Computing – Page 3

Nano quadroters in autonomous action

March 2, 2012September 26, 2012 Doug Groves Kinect, KMel Robotics, nano quadrotor, quadrotor, TED, TED 2012, University of Pennsylvania, Vijay Kumar0 comment

The University of Pennsylvania’s GRASP Lab has been working with quadrotors from some time, demonstrating how the flying robots can be used for everything from assembling structures to flying through moving hula hoops. Back in January, they put out a video demonstrating the capabilities of their minaturized ‘nano quadrotors’ flying in formation. Vijay Kumar of U Penn gave a talk at TED 2012, and the video above goes into greater detail about the hows and whys of quadrotor development and application. The second half of the video shows even more complex…

Arts Computing Featured Mobile Photography

Nokia impresses at MWC with 41 megapixel PureView 808

February 27, 2012March 2, 2012 Doug Groves Lumia 800, Lumia 900, Nokia, PureView, PureView 808, Rogers, Symbian, Symbian Belle, Telus, Windows Phone0 comment

Nokia, which has long held the crown as ‘best camera on a phone’ with their 12 megapixel N8 today upped the ante with the announcement of their PureView 808 phone. The phone will ship with a custom 1/1.2″ sensor, much larger than most smartphone cameras. While this leads to a noticable hump on the back, the results make up for it, as it sports a 41 megapixel sensor, enabling it to capture images up to 38 megapixels in size.

Computing Featured Gaming Mobile

Windows 8 and why the Zune brand needs to die

February 24, 2012May 29, 2012 Doug Groves Metro, Metro UI, Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Office, Office Web Apps, Windows Media, Xbox, Xbox Live, Zune56 Comments

Microsoft has taken a lot of flak for their horrible naming conventions and overly long names, and deservedly so. When first announced, Windows Phone was called Windows Phone Series 7. They officially chopped of the “Series” by launch, and now just advertise it as Windows Phone. It just makes more sense.

Similarly, they last year rebranded their paid Office cloud service to Office 365. Office 365 makes sense. It’s Office, all the time. Do you know what they called it previously?

Business Productivity Online Suite.

Arts Computing Featured Film Hardware video

Only Kinect

December 19, 2011January 23, 2012 Pete Chapman alley posts, Jame George, Kinect, Kinect hacks5 Comments

Media artist James George calls it “an old tourist movie from the future”. A walk down the summer streets of Barcelona recorded through a handheld 3D scanner. He was quite properly trying to avoid using a genericised trademark (like saying Xerox when you mean photocopy): he shot it using the output of a Kinect. Put to music by Alva Noto & Ryuichi Sakamoto the images become recognisable as much through their movement as their form. The two and a half minute piece “alley posts” has been posted on Vimeo. George’s…

Computing Featured Internet Software

Wikileaks launches Spy Files, Rockwell plans comeback

December 2, 2011December 19, 2011 Doug Groves (in)security, AdvancedIO, Sandvine, Spy Files, Vineyard networks, Wikileaks4 Comments

2011 is not turning out to be a good year for those with paranoid tendencies. With the Carrier IQ story gaining traction, it’s interesting timing that Wikileaks and friends have launched a new project called Spy Files. Compiling information from over 280 documents, Spy Files has created an interactive map that shows widespread montioring of just about every electronic form of communication, from the internet to GPS and speech analysis.

Computing Featured Mobile

Carrier IQ and mobile (in)security

November 30, 2011December 2, 2011 Doug Groves Android, Blackberry, Carrier IQ, Carrier IQ iOS, CIQ, EFF, Electronic Frontier Foundation, iPhone, IQRD, mobile security, Nokia, rootkit, security, Symbian, TrevE, xda developers22 Comments

Back in October, a story ran on XDA Developers about software running on HTC Android phones called Carrier IQ (CIQ) that appeared to be collecting a fair amount of data about your device and not doing a good job of storing it securely. Beyond your device ID, it collected phone numbers, geo-location and account names. Since that initial discovery, there’ve been reports of it being even more invasive, leading Carrier IQ to issue a Cease and Desist letter and denying what it does.

