
See the original post here
E-Mail Usage Plummets as Teens Turn to Mobile, Social Networking
E-mail is out, social networking is in, and all the advertising in the world can't topple Google, according to the ComScore 2010 U.S. Digital Year in Review.
The report, which was released on Monday, provides a snapshot of usage trends across the digital space. Perhaps most noteworthy was the shift in e-mail usage, particularly among young people.
Read the full story here.