Computing Featured Mobile video

Nokia 900 leaked in developer video?

November 16, 2011November 23, 2011 Doug Groves leak, Lumia, Lumia 900, Nokia, Nokia 900, Nokia Ace, Windows Phone, WP70 comment

Last February, Nokia made a drastic decision regarding the future of its operating systems by going all-in with Microsoft’s Windows Phone OS. While there was a lot of online fallout from both proud Finns and Symbian advocates, Nokia’s new Windows Phones, the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800, finally started hitting overseas. The Lumia 800, which shares the same body design as their N9, has been getting rave reviews for the industrial design, but there’s still no word on what’s happening in North America.

Computing Featured Mobile

HTC Raider LTE phone hits Bell and Rogers

October 28, 2011 Doug Groves 4G, Android, Bell, HTC, HTC Raider, LTE, Raider, Rogers1 Comment

If you’re going to be surfing on the new high speed LTE networks from Bell or Rogers, you’re going to want a phone that can handle it. That’s where the HTC Raider comes in. The company has announced that the Raider, HTC’s first LTE phone in Canada, will be coming to both Bell and Rogers next month. The phone checks all the other boxes for a high end smartphone as well, with a 4.5″ qHD screen, 1.2GHz dual core processor and an 8 megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture for better low light performance and 108op video recording.

Computing Featured Science

Microsoft HoloDesk makes remote Jenga possible

October 20, 2011November 7, 2011 Doug Groves 3D object, HoloDesk, hologram, Kinect, Microsoft, Microsoft Research, natural user interface, NUI, see-through display, virutal space4 Comments

There are few things in life that scream ‘from the future’ like holograms, especially interactive holograms. That’s what Microsoft Research is showing off in this video of their HoloDesk project. At the core is a Kinect and a some head tracking software working in conjunction with a see-through display. It allows users to pick up and manipulate 3D objects, including a virtualized smartphone interface, as well as collaborate remotely.

Arts Computing Featured Film Internet

Reddit flash fiction Rome Sweet Rome snapped up by Warner Bros.

October 14, 2011October 20, 2011 Doug Groves Film, James Erwin, MEU, reddit, reddit.com, Rome Sweet Rome, time travel, Warner Brothers1 Comment

Rome Sweet Rome, a sci-fi adventure story that first found life online, has been bought up by Warner Brothers, and destined for the big screen. The story itself was penned by James Erwin, who besides writing flash fiction in response to random questions, is a two time Jeopardy champion. The inspiration? So I’ve been watching HBO’s Rome and Generation Kill simultaneously and it’s lead me to fantasize about traveling back in time with modern troops and equipment to remove that self-righteous little twat Octavian (Augustus) from power. Let’s say we…

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Editorial – Growing Up in a Steve Jobs Era

October 7, 2011October 14, 2011 kingpinlei Apple, editorial, Lucasfilm, Pixar, steve jobs2 Comments

On Wednesday October 5th 2011, the world lost Steven Jobs – the co-founder of Apple Incorporated – to pancreatic cancer at the age of 56. Love him or hate him, there is no denying he was a pivotal force in shaping the computers we know today. As I write this, I am flooded with memories past.

Computing Featured Gaming Mobile

Toshiba glasses-free 3D Qosimo F750 laptop

October 6, 2011October 7, 2011 Doug Groves 3D laptop, Fan Expo, Fan Expo 2011, glasses free 3D, hands-on, Laptop, PC gaming, Qosimo, Qosimo F750, Toshiba1 Comment

One thing we weren’t expecting to see at Fan Expo this year was new laptop technology. While game franchises have become a major part of conventions in the past few years, with the convergence of geek culture, it’s usually a matter of game titles, not the hardware underneath it. So when we came across the Toshiba booth, which had their new Qosimo glasses-free 3D laptop on display, we had to take a look